Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

We replaced our Canon 10D with the 40D which was stated to advance the state-of-the-art for mid-range digital SLR cameras. It does that in spades with a newly enhanced 10.1 megapixel inaging sensor offering a fast 6.5 frame per second autofocus continuous shooting capability.

We primarily use this camera for wildlife photography, utilizing some action shots, and the speed sensitivity for this is fantastic.

A larger 3.0 inch LCD screen increases viewing ease, especially important in wildlife photography. Raised brightness levels allow for viewing ease under bright sunlight conditions. Also the larger font size for viewer window text is helpful. The upgraded viewfinder expands the viewing angle to 264 degrees and raises the eye point to 22mm.

The 40D comes with a durable case (black or magnesium alloy) and weather-resistant construction. With a 14 bit Analog-to-Digital conversion process, the 40D is able to recognize 16,384 colors per channel, resulting in more accurate gradations of tone and color. It also offers two interchangeable focusing screens, unlike its predecessors and its autofocus offers enhanced precision at f2.8 or faster.

Comes with an eyecup, wide neck strap, video cable, USB interface cable, battery pack, battery charger, EOS Digital Solution disc, software and a couple of photography and macro booklets.

Add the wide-angle lens of your choice and you're set to go.

As a long-time Canon EOS Elan IIe (film) owner, with lenses, I've waited to move to digital (till the quality and affordability met my needs / budget). I wanted to stick with Canon (yes my old AF lenses work with the 40D).

Did my research, went to my local camera store, checked my old lenses on the 40D, tried nicely to "deal" with them. They still couldn't touch Amazon's price for this kit.

In the four days (yes, only four) it took for the 40D to reach me (free shipping, incidentally), I bought and read David Busch's book dedicated to the 40D. Highly recommend it. So I was ready.

My camera arrived early this morning. Battery fully charged. I waited till later this afternoon, when the light is better, and took it shooting.

Nature stuff. Children on playgrounds. Birds. Animals. Speedboats on the river. A volleyball game. Portraits of my nephew's wife and their one-year-old daughter (no-flash shots and built-in fill-flash shots). Some with IS on, most with IS off.

Just basic stuff to see what the Basic Modes did on default. Looked at some histograms as I shot, but didn't make any adjustments. (Now that I've looked at the defaults, I will start tweaking the settings for my own preferences.)

Over 300 shots, in JPEG Fine only. No RAW (yet.)

Got home, plugged the CF card into the reader (both from Adorama, though after the fact I realized I could have gotten a slightly better deal from Amazon).

Using FastStone's free Image Viewer (which I wanted to try), I started sorting through my shots, comparing them side by side, tagging those I wanted to delete, batch renaming the ones I kept, etc.

I must have examined my first shot for five minutes, minutely examining the details. Stunned! STUNNED! At HUGE magnifications!

With every shot, I just kept shaking my head in amazement. Virtually FLAWLESS exposure! (One or two had slight clipping in highlights (on the histograms), yet still with incredible detail. One or two were slightly soft on the subject's focus (my fault). Incredible color!

Continuous bursts on the volleyball players and the speedboats and the bikers on bike trails were jaw-dropping! PERFECT focus! PERFECT exposure! At 6.5 fps! (Unheard of, even just a few years ago, at this price point.)

I'm fluent in Photoshop, but prefer to get it right the first time, in the camera.

I've yet to scratch the surface of the 40D's capabilities. Can't wait to get into the "Creative Modes" tomorrow. And then move on to "Custom Modes," etc.

I'm a semi-pro. Got my first SLR when I was 15. I'm 64. I've had 'em all, and loved 'em all.

But I haven't been so immediately impressed, FLOORED actually, by a camera system in my life.

Particularly at this price point, the 40D system is a remarkable achievement.

Background

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New to SLR/dSLR. I've been shooting a variety of digital P&S cameras for about 8 years.

Motivation

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Kept missing potentially great shots of my newborn due to slow P&S performance; indoor/low-light pictures rarely turned out nice; couldn't get a good shot of birds to save my life! dSLR looked like it could address these problems.

Decision Process

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I decided on Canon, in part due to a relative to who has a nice collection of 'L' glass that I hope to borrow. :) I was waffling between the XTi/XSi on value/features, and I became aware of Canon's rebate on the 40D. So I went to a camera shop and tried out the 40D, the XSi, and the XTi. The 40D felt perfect in my hands, while the Rebel bodies felt small and awkward. It was just a matter of time before I convinced myself that the 40D with 28-135mm kit lens was worth the few hundred dollar premium over the XSi or XTi kit packages.

Experience So Far

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I'm very pleased with most aspects of my 40D. Some warned that SLR photography was terribly complicated, and that I should start off on a "simpler" camera. But I've found it's simple enough learn the basic concepts, master them, and then gradually learn more advanced techniques. The 40D is a great tool for learning about photography. I'm spending almost all my time in Manual mode, and most of my pictures are coming out much better than I was getting with my P&S cameras. Plus, I'm having a blast with my new hobby!

What I like

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+ Image quality. If I do my job and get the exposure right, IQ is really great. I'm also learning about how to post-process to recover photos where I blew the exposure a bit.

+ Viewfinder. I was concerned that I'd have trouble using the viewfinder, since I was so accustomed to using the LCD as a "live view" with my P&S cameras. Not so. I adapted to the bright and informative viewfinder immediately.

+ Speed. Startup time, taking a first shot, followup shots...all nearly instantaneous. 6.5 shots/second is astounding compared to my P&S cameras.

+ High-ISO performance. I'm very picky about noise, but ISO800 looks great on the 40D, and ISO1600 isn't bad. This would be unthinkable on my P&S cameras. The good high-ISO noise performance allows me to shoot more confidently in lower-light situations, and not have to use the flash as much.

+ Ergonomics. The 40D feels great in my hands. Heavier and bulkier than the Rebel line, but at just over 1.5 lbs it still feels comfortable to me even when I'm out shooting for a couple hours.

+ Menu/layout. Some complain about redundancy of the dials and joystick, but I don't mind having more choices. Since I'm in Manual mode shooting RAW most of the time, many of the menu settings simply aren't relevant to me. It took me maybe 2 days to get comfortable navigating and finding what I needed.

+ LCD. Nice and big, clear and bright.

+ Battery life. I'm getting around 500 images on a single charge -- very happy with that.

+ Auto Focus. For the most part, AF has been dead-on accurate and fast.

+ 28-135mm IS lens. I've had good luck shooting macros, portraits, landscapes, and everything in between. This lens is probably a bit outdated, but it is capable of taking really nice pictures. I think it's a great lens for a beginner to learn on.

What I don't like

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- Power switch. What's been reported is true: the power switch is in a goofy and annoying location. It's not a deal-breaker, but Canon should change this when they update the 40D.

- Low-light AF. Sometimes in low-light situations the AF "hunts" for something to focus on. I don't know whether to blame the 40D or the 28-135mm lens.

- LCD. While the LCD is bright and easy to see, the 40D is well behind competing brands in the number of pixels in the display. More pixels could help the photographer determine with better accuracy whether a shot is in focus. Along the same lines, the camera uses a small thumbnail JPEG in the LCD display, so it is impossible even to zoom in and determine with certainty whether the shot was in focus.

- Print button. What a waste of a perfectly good button! :)

Bottom Line

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From my experiences so far, I highly recommend the 40D. With Canon's rebate it's a fantastic camera for the price. You can probably take just as good pictures with an XTi or XSi, so if you're interested in a Canon in this price range, be sure to try out all three before making a decision. For me, the ergonomic and speed advantages of the 40D were well worth the price differential.

This is a camera that can be put to good use by amateurs and professionals alike. Technology moves fast, and I'm sure in a year from now some of the features of the 40D will seem dated. But right now, in the summer of 2008, it's a really great value.

I purchased the EOS 40D as a replacement/upgrade to a Canon Digital Rebel from a long time ago. With unbridled joy, I shot several thousand images of the Stanley Cup Playoffs using this body and a new Canon lens that I'll review elsewhere.

The pictures created using this body were exceptional, and would be a solid option for anyone on the advanced amateur level to entry-level professional. I was enthralled with this camera, and recommended the camera to a large number of my photography friends. At the end of the Stanley Cup Playoffs I had planned to attend a couple of Calder Cup Finals games and shoot. About 100 frames into the first game, I received an "Err 99" on the display screen. I was horrified, especially since I didn't have my backup with me. First I tried powering off, then on - same problem. I changed CF Cards, and still no change. I switched batteries, only to get that ugly-looking "Err 99" error again. As a last resort, I even switched lenses, thinking that maybe I had bumped my lens or something. And when I saw the "Err 99" message yet again, I sighed, packed away my camera and resigned myself to simply enjoying the game as a regular spectator.

Needless to say, this turned out to be a hardware issue (the shutter). Canon claims that the EOS 40D's shutter is good for 100,000 cycles. I've only had the camera for a couple of months, so I know I'm not even close to the shutters useful life. While I have it now sitting in Canon's Factory Repair Center in New Jersey, I know I will get it back soon. I'm just disappointed.

I did some further review and found this "Err 99" problem to be a common cause of equipment failure in the Canon EOS 40D. That having been said, I would still select this camera body for both daily and special events shoots. I believe that Canon will continue to support me on this issue. If you think that the hassle of having to walk through this process is too much for you, then you might want to consider one of the older Canon SLR Digitals - or try the new Canon XSi (fewer settings, more plastic, but great list of stock features to keep most amateurs happy).

As a long-time 30D user with 5 Canon lenses, I bought my 40D to accompany my existing 30D in dusty African safari locations where it becomes rather difficult to change lenses in areas with blowing dust and to accommodate the need to quickly switch between wider-angle shots and telephoto zoom lens shots. Not to repeat all of the previous accolades from other users and product reviews out on the Web, I will just say that nearly every aspect of the 30D has been improved in the 40D. The various ease-of-access layouts of buttons, options, and menus is much improved over the 30D, as is the ability to customize the various camera settings more to the way each user may want to use their camera, along with nice little touches like displaying the ISO in the viewfinder (yes!). Taking shots also feels nicer because the 40D has a noticeably quieter mechanism. And with the Internet-retailer price of the 40D at the time of this writing being more than $700 cheaper than the Nikon D300, this is a camera packed with value.

The one minor quibble that I do have with the 40D's ergonomics is that I really would have preferred the row of buttons on the back to go along the left side, the way they were positioned on the 30D, instead of being lined up along the bottom back edge of the camera. Every so often when I have the camera slung from the strap, the (Playback) or (Info) button gets accidentally pushed and I look down to see the LCD screen displaying an image or the Info information. I never had the buttons bumped when they were aligned on the left edge on the 30D. The bigger 3-inch LCD screen is brighter than the 2.5-inch LCD on the 30D, but it still has the same 230,000-pixel count. Canon should have also increased the pixel count on the larger LCD, grrrr.

My favorite add-on accessory for my 40D is Canon's Canon EF-D Focusing Screen for Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR Camera While there are third-party focusing screens for the EOS 30D, I really love this gridded focusing screen, and its usefulness has grown on me as I have used it over time.

One additional note... While I have purchased various electronics from Amazon before (including camera lenses), I chose to purchase my 40D from, ahem, another online Internet camera store. This decision was not based on price, since both the other site and Amazon had nearly identical prices, but was based on Amazon's hit-or-miss quality of how well they cushion the products that they ship nowadays. It seems that Amazon has gotten more and more sloppy and careless with how they package goods in the past one or two years, with the bubble wrap and air pillows not sufficiently being filled to hold products firmly inside their external shipping boxes. While having books sliding loosely in the cardboard shipping container is not an issue, I have received numerous CDs from Amazon where the CD case was heavily damaged, and I did not want to risk having such an investment like this camera being thumped and tumbled around in the process of shipping. Ironically, Amazon ships books very securely, with thick plastic shrinkwrap tightly securing the books to a cardboard backing, whereas electronics boxes sometimes slide and tumble too easily inside the Amazon shipping box.

Ok, I have not read all the previous reviews so sorry in advance if this has already been covered. My Rebel XT that I've owned for 18 months recently decided to take pictures that are all black (me's thinking the shutter curtain is broken) so I quickly ordered a 40D since my daughter's softball season is coming to a close. After spending a weekend with the 40D taking sports/action photos and general playing around, here are my primary comparisons between the 40D and Rebel XT, in no particular order:

1) I was concerned that the heavier/larger 40D would be a negative in terms of weight/size and fit in my camera bag. To my relief, it fits in my bag, weight really isn't an issue, and the larger size only takes about a day to get used to. In fact, after spending the weekend with the 40D, the Rebel seems too small.

2) 6 frames a second is a *huge* difference from 3 frames a second. I was able to capture action with the 40D that I often missed with the Rebel at my daughters fastpitch softball games.

3) Focus is much improved over the Rebel. Out of 500+ shots, I only had a handful where the focus did not hit. Compare that to about 10-20% on the Rebel.

4) I use the 70-200 F/4 L IS for Softball. During twighlight games, I was able to actually use ISO 800 to keep the shutter speed up. ISO 800 was just too noisy IMO on the Rebel. I'm not sure if IQ on the 40D is better than the Rebel or not in other aspects - it certainly isn't worse, maybe just a tad better..??

5) I love the thumbwheel - I can very quickly review and delete pics between pitches (say, if I was shooting a batter and she didn't swing), which was more cumbersome to do on the Rebel.

6) I'm hoping the automatic sensor cleaning keeps dust off the 40D sensor better than the Rebel

7) Haven't setup the custom C1/C2/C3 settings yet - but I can see they are going to be very valuable

8) So what don't I like? Really, it's only one minor item - I like the On/Off switch and location better on the Rebel. Oh, and since the screen on the back is so big, I can't see how anybody can shoot without getting nose/cheek prints on it.

So there you have it. Would I recommend upgrading if you have a good XT/XTi? Hmmmm...tough question. It's kinda like getting a newer, nicer, better car with more features when your existing car is, in most respects, just fine. I wrestled with fixing my XT, buying another XT/XTi, or getting the 40D - but after 2 weeks (haven't paid the credit card bill yet though...) I'm solidly satisfied I chose the 40D.

I am having so much fun. I have no idea what all you tech people talk about in your reviews. I do know, I bought a camera above my ability and I never will use all its capabilities - But, I don't care, the beauty of these pictures and the 6 frames per second are incredible. The shots I've gotten at softball games, I just start laughing. They are so good, it has made me a pro. just kidding. I am loving life, the camera is so worth the price, cannot wait until snowboard season with the kids.

Stan

They just keep making this camera better. I love my 30D. It works great and has a nice price. When I got the 40D, I was very happy. They didn't change the things already like. What they did is improve on the annoyances I had with the 30D.

The larger screen is amazing. Its like viewing a big screen TV. Now you can view ISO on the top LCD screen. The rubber cap that covers the flash, remote trigger, and A/V plugs has been greatly improved on. The on-screen menu is much easier to read.

The 40D also has Live view. I don't know if I'll ever use this feature, but its nice to know the camera has it.

Canon 40D Review

These are my personal thoughts and feelings from the first days with my new Canon 40D after having had a Canon Rebel XTi for about a year and a half after having taken about 30,000 photos with the Rebel and now about 2,000 with the 40D. These are only my personal feelings your mileage may vary.

Pros:

Favorites menu!

Auto ISO in all modes

1/8000th shutter speed and 3200 ISO at last!

Flash using Canon Speedlite 430EX is right on the money!

sRaw, save space and small exported JPEG's actually look better!

Super fast in all aspects: turn on, operation, auto focus, shooting

Great feel in the hands, fits like a glove, I could shoot all day long!

Rear LCD screen, better then my old Canon Rebel XTi but could be sharper

Raw files you gotta love, very good noise control, responsive and colors to lust after

Auto White balance that actually works pretty good!

High speed 6.5 fps shooting! I have yet to hit the limiter when shooting high speed

With some Canon lenses (17-55 EF-S F/2.8, 24-70 F/2.8 L, 16-35mm F/2.8 L II, 17-40 F4 L, 85mm F/1.2 II L, 135mm F/2 L, 70-200 F/2.8 L, 70-200 F/4, etc. etc) this camera has built in lens Auto Lens Vignetting correction using peripheral Illumination control see Auto Vignetting comments below:

Cons:

Power Switch location

Rear LCD shooting info has to be turned on each time and no auto-off when brought up to face

Rear LCD is not 100% when checking critical focus, some images that looked sharp on the LCD were not back on the computer

Camera user settings C1, C2, C3 lose on-the-fly updates when camera goes to sleep

Neutered auto ISO range only goes up to 800 ISO.

It fits my hand like a glove; I especially love the rubberized coating around the right grip.

Where did everything go? My power switch and screen display. You better have your owner's manual handy because this is a different camera from the Rebel XTi.

WOW this camera shoots fast! It has a precision to it and speed both in focus and number of shots my Rebel just does not have. Got to buy more CF cards though as they fill fast shooting in Raw at 6.5 FPS and they are bigger then the old Rebel Raw files.

I continue to be impressed with the ability of the Canon 40D Raw images. Not only are they a leap beyond the XTi Rebel in appearance they respond much better to changes in Adobe Raw. I especially like how responsive the 3200 ISO shots are to the noise filters. ISO 3200 once I process it through CS3 Raw noise reduction actually looks like my Rebel looked at 400 ISO!. And the colors man oh man they are breath taking.

Speaking of breath taking! The rear LCD is amazing. I haven't had to touch the brightness at all which is good because I have a really good idea if the image came out or not. Not so on Rebel where I had to run the brightness all the way up on the rear LCD and so could not judge if the exposure was correct not to mention it was hard to see the photo itself. This 40D screen is huge bright and breathtaking.

And I love the favorites menu. Set your own deeply buried and needed settings right there. Like mirror lockup! Or live view!

Love the grip that rubber really helps me get a grip!!

Now for the now so good. Who the hell decided to put the on off switch down on the bottom middle? I swear I have reached over with my right thumb by habit a dozen times to turn the camera on and off.

What the heck? On the C1, C2, C3 settings if you make any adjustments on the fly and then the camera goes to sleep the settings go away. Will have to make a short cut under favs to adjust the settings on the fly.

All in all though I continue to love this camera and after shooting it for a little over a day I picked up the Rebel XTi and it felt like a small unresponsive plastic toy!!!

I will continue to update this review as I have more time, right now I'm at about 2,000 photos.

Auto Vignetting peripheral illumination control:

When shooting using your new 40D Canon has this super sweet Auto Lens Vignetting correction that works with some Canon lenses (17-55 EF-S F/2.8, 24-70 F/2.8 L, 17-40 F4 L, 16-35 F/2.8 L II, 85mm F/1.2 II L, 135mm F/2 L, 70-200 F/2.8 L, 70-200 F/4, etc. etc) both in camera with JPEG's and in RAW using peripheral Illumination control in Canon Digital Photo Professional (DPP). No more vignetting when shooting wide open!!! When shooting Raw open the file(s) in DPP and click on NR/Lens Lens Aberration Correction / Tune and click on Peripheral illumination. The 40D has already picked up the amount of vignetting based on focusing distance, zoom setting used and F stop from the lens and has saved the information with the Raw file. You can just click on Peripheral illumination and use the suggested amount or you can adjust the amount using the slider if you don't like the amount automatically suggested. If you shot JPEG then you get the auto amount. SWEET!!!

3-11-2008 Update

Went out with the Canon 70-200 F/2.8 L lens on servo mode high speed 6.5 fps setting and had a blast. I tracked cars, planes, birds in flight, this baby just locks on and keeps tracking. My Rebel would maybe get one or two in focus frames of a bird in flight that was it. This 40D I can get 10 to 20 all in razor sharp focus before the bird is out of view. I'm practicing on pigeons around the house so they aren't in view for long. Can hardly wait to try it out on some bigger birds as it would be a cakewalk.

3-13-2008 Update

Flash using Canon Speedlite 430EX is right on the money! Let's face it, there are times you just have to use flash. And with my old Canon Rebel XTi it was a chore. The Rebel's flash metering was almost always off and inconsistent. What a pleasure to find the flash exposures with the Speedlite 430EX mounted on my Canon 40D to be nailed right on the money every time.

The 40D continues to delight!

3-25-2008

Used the 40D at a wedding this weekend and WOW. This camera is a leap beyond the Rebel XTi. The auto white balance actually works pretty good at least with florescent lights. And the few times I had to use flash it was pretty close to a perfect exposure. The color depth when using raw is just incredible I am selling my old film cameras. The client actually liked my tweaked 40D photos much better then the film ones I shot using ULTRA COLOR 100 Kodak Film.

4-7-2008 Focus test update. As a test of auto focus power I tried the Canon 85mm F/1.2 L II Lens (this lens will push your auto focus to the limit even with the USM) with the Canon Rebel XTi and Canon 40D back to back. Talk about over taxing the system! I thought this lens was slow to focus on the 40D. The 40D will focus from minimum distance to infinity in a second or so with this lens (all other USM lens faster then I can even time or think). The Rebel takes what seems like an eternity to focus through the limits with the 85mm F/1.2 L II or well over 2 seconds. The funny part is how unbalanced this combo feels the Rebel XTi is this little camera body hanging off the back of the lens. Still in the end the Rebel does focus and you can use it even though you have less shots in focus then with the 40D. Even so I'm thinking most people that can afford this lens will be buying at least a 40D or higher.

5-11-2008 Update

On a client shoot late yesterday I was reminded just how important the large 3 inch color LCD viewing screen on the back of the 40D is. Time after time I would show the client photos on it taken with the 40D and Canon 85mm F/1.2 L II lens and they would just drool. The people along with them were asking for business cards and setting up additional photo shoots. I am a pro photographer I make 100% of my money from photography so selling additional clients is extremely important.

5-20-2008 Update

Under $1000 now for a brand new in the box with warranty Canon 40D! Common on you shouldn't even be reading this far, you should have already ordered this has to be the bargain of the year.

At a wedding this weekend I traded out my 40D for my daughters Rebel XTi (my old camera) to take some wider angle shots with the 17mm as I had the 85mm F/1.2 L II mounted and just wanted to get some quick shots. Man was I spoiled, you take a shot with the 40D you instantly see the play back. Now the Rebel XTi seems: Very light and small, slow, slow to respond, slow to play back, viewfinder is narrow and dark and fuzzy. That makes the 40D a little heavier, faster, fast to respond fast to play back and the viewfinder is wide, bright and sharp by comparison.

Update 8-22-2008

Continue to love this camera! It just continues to rock!! And now the difference between my Rebel XTi and 40D are far more appartent even then when I first got it. It's hard to go back to a Rebel after shooting a 40D at 6.5 Frames Per Second!!

Just a quick note of how much better photos are from this camera when shooting raw if you use Canon's Digital Photo Professional (DPP)that came free with the camera. A friend of mine recommended I try it and I did a back to back comparison between processing RAW to JPEG using Adobe Photoshop CS3's Adobe Raw and Canon Digital Photo Professional. There is no comparison!!! The DPP photos are much clearer and sharper and have better contrast and resolution!!! The DPP software is a little more crude in the menu dept and feature dept then Adobe Raw. But the results are worth it. I challenge you, take some shots with your 40D in RAW and process them using DPP and compare to whatever else you are using. You will be shocked!!!

10-03-2008 Update:

I read a review of the new sRaw format and they suggested using it for low light shots especially when you just want to save the file as a low 72 dpi JPEG for use on the web anyway. Much to my shock after a lot of comparison photos using a tripod, live view, manual focusing, and manual shutter and F-stop to eliminate variables they are absolutely right!

sRaw format high ISO (1600 and 3200 iso) photos exported as small 17inch 72dpi JPEG photos look sharper and have less noise then photos taken with the full Raw format!!!

As a bonus when shooting sRaw the file size is half as big only 8mb vs 16mb on average so you can get a lot more shots on your card.

Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

As lots of people have reviewed this camera and discussed the improvements of the 40D as compared to the 30D, I will skip all that.

I previously owned a Rebel XTi a fine camera and a big improvement over my Rebel XT (which I still own). But I found myself missing shots at low light sporting events because the AF (auto focus)speed was too slow. I also found that my hands hurt from holding the XTi for long periods of time.

So I sold my XTi and bought a 40D. I am certainly glad that I did.

The ergonomics of this camera make it easier for me to hold, especially for long periods of time. The larger viewing screen is also a plus for some one like me with aging eyesight.

The layout of the controls is a lot easier for me. It's just so much easier to adjust the EV compensation using the main dial on the 40D.

The increased burst rate is very helpful to me when shooting sports or marching bands.

The AF speed is a huge improvement over my XTi. It's so much faster that I can now use some of my slower lenses in situations that did not work at all with the XTi.

The image quality produced by the 40D is astounding as well.

Let me close by saying that if you shoot sports with a Rebel XT or XTi the 40D would be a great investment for you.