...received the awaited phonecall 'parcel has arrived' and went to Messrs. JapanCamera in Wassenaar. They received 6 40D's of which 5 were pre-ordered. I was the first to receive the call, but was the fourth actual picking it up, two of the first three especially awaited my arrival 'to learn some more details', while the fifth pre-orderer arrived shortly after me, just before I finished drinking my coffee and unpacking my new camera and began an ad-hoc public 'OK, which button does what, what has changed, does it work' session
.
Three of us (including me) were upgrading from a 20D (2 sold, mine 'retired'), the fourth guest was adding a 40D to his 30D, the other two ex-20D'ers were a married couple doing 'Aviation', the fourth was a 'Horse-Photographer'. All four of us shoot 'semi-Pro', earning just enough on the side to maintain our Passion by upgrading/expanding our knowledge, possibilities and equipment - just to give you an idea about 'WTF are those insane enough to pre-order'
The first impressions, after battery loaded and lens attached (EF85F1.8USM): heavier, bulkier, deeper, thicker grip, sticky-er rubber, apart from the rubber: very 10D like. Definitely better build, visible 'weathersealing' (Canon calls it 'environmental sealing...) on doors, same on most - all upper - buttons if you know what to look for
.
Power-On, finger on shutter to go straight to shooting mode without sensorclean (I have already read the manual three times
, thank you scanner & poster at DPReview
) - bang- almost instant AF confirmation... FAST! now looking through the viewfinder... a real shock: this one is LARGE! not yet 5D/1DsII, but 1DIIN yes, 1DIII - maybe... feels as twice the 350D I recently sold... permanent ISO - neat - at last...
Menus: no surprises after PowerShots, 400D and a brief encounter with a 1DIII. Everything is where you would expect it (or know it to be). Very 'organised': never having to scroll down in a subset to find an overlooked setting, they are all there to see in a glimpse. Bright, Large, Clear display !
Top buttons: re-arranged, ISO is now direct at your fingertip and changes are made with the main (front) controller in stead of with the wheel. Click shutter, see (metering), change aperture or shutterspeed, click ISO, change ISO, halfpress... shoot... very smooth & natural...
Live-view: enabled, AF enabled, grid on, LCD to 'simulate actual image' etc...
...it works as advertised, keeping AF-ON button pressed takes AF (only in OneShot mode and with central AF point selected)... not had time to test usefullness 'in the heat of the daily bussines', but 'overhead shooting' to get above a first line/corridor looks to have become a little easier.
Back to the good old viewfinder: AF is FAST - 6.5 FPS is FAST - this camera is QUIET doing so - and 17 RAW+MediumJpegFINE is a DEEP buffer! - from where I come from, that is...
First impressions so far: impressive upgrade from maybe anything but a 30D...
...me is happy
ImageQuality ?? - hey, I just got it this afternoon! And was scheduled to surprise my Mother-in-Law who today turned 70 but will celebrate that fact tomorrow (uh-oh, later today...) with her three children and their families, and therefor was an overnight guest at my Brother-in-Law's nearby. So I just shot some snaps, EOS 40D+EF-S 17-55IS USM, P mode (1/60, F4.0) at ISO800, 580EXII attached and pointing up (white ceiling), Neutral Picture Style, AUTO-WB, and only added saturation +2 and sharpness +3 in RAW-tab, set sharpness to 70 in RGB tab, and set luminance and chrominance noise reduction to LOW in NR tab, basically what I always do with my 20D, 350D and 400D indoor files @800ISO
Straight to JPG, resized with BreezeBrowserPro (version 1.7.2 beta 1 out with 40D support
) Added four of the better ones just for what they are worth... family memories...
Any questions will be answered, but later, as I wrote I have a family outing tomorrow, now you all behave here !
...€0.02...
Kindest regards,
Max@Home