EOS 40D: Hands-On First Impressions

[Gbee]

This is DigitalRev ... But it must be a mistake as in another page te 30D over a €K, making your prices right on.

Products

Plus the VAT & Import which is cheaper than UPS/Fedex or Customs.

Originally Posted by Max@Home

...1/2 the price? last I heard they are only ~$/€ 500/600 apart ?? on list prices ??Max@Home

[John Tee]

Nice review Max but, from what you say, I don't think I'll be replacing my 30D.

[brian.austin]

Prior to this, I was waiting for a 5D upgrade to move from my own 20D. Now I'm not so sure.

Money not being a primary factor, my current choices are the 40D, the 1DMkIII or the 1DsMkIII. The bang for the buck seems to be sitting in the 40D. I want the newer image quality performance of the Digic III processor or I'd even consider the current 5D.

Sigh. I might just wait until the 5D upgrade comes out and THEN make my decision. Based on the product cycle, that should be this spring...hopefully.

[Max@Home]

Hi again,

As promised some images taken during my 40D's 'maiden run' : as it happened that event co-incided with a Family-outing to Avifauna, a dedicated bird-ZOO in Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands, organized by my Mother in Law to celebrate her 70th birthday.

I shot all images with 40D and either 17-55F2.8IS or 100-400L IS lens attached, RAW plus JPG Medium Fine, AutoWhiteBalance, and have uploaded the JPG's unaltered, straight from camera.

JPG settings were NEUTRAL picture style, with in-camera contrast, colourcurve, sharpening and saturation all set to 0. All images contain the original EXIF that will tell more about individual ISO, F-stop, shutterspeed, metering, Exposure Compensation etc. used.

Colourspace was set to Adobe, so they might (should) look a little flat on-screen.

And I expose for the highlights, amd add EC+1/3, +2/3 later during RAW processing so they may look a little dark too )

Feel free to download, adjust and/or pixel-peep to your liking













Hope this is of some use to anyone... if not, only *my* €0.02 worth...

Kindest regards!

Max@Home

[brian.austin]

Max, thanks for the writeup. It pushed me into deciding on the 40D over the next gen 5D.

The more I thought about my shooting habits, what I really DO with a camera and how much I need to invest, the more I realized that the 40D is probably a better choice for me, at least right now. All of my accessories fit it and I don't lose my EF-S 10-22, one of my favorites.

The local guys already took my credit card and I got the last of the four expected in tomorrow's shipment.

[Worm324]

Nice work Max, and thanks for sharing the samp0le shots!! Really nice work btw

Personally I would wait for the next Gen 5d before getting the 40d. Especially if money is not an issue. You can simple buy a replacement lens and get most of your moeny back on that awesome EF-S lens.

Just my thoughts I also want to upgrade, but I have no money so nothing is an option anyways I really need to focus on glass in any event when money does come around

Best,
Jay

[Max@Home]

Originally Posted by Worm324

Nice work Max, and thanks for sharing the sample shots!! Really nice work btw

Thanks! Last night I developed the pink rose, will post it this evening, IMHO you can really see the 14 bit colour-conversion, transitions are smooooth as silk!

Personally I would wait for the next Gen 5d before getting the 40d. Especially if money is not an issue. You can simple buy a replacement lens and get most of your money back on that awesome EF-S lens.

Correct, but the EF-S is ~$675 new, so will sell for ~$575-$625 max, the replacing EF16-35F2.8L II is ~$1500 ...

Just my thoughts I also want to upgrade, but I have no money so nothing is an option anyways I really need to focus on glass in any event when money does come around

...that is a wise decision, my friend!

...*my* €0.02...

Kindest regards!

Max@Home

[Max@Home]

Originally Posted by brian.austin

Max, thanks for the writeup. It pushed me into deciding on the 40D over the next gen 5D.

...as long as you are not gonna blame me...

& congrats on the new camera!

Kindest regards,

Max@Home

[Worm324]

Originally Posted by Max@Home

Thanks! Last night I developed the pink rose, will post it this evening, IMHO you can really see the 14 bit colour-conversion, transitions are smooooth as silk!

Max@Home

I did not know about the 14-bit color depth! That is yet another huge upgrade!!

I was also wondering? Do you happen to know if the 10mp sensor is the same 1 thats in the XTI? It's the same size and mega pixel, but I'm more interested in the dynamic range? I wonder if it has more?

Best,
Jay

[mpenner]

Originally Posted by phototakeouter

It's on Amazon
Amazon.com: Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens

The price of the body is $1599, not the $1299 that other retailers like B&H have it listed at.

Not true -

40d | B&H Photo Video

[Max@Home]

Originally Posted by Worm324

I was also wondering? Do you happen to know if the 10mp sensor is the same 1 thats in the XTI? It's the same size and mega pixel, but I'm more interested in the dynamic range? I wonder if it has more?

read that whitepaper I linked to!

The sensorchip is NOT the same as found in the 400D:

quote from the whitepaper:

The CMOS sensor in the EOS 40D has been designed and developed by Canon, and is made by Canon using semiconductor manufacturing equipment that was also designed and manufactured by Canon. The performance and value benefits that result from this integration are enormous. The EOS 40D boasts the highest performance in its class: approximately 10.1 megapixels, ISOs from 100–1600* in 1/3 steps plus 3200, high-speed signal reading with 6.5 fps shooting, Live View Function silent shooting mode with electronic 1st-curtain shutter, and much more.
* Standard output sensitivity. Recommended exposure index.

Although the EOS 40D’s single-piece CMOS sensor is based on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi’s sensor design and manufacturing technology, new processes were incorporated in the CMOS semiconductor fabrication and microlens-forming process. By improving light-collecting efficiency, the same ISO range and low noise (S/N ratio) as that of the EOS 30D were attained even though the pixels on the 30D are larger.

..not one word on dynamic range in the document though

Kindest regards!

Max@Home

[Worm324]

Thanks Max Sry I missed the link. Probably has less noise than the XTI, but not Dynamic range if i had to guess. If it had more DR it would surely advertise it I would bet

Best,
Jay

[Max@Home]

Originally Posted by Worm324

...if it had more DR it would surely advertise it I would bet

I agree

...the 14 bit colour sh*t is for real though, and IMHO visible in many shots, there is something with the colour in these shots...

...& as promised, the processed rose:

(complete original file and process details available from the gallery)

...original out-of-camera MediumFineJPG

40D+100-400L IS @ 400mm, F5.6 (wide open...), 1/1250sec, ISO400, EC -1/3, handheld



...JPG from RAW - processed with DigitalPhotoProfessional only...



...in my book: smooooooooth colours, nice detail & structure !

...but only *my* €0.02 worth ...

Kindest regards!

Max@Home

[JDArt]

Max, those last shots look rather bland/flat to me. Are you finding the jpeg and raw files have the "pop" you need out of the box?

[Max@Home]

Originally Posted by JDArt

Max, those last shots look rather bland/flat to me. Are you finding the jpeg and raw files have the "pop" you need out of the box?

..ah, they are still both in Adobe (colour space, that is... ) so they should look flat, mea culpa...

...this is the file I printed A4 size... I will replace it later with the correct sRGB profiled one

...they sure can have more 'pop' out of camera IMHO, but as I already stated these are deliberately made 'neutral, 0,0,0,0' to see as little in-camera processing as possible on the JPG's. The RAW's have more leeway in adjusting, IMHO, than my 20D files had, but too soon for definite answers. Starting today, I am 'trimming' the PictureStyle to my liking, to get useable/viewable JPG's straight from camera while keeping the RAW's allows for further and/or deeper tuning.

As mentionned in another thread, the LiveView has a good use of measuring a scene in-advance viewing a live articulated (simulating exposure) screen with a LARGE (quarter of the screen, almost as big as my entire 20D display was... ) Live Histogram!

...€0.02 more...

Kindest regards,

Max@Home

[Worm324]

Gatta love the live histogram My old Point and shoot Olympus had that feature. I really didn't no what to do with it at the time, but I still had it enabled cause it looked cool!

I look forward to the sRGB versions

Best,
Jay

[Max@Home]

Originally Posted by Worm324

...I really didn't no what to do with it at the time, but I still had it enabled cause it looked cool!

ROTFLMAO!



Max@Home

[trentchau]

Hey Max, how does the lcd perform in the sunlight?

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by mpenner

Not true -

40d | B&H Photo Video

I picked it up locally for the same price ($1299), which surprised me. It was the only one available in town that I could find, too.

[JDArt]

Originally Posted by brian.austin

I picked it up locally for the same price ($1299), which surprised me. It was the only one available in town that I could find, too.

Wow. I wonder how low the price on these cameras will go?