FAST FAST FAST Good colours Excellent picture quality

Myself It is still a 35DSRL Camera, need more? spend €8000 or wait a couple of years

I am very satisfied with this camera. I bought it in November and since then just one satisfaction after the other. I had no problem with the firmware (it was already upgraded) Colours tend to be a little warmer than those of the cameras I used before but that I cannot call a problem. Colour curves need to be retouched if you want to get the best out of it but still, it performed very well right out of the box. I do think that it should have been on the lab a couple of weeks more but I hardly think it was rushed into the market and I believe there's nothing that can seriously compete with it (at the same range) This is a segment that has improved a lot in every aspect during the last 2 years. I can only wait to see what's next! The shooting sound is somehow loud and it can be disturbing if you're looking for wildlife close-ups otherwise not a real problem. I am using a variety of sigma lenses and discovered that 1.6 crop is a little too much when using 18-50 at 18 mm. Chromatic aberration is not an issue except while taking very contrasty pictures or night exposures at high iso... and it can be adjusted changing the colour curves (wish I knew how hahaha) A lot can be done to improve the quality if you care to read forums and manuals. It is really a good horse and works well under almost any light condition (surprisingly good at high iso) I have used it intensively and haven't yet cleaned the mirror (though I use a nice black antistatic bag when I change lenses).

Customer Service

No need for it now.

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Olympus E20 Nikon D100 Olympus C8080

Speed of startup Image quality Build and handling

Haven't found any

I have owned the EOS 20D for 3 months now and am still staggered by the quality of the images that it produces. Having owned a number of digital cameras this is a real joy to own and use. The menu system is layed out in a easy to find way, no searching through countless levels as per my previous camera a Nikon 5700. Battery life seems very good, speed of switch on is instant, as is wake up and take a picture from standby. Image quality is superb, with negligible amounts of noise even upto 3200 iso, which being a 100 iso person is giving me more room for maneuver on landscape and wildlife.

Customer Service

Very good

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Nikon D70

5fps, short shutter lag, almost instant start-up, low noise at high ISO, high image quality, very good value for money, compact in size, supports Canon's new lenses for APS size DSLR,

can't complain much given the performance-to-price ratio.

It got to be the best prosumer or semi-pro SLR camera around. I use it as a second/back-up body to support my 1D mk-II. Lots of improvements over the 10D and $300 cheaper than the MRP of the 10D, very good performance-to-money ratio. AF system is very accurate; gone are the days of front and back focus problems with the 10D. The Digic-II processor used in the 1D MK-II gives the 20D very impressive performance: short start-up time, small shutter lag and a burst rate of 5fps, making it a competant sport camera. The 9 points AF system is faster than the 7 points system in the 10D but still in a different league compared with the 1D mk-II. Don't expect it can focus as fast as the 1D mk-II. It is very compact compared with the 10D. Battery life is very long. Image noise is very low at ISO 1600; quality as good as the 1D mk-II.

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1D mk-II EOS-3 EOS-30E EOS-1000FN Contax N1 Contax AX Contax Aria

Image quality from ISO 100-800. WB settable in 100K increments. 5fps continuous shooting useful for sports & kids. Improved AF accuracy in one shot and servo.

RELIABILITY (Apparent electrical problems). Fixed-pattern noise & limited latitude (even for digital) at ISO 1600 & 3200. Build quality below even the D70. Despite the much-hyped use of magnesium alloy, there's still plenty of plastic in the 20D's construction. Skimpy information on the viewfinder LCD. Weak ergonomics compared to competing designs. Shallow buffer means 5fps is of limited use with RAW files (I shoot continuous RAW all the time with portraits and often find myself out of memory). Consumer-quality in-camera JPEG processing, particularly at ISO 400 and above - nowhere near as clean as JPEGs from the 10D or even the D70 for that matter.

Despite very good image quality, overall this is a VERY disappointing camera. I've owned and/or used extensively every prosumer 5-6 MP DSLR available (except the Pentaxes and the new Minolta 7D) and NONE of them had a single functional problem that kept me from making images! However, this is the second (of three: 1 20D and 2 10Ds) mid-range Canon DSLR I've owned that completely drains its batteries within 200 exposures. A further indication of apparent electrical problems is that the shutter release has become obstinate, triggering the shutter at its own whim, no matter if I've depressed the button for half-a-second or three. On the image quality front, there have been sporadic episodes of VERY NOTICEABLE banding in low key images (intentionally dark) taken at ISO 1600 and above (sometimes, creatively, I like to use higher ISO speeds and slight underexposure to mimic TMAX 3200, but fixed pattern noise of the 20D at high ISO with underexposure makes it useless in this respect). Also, the in-camera JPEG processing algorithms (perhaps because with the now-smaller pixels on the chip creeping down toward the miniscule sizes of those in consumer digicams) remind me a bit too much of Canon's consumer line of digicams: meaning oversharpened and overprocessed. Last, but perhaps not least at this price point, is what I consider far subpar build quality. After just a few weeks of mild use, I find that the CF door creaks and groans as I hold and reposition the camera in my hands. The fit and finish also takes a step backward from the 10D. In particular, there is a piece of plastic fitting between the front and rear facias on the underside of the grip which is terribly misaligned with the surrounding bits. The built-in flash housing on my sample was also deviated to the left (from the camera back). The optional grip BG-E2 is cheaply made as well, creaking in casual use from the moment I attached it to the camera. The AA adapter also seems to work even less well with the camera than the standard pack, getting less than 20 shots on a fully charged set of Ni-MH cells. The 20D takes a fine picture when everythings working right, but given Canon's apparent lack of quality controls, those opportunities are a little too rare for me. The camera has been sent to Canon for warranty repair and, assuming they fix it, it'll get posted for auction on eBay immediately upon return. In fact, my last two consecutive Canon misfires leave me wondering if I shouldn't head back to Nikon whose cameras, despite appreciable issues of their own, at least in my experience turn on and fire the shutter at MY whim, as well as giving a reasonable number of exposures per charge (more than 500 with PLENTY of chimping for the D70).

Customer Service

Average for the typical consumer (in my experience, that means looking for any reason to claim repairs are the result of negligence rather than manufacturing defects); better with CPS membership IF you've got the pricey equipment!

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Canon D60 Canon 10D Nikon D100 Nikon D70 Olympus E-1

Better color, better auto focus, fast startup time, 5 shots per second & bigger buffer for more shots...THE BEST DEAL OUT THERE...for now...

Not much... A liitle problem with using the 550 speedlight flash...Mat do better with the new 580? But too much money for that flash right now [over $400]

Worth the upgrade! Previous owner of the 10D which was good but upgraded mainly due to faster auto focus and and faster shooting [5 frames per sec] a plus with higher ressolution but did not really need larger files as I'm a Portrait & Wedding Photographer though my passion is outdoor and nature work so far Weddings pay the bills. This is well worth the upgrade from the D10. Fast start up time and you will not miss your shot!I got it in September and shot a wedding the first weekend using the 10D as a back-up...Color is better and less noise than 10d although 10D is very good!

Customer Service

Have not needed with the 20D but great for the 10D on upgrades to software

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Canon EOS 10D; Canon G3, Canon A70 and film based Canons: EOS 3, and several other film based Canon SLR's

FAST Focusing is better and more focus points increase hit rate Good build quality and nice body finish (the 10D does have better body panels though). Good battery life Button layout improved but ture to original - easy to learn Flash stands higher for less red eye

No ISO indicator in viewfinder Mirror lockup slow with many button presses Crop factor necessitates expensive wideangle EF-S lens Battery grip looks silly Viewfinder a bit darker than 10D

Great little camera and a welcome upgrade from the 10D, which was in itself a fantastic machine with few faults. The 20D improves on many of the good features of the 10D and the number one upgrade is SPEED, SPEED, SPEED. No turn on lag to speak of. It really makes a big difference when you're shooting, especially fast action, animals, sport or just your kid taking his first steps. Small issues like banding have been resolved, and though I am a bit disappointed that this problem showed up at all, Canon's firmware update was speedily released. Crop factor is limiting but the price is attractive and makes digital photography accessible to many. Build quality is very good, but the integration with vertical grip could have been more aesthetically pleasing - it is more functional than beautiful and needlessly so. The rocker switch for viewing images is a welcome addition and really practical. The 20D can be an easy point and shoot or give you an incredible level of control, and encroaches on the territory of the EOS 1 Digitals.. It's only true limiting factor is the crop factor which means expensive EF-S lenses if you wnat the ultra-wide coverage. Who's it for? Anyone who's into photography and can afford it. Professionals will enjoy a discreet but fast backup. Amatures will get a real thrill from seeing the quality and resolution of these images. Even with the fast pace of digital upgrades I beleive that this camera will satisfy users for quite a while, or at least until an ecomomical 1.3 crop factor camera becomes available. Improvements I would like to see are ISO indicator in viewfinder, live histogram, dedicated mirror lock-up button. Otherwise quite a nice camera that competes well in the DSLR market.

Customer Service

Eos 50 lightmetre stopped working.. Shoddy quality but fixed promptly by Canon Dealer. Eos3 software upgrade took 5 minutes by Canon staff - Very quick and efficient. Drove in and out in under 10 minutes.

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Eos 500 Eos 50 Eos 3 Eos 10D Pentax and Yashica manual bodies

fast, good buffer, affordable

blooming at contrasty edges

The 20d is better than the 10d in almost every aspect: more pixel, faster response, great buffer, and a build-in flash, one can use with a 17-35 mm. (the one on the 10d doesn t rise high enough above the lens). Only one thing so far is worse: if there a bright lights or reflexes in the picture, the 20d creates quite some blooming, a kind of sharp edged negative circle around the light source. The effect can be annoying, if there are more than one reflexes in the motif and there is no way to retouch those halos them in photoshop. Hopefully canon releases a firmware, that will fix the problem. (im using the latest, version 1.1). One thing, that made me buy the 20d is the possibility to use the new ef-s 10-22mm, which cannot be put on to a 10d. this lens gives me a true wideangle, comparable to a 16-35 on a analog slr.

Customer Service

---

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canon eos 10d

Superb grain from 100-3200 ISO settings Customizeable Parameters* (incl. B&W) [6 total: 2 standard, 3 color*, 1 B&W*] Fast Driver and huge buffer (you'll hardly ever miss a shot) Great construction Fast start up time! Light Up top LCD screen for poor illuminated venues All around great feel and a steal to work with. Excellent value. 8.2 MP CMOS Excellent image quality EF and EF-S mountable Great battery life Comes with PS Elements (not a major plus, but a plus none the less)

Ergonomically (with battery grip) not the most comfortable thing to shoot vertically

Picked this bad boy back up in October, haven't been able to put it down. I heard about the lock ups, not with me though. Mine came with FW 1.0.5! So it's been working great! I do a lot of shooting for local publications and this thing is a dream. Start up is oh so fast. And the drive motor. The thing just won't quit. With my Lexar 1GB flashcard, the buffer fills up after about 60 shots, not the 23 that Canon states. Coupled with my 24-70 f/2.8, I couldn't been happier. There are a few points I'd like to highlight. ISO: This thing has a enhanced ISO feature that gives you capability from 100-3200 ISO. And when you see the grain, you'll be amazed. It's virutally non-existant. It's there, but no where close to what you'd think it would be. Also, the customizeable parameter settings. I love shooting B&W, but digital always has had a rought time with this. Not anymore. You can control contrast, sharpness, even throw on colored filters (thru menu options) to suit any B&W need. When used with the 1600 and "H" 3200 ISO setting, you get film quality B&W photographs that just blew me away. Also, for color work, the WB BKTing is amazing. Completely customizeable. It's like having a whole aresenial of CC filters right in camera! I'm in love with this camrea, and this anyone who is debating whether it's worth the money or not should try it out and see for yourselves! You'll love it!

Customer Service

B&H got this time to me as fast as they could. Everyone was back ordered at the time, but I've never had any problems with B&H. I recommend them to everyone!

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Canon 10D Canon Digital Rebel Nikon D1H Nikon D2

Price, quick start up, light weight, fun to use .

I need to read more on the Canon D20 system to fine tune my control of specific shots, but that would be my weakness. I did not find any in the camera.

Recently, I bought the Canon 20 and quickly found it to be wonderful to use. Light weight and logical. I did some basic reading on how to use this camera and was able to use it immediatly. There were some minor stumbling blocks for me, such as realizing that I had to turn the camera off when changing lenses. As with all new things time and a little study resolves these hiccups. I highly recommend this camera body. It has a quick power up that is pleasing. I also like the zooming feature on the LCD screen which enables you to look very cIosely at specifics. I have not found anything to complain about.

Customer Service

none needed.

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Pentaz K1000, Canon A2E, various View cameras,

- Image quality - Autofocus speed and accuracy - USB 2.0 High-speed transfers - Control layout - E-TTL II - Sturdy build yet lightweight - Battery life

- Still kind of pricey unless you're a pro - Can't transfer RAW images over USB without using the EOS Vierwer Utility. - May need an immediate firmware update out of the box.

This is a great camera. I've been waiting a long time for DSLR technology to mature yet come to a reasonable price point and the EOS 20D is the culmination of this. The camera is solid (as most EOS Digitals are) and the images are superb. Battery life is incredible, well beyond anything I expected. I added the BG-E2, and while not ergonomically perfect is definitely an upgrade. With both batteries installed I get anywhere between 1700-2500 images without stopping. I've paired my 20D with a couple of Sandisk 1GB Ultra II CF cards and the system is a dream. Best of all it is working flawlessly with all of my original Canon AF glass, including my original EF 50/1.8 bought with my EOS 650 back in 1987! Some people have had lockup issues with early releases. I'm about 1000 images in and I haven't seen this yet (knock on wood) but I'm on f/w 1.05. The best thing to do is upgrade the firmware right after you pull the camera out of the box and charge the battery.

Customer Service

Haven't needed it yet. Past experiences have been great.

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EOS 650, EOS 620, EOS 630, EOS Rebel, EOS Rebel Digital, EOS 1, EOS 3, EOS 1d MkII, EOS 10D, EOS D60, Nikon D70, Fuji S2 Pro, Nikon D1, Nikon D2H