EOS D20 detailed review at RobGalbraith.com

Baldy

Thanks for posting those reviews & pointers to images.

I rented a MKII last weekend and shot 1700 frames with it at a car show and a wedding. I expected to LOVE it and buy one, but....I'm gonna go with the 20D. I have a 10D now that I'll use as a second camera.

The MKII is pretty heavy and big and expensive for what's turning out to be a new-one-every-year purchase. The really big draws for me were the outstanding moving-object autofocus, the fast shooting rate and low mirror blackout time.

But the 20D shoots fast enough for me, the mirror blackout is down from the 10D, and the indications are the autofocus is better. At least they talk the talk about it, so I'm hopeful.

I really had a tough time with the MKII on autoexposure and with ETTL II. Strangely, we shot with a 10D as well on the same settings and didn't have trouble. Canon checked the camera and said it was okay. Strange. I had to set it to manual exposure to get it right.

I'm also buying the 24-70 f2.8 zoom. I'm addicted to f2.8 and the autofocus works so much better with it.... I wince at the price but I had good results with the lens last weekend.

Andy

hey baldy i was thinking ...
you've already got the 70-200. you're getting the 50mm f/1.4. i think you ought to look at the 16-35L f/2.8 over the 24-70. you'll then have 16-35, 50, and 70-200. you're not missing much. and you've got the benefit of that wiiide angle.

just a thought.

Baldy wrote:

Thanks for posting those reviews & pointers to images.

I rented a MKII last weekend and shot 1700 frames with it at a car show and a wedding. I expected to LOVE it and buy one, but....I'm gonna go with the 20D. I have a 10D now that I'll use as a second camera.

The MKII is pretty heavy and big and expensive for what's turning out to be a new-one-every-year purchase. The really big draws for me were the outstanding moving-object autofocus, the fast shooting rate and low mirror blackout time.

But the 20D shoots fast enough for me, the mirror blackout is down from the 10D, and the indications are the autofocus is better. At least they talk the talk about it, so I'm hopeful.

I really had a tough time with the MKII on autoexposure and with ETTL II. Strangely, we shot with a 10D as well on the same settings and didn't have trouble. Canon checked the camera and said it was okay. Strange. I had to set it to manual exposure to get it right.

I'm also buying the 24-70 f2.8 zoom. I'm addicted to f2.8 and the autofocus works so much better with it.... I wince at the price but I had good results with the lens last weekend.

zero-zero

andy wrote:

you've already got the 70-200. you're getting the 50mm f/1.4. i think you ought to look at the 16-35L f/2.8 over the 24-70.

Baldy

andy wrote:

you've already got the 70-200. you're getting the 50mm f/1.4. i think you ought to look at the 16-35L f/2.8 over the 24-70. you'll then have 16-35, 50, and 70-200. you're not missing much. and you've got the benefit of that wiiide angle.

just a thought.

When I spoke to you via phone I was leaning away from the 24-70 towards the 50mm prime to get the extra light, but I'm leaning back towards the 24-70 instead. Moving around my daughter's reception, it was pretty handy to be able to go all the way to 24 but still be able to come up on people with a 70.

And I'm a little spooked about focus on the f/1.4. Think I'm crazy?

pathfinder

Baldy wrote:

When I spoke to you via phone I was leaning away from the 24-70 towards the 50mm prime to get the extra light, but I'm leaning back towards the 24-70 instead. Moving around my daughter's reception, it was pretty handy to be able to go all the way to 24 but still be able to come up on people with a 70.

And I'm a little spooked about focus on the f/1.4. Think I'm crazy?

I bought a Tamron 28-75 f2.8 DI originally for my 10D, thinking I would use it some of the time. I actually found that I used it 75% of the time and I have lenses from very wide to very long. The mid range zoom is just SO handy, for exactly the reason you mentioned. Wide enough and long enough indoors or out side. The 24-70 L is qutie a bit larger and heavier than the 50mm f1.4 tho...
I was so impressed by the mid range zoom I went ahead and ponied up for the Canon 24-70 L. What a sweet lens. Wide enough for nice wide angles ( especially on a 1D) and long enough for head shots. With your second body and a 70-200 you'll definitely be in business Baldy.

I also own a 50mm f1.4 - nice, sharp, focuses ok, but only used when I really need f1.4 which is infrequently as ISO 800 is so useable on the newer DSLRs. Hve you considered the 85 f1.2 or f1.8 for the faster aperatures?

mercphoto

50mm

Baldy wrote:

And I'm a little spooked about focus on the f/1.4. Think I'm crazy?

I have the 50mm 1.4 and I love it. Remarkable image quality. But I've found it doesn't like to auto-focus in poor light, which I think is actually the dRebel's fault, not the lens. Unsure.

But at 1.4 focus is very crucial. Depth of field will be really, really small, so focus is very critical. I nearly never use it wide open, but I've done several outdoor portraits at f2.0, for example, with great results.

Patrick

Deals on 10D? Used? Newbie here
So the 20D is the new hot set up but any thoughts on getting a
leftover 10D at a bargain price? I've seen several for sale over
on Craig's list and I've also seen a couple lower prices in the mags
from the New York Camera Mafia ads too.

What about a nice used example?

Whats the best course here?

I have borrowed a friends 10D and am mightly impressed.
I'm afraid to even pick up the 20, I think for my uses
a lower priced 10D would be fine.

Whats the favorite Canon lens around here. I like the D70
Nikon 18 to 85mm (??) range. I noticed Canon Zooms cover
a more narrow range and have a higher conversion rate.
Thoughts?

wxwax

Hi Patrick, welcome aboard.

The mass selling of 10D's has begun, and may well pick up speed when the 20D is actually available. I would imagine the prices would come down. I'm a big believer in buying used gear, it's worked well for me so far.

As I'm sure you know, Canon has a really wide selection of lenses, with all sorts of zoom ranges. The D70's 1.5 magnification duer to sensor size is only slightly down from the 10 and 20D's 1.6 magnification. I'm quite sure you can find comparable lenses to suit your needs, from Canon's range.

Which camera should you choose. I'd say read the reviews, handle the cameras, and figure out if the 10D will meet your specific needs. If it does, you'll get a very competent camera at what could be a very nice price.

mercphoto

10d
Canon has a 24-85 lens that is near the Nikon you were referring to. They also have a new EF-S lens, the 17-85, that includes USM and IS. Will only fit the 300D and the 20D. So if you go a used 10D route it won't work. Go the used 300D route it will.

digismile

The 20D is Sweeeet!
I had the opportunity to try the 20D tonight and test the ISO 1600 for noise. The shots look great. The noise was significantly improved (decreased) over my 10D.

But the feature that is most appealing is the increased buffer and virtually instant start up time. Didn`t get to try the autofocus on any action shots, but I`ve read that it`s better. Lots of other little ergonomic improvements will make this model even more popular than the 10D. Now I want to upgrade !!!

If my dealer won`t give me a good price on trade-in, I`ll post my 10D here. Mint condition.

Brad

wxwax

That low noise sounds great!

patch29

Robgalbraith.com has a front page article stating that Canon is on scheduled with the 20D production. It states cameras should start arriving to dealers the week of September 13th. They also state it will probably be two months before the camera are in readily available supply.

Who will be the first to get theirs?

Andy

mine is on order from tallyn's

patch29 wrote:

Robgalbraith.com has a front page article stating that Canon is on scheduled with the 20D production. It states cameras should start arriving to dealers the week of September 13th. They also state it will probably be two months before the camera are in readily available supply.

Who will be the first to get theirs?

i hope to have it in a week or two

gubbs

Forgive my ignorance, but could someone explain the various canon lens types (ie L S etc....) and thier compatablity with the various models particularly the Rebel /10D /20D

Thanks

Andy

canon lenses and compatibility

gubbs wrote:

Forgive my ignorance, but could someone explain the various canon lens types (ie L S etc....) and thier compatablity with the various models particularly the Rebel /10D /20D

Thanks

sure

canon ef lenses - compatible with all of canon's digital slrs
canon ef-s lenses - made for digitial only, and currently only for 300D and 20D
canon l lenses - their topshelf models, best optical quality they make. compatible with all canon digitial slrs

gubbs

Thanks andy

It's getting very tempting, lots of 10d's coming up on FM, the prices seem to have started to drift down already!

mercphoto

entry level pro slr
Robgalbraith.com calls the 20D an "entry-level pro digital SLR". Aside from pixel count, what is it that separates a 1 series digital from a 10D? And does the 20D have the features to really be considered low-end "pro" ?

Andy

mercphoto wrote:

Robgalbraith.com calls the 20D an "entry-level pro digital SLR". Aside from pixel count, what is it that separates a 1 series digital from a 10D? And does the 20D have the features to really be considered low-end "pro" ?

depends. pro fine art? one of my biggest selling prints came from a 5mpx sony point and shoot (dsc-p10). pro sports? well, the canon mk2 is a pro camera for that use. so's the fast nikon.

i know lots of pros who use "non-pro" cameras. bah! use what gets the job done for you, and don't worry 'bout who says what camera is "pro" or not.

mercphoto

20D Samples
I've been looking at a lot of 20D samples. Seems like they are all AWB and all large-fine JPG in-camera. Nothing raw and processed. Is this true, and if so does it impress others like it does me?