Canon EOS 40D Review
2 September, 2007 by Roland Lim
*** Update 16th Sept 2007 - I have now added a new 40D gallery processed with Adobe Lightroom. You can view it here.
*** Update 16th Sept 2007 - I have tested out the 40D’s continuous shooting performance with a Sandisk Ultra II CF card and have updated the review. I thought it would be interesting to compare the result from this old relatively “slow” card by by today’s standard with one of the fast CF cards widely available nowadays. Please scroll down to read it.
*** Update 15th Sept 2007 - I have tested out the 40D’s continuous shooting performance with a fast CF card and have updated the review with a section near the end of the review. Please scroll down to read it.
*** Update 8th Sept 2007 - I have now added a section on “high ISO speed noise reduction test” comparing high ISO crops with noise reduction off and & on. You can scroll down to near the end of the review for this section.
*** Update 5th Sept 2007 - I have added a section for high ISO 100% crops comparison between the 20D and 40D due to many request. please scroll down to see the new section. I will also add more photos to the sample gallery later tonight.
Hong Kong was one of the first places to get the new 40D and I managed to get one soon after it hit the streets. I have previously written some initial impressions and did some test shots. I will leave the comprehensive technical review to publications like dpreview.com. I will be mainly concentrating on the design changes compared to the 20D/30D and new features and improvement in the 40D. After hearing many comments and questions, I hope this review will answer most of them. I will be mainly using my old 20D for comparison purposes. However, the 30D is identical to the 20D in many ways other than a larger LCD and addition of spot metering, most differences between these 2 cameras are very minor. So most of the comparison will apply to the 30D as well.The main changes and improvement with the 40D according to Canon are:-
1. 10.1MP APS-C CMOS sensor, compared to the 8.2MP APS-C CMOS sensor in the 20D/30D.
2. 3 or 6.5fps continuous shooting, compared to 3 or 5 fps in 30D and 5fps in 20D. Canon also claimed 30% greater focusing speed with the 40D.
3. 75 jpeg or 17 RAW burst, compared to 30 jpeg or 11 RAW with 30D and 23 jpeg or 6 RAW with 20D.
4. New AF sensors, 9 sensors, all cross-type, compared to 9 AF sensors only center sensor is cross-type in 20D/30D
5. Digic III image processor, Digic II in 20D /30D
6. 3″ LCD 230,000 pixels, 2.5″ 230,000 pixels LCD in 30D and 1.8″ 118,000 pixels in 20D
7. Live View mode.
8. Automatic sensor cleaning.
9. Increased size in viewfinder view.
10. Interchangeable focusing screen.
External appearance
The 40D is bigger and heavier than the 20D and 30D. You can see the difference in the following photos with the 40D next to the 20D.
The 40D looks even bigger with the battery grip attached
The most obvious difference at the back is of course the huge 3″ LCD of the 40D compared to the tiny 1.8″ LCD of the 20D. The difference of course is smaller compared with the 2.5″ LCD of the 30D. The layout of the buttons is different from 20D and 30D.
The most obvious change in external appearance compared to the 20D (and partially with the 30D) is of course the huge 3″ LCD at the back of the camera.
Changes in features and design
Besides different buttons layout on the back of the 40D compared with the 20D and 30D, there is a new AF-ON button now.
The AF-ON button has many functions.
- in the creative zones (P, Tv, Av, M and A-DEP modes), pressing the AF-ON button will have the same effect as pressing the shutter button halfway
- holding down the AF-ON button in Live View mode will lift the mirror and activate autofocus
The AF-ON button can perform different function depending on custom setting:-
a) during autofocusing, you can press the AF-ON button to stop autofocusing
b) in AI Servo mode, you can press AF-ON button to repeated start and stop AI Servo AF operation
c) press AF-ON button to meter and autofocus, and press the shutter button halfway to attain AE lock
d) you can disable the function of the AF-ON button
There are some obvious changes on the top of the camera too. The top LCD on the 20D and 30D does not permanently display the ISO setting, you need to press the ISO button before you can see the ISO setting. On the 40D, ISO setting is now permanently displayed. the layout of the buttons are slightly different too. ISO is now controlled by the right side button. On the 20D and 30D, ISO is controlled by the middle button.
The most obvious change with the shooting mode dial on the left side of the 40D is the addition of 3 camera user settings.
The hotshoe on the top is now stainless steel rather than black painted. The black paint of the hotshoe of the 20D and 30D would partially wear off. The new stainless steel hotshoe should be more hard wearing.
The 40D is now partially environmentally sealed. You can see the seal around the CF compartment. The material is a kind of “felt” rather than rubber.
The seal around the battery compartment is on the small removable door. The seal material is also made of felt.
You can use the rear 3″ LCD to display settings (as on the top LCD), like in the EOS 400D. Of course the EOS 400D does not have a top LCD to display settings.
Viewfinder improvement
According official Canon literature, the viewfinder view of the 40D is bigger and better than 20D and 30D:-
“The upgraded viewfinder increases optical magnification from 0.90x to 0.95x, expands the viewing angle from 25.1 degrees to 26.4 degrees and raises the eye point from 20mm to 22mm.”
Well, I have no way of objectively measuring the size of the viewfinder, but my subjective impression comparing with the 20D is that, the viewfinder view is definitely larger. The following diagram represents my VERY SUBJECTIVE comparison of the sizes of the viewfinder view between the 40D and 20D.
REMEMBER THIS IS ONLY A ROUGH SUBJECTIVE PERSONAL ESTIMATION!
One other major improvement with the viewfinder is that, ISO value is permanently displayed inside the viewfinder just like aperture and shutter speed. I would think this is a pretty low tech feature, but previously, Canon in their infinite wisdom, only kept this feature for their professional 1 series cameras.
Image Playback
There are some changes in image playback in the 40D, compared to the 20D and 30D.
Probably because of the increase to 3″, shutter speed, aperture and folder-file number are displayed even in the most basic review mode, a feature not present on either 20D or 30D
Press the INFO button once and the view include include image recording quality
Press the INFO button again will change the view to shooting information and B&W histogram
Press the INFO button once more, and you will get color and luminance histogram. Color histogram was not available in the 20D. In the 30D, luminance histogram cannot be displayed together with color histogram.
Auto ISO
One the new features in the 40D is the inclusion of auto ISO. I personally do not like using Auto ISO as I always prefer to set ISO myself. But for those who want to use auto ISO, the following will tell you how auto ISO behaves in different shooting mode. I have tested auto ISO in different modes and can confirm they behave as stated by Canon.
In most of the auto shooting modes in the BASIC zone (Full Auto, Landscape, Close-up, Night Portrait,Flash Off), ISO speed is set automatically within ISO 100-800.
In the Sports shooting mode, ISO is set between 400-800.
In the Portrait shooting mode, ISO is fixed at 100.
In P, Av and A-DEP modes, The ISO will be set between 400-800. If overexposure would result at ISO 400, a lower ISO, as low as ISO 100 will be set.
In Tv mode, normally ISO 400 is set. For very bright or dark scenes, ISO will be set automatically within 100-800.
In M mode, ISO is fixed at 400
With flash, ISO will be set to 400 in all shooting modes. If overexposure would occur, a lower ISO ,as low as ISO 100, will be set.
Automatic Sensor Cleaning
Predictably, Canon has added this feature to the 40D, as it has been already included in the low end 400D since last year.
The automatic sensor cleaning operates every time you turn the camera on and off. You can also activate sensor cleaning at any time in the menu.
If automatic sensor cleaning cannot remove all the dust, you have to option to take a “dust map” and let the software during post-processing to remove the erase the dust spots in the images during post-processing. Unfortunately, this only works with Digital Photo Professional and not with any 3rd party RAW conversion software.
Shutter/Mirror Noise
The 20D has a very loud shutter/mirror noise. The 40D shutter mirror noise is much quieter. The quality of the noise is different too. The 20D noise sounded like a very loud “CLARRK”. The 40D sounded like a subdued “claff“. As I don’t have a sound meter, I can’t give you an objective measure, but subjectively, I would say the shutter/mirror noise of the 40D is about 30% volume of the 20D. Overall, a very welcome reduction.
Changes in Menu Structure
The menu structure has changed compared to the 20D/30D. In the 20D/30D, after you press the MENU button to access the camera’s menu, all the different choices are arranged in one long list and you turn the large scroll wheel ( Quick control dial) on the back of the camera to find the item you want.
In the 40D, the items are now broken up into different parts, which you can first select and access by either using the Multi-controller at the back of the camera or the Main Dial behind the shutter release button.
Internal Flash Settings
One new and little known or publicized feature of the 40D is that there is a separate menu for flash function settings for the internal flash. You can set curtain sync to 1st or 2nd curtain, use Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) and set different metering mode for ETTL-II. Since there is another menu for external flash, you can now now have different flash function settings for the internal and external flash since there are 2 separate independent menus.
Camera User Settings
The 40D has 3 custom user settings. You can preset a certain set of shooting modes and custom function to one of the three Custom User Setting position (C1, C2, C3 on the shooting mode dial). Say you can set M shooting mode, Long Exposure Noise Reduction and Mirror Lock Up in the custom menu and then register this combination to one of the 3 Custom User Setting position. So for example, you can have one set of setting for shooting long exposure night photography and set it ti C1. Another set of setting for shooting fast action sport and set it to C2 and yet another set of setting for shooting portrait and set it to C3.
My Menu Setting
You can select up to 6 of your most commonly used menus or custom functions and register it to your My Menu setting.
Live View
One of the new features in the 40D is Live View. You will need to first make the appropriate settings in the custom menu before you can use Live View.
To enable autofocus in Live View, you will also have to make enable it in the custom menu.
Once you have made the correct setting in the custom menu, you can activate Live View at any time by simply pressing the SET button.
There is a small rectangle which you can freely move around. This rectangle represents the area which you can magnify by up to 10x to assist with accurate manual focusing.
To use autofocus during Live View, you will need to have set AF to the center focusing point only. Simply press and hold the AF-ON button for a second or so until you hear a “beep”, then release the button again. The camera will lower the mirror to get autofocus and raise the mirror again after you release the AF-ON button.
A few words about “Silent Shooting” mode in Live View. Silent in Silent mode does NOT really mean silent as in no sound at all. Silent in silent mode is really just a “quieter” mode or “delayed” noise mode. There are 2 Silent shooting modes.
In mode 1, you can shoot single shoot or continuously for up to 6 shots per second. Since the mirror is up, there is only the shutter noise, which is probably subjectively around 30-40% of the usual shutter+mirror noise. In mode 1, if you shoot continuously, you lose Live View as long as you are shooting.
In mode 2, you can only shoot single shot. When you press on the shutter release button the camera will take the shot with minimal noise. SO long as you keep your finger on the shutter release button, there will not be any shutter noise. The moment you release your finger though, the shutter noise will occur. This maybe the preferred mode to use if you are trying to shoot an insect or animal that may be scared away but the shutter noise. By delaying the shutter noise, you will be able to get your shot before the shutter sound will scare away your subject.
Highlight Tone Priority
This is a new feature in the 40D. As the term suggests, it is supposed to preserve highlight detail better. According to the information in the instruction manual, enabling this feature “Improves the highlight detail. The dynamic range is expanded from the standard 18% gray to bright highlights. The gradation between between the grays and highlights becomes smoother.”
To enable this feature, you have to set make the setting in the custom menu.
With Highlight Tone Priority enabled, the ISO setting will be limited to 200-1600. ISO 100 and 3200 will not be available.
I have made some shots to test out this new feature. the following shot was shot with Highlight Tone Priority disabled, the subsequent shot was shot with Highlight Tone Priority enabled.
I can see a subtle increase in detail in the clouds in the second photo. I have taken other test shots for which I could not detect any difference between the photo with this feature enabled and the one without. For the moment, I have to say the effect of Highlight Tone Priority is subtle at best and the effect can quite easily to achieved during post-processing. However, I will reserve judgment until I have time to test out this feature more thoroughly.
Autofocus
Probably due to the fact that all 9 autofocus sensors are cross-type sensors in the 40D, autofocus with the peripheral sensors have much improved over the 20D/30D especially under low-light low or low contrast situation. Previously, with the 20D, it was very difficult to get the focus to lock on with the peripheral sensors under lowlight or low contrast scenes. The focusing would hunt quite a bit before being able to find a focus, sometimes, it would be impossible to focus with the peripheral sensors at all. With the 40D, all the peripheral sensors locked on focus almost instantly even under low light or low contrast scenes.
I have tested out the focus tracking using AI Servo mode and found the focus tracking to be good.
The following are 2 test sequences using AI servo. The first sequence showed tracking of bicycle.
The following sequence showed a car coming towards me. Note that autofocus was not fooled by the barrier on the side and there was a woman crossing the road at the end of the sequence and she did not affect autofocus on the car.
40D vs 20D test photos ISO 100 to 3200
I have gone through most of the important new and updated features of the 40D. In this section, I will post some test shots of 40D at different ISO settings with comparison to similar shots by 20D. In the following sequence, 20D will always be the first shot and 40D will be the subsequent shot.
ISO 100
ISO 200
ISO 400
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
ISO 100
ISO 200
ISO 400
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
High ISO 100% crop comparison
Due to many requests for 100% crop comparsion between the 2 cameras at high ISO, I have added this section. I have done 100% crops for ISO 800 to 3200. 20D crops are on the left side and 40D crops are on the right side
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
High ISO Speed Noise Reduction Test
The 40D has a new custom function that allows you to set noise reduction for high ISO. I have made some test shots comparing shots from ISO 800 to 3200 with noise reduction off and on. The following are 100% crops, the left side crops had noise reduction turned off and right side crops had noise reduction turned on.
ISO 800
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
New BG-E2N Battery Grip
40D can use and is fully compatible with the old BG-E2 battery grip. However, Canon has replaced the BG-E2 grip now with a new BG-E2N battery grip. This new grip can be used on the 20D, 30D or 40D.
Actually, from what I can see, there is no difference between the new and the old grip other than a provision for environmental seal around the battery compartment. There is no AF-ON on the new BG-E2N grip. The AF-ON button is only available on the new WFT-E3 wireless file transmitter grip. If you are keeping your 20D or 30D with the old grip attached, and you need a new grip for the 40D, then it’s fine to buy the new grip to go with the 40D. But if you have a spare BG-E2 grip lying around doing nothing, then you don’t really need to buy the new BG-E2N grip.
You can see the new and old grip together in the following shots.
In the old grip, there is no environmental seal around the battery compartment.
You can clearly see the environmental seal around the door of the battery compartment
Continuous Shooting buffer Performance
Canon officially quotes a 6.5fps continuous shooting performance of 75 jpeg or 17 RAW burst.
I have just bought a fast CF card today, a Kingston 8GB 266X Ultimate. I managed to shoot a continuous burst of 22 RAW burst before the buffer was filled and shooting slowed down. When I switched to jpeg, the 40D just continued shooting at 6.5fps without slowing down at all. It just went on and on and way past the official 75 jpeg burst. I decided to lift my finger off the shutter release anyway since I did not want to waste too many shutter counts. When I checked how many I have shot, I found out that I have actually shot 185 jpeg burst! And the buffer actually was not filled yet and I could have continued shooting at 6.5fps if I wanted. My guess is that, if you use a fast CF card, you can probably shoot continuously at 6.5fps until the card is full.
I tried the same test with my old Sandisk Ultra II 4G CF card, a relatively slow card by today’s standard. The 40D shot a continuous burst of 20 RAW before the buffer was filled and shooting slowed down, 2 RAW burst less than with the Kingston 8GB 266X Ultimate. Still better than the official specifications quoted by Canon though. When I witched to jpeg, the 40D just continued shooting at 6.5fps without any signs of slowing down. Again even though there was no sign of the buffer filling up, I decided to lift my finger from the shutter release as I did not want to waste too many shutter counts. I found out that I have shot a burst of 181 jpeg burst, and remember that was not the limit as I could have continued shooting.
Overall, I think this is exemplary continuous shooting performance with the 40D.
40D Gallery
I will post some sample shots from the 40D here. They have only been resized and sharpened. No other post-processing was done. I will add to this gallery later when I have time.
You can see additional sample shots at the 40D gallery here.
*** Update - I have now added a new 40D gallery processed with Adobe Lightroom, you can view it here.
Conclusion
Personally, I think Canon has done a good job with the 40D and has upgraded and added many new useful features. Image quality wise, I don’t think there is any significant differences between the 40D and 30D/20D. There is little difference in real resolution between a 10MP and 8MP sensor. In my opinion, Canon has managed to maintain the high ISO noise level while increasing the megapixel count. However, there was no major breakthrough in technology and the 40D is not lower in high ISO noise than the 20D or 30D. I have previously done some high ISO test comparing the 40D to 20D. You can see them here if you have not seen them yet:-
Canon 40D vs 20D high ISO test
Canon 40D vs 20D ISO 1600 Comparison
Overall, I think the 40D provide a nice feature upgrade over the 20D and 30D and at an attractive price. Whether it is worthwhile for you to upgrade to the 40D is something only you can decide for yourself. For me, I am really happy with the 40D. However, my 20D is still working fine and can still take great photos. So I will be keeping my 20D as a 2nd and spare body.
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Thanks for the review. Very well done.
Thanks a lot for your review! I really appreciate your efforts.
Sascha
Great review,
As a 30D user i found this information very usefull, now as for the upgrade choice……Mmmmmm !
Thanks!
This is a very nice review. I just got my 40D and have not had the chance to use it yet. I also have a 20D but did not think the 30D was enought of a upgrade to go to it. The 40D added several features that I saw as a reason to upgrade. Plus my 20D is over 100,000 actuation so I know it will need a shutter soon.
Even though I have not used my 40D yet your review makes me feel like I am glad I got it.
Thanks for all the work you put into this.
Nicely done, well thought out review. certainly makes me want to upgrade to the 40D.
Thanks a lot for the detailed review!!
Roland,
Thanks so much for the review. It seems pretty “real world” and shows much of wnat the 40d can do.
I like it!
Cheers
Jules
Great review! Thanks so much for your thorough work.
I do have a couple suggestions. I believe that the word “not” is missing from this sentence (between does and really):
“Silent in Silent mode does really mean silent as in no sound at all.”
I believe that the highlight mode has the greatest effect when there is an exceptionally bright element in the shot that would otherwise be blown or lose detail (others have demonstrated this in this manner–oddly, they have also shown it brings out some shadow detail as which probably explains why it cuts both top and bottom ISO options).
The ISO comparisons all look great, but it would be more informative to have some 100% crops so we can see the grain and detail. I know you did this with the apples, but those don’t seem to be up at the moment.
I hope that this is helpful. I realize that I have put three paragraphs into criticism and only one on praise, but you really deserve a huge amount of praise for your kindness in helping us appreciate this new camera and for the amount and quality of your effort.
Kindest regards,
Steven
Many thanks for the comprehensive review. It was quite thorough and definately makes me want a 40D. I am currently using a 300D so it will be a major upgrade. Can you let us know what the price in Hong Kong is at the moment?
Nice Roland!
Would be easier to compare ISO images if they were side-by-side though.
John V.
nice
What happened to the pictures?
Hi Steven,
Thanks for the suggestions. I have corrected the mistake and added the “not”. It’s hard to proof read all by oneself
I did say I needed more time to experiment with Highlight Tone Preserve mode to make final judgment.
A lot of people are obsessed with high ISO noise and image quality. Although I totally agree that it is an important element and quality, but I didn’t want to concentrate too much on high ISO, I have done the comparison already, so that’s why I only posted resized shots at different ISO. Anyway, if there are great interest in the high ISO crops, I may do that later when I have time.
hi Des,
The street price of the 40D is between HK$8,300 to $8,800.
Hi John,
I know it would be easier to compare ISO images side by side, but I am limited by the layout of WordPress to not more than 500 pixels wide. If I put the pics side by side, I would have to make them much smaller in size.
I am sorry that some of you seemed to be having problems seeing the photos. This could be because this is becoming a very popular post and is putting a lot of train on my photo hosting site. The stat at my hosting site showed that my bandwidth has reached over 41,000 Mbytes and is growing very fast.
I am sure you will see the photos if you give it another try later.
Many thanks for such a wonderful review!
I do have an additional question. I’ve seen some of your amazing live music shots in the past. I usually take alot of concert shots as well where the lighting is very limited at times.
As it seems that the 40d has less iso sensitivity, but has improved autofocusing, which camera between the 30d/40d would you say would have the advantage for low light/concert type shots?
Thanks!
Hi Sam,
I really can’t tell you for sure at the moment. I’ll have to wait till I go to the next concert shoot and try out the 40D before I can give you a definitve answer. But my gut feeling is that, I don’t think the 40D will be any worse than the 20D for low light concert shoot.
[...] Tout chaud: Canon EOS 40D Review « The World According to Roland [...]
I am thinking about upgrading from my Canon XT to a Canon 40D. However, I recently read a news piece on the new sensor configuratiob developed by Kodak, ‘High sensitivty pattern sensor’.
So before I decide to purchase the 40D I am interested to know whether Canon is likely to use this new sensor format in any model releases in 2008.
Damian
Hi Damian,
I doubt if that will ever happen as Canon makes all the DSLR sensors themselves. So they will not be buying any sensors from Kodak.
Thanks for the review, nicely done. The upgrade nonetheless is very minimal and offers features one would expect in the next XTi, not the 40D. Unfortunately, the competition has left Canon in the dust and they can’t even see it.
Thanks! Nice review, I received mine yesterday and plan to use it for astrophotography. I notice when you activate live view at night or with the lens cap on that there is a hot red pixel on my lcd. Is that normal or within tolerance or should I send the camera back for another?
Great review! Thanks for taking the time to put this together. I was particularly interested in the image quality differences with the 12-bit vs. 14-bit DIGIC processors.
Hmmmm. No photos, just red x for each one.
Nice review. I just wanted to see if you cared to correct the JPG buffer depth on the 40D; I think it’s 75, no?
[...] 40D - Want One? 2 09 2007 Hong Kong based Roland has written an awesome review of the new Canon EOS 40d. If you’re a wp.com blogger you’ve probably already seen (or ignored) it but I wanted [...]
Hi Roland,
Great Review and I was lucky enough to see the photos before it they went blank.
It’s finally great to read something positive and productive news about Canon’s new 40D. I’m impressed with the results you have shown and am glad I have one soon to arrive in the next few days.
The pictures you took were they all at the camera’s default settings?
If not could you provide any in camera adjustments you may had made.
Have you shot any JPEG photos and if so what is your take on the in camera processing for JPEG?
[...] Canon EOS 40D Review  *** Due to overwhelming popularity of this post, my photo hosting site have received too much traffic and blocked my […] [...]
great review roland. i can\’t wait to get my 40D (i can finally access your website using a proxy)
we dont have it in Malaysia yet…if its a good buy and the features are cool, I will get it….
Thank you very much for the review!! it is quite interesting to know all about the differences between those 2 great cameras!
I will definitely come back around when the photos you posted can be seen.
Thank you for sharing this!!
Hi … thanks for the review. Did you compare the sensitivity/exposure of the 20D and 40D ? I recently upgraded my 300D to 40D, and I found the pictures from 40D is slightly darker compared to picture from 300D, for the same light, iso, and setting. Did you find the same thing ?
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Thanks for the review. Very well done.
Certainly makes me want to upgrade to the 40D.
Thanks for taking the time to put this together.
First ever review done for 40D that are non technical and easy down to earth reading…
great job…
Tommy,
I suspect the difference between cameras on many of the other ISO comparisons showing up is due to the fact that older Canon bodies were over sensitive by about 1/3 stop. This has been well documented back to at least the 20D where indicated ISO100 was roughly equal to actual ISO125, and ISO200 = ISO250, etc.
This difference (if corrected) would make the 40D about 1/3 stop underexposed in ISO tests when using identical settings to a 20D/30D.
Excellent review/comparison!
As always, you dwelve deep into the matter and present the core / unbias facts.
The information is invaluable and your personal thoughts are very much appreciated. In a time and place when doubts are formed, it’s nice to know that someone of your calibur can provide realistic results with solid expectation and evaluation.
Thanks for sharing!
James Pan
Thanks for the sample pictures, especially those AI Servo ones.
Thanks for the review. I have clung onto my 10D ever since it was first introduced and now feel the irresistible urge to jump to the 40D. Being only an amateur (can’t get paid for my pictures) I can’t afford the Mark III so I guess I will have to “settle” for the 40D. However, by all accounts the 40D is much better than the 5D save for the 1.6x lens mag. Your review has made my upgrade decision much easier. ^^
the review is greatly appreciated, especially since i am looking for a new camera for an upcoming charity bike trip from germany to china. your review was highly informative and not of the typical kind, giving a straight-forward opinion. again, thanks so much. http://www.cyclingwithoutborders.org. Markus
[...] has posted a fairly exhaustive Canon 40D review on his blog. It made the front page of WordPress.com which is where I found it. Must resist [...]
Hi Roland. Thanks for the review! It’s great and very helpful. I’m waiting on my 40D. Might take a couple weeks to swim to Honolulu. Anyway, just a minor correction. You mentioned that FEC is among the new popup flash features of the 40D not on the 20D. Actually FEC works on the 20D popup flash as well. I need to keep it at +2/3 FEC to avoid underexposure!–Peter
Good Honest Review, I have upgraded from a 30D to a 40D and well worth it, just for the improved AF in all Conditions, and brighter and larger viewfinder
[...] Regresso agora, com esta análise à nova proposta da Canon. [...]
Nice review Roland, thanks. I am also upgrading from my trusty old 20D (now sold) so looking forward to the new camera. However for me the 40D will just be an interim body til Canon finally release the 5D MkII (4D?). Which will probably be a FF version of the 40D, unless they finally go the whole hog and release the mythical “3D” body…
Hi,
Thanks for the excellent review.
One question:
When viewing captured images from memory card, when you zoom all the way in, does it show actual 100% crop on the lcd screen?
The 400d for instance doesn’t and it is quite an annoyance especially when I want to make sure I got the focus 100% right.
Best,
Erez
[...] Source [...]
Thanks, that was what I was looking for - good job!
Great review! Thank you very much.
Is it me or I can’t supersize the ISO test shots. It would be nice to see 100% crop. Would you mind adding it?
Good review otherwise
Upload the photos to WordPress.com .. no bandwith issues here!
Great review and great camera. I wonder when this will be available in Malaysia. Otherwise, I will have to buy it when I’m next in Hong Kong. Can wait to use it for my next photo shoot in the Malaysian jungle.
Awesome review !!! keep up the good work. peace.
Roland:
Thanks so much. Great job. I was hyped when the initial 40d announcements broke and actually reserved one on Amazon. Then all th negatives and I canceled my order. I’m off the fence now and waiting for my new 40d. I’ve still got my old 10d as a back-up for a 20d. The 20d will now take a backseat to the 40d. There just wasn’t anything that made me even close to pulling the trigger on a 30d. My 20d has served me well, but it needs a breather.
Thanks again for taking the time to do such a comprehensive and worth while job.
Fantastic review. Thanks a lot!
nice write up of the review. im waiting for one here in canada to arrive for me to order. one thing to meantion that ive read the shutter noise on the 20d/30d has spring return were as the 40d is a mechanical up/down less noisey. just adding to what ive read. hopefully i be taking some pics soon since my g3 died on me with a lense lockup/damage
Great review
Hi Roland,
Thanks for a very informative review on the 40D- the effort that you put forward is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Robert
[...] This is perhaps the first in-depth Canon EOS 40D review posted by a user, hence no bias review. Thanks to Ronald Lim, a photographer in Hong Kong, he got his hands on one, just one week after the launch. Enjoy reading from The World According to Ronald. [...]
great review! im looking forward to upgrading into either the canon 40D or the nikon d300
thnx for the information regarding the canon 40D 
Hi Roland -
Nei ho mah?
Thanks for the excellent in depth review.
You may have run afoul of the limits of your photo sharing service by the repetitive multiple exposures. The man on the bike, and the traffic sequence are no doubt the main reasons for the daily limits being crossed so quickly.
This was a good lesson for utilizing a first and last deployment of the images. We would gladly accept your comments as gospel rather than a depiction of multiple exposures of every photo taken.
Having said that, it was nice to see something of the 61m Kowloon bus route again.
Mgoi.
JMM
Hi JMM,
I moved all the photos in this review article including all the bike and traffic sequence and I still reached over limit and my Fotki account has been blocked again today.
The problem is that Fotki does not mention anything about traffic limit in their joining page, premium membership information page or terms of service page. Then when a problem happened then they tell you that this rule is buried deep inside a tiny sub-clause in their mountain of pages of help files.
8th paragraph under Live View, this sentence has two typos:
“This maybe the preferred mode to use if you are trying to shoot an insect or animal that may be scared away but the shutter noise.”
Should read, “This >>may be<>by<< the shutter noise.”
I’m an old-timer who has been shooting a 10D for years. The one thing that I am most interested in with this new generation is the potential effect of the 14-bit color channels. I (and others) have a chronic problem with bright, highly-saturated reds getting blown, and I’m hoping that 14-bits of color data may finally fix that problem. Does anyone know?
[...] This guy has a massive review of the new Canon 40D. [...]
did you notice any difference in the tonal range of images as a result of 14bit image capture in the 40D vs. 12bit image capture in the 20/30D?
[...] and Read More: Roland Lim & [...]
Thank you for the review, clearly a lot of time spent getting all the facts I was after. Owning a 300D I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these!
Thanks.
Thanks for the excellent, comprehensive review. Couple of suggestions, especially in view of the bandwidth problem:
1. The long test sequence of the auto-focusing tracking can probably be reduced to 3 or 4 pictures with losing any useful information. (By my count there are 27 shots of the taxi).
2. For th 40D vs 20D comparison, it may be more useful to post “100% crops” rather than down-sized, full images, as the latter is unable to show the noise and other degradations at high ISO.
Really appreciate your effort and time. Too bad the 40D is not available here in Canada yet.
Well done, great blog and great posts!!!
Hello and Thanks!
would you say the center af is better/more accurate then the 20d? I sometimes feel like I miss sharp shots when I shoot at 1.4. if the af is better I’m going to order the 40d.
James
Great Review, so far I’m enjoying my 40d. But keep up the good work!
Feels like the whole DPreview gang is here
I really like your banner
Nice job
Is there a wordPress template that allows for wider photos?
Just asking, think there is a need for this kinda of template
[...] ++ 1. review auf dem web ++ [...]
Hi tommyleong,
Thanks! I am glad you like my banner. It is actually from a photo I took at Universal studio at Osaka Japan.
WordPress don’t really have significantly wider template. I template limits photos to 500 pixels width. There maybe one or two that goes slightly over around 530 pixels or so. But no really wide template unfortunately.
Roland,
Thanks - this review is very helpful.
Regards,
Leo from Hong Kong
I heard 40D added the IS (Image Stabiliser) on the body, is it true ?
Hi quah,
No, the Canon EOS 40D does not have body IS, nor does any other Canon DSLR. However, Canon has relased 2 low cost IS EF-S lenses together with the 40D, the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS and EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS.
It would appear that Canon still preferred to use in lens IS technology rather than in camera IS. they are now filtering the lens IS feature to lower price lenses.
Hi Roland,
Many thanks for your review.
Since the AF speed of the 40D is now some 30% more accurate with all 9 cross- type sensors etc, is AF still available when the lens max aperture is f8 (eg. 400 f5.6 lens with 1.4 tele-converter?)
Excellent review!
Thanks a lot, it really helped me decide on whether to get this camera or not.
All new body & features, 40D have some partly from MarkIII.
Very interesting review!.
I prefered it.
[...] The World According to Roland Personally, I think Canon has done a good job with the 40D and has upgraded and added many new useful features. Image quality wise, I don’t think there is any significant differences between the 40D and 30D/20D. There is little difference in real resolution between a 10MP and 8MP sensor. In my opinion, Canon has managed to maintain the high ISO noise level while increasing the megapixel count. [...]
Great review! For a potential 40D customer, I can’t read enough reviews, and enjoyed yours particularly - very well written, and flowed nicely.
I spotted one mistake though:
“I personally do not like using ISO as I always prefer to set it myself.”
I think that should have been “do not like using auto ISO” … doesn’t make sense otherwise!
That aside, a great review!
Hi David,
Thanks! I corrected the typo. A few readers have helped to correct a number of typos already. I have reread the article myself a few times and I still missed quite a few typos ;-P
Good information - thanks. One correction, the 30D does have a color histogram.
Hi Colin,
Thanks! Actually, I wrote that the 20D does not have a color histogram and the 30D cannot display color histogram together with luminance histogram at the same time. I have rephrase that sentence now to make it clearer.
Nice review. Well done!
Do you think the improvements in the focusing system will eliminate back-focusing, which I have found terribly annoying in the 20D
[...] - Roland’s user review is one of the best out there on the internet. You have two options: read the 40D review posted at his blog, and read the forum discussion thread where he fields questions regarding the [...]
Thanks to everyone who read this review. I am going to try and answer all the backlog of questions today.
Hi John-Pa & Micheal Colby,
So far I haven’t really noticed a huge difference between the 14bit image from 40D and 12bit image from 20D. I will need more time and a lot more shots to be able to make any conclusion as to whether 14 bit really makes a difference.
Hi Terry,
So far, I am very happy with the autofocus on my 40D. Both the center AF point and peripheral points all focused well.
Hi robert sirota
Maybe I have been lucky all along, but I have never had any problem with back focusing on my 20D and 40D with all my mostly Canon and a few Sigma lenses.
Although you do read about back focusing on internet forums once in awhile, I think it still only affects only a small percentage of users.
However, I don’t think the problem of back focusing will be solved by 40D’s new focusing system. The problem of back or front focusing is really an inherent problem with the way autofocus works in both Canon and Nikon system. Otherwise, Canon and Nikon would not have to introduce AF micro-adjustment feature in some of their top end cameras.
To everyone else who requested 100% crops of the high ISO shots,
Although I have resisted to put it in the review, because I believed that high ISO performance is only one aspect of the camera and in real life, people do not pixel peep to view a photo. I will do some 100% crop and add it to the review later tonight due the the frequent request.
hope 40 D with its new and added features will be good and handy — as focusing system is quite annoying in 20D
Hi -
I am still using my 10D with mainly the 17-40L and the 70-200 L F4. Would you recommend to get the 40D as a replacement or go for the more expensive 5D?
I’m interested to hear you views on this.
thanks
Matt
Another question: how about the write speed on the 40D?
I am starting to get more and more irritated by the slow rate of the 10D. What can you say on this topic?
thanks
Matt
Hi Matt,
The 10D is really at least 2 to 3 generations older than the 40D, and things have progressed a lot since then. The write speed of the 10D can’t even compare to the 20D, let alone the 40D. I am only using Sandisk Ultra II cards at moment, and these are only medium speed cards by today’s standard. I have no complaint about write speed even after I shot a large continuous burst. I will probably buy one of the fast cards later to try and see if it makes any difference.
As to whether you should buy a 40D or 5D, there is really no simple answer to that question IMHO. If we take price out of the equation, it is the question of a 1.6x cropped frame camera vs a full frame camera. there will always be endless arguments as to which is better. But my personal believe is that, both cropped frame and full frame have advantages and disadvantages. I think it really depends on what you use the camera for.
In general, if you do portrait, wide angle landscape and shallow DOF photography, then classically, the recommendation would be to go for full frame. if you do telephoto shoot a lot that require more range, like wild life, birds or sports, then a cropped frame camera would give you more range and maybe the preferable choice.
However, the lines are getting really blurred nowadays and often the answer is not as simple as what it seemed. For example, there used to be no ultrawide angle lens for cropped frame cameras and if you put the EF 16-35mm f2.8L on the 10D, it became a 25.6-56mm full frame FOV equivalent lens. However, there are more than one choice of true ultrawide lens for cropped frame cameras. the prime example is the canon EF-S 10-22mm f3.5-4.5. This lens has superb optical quality for an ultrawide lens with low barrel distortion even at 10mm and very good edge resolution. It has arguably even better optical quality than the EF16-35mm f2.8L II.
And if you really want to go for a full frame, then at least you should wait for the 5D replacement.
For me, I am going to keep using my cropped frame 40D and 20D and I will wait for the 5D replacement and probably get that one too. I won’t be giving up my 40D though after I get the 5D replacement. they will complement each other.
The high ISO samples are showing up one above the other instead of left and right for the 20D/30D vs. 40D
Can you confirm which is the 40D?
Excellent review, thank you.
Hi Jack,
I noticed it myself too just a short while ago. The formatting were not working out as planned. Anyway, I have edited it again and the left side crops were from 20D and right side from 40D.
What a nice review, thanks for sharing.
Hi Roland,
seem the 40d has more chroma noise than 20d on the 100% crop. i do admit is a excellent work/review from you.
Thanks for your terrific review. You really got to the heart of it, describing the major changes, and your experience with AF and IQ.
Most folks considering spending this kind of money on a new body can evaluate the button locations and general feel for themselves. You hit all the important stuff.
I’ve been enjoying my old D60 for some time now,, I guess i’s time to warm up the Mastercard!
Great work, thanks.
SS
WPB, FL USA
[...] a été completé aujoud’hui avec en ensemble de photos en le comparer avec un 20d. ISO 1600 et 3200 Canon EOS 40D Review « The World According to Roland un peu decevant quand meme … [...]
[...] aujoud’hui avec en ensemble de photos faites avec un 20d et le 40d . ISO 1600 et 3200 + crop Canon EOS 40D Review « The World According to Roland un peu decevant quand meme … le 20d se bonifie avec l’age luc Dernière modification [...]
This revue was extremely helpful to me. Much more so then the typical camera magazine reviews with a bunch of charts.
I would have liked to see some closer action shots like a basketball game or a soccer game. At these distant moving shots it doesn’t quite convince me things are much better in the autofocus area.
The ISO noise shots are interesting BUT how about real low light situations? Like a dance recital or indoor shots with light striking from one direction only (window for instance).
I ordered my 40D two days ago here in Canada, Man I can’t wait.
Thanks for the review, finally somebody who doesn’t just repeat what the glossy from canon says!
Jack
In addition to my previous reply:
Can you tell us something about the CF2 card requirements in order to get that swift 6.5 frames / second ?
Thanks for sharing your findings!
Jack
Roland
One of the best 40D reviews around, people was searching for something like this, and will really help a lot before for future purchases.
Thanks a lot for your time, building this review, hope you still update it for references in the future If there are firmware updates.
Cheers from Mexico City
Thanks for your excellent work
I would like to know if there wasn’t any mistake in “High ISO 100% crop comparison” ? As Dracula said, it seems that there is more chroma noise on 40d 100% crops…
[Quote: Roland] [...] seem the 40d has more chroma noise than 20d on the 100% crop. i do admit is a excellent work/review from you. [...]
If you are right (what I presume), I will be looking for a 20d !
Whatever… have fun with your 40d ! Damien
Hi Jack,
Within the time I have owned the 40D, I did not have any opportunity to go to any ball games. Anyway, the sequences I shot were just used to demonstrate focus tracking worked rather than was better than 20D and 30D, which I never made any claim for.
There are some low light shots in the 40D sample gallery, you can check them out. I haven’t made any 100% crops for them though.
I am using Sandisk Ultra II (which is only a medium speed card by the standard of today) cards in my 40D and I have no problem shooting at 6.5fps.
Hi Victor,
Thanks! I will keep updating this article with new information when they become available.
Hi Damien,
There was no mistake and I did not mixed up the 100% crops. The left side were from 20D and right side from 40D.
Some people suggested that the 40D crops looked noiser because I had NR off. Anyway, I shot the 40D shots with NR off because that was the default setting. If I had shot the 40D shots with NR on, there might be people saying that it was an unfair comparison since NR was on in the 40D and it was not the native setting.
Anyway, I did the test and you have to draw your own conclusion. Perhaps wait for high ISO test at sites like dpreview.com before making any final conclusion.
Personally, I see no problem with the high ISO shots from 40D at realistic viewing sizes. 100% size pixel peeping is not what normal people would do when viewing a photograph IMHO.
Best review I have seen to date. Thank you. My 40D is on its way from Norman Camera.
Thanks for your hard work in putting all of this together Roland. I have both the 10D and 20D. Sports photography is a major part of what I do with the camera and am excited to see that the 40D appears to be much better at focusing on moving subjects. This problem is most prevalent with cyclists coming at me at 30kmh.
Thanks again.
Jim
http://jimlarsonphotography.com
Thanks for your excellent review. it really great to see the result….what a good news to all the canon user!
i think i will sell my 30d for this haha!
regards,
Robin
http://www.robinng.com/blog
Thanks for the informative review. I was thinking about getting a Canon Rebel XTi and now I have read this, I am wondering if the extra cost is worth going to the 40D.
I would appreciate hearing from you.
Thanks
al
Hi Al,
There is no doubt that the 40D is a much more featured full and better built camera than the Rebel XTi, but it is also almost double the price of the Rebel (at least the street price in Hong Kong is). So whether all the extra features is worth the money is something only an individual user can decide.
For me, I will choose the 40D over Rebel Xti any time, but that’s only my choice. Others may have different priorities and choose differently.
For some people, price may the the primary concern. Also the small size of Rebel maybe an advantage for some, but a disadvantage for others.
Sorry I can’t give you a more definitive answer.
Hi Roland -
Thanks for you elaborate reply. I have made up my mind and I’ll go for the 40D.
thanks!
Matt
I just purchased the 40D about an hour ago, was going to trade in my 30D however there was a small price difference between the 400d and 30d so i let the 400d go and my old 550 for the new 580II flash
I did a few test shots will all my lenses at the shop, the frame rate is impressive and the additional viewfinder space is really great. The body is certainly bigger, ideal for big hands.
The Highlight Tone Priority is the one for me, as i mainly do wedding shoots - i will see if there is any difference.
I will post images on both my blog sites the other being http:michaeltree.bigfolioblog.com. and http://michaeltree.wordpress.com
First wedding is next weekend.
Enjoyed your review Roland
Absolutely, this review is, in particular, at this point in time, what the people around the world are searching for. I’ve been trying to find this type of review for quite a while. You did a great job . . . Roland, and many many thanks for this.
Just one tip for anyone who couldn’t have seen the pictures, you may try to press the refresh button on your web browser. I’ve been in an up-country of Thailand where the internet speed is so poor, but I could have seen all the pictures simply by pressing the refresh button.
Thanks again Roland!
Sorason