Canon 40D?

[Slow Jigger]

Canon EOS 40D

I am looking for a GOOD camera and ran across this one. Just curious if anyone uses it and Pros and cons.

Looking for a camera to shoot family gatherings and sporting events. Maybe so moving critters as well.

Any advice Good, neutral, or bad?

[Steve Foss]

jigger, it's actually the 40D, not the D40.

It's an excellent camera and will produce very nice image quality and includes tons of features you'll really like when shooting what you plan on shooting. I use mostly the 30D, which is the model just before the 40D.

A key will be lens selection. While the 40D is a fast, fast, fast operating camera, you'll want to look for a good-quality wide angle zoom and telephoto zoom. The better the level of your lenses, the better your image quality will be and the more you can optimize the fast capability of the camera body (cheap lenses are fuzzy and focus slowly).

[finnbay]

I recently picked up a 40D and my initial reaction is good. However, I really haven't put it through the paces yet. If you aren't too antsy about getting something this weekend, I hope to shoot a few and I'll post what I find. There is another member who has a 40D (Steve, help me out) who has posted some fabulous images taken with his.

[Steve Foss]

Ken, not sure who that is.

At any rate, the 30D has excellent image quality, and the 40D does too. You'll not be at all disappointed in the camera. It's a really good one. In the Canon line you have to spend from $2,700 to $6,500 to get a better new body than that, and I've made fine art prints to 20x30 with my 30D.

And the lens talk? Well, that's a different subject. Lots of options there.

[Slow Jigger]

Can I assume the 30D is fast shutter as well? I will look into this one. Probably harder to find but might be a little less money.

Will check some of your pictures here. I will update the title to reflect the proper name. :-) Just typed it wrong and I was looking at the name as I did it...

[Steve Foss]

Slow Jigger, the 30D has a max burst rate of 5 fps, the 40D is 6.5 fps. Either is plenty. I'm not saying you should get the 30D instead of the 40D, just giving examples of what the 30D is capable of so you realize that, with the 40D, you'll get something as good as or better than the 30D.

If you do want to pursue a 30D, most outlets will still have some in stock, like B&H and Canoga Camera, because the 40D hasn't been out that long. You'll save a little money that way, which can then be put toward a couple lenses.

[mcary]

I'm not sure if I'm the one finnbay was referring to, but I picked up a 40D a few weeks ago and have had the opportunity to get it out in the field a bit. Thus far, I'm very happy with it. The autofocus is quick and accurate in most situations and so far I've had good results with images taken at higher ISO's - which may be a factor if your going to be doing a lot of indoor shooting. If your familiar with SLR's and have been shooting for awhile the 40D is very intuitive to use (better than my Rebel XT). Like finnbay, I haven't had a lot of time to work with it. I love the custom function that allows the use of the multi-controller for autofocus point selection. It's extremely handy when you have to change your focal point quickly with moving subjects in spontaneous situations. My experience is limited to the Rebel XT and 40D, so you may want to take that in to account when considering my opinion. If you have any more specific questions, just ask and I'll do my best to help.

[finnbay]

Mike, that was you. The geese in particular caught my fancy because of the clarity.

[Slow Jigger]

Still need to talk to the wife about this but what type of lense in mm range would one start with on either the 40D or 30D? I have run into some package deals so I woudl lean in that direction. Is there one that will cover most ranges? I will figure out the filtering and exotic stuff later. For example a deer at 70 yards How close can one get to it with the lense say up too 200 mm (I am pretty sure that was one of the top range)? Still see full deer, half deer, head shot??? I am sure there is a better way to ask that but I am new to this... Is the camera fairly quiet when snapping a picture? Using it from my blind and don't want to spook deer if possible.

This will be our first Real camera so want to make it a good one, I also want to get into natural pictures such as what I have seen here. My buddy does it and would love to try my hand.

Off to bed need to be out in the blind before sun up....

[Steve Foss]

The key to lens choice is how much you're able to spend. You can get wide-angle zooms and telephoto zooms (out to 300mm) for $150 apiece. They will focus slowly and hunt for focus now and then (requiring patience on your part and some missed shots). The image quality will be OK, but just OK.

If you can spend, say $200 or $300 on a wide-angle zoom, you can get one of much better quality. And if you can muster, say, $500 to $700 for a telephoto zoom you'll get to that better quality and faster focusing as well.

If you can spend $600 for a wide angle zoom and $1,400 for a telephoto zoom (up to 400mm), you're into the best class of pro Canon zoom lenses.

Now, many, many photographers start out with the low end lenses and eventually upgrade after they find out that the hobby really is what they want.

Let us know your price range and we can help you better. Lots of varied experience on this board with a ton of different lenses, and there are a few key brands (Tokina, Tamron, Sigma) that cost less than Canon and offer comparable IQ and features.

[Slow Jigger]

I would have to say being it is my first I would have to stay on the low end of the range.

This new camera will be about 3 steps up from the one we have now.

[Steve Foss]

OK, then Tamron and Canon make 70-300 lenses for $150 to $200, and you can get the 18-55 kit lens that comes with the 30D/40D as a package deal or you can buy that lens separately for under $100.

You'll have a seriously good camera used by many professionals, and you'll have low-end lenses that may suit you just fine for a long time. As you get more and more into the DSLR thing, you can decide at a later time when and if you want to upgrade your lenses.

Good luck, have a blast, and share your work — and any more questions — here with us!

[finnbay]

Took some chickadee pix from my blind with the 40D today. Got quite a few keepers. Focus seems a little slow to me but otherwise happy with the photos. Used a 300 2.8 at 400 ISO and Av of 2.8

[Steve Foss]

Ken, focus with the 30D/40D would be a bit slow compared with your 1D Mk2n bodies. It's noticeably faster than the entry level bodies.

[finnbay]

Yeah, after using it for awhile, felt it fell in between the 10D and the Mark II. Not bad, though. Any deer this weekend? Saw a 10 pointer near that hunting area we talked about on the way to work this morning.

[Slow Jigger]

ordered the 30D last night. Can't wait to get it now. Lots of newer questions will arise.

One question I can think of is if I want to take a series of 3 or 5 in a burst do I need the high Speed memory card? My thoughts are of a hockey player going in on goal and My son slamming the door. :-)

[Steve Foss]

The faster your write speed the shorter the wait until you can start shooting again after filling the buffer. In some situations, like sports and rapidly developing situations with wildlife, that can be very important. I'd get the fastest writing card you can afford.

Also, while I shoot exclusively in RAW mode, if you shoot large jpeg you can rattle off a much longer burst before the camera has to write to the card.

And your mention of shooting hockey makes me think you'll become frustrated with the low-end telephoto lens you'll be buying. The 30D has excellent Al Servo continual focus tracking ability, but the cheaper the lens, the slower it will operate. It's not that you can't get in-focus sports images with those lenses, just that there will be fewer keepers in any given burst.

[finnbay]

For a 3 or 5 shot burst, no. There is a buffer area in the camera that holds the photos until they are written onto the card. If you shoot jpg format, I'm guessing that buffer with the 30D has to be 30 frames or more. If you fill that buffer before all the images have been written, then your camera will blink "busy" until there is some room there. I shoot sporting events in raw, and only occasionally have to let the camera catch up. Shouldn't be a problem. I do like Sandisk and would get at least an Ultra II if you went that way. Jpg, you might be able to get by with some 1 gig cards, but I like 2 gig for sports. If I'm shooting a lot of scenery or birds I'll use a 4 gig. Good luck! (and good luck to your son - I'm an old goalie and would like to see some of those shots!

[finnbay]

Steve, beat me to the punch again!

Oh, and right on about the lens!

[Steve Foss]

It's also worth noting that memory card prices have come WAY down in the last four years. When I started buying them, it cost about $100 per 1 Gb when buying cards with 80x or faster write speeds. Now you can get a fast Kingston Ultimate 4 Gb card for around $100. And we're talking a write speed on that card of 266x.

I use Lexar Professional and Kingston Ultimate, and as Ken mentioned Sandisk is excellent, too.

[Slow Jigger]

I will have to write this down. JPG mode I would not need a high speed card and I also would not need it in RAW mode? All I know is the lenses are Canon lenses and it was a package, will upgrade if needed. I am a bit confused but buying a high speed card is something I would look at if the benefit is there. I believe we ordered a 2gig card I would have to check the order again. Will probably get one more before the cruise we are taking in March.

As far as the clarity it will be way better than the camera we are replacing I am 100% sure, after awhile I will more than likely get spoiled and want a crisper picture. Father's day is the next gift time after Christmas since this is my Christmas gift... :-)

What is RAW? Rookie here.

The son is first year squirts and he team is not thinking defense yet so he gets quite a few shots against so I hope to get 1 or 2 per game :-) 2 career games and 50+ shot on goal already!

[finnbay]

There is a lot of info - take your time, ask lots of questions. Jpg (jpeg) is a language that digital images are stored with that is almost universally understood by all computers and all software. These image files are usually taken as good (small) better (medium) or best (large) with point and shoot cameras. The better quality the image, the larger the file, and consequently the more room it takes up on a card. RAW is a language that is only recognized by some software and is a much bigger file than even the best jpg, so it takes up a huge amount of space on a memory card. Because there is so much more information stored with a RAW file, many pros shoot RAW because they can do many more things with Photoshop on the computer afterward. If you shoot jpeg images, you can get many more onto a card, and it takes more to fill the buffer. That said, it is usually recommended that if you shoot jpg, that you shoot at the best level. On the computer afterward, you can always make a large file smaller, but you can't take a small file and make it bigger and have it not look course or pixally.

I don't know where you ordered your camera from, but be careful. Sometimes they will sell you a body for a reasonable amount of money and then insist that you buy cards etc. from them for an exorbitant amount. Online companies like BHPhoto, Adorama, Calument will be very competitive and have prices about where you should expect they would be. Not that there isn't a good deal now and then, but many times cheap, cheap, cheap doesn't end up being as cheap as it first sounds.

[Steve Foss]

Ken nailed it.

Only thing I'll add is that it's better to get the fastest card you can afford. I've got 8 Gb worth of cards that range from 80x to 100x, and that Kingston Ultimate 4 Gb 266x for under $100 will be my next card purchase.

You can get a Lexar Professional 2 Gb card with a 133x write speed for $65, and SanDisk is comparable. I would avoid any card with less than an 80x write speed simply because, when the time comes when the action and hot and heavy, a pokey card can drive you crazy.

[finnbay]

Say, I just saw on another web blog (SportsShooters) that there are going to be some incredible memory card deals at different places on Black Friday. [Note from Admin: Please read forum policy before posting again, thank you] I mean a 4 gig Sandisk Extreme III for $59.95!!!

[Dbl]

Keep in mind that your camera's read/write speed will affect your overall shooting experience much more significantly than the card you have inside it; a fast card won't make up for a slow camera, and standard-speed memory will bring down only the fastest cameras. But a faster card may also speed the process of uploading photos to your PC and browsing them in the camera.

An example, I use SanDisk Ultra IV 2gig cards in my Mark IIN, fast camera with a fast card. If I use that same fast card in my 20D it would not be as advantages because the write speed is slower in that camera. The SanDisk Ultra II writes about to the max speed of the 20D but slows down the Mark II. Isn't all this stuff great

The bottom line...Don't get to hung up on it and as Steve recommends and just buy the fastest card you can afford at the time. A side note worth considering. I use 2gig cards as the largest because I shoot high volumes and don't want all my shots on one card. If it fails (remote chance, but happens) all of my shots would be gone, I prefer to lose only half or a third or how ever many cards I use. I shoot mainly jpeg so I get around 500 shots on it at the max setting the Ken mentioned. I have used as many as 5 cards in a day of shooting. The other benefit to multiple cards is the ease of keeping the shots organized.

Oh and congratulations on your new camera, you will have a blast learning all these new things.