Canon 20D

[Cardamom Pod]

I'm looking to upgrade from a powershot S2 IS to a Canon 20D. Browsing the gallery, it looks like it takes sharp pictures, and it seems to have gone down in price. Does anyone who has this camera recommend it, and is there anything I should know before buying? Thanks!

[Jaff]

Erm... well it was discontinued quite some time ago. Do you know that? If it's a 20D your after you'll have to go through the second-hand markets or Ebay.
As it was such a popular camera there should be plenty floating around but finding one with a low number of clicks may be difficult. That said the 20D seems to have developed a legendary reputation for long shutter life. so even one with say 20,00 clicks on it may take lots more yet. If you can though try and find one with less than 10K, unfortunately you can only take the word of the seller for how many actuations it has done (and even then they may not know). But it has also long since been superceded by the 40D which many consider to be much better so spending the extra money on one of those second-hand may be worthwhile.

Hope this helps.
Jaff

[Cardamom Pod]

Thanks. Looking at the LCD specs, I realize it is much smaller than even my S2 IS, and the 40d has 10 megapixels as opposed to 8.5, which must help.

[tjsimonsen]

The jump from 8.2mp to 10mp is nice, but it's not a big jump. I have the 40D and 350D (8.0mp), and while the 40D gives me a little more headroom for cropping, the difference really isn't all that big. It's definitely one of the minor advantages the 40D has over the 350D. But the 40D is certainly an excellent camera that will blow the socks of your S2IS. I also have a S5IS and though it too has an 8mp sensor, it's nowhere near the dSLRs in terms of IQ.

Thomas

[JohnZ]

I have both 20D and 40D and my 20D just keeps rolling along. However you should be aware that, as Jaff said, the 20D is now discontinued and you may have problems with repair ? Or repair may cost you a small fortune ?
Possibly more than the camera is worth.

[postcardcv]

I have both 20D and 40D and my 20D just keeps rolling along. However you should be aware that, as Jaff said, the 20D is now discontinued and you may have problems with repair ? Or repair may cost you a small fortune ?
Possibly more than the camera is worth.

The parts for the 20D are still readily available so any repair would cost basically the same as it would on a 30D, 40D or 50D, though clearly a 20D will be worth less than the newer cameras so there's a greater chance that a repair will not be economical.

[Sandpiper]

I own both a 20D and a 40D and, to be honest, in my opinion, there is little to choose between them in image quality. Both will give excellent results in the right hands.

The advantages of the 40D for me are the larger monitor, Live View and a quieter shutter. The shutter sound of the 20D can easily disturb birds/insects that are close by.

[davem]

I used a 20D for 3+ years and have only just got myself a 40D, although this was really only down to the price I got it for, the larger RAW buffer capacity and a slightly faster fps with a quieter shutter which is invaluable for equestrian photography.

The 20D will come with me wherever I go just in case!

In these days of consumer Megapixel madness, you'll notice hardly any difference beween the 8.2 of the 20D and the 10.1 of the 40D apart from the assocaited larger file sizes. I for one wish they'd concentrate on getting their high ISO performance vaguely in the same street as Nikon...

[snowyowl]

I just made the jump from a 20D to a 50D and so far I love the new camera. The image quality is exceptional and it does a great job at higher ISOs.

[Fowl Mouth]

I was fortunate enough to grab a 20D from Adorama back in April for $500, new in box, full warranty. They had a pretty limited supply, though, so I doubt they had any left by the end of that week. For me $500 was a good price for the body, and a good upgrade from my 350D. Although honestly it was simply intended to be a 2nd field body, and not really a replacement. That said, the 5 frame/sec rate and more accurate focusing made for a more substantial upgrade in the field than I would have initially thought. For me it was worth the savings over the 40D, since I need to justify every penny with kids to feed. I doubt you'll find a deal like this very often though, since (like others have said) the 20D has been discontinued for a while now. So if you can pony up the extra cash, you'll be hard pressed to beat the current price/performance ratio of the 40D at this point.

[Vectis Birder]

I own both a 20D and a 40D and, to be honest, in my opinion, there is little to choose between them in image quality. Both will give excellent results in the right hands.

The advantages of the 40D for me are the larger monitor, Live View and a quieter shutter. The shutter sound of the 20D can easily disturb birds/insects that are close by.

I have both cameras and I entirely agree. I get equally good (and equally horrible when it's 'one of them days'!) results from each one.
The only downside of the 20D is that awful loud 'CLACK!' of the shutter. I don't use it in hides as it embarrasses me!

[gmax]

The parts for the 20D are still readily available so any repair would cost basically the same as it would on a 30D, 40D or 50D, though clearly a 20D will be worth less than the newer cameras so there's a greater chance that a repair will not be economical.

It probably will not be ... I paid ca 180€ for a new shutter on my 20D last Autumn and you can find a good second-hand for ca. 250€ (beware of abused cameras though, as Jaff said) ...