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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

40D - Official (at last) (1 Viewer)

I guess I will have to upgrade...

40D is seems good enough for me to upgrade from my 350D which has served me well over the last two years.

These are the new features that are most interesting for me:

1. Better viewfinder with 0.95x magnification. (350D/400D:0.8x, 20D/30D:0.9x)
2. Better AF system with 9 cross-type sensors.
3. 6.5fps
4. Larger buffer (17 RAW/75 JPEG)
5. Faster and quieter mirror mechanism
6. 10MP sensor may also be useful in some cases

Larger LCD, sensor cleaning and live view are nice, but were not that important for me. I certainly hope that high-ISO noise is at least comparable to the 20D/30D.

Some nice touches:
1. AF-ON button
2. Weatherproof compartment doors
3. EOS-1D style menu system with camera user settings

The following may be additional improvements in the 40D over 30D, but it is not very clear based on the currently available documentation:
1. The center AF point is "more" accurate than the center AF point of 20D and can guarantee 1/3 DOF accuracy for lenses with max aperture of f/2.8 or faster.
2. The 14-bit A/D converter results in slightly better dynamic range in RAW mode.
 
Adey Baker said:
Haven't seen any mention of a quieter shutter amongst all the other details, so the most useful improvement for wildlife photographers has been overlooked again. Which would you sooner have - 6.5 loud fps or 4 or 5 quieter fps?
Click to expand...
I'd rather have 6.5 quiet fps. Which is another reason why I'll be getting a 40D. Unlike the 20D and 30D the mirror is motor driven up and down (rather than using springy things). That means it can be deccelerated at the end of its movement, resulting in a quieter shutter.

Like Keith I'll be waiting for a while. I'd love one now, as I'm off to Kenya and Rwanda in three weeks time. But after that there's no real rush for it, so I may as well wait until the price drops a bit (and I've actually got the money).
 
At the rate Canon are putting kit out, I'd wait. There might be some real bargains on existing models.

Plus Nikon are about to announce their new line-up, so it could be interesting to see their strategy.
 
macshark said:
1. Better viewfinder with 0.95x magnification. (350D/400D:0.8x, 20D/30D:0.9x)
Click to expand...
Just one naive question; from a practical point of view, what does this mean (in bold) "The upgraded viewfinder increases optical magnification from 0.90x to 0.95x, expands the viewing angle from 251 degrees to 264 degrees and raises the eye point from 20mm to 22mm"?
Thanks
Max
 
Keith Reeder said:
I'm struggling to ignore the Devil whispering "buy one!" in my ear... and I was convinced I wouldn't be that interested!
Click to expand...

Oh, ye of little strength of purpose.... I prescribe sleeping on a bed of nails and cold showers every night. A few months of that and you will overcome temptation.

Now, I'm not preaching at you Keith, certainly not suggesting you do anything I would not do myself, or asking you to have strength of will that I do not have. Trust me on this: I am barely at all thinking about a 40D. I have NOT ordered one, and do NOT plan to order one anytime this month or next month. I might think about ordering one in October/November, might not. Haven't decided. But I promise you, hand on heart, that I am not in the slightest bit tempted or excited about the prospect of a 40D. Indeed, it's quite a long way from my thoughts.

If I can do it, you can do it too.

Be pure! Be strong! If in doubt, always remember St Augustine's Prayer; engrave it on your heart.
 
Oh, just to be fair, I should confess to my own (very brief) flirtation with the demon. It happened this morning, and lasted for no more than 5 minutes. Of course, 5 minutes in this modern age can be quite enough to build up a mighty sin account with Mastercard or Visa, but I was lucky, and was saved by pure good fortune.

I actually slipped so far as to ring up my Canon dealer .. .and yes ... I have to admit, in my heart of hearts I was flirting with the idea of ordering a 40D. But I didn't! I stayed pure. I did NOT order a 40D.
 
Errr .... is this a good time to mention that my Canon dealer just happened to have a ID III in stock? No? Right then, I won't mention it. Sorry, didn't mean to sidetrack the thread. Anyway - trust me on this - I am honestly not in any hurry to get a 40D. (I'm expecting the III to arrive on Thursday.)

PS: a little more advice for you, Brother Keith. In fact two items, very useful little prayers to whisper to yourself when the darkness of the consumer lust is upon you. First, Oscar Wilde's words of wisdom:

The only way to overcome temptation is to give in to it.

And second, the one I mentioned earlier, St Augustine's prayer - you will find this one particularly useful:

Oh lord, please make me chaste. (But not yet.)
 
If I'd just bought a III then I wouldn't be looking at the 40D either. But since the III is waaaaay out of my price range, the 40D sounds great to me. At the moment I'm on that rather shaky ground of only having one body (my 20D). But I also won't be rushing to get it, I'll wait for (hopefully) the price to drop, and for you lot to get one and tell me all the things that are wrong with it!
 
gmax said:
Just one naive question; from a practical point of view, what does this mean (in bold) "The upgraded viewfinder increases optical magnification from 0.90x to 0.95x, expands the viewing angle from 251 degrees to 264 degrees and raises the eye point from 20mm to 22mm"?
Thanks
Max
Click to expand...

Eyepoint, also called eye relief, defines how far away from the eyepiece you can have your eye and still see the entire viewfinder image.

Increase from 20mm to 22mm is a good thing, especially if you are wearing eyeglasses.
 
postcardcv said:
If it has high ISO performance anywhere near as good as the 1D mk III then I think it will be a very popular camera.
Click to expand...

Tannin said:
It won't have high ISO performance anywhere near that of the 1D III. To expect anything else is quite absurd.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying that I think it will be as good as the mk III at high ISO, just hoping that it will heading in that direction.

Having reading the spec it could be a very tempting camera... though as I've just ordered a 500 f4 I think I'll resits for a while!
 
If 40D's high-ISO performance is as good as 20D/30D, it will be a very popular camera. 400D is clearly not as good as 30D, so hopefully the new microlenses on 40D will help.
 
hollis_f said:
I'd rather have 6.5 quiet fps. Which is another reason why I'll be getting a 40D. Unlike the 20D and 30D the mirror is motor driven up and down (rather than using springy things). That means it can be deccelerated at the end of its movement, resulting in a quieter shutter.
Click to expand...

Must admit that I hadn't seen this mentioned on the info that I've seen about the camera. Not sure whether I've speed-read it too quickly or whether you need to go through a more thorough review to find it - I'd have made it one of the headline-grabbing features rather than 'live-view' or 75 continuous jpegs ;)

I've started saving my pennies already...
 
Keith Reeder said:
I've seen a lot of suggestions that it is, Steve...

Par example: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-400D-Digital-Rebel-XTi-Review.aspx

(Not arguing, just wondering!)

;)
Click to expand...

Keith ... Thank's for this Link Sir ... I get a little tired of People alway's
knocking the 400D ... It's my only Dslr and since i bought it a few Month's
ago to start this Fine hobby all i hear is crap about it compared to the 30D ... Does'nt seem so crap when you see the Spec's and comparison's in that
link you gave ... Thank's Sir :t: , Your a True Gent ;)
Take care,
John,
P.s. Does a 30D really make that sound like a Gun when the Shutter goes ... Just listened to it on that link ... No Wonder all 30D owner's have Big lenses ... I'd duck if i heard that lol
 
I'm actually getting a Second Camera as i think it's alway's good to have a
backup and i'm considering the 30D ...

But if i bought the 30D NEW rather than second Hand ...Then The 40D may be worth getting for the extra few Hundred on top ... But then again ...
Is it worth that much more than a 30D ... Man am i confused lol ...
 
And is the Theory that the 30D shoot's more FPS over the 400D because the
30D shoot's in lower res compared to the 400D?
 
Keith Reeder said:
I've seen a lot of suggestions that it is, Steve...

Par example: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-400D-Digital-Rebel-XTi-Review.aspx

(Not arguing, just wondering!)

;)
Click to expand...

Note that this test is actually not an accurate comparison of noise characteristics due to the fact that ISO 400 on EOS 30D is not equivalent to ISO 400 on the 400D. 30D is faster by about 1/3 f-stop.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos400d/page17.asp
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos30d/page20.asp
 
I'm regretting having bought a 30D (consigning my 20D to back-up camera) just a few weeks ago...
 
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