Canon EOS 10D / 20D

Canon EOS 10D

with some info on the EOS 20D, 30D, Digital Rebel and Rebel XT (KISS Digital / N)
by Karen Nakamura

Overview and Personal Comments

The Canon EOS system was released in March of 1987 with the film-based EOS 650. Since then, I've owned an EOS 630 and an EOS 3. I've been resistant to digital, but broke down and bought a digital EOS 10D in March of 2004. I have some comments about the EOS 20D, 30D, and Digital Rebel XT interspersed in this review. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.

The 10D/20D/30D series is very sturdily made - almost EOS-1 or -3 level but without the weathersealing. The series has a magnesium subframe and can take knocks and bumps well. But the result is that the cameras are large and heavy (they are actually heavier than an EOS 3), especially with the optional vertical grip.

Unfortunately, the connectors and dials are not gasketed on the 10D/20D/30D or Digital Rebels and so I would rate their apparent weather-proofness as only 'good'. While I take my EOS-3 in the rain with impunity and the EOS 1D series is fully waterproof, I would not do that with these prosumer or consumer models. The 20D is unfortunately not as sturdily built as the 10D, since Canon wanted to reduce its weight and size. The Digital Rebel (aka KISS Digital; 300D)and Rebel XT (KISS Digital 2e; 350D) were designed to be as lighteweight as possible. This makes them unfortunately more fragile too.

With the additional battery grip, the 10D/20D/30D make excellent studio and field cameras. With the Canon 550EX flash on bounce off the low-ceiling, the 10D performed exquisitely in mixed light conditions. While I've done this with the EOS-3, it's always a bit of a nervous moment when you get your slides back whether you set the flash correctly. With the 10D, you can just keep firing. I covered the entire room in about 30 minutes.

But the 10D isn't my favorite choice for general street photography. It's a bit too large and heavy for me. I find I have trouble carrying it unobstrusively. My Leica M7 just straps to my hand and the lenses fit easily in a pocket. But the 10D is too large and strains my wrists. The new 20D and 30D are 100g lighter so they may be easier to use. And the new Digital Rebel XT (aka 350D) is lighter still. Your mileage may vary.

I have used my 10D for documentary photography. I have a couple of series in my gallery taken with the 10D, you can judge for yourself how it performs. Check out the Tsukiji fish market series, for example.

The Tunnel Effect: My main complaint of the 10D, 20D, 30D, and other prosumer digitals SLRS including the 20D, Nikon D70, etc. is that the viewfinder magnification is low. On paper, 10D has a 0.88x magnification finder, but this is using a 50mm lens which is a 80mm lens equivalent (1.6x focal length crop). Because of the crop factor, the actual equivalent magnification is only 0.55x. This is the cause of the "tunnel effect" when you look in the viewfinder of most DSLRs except the full-frame ones. Going from the gorgeous full-field viewfinder of a rangefinder such as the Leica M7 to the EOS 10D tunnel vision is difficult for me to get used to. If you want the shock of your life, look in the viewfinder of something like a Leicaflex SL or Leica R9, these SLRs have the best viewfinders of any SLR I've ever seen, bar none.

Image Quality

I've been comparing some of the photographs that I took during a recent trip to Europe where I was carrying both the EOS 10D as well as my film-based Leica M7. I took some photos from identical viewpoints with both cameras.

The 10D's sensor is superior to the Fuji Acros 100 (in D76) fine-grain B&W film that I was using. It has more detail whereas the grain in the Acros gets in the way. However, using Fuji Provia 100F, film still has the edge. This is scanned with a Nikon LS4000 high-end film scanner (4000dpi).

However, the 28-135IS lens is clearly inferior to the primes that I was using on the Leica (Summicron 35mm f/2 pre-asph; Summicron 50mm f/2 latest; M-Rokkor 90mm f/4). This was especially true in terms of micro-detail and flare resistance. I'll post photos when I can. But in many ways this is unfair, since I'm comparing primes against a zoom; and the Leica primes are also their top-of-class, equivalent to Canon L lenses.

Adam Berry wrote to me saying that one site compares the 10D vs. Provia 100F (with the same Nikon LS4000 scanner) and the 10D comes out with cleaner and more detailed files. This may be true using the same zoom lens, but I was comparing a consumer zoom (28-135 IS) against one of the best prime lenses available. So I was testing camera system vs. camera system, rather than sensor vs. film.

Lens Work

I have a couple of lenses in EF mount, a 24mm, 50mm, and 100mm primes and the 16-35mm and 28-70mm L lenses .

I had bought the 28-135mm USM IS zoom lenses for the 10D because of the nature of the type of photography I'll be using the camera for -- more documentary than fine art. The 28-135 becomes a 45-216mm zoom when combined with the 10D's 1.6 crop factor. This is not quite wide enough on the bottom end for me.

So I ended up buying the 16-35mm f/2.8 and 28-70mm L lenses because I got great deals on both of them in like-new-used condition. I'll have a report on how I'm faring with them. I'm known for not being a huge fan of zoom lenses. The L lenses are supposed to be the best zooms in existence.

Lens Adapters: While in Japan last summer (2003), I was intrigued by all of the mount adaptors here. I bought an M42 mount adaptor, which will allow me to use my Pentax/Praktica M42 lenses (including the stellar 50mm f/1.4 SMC Super-Takumar) on my EOS.

The photo to the right was taken with a Leitz 180mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R using an R-to-EF adapter made by Hansa on my 10D. Click on the image to go to the page in my photo gallery where I fieldtest this combination.

I've bought a Nikon-EF and Hasselblad-EF adaptors from DVD_Tecnik on ebay. I'm a bit disappointed with the quality of these Ukranian knockoffs. The Nikon adaptor is a bit tight on my Nikon lenses, while the Hasselblad adaptor is a bit loose. Such is the quality of former soviet engineering and manufacturing. Save your $$$ and buy from an American or Japanese company.

Battery Life: Canon says that with a fully charged BP-511 and a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens and using no flash, you should get 650 shots per battery (in normal weather 20°C/68°F). Using a flash 50% of the time, you should get 500 shots. This is a bit optimistic. I've found that I get about 300 shots per battery using the 16-35mm f/2.8 L and a 4 gigabyte microdrive. With the BG-ED3 grip and dual batteries, I can keep shooting for 600 shots, which is about 20 rolls of 35mm film. This is a just about a full day's work for me.

The problem with the 10D is that you have to keep the camera turned on because the startup delay of 2-3 seconds is interminably slow. This wastes a lot of batteries if you're shooting intermittently for an entire day. This problem is cured with the 20D and Rebel XT (Kiss Digital N) which have a startup delay of only 0.2 seconds.

I have a blog entry about the cheap replacement BP-511a batteries on ebay -- check it out before you buy them!

Accessories

The must-buy accessories for the 10D are:

• Vertical grip BG-ED3: if you're shooting studio or weddings, this will help your wrist considerably when shooting in portrait mode. It adds to the bulk of the camera, but this ironically balances it better with heavier lenses.
• Additional Li-Ion batteries: you can buy either Canon's overpriced BP-511 at $59.99 or you can buy 1800 mAH batteries on ebay for $10-20 each. Just do a search for BP-511. Make sure you buy from a reputable vendor and check the shipping-handling fees, some of them are quite exhorbitant.
• Memory card: 1GB CF cards are now less than $100. In mid-2004, I bought a Creative Muvo2 MP3 player for $200 which has a 4 gigabyte Hitachi microdrive drive in it. I extracted it successfully, and then sold the shell for $30. JPEG performance is fine, it starts to be a bit sluggish with multiple RAWs at the same time. But I shoot at leisurely pace and rarely get ahead of the 10D's buffer, so it's not really a problem for me. Rob Galbraith has a great listing of CF Card Performance on the 10D, definitely check it out. The fastest is almost twice as fast as the slowest. The microdrive eats up a bit more battery than the compact flash cards, but not that much more.
• Compact flash prices have dropped dramatically in the past year. Shop around. Especially with the 20D and Digital Rebel XT, it pays to have a very fast CF card, so get one with the best speed rating (e.g., 40x) that you can afford. I tend to avoid the "no-brand" cards and buy Lexar, Sandisk, and other maker brands.

Canon EOS 30D

In March (2006), Canon announced the successor of the 20D, the 30D. Although it shares the same 1.6x crop factor, the 30D adds:

• 8 megapixel (vs. 6 megapixel) sensor
• Spot-metering 3.5% (a first for the 10D/20D series)
• 0.3 step ISO selection
• 2.5" TFT LCD
• Luminance and RGB histogram
• 11 frame RAW buffer (30 frame JPG)
• Same sensor as the 20D

With an estimated street price of $1400, there's no reason not to buy a 30D instead of a 20D. As used prices of the 10D are now hovering at the $600 level, but except for the inferior build quality, the new Digital Rebel XT might be a better buy at around $900.

• DPReview has an excellent review of the 30D online.
• Canon Japan has specifications and sample pictures online too.
• Michael Reichmann has a qualitative review of the 20D on the Luminous Landscape

Now should you upgrade from your 10D or 20D to a new 30D? I've decided not to sell my 10D yet. Here's my reasoning:

• 2 million pixels in reality is not that significant. At 300 dpi, the 6mp 10D can print 7" x 10" at full resolution. The 8.2 mp 30D can do 8" x 12". You're only gaining 2" at most on the long end - not a huge difference and hardly visible. (And yes, judicious use of scaling algorithms means you can produce gorgeous 20"x30" prints from both cameras).
• The 30D is slightly lighter which is a good thing, but not that critical. It doesn't seem to be as rugged as the 10D nor as water resistant.
• The much faster start-up time of the 30D is the most appealing feature, but I have my 10D set so it only turns off after 30 minutes of non-action. Thus, I rarely find I have to wait for it.
• E-TTL II sounds good but I rarely use flash. The improvements to the internal flash sound very good but they don't say whether you can use it with the 16-35mm L lens. I find the lens is so big that it blocks most of the internal flash.
• The RAW burst rate on the 20D is actually lower (9->6) than the 10D. Since I shoot in RAW only, this is significant. The faster CF card writing speed makes up for the smaller buffer though (see Robgalbraith)
• I know that the moment I knuckle down and buy a 30D at a store with a 30-day return policy, 31 days later Canon will announce the 40D.

Canon is producing new pro/consumer EOS digital camera models each year (in the case of the 10D->20D and 300D->350D it was 18 months).

Canon D30: 2000.10
Canon D60: 2002.02 (14 months)
Canon 10D: 2003.03 (13 months)
	Canon 300D: 2003.09
Canon 20D: 2004.09 (18 months)
	Canon 350D: 2005.03 (18 months)
Canon 30D: 2006.03 (18 months?)
Canon 40D ? : 2007.09 (18 months?)

That would put the timing of the 40D? at around to 2007.09.

Product Tiering

As of March, 2006 with the announcement of the 5D and 1D Mark IIN, the Canon Digital EOS product tiering now looks like this:

The spring 2005 releases of the Nikon D50/D70s does put some pressure on Canon. But at 6.1 megapixels, these two models are not as competitive as some Nikon fans would have hoped. In Japan, the Konica-Minolta alpha-7D digital is a serious threat, but its market acceptance has been slower in the United States.

Technical Details

Canon EOS System Compatible Flashes (professional models)

About Canon

Canon started out its life as Seiki Kohgaku Kenkyuujo (Precision Optical Research Company). Its first goal was to produce domestic inexpensive Leica clones, and it released the Kwanon, its first camera in 1934. Interestingly, they used Nikon lenses since Nikon was already established as an optical lens manufacturer and was not making any of its own camera bodies at that time. Canon soon gained the ability to make their own lenses and never looked back. Nikon also went on to produce some reasonably popular cameras of its own as well.

The name 'Canon' comes from the Buddhist deity Kwanon and early Canon cameras were actually spelled 'Kwanon' and the lenses were named 'Kyasapa' after another deity.

Side note: Canon is my favorite Japanese company along with Honda. I actually interned for Canon Japan (ok, Canon Sales Japan, a part of the Canon keiretsu) during a summer in college and loved my coworkers to death. They keep coming out with innovations that take your breath away.

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