Canon 40D experience (w/pics)

d.bradley · 02-22-2009, 01:39 AM

It was interesting last week when I attended the Fat Tire Festival in Jamaica. There weren't a lot of DSLR's around capturing the action so I borrowed my co-worker's 40D and went at it.

Now am used to my K10D with Takumar primes...so the switch to the 40D with a 17-35 autofocus lens took a little getting used to. I also didn't have any time to read the manuals, so I was on my own figuring out the settings and controls.

I don't like the ergonomics of the camera. I found it too big and heavy with that lens, and the controls weren't well laid out. The battery door seems very flimsy, and the plastic feels quite cheap.

But....does it take good photos? It's certainly capable. I really liked the sports setting which apparently upped the frame rate to what...5-6fps? I got some great series' with this setting that I would have missed otherwise. I wasn't stoked about the lens, but the wide angle and shooting ISO400 in bright light meant the lens was stopped down most of the time, and I had lots of DOF. Using the flash with this thing was a no brainer...just point and shoot. Exposures were OK, and I haven't played with the raws extensively.

Long story short, if I had a bit more time to play I think it's a decent camera for sports. Would I consider a canon in future based on this experience? Nope..I don't shoot sports very often so the camera really doesn't fit my shooting style. The build and ergonomics are too much of a sacrifice.

Here are some shots from the day:

**roentarre** · 02-22-2009, 03:04 AM

Canon set up does sport well. No doubt. This is also a reason that I go back to canon gear from time to time.

*opianstate* · 09-08-2009, 12:59 PM

I think you got some great shots...that 6fps definitely does come in handy for these occasions. I agree with you on the ergonomics though

kent · 09-09-2009, 11:55 AM

i do not like canon color output

kibipod · 09-09-2009, 09:28 PM

Those are nice captures. Great job

dycz · 09-10-2009, 01:53 AM

Great... Im planning to get a canon body for sports shooting... and will be using pentax lenses in it... but then the k7 came... but my budget won't allow me to get the k7.. do you think i should go with the 40d?

*er1kksen* · 09-10-2009, 06:40 AM

Glad to hear the 40D worked out for you. I've been using mine mostly for landscape and portraiture, things which the K20D may have been better for as a camera, but the glass is the important thing in the end, and that fantastic 85mm f1.8 I now own is, sadly, and EF-S mount...

I didn't like the ergonomics at first and I was worried because the jpegs looked AWFUL at all settings (worse than my 7mp E-330, really), but now that I've adjusted a bit I find the layout quite sensible and quick to use and I've found that the RAW files are fine (though I won't go higher than ISO 800 in RAW, 1600 has these scattered white pixels that my RAW converter doesn't take out... they don't appear in the jpegs) and at low ISO contain more detail than I expected.

I've found that I really appreciate the faster autofocus and continuous shooting, though, as I shoot a lot of "candids," which is similar to street photography in a sense but occurs among friends.

I still hate the menus and lack of cutomizability.

The K20D sensor definitely gave me slightly better results at low ISO and much better results at high ISO (1600? No problem) but the 40D is certainly proving itself adequate.

stevebrot · 09-10-2009, 10:38 AM

Thanks for the balanced review. My exposure to the camera has been limited to playing with copies owned by friends and my impression mirrors yours. If I did more sports/action, the 40D would be at or near the top of my list.

Steve

*palmor* · 09-10-2009, 08:25 PM

Here were my initial impressions of the 40d when I first got it. Since then I've gotten used to the menus and buttons and it isn't as alien to me now.
1st 40d impressions

I've used it a lot since I wrote that, shooting dog agility and I am very happy with it. Happy enough that I picked up a 400mm lens for birding and wildlife.

John

*hwblanks* · 09-12-2009, 06:55 PM

Having switched from the K20 to the 40D myself, I'll chime in on this one.

Coming from the Pentax, I will agree that at least in the beginning, the Canon button and menu layout seemed totally foreign to me and less intuitive than the Pentax. Now after a few shoots with it, I'm a lot more used to it now and can make it do pretty much anything I want it to do. I know some have complained about the LCD, but I really haven't found it to be an issue for me, even after adding a Giottos glass LCD screen protector onto it. Overall, the camera feels just as solid as my K20 did. For anybody who is contemplating trying one for the first time, having a manual or knowledgable fellow 40D user handy is definitely advisable.

Admittedly, I wasn't that excited about the colors that first came out of mine until I figured out that Canon takes a completely different approach to setting up the colors called Picture Styles; which one you would use depends on what you want to shoot--landscape and portrait are 2 examples. For each style, things like the colorspace, sharpness, saturation, contrast are set differently and are optimized for each subject. You can also create your own custom styles or download and add more styles to the camera itself. Since I use Lightroom for my editing, these styles will also show up in the Camera Calibration area of the develop module and will allow me to get the colors in LR that I actually saw on the LCD screen. Just in case you're curious to find out more:
Canon Picture Style

Just to give you an idea of what I've been doing with the 40D, I'll include a shot from each of the lenses that I currently have:

Tokina 12/24/4:

Canon 24-105/4 IS:

Canon 70-200/4 IS (can you say SHARP?!):

All in all, while I sometimes still miss my Pentax, I'm very pleased with the 40D and what I've been able to do with it so far.

Heather