1. They should have made the 20D with an auto-ISO setting. When enabled, it would couple with whatever shooting mode you were in and automatically adjust ISO to make the shot hand holdable given the amount of shake it was experiencing. I should point out that this need not be a new model of camera--it could easily be added as a custom function with the next firmware update for the 20D...all their digital models, actually, though ISO in the viewfinder would couple nicely with this feature.
2. Interchangable focusing screens.
3. There should be a setting that continues to meter until the shutter is released. When enabled, instead of locking exposure with AF lock, the camera would continue to meter and adjust right up until you took the shot. It's annoying when you reframe a shot after AF lock and that changes the scene to the extent that the exposure needs to be adjusted, but the camera won't do it anymore. It's only slightly less annoying to frame, exposure lock, point, AF lock, reframe, take. Compare this to point, AF lock, frame, take...much simper. Another feature that could simply be added in the next firmware update.
4. More buffer. Of course it goes without saying that this is of course going to be part of any camera moving forward. But it's annoying that such a nice camera can only store 6 RAW+large/fine jpg in the buffer. It should be able to do at least 3 seconds of continuous shooting.
5. Automatic Focus Check. Just like overexposed areas of the image blink white when blown, all edges in the image in sharp focus (as well as the camera can tell) should blink red a few times when the image is displayed in the LCD. This should be a settable feature. Another one that could be ncluded in the next firmware update.
6. Histograms. I should be able to display several different kinds of histogram (as many as I like at once): Luminosity, RGB, Colors, etc. Most of the time when I view an image I just took in the LCD, the only thing I'm looking at is the histogram. If I clip 2 out of the 3 color channels right now, I can't tell. Next firmware update?
7. Dynamic Range Indicators. I'd like to be able to enable a feature that shows me the dynamic range of the scene I'm viewing. The meter shows me the exposure according to the metering program I have set--why can't it show me where the brightest and darkest parts of the scene are going to show up on the histogram as well? For a scene without much dynamic range, rather than bunching all the tones in the dead center, I might want to push it as far as I can to the right or left without clipping. These would show me how far I can go in either direction. How bout it, next firmware update?
8. Programmable Configurations. I do different kinds of photography. Sometimes product shots. Sometimes landscapes. Sometimes nighttime panoramics. Sometimes portraits. I should be able to save up to five different configurations that specify every aspect of my camera's settings in-camera so I can quickly select the mode I've designed and then tweak from there. I should be able to save off an unlimited number of these on my computer and load any 5 I want for my next shooting session. Guess when this could be added? Yup--next firmware update.
9. Open Source It. Canon should publish their APIs for the firmware and camera control modules and release a development kit so average Joes like me (I happen to be a software developer) can write my own camera software and load it. At the very least, they should provide means of writing applications to control camera function that won't void the warranty. Imagine if they did this, and everyone started writing these little apps that allowed different ways of controlling your camera operation? Who would buy competitors' cameras that didn't have an available library of tweaks?
Overall, I love my 20D. Best camera for the money.I have lots of good ideas how it could be improved, don't think for a second that I'm slamming it, though.
