bogongbreeze
Leading Member
Thanks for the heads up on this. Haven't tried it myself and you've saved me changing my custom settings
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Things I don't like about the 40D
- Thread starter dark goob
- Start date
Can't wait to scrounge up enuf $$$ for a 40D. When you get older and have tired eyes you have to depend on the guarenteed, superior IQ of a camera to come thru for you..and trust that the results are excellent...
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Jim Reid
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Jim Reid
harold1968
Veteran Member
amen
Chippy99
Veteran Member
IQ = Image Quality.
I know this is a Canon forum and some posters here are very patriotic about owning Canon equipment.
But honestly. To say the Nikon D300 has "lousy IQ" is just plainly stupid. Its a quality camera from a quality manufacturer and trashing it like that, well its just silly.
dawnii
Active member
Things I don't like about the 40D : nothing
This camera is amazing for the price I paid. Image quality, Handling, everything is magnificent. Ok, they could have embedded bigger jpg previews in the RAW files, so that you could zoom better on the 3" Screen. But the files do already have 12 MB size.. and it is DIGITAL : storage is cheap, and on the computer you will see everything. So the screen isn't bad at all.
Also the "noise" argument.. If you don't want noisy pictures buy a 5D or a D3.. 12 MP full frame, you can't get it better today. But the D300 sensor isn't that crazy revolution.. the A700 neither. And the 40D remained on the same excellent level as the 30D. I don't know if you can expect really more today.
I would like to open a "Things I don't like about some forum posters" thread.
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http://www.dawnii.lu
This camera is amazing for the price I paid. Image quality, Handling, everything is magnificent. Ok, they could have embedded bigger jpg previews in the RAW files, so that you could zoom better on the 3" Screen. But the files do already have 12 MB size.. and it is DIGITAL : storage is cheap, and on the computer you will see everything. So the screen isn't bad at all.
Also the "noise" argument.. If you don't want noisy pictures buy a 5D or a D3.. 12 MP full frame, you can't get it better today. But the D300 sensor isn't that crazy revolution.. the A700 neither. And the 40D remained on the same excellent level as the 30D. I don't know if you can expect really more today.
I would like to open a "Things I don't like about some forum posters" thread.
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http://www.dawnii.lu
LVPG
Veteran Member
And there lies one of the biggest reasons for shopping on-line and why 1 camera store after another is closing. You're attitude and ignorance of photography speaks volumes. It is clear your assessment of photographic tools comes from the "feature" list on the outside of the boxes from which they come and the occasional image you might find.
No personal offense here, but if true and you do sell cameras for a living, your attitude, questions and perspective really need some "photographic experience."
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Rick
I've found life just doesn't fit in 1 camera or manufacturer vision.
GoldenSpark
Veteran Member
Most lenses, even the best primes, struggle to match 8MP resolution on a crop camera, let alone 10 or 12.
All increasing the resoution past that point does is introduce more noise per pixel.
I would really like to see an 8MP sensor with the latest improvements on an SLR.
8MP is more than adequate from a printing point of view.
Yes, lots of MP makes sense on a FF sensor, as the photosites are still good noise-wise. That allows serious cropping if required without loss of quality, which is great for PJ pro work.
The MP war is all hype.
First of all I am a canon user, a very regular user.
I agree with some points listed
1) Screen resolution does come in handy. There have been times when I am happy with the shot and later discover at home that the shot is not good. Its only useful if I can find out if my image has properly focussed or not and lower LCD resolution does not help here. So its important
2) Every one says first meter with spot and then re frame and then shoot. How many of you guys who have said that have used spot metering. If you use it regularly you would know when the time comes to shoot, there is little time to spend meter and then re-framing and then shoot. Especially when you have got the perfect frame setup. So spot metering at the different points is very very important.
3) You can sync flash speed with the high speed setting. So this issue can be solved
4) EOS 20D's menu is awesome. You can quickly get to the setting. EOS 40D sucks. I agree with that. In the field you have very less time to spend pushing and scrolling etc.
5) I disagree with the 10 to 12 argument though it sound good but in reality its not. Check the resolution test done by a guy in the nikon forum with EOS20D and D300. 20D blows 300D in high iso shots and the image is equally great.
Now the argument you can give your customer is that, the image output is the best especially in high ISO. And lens are cheaper. And finally everyone sees the image. They don't know which camera you used to get it.
I agree with some points listed
1) Screen resolution does come in handy. There have been times when I am happy with the shot and later discover at home that the shot is not good. Its only useful if I can find out if my image has properly focussed or not and lower LCD resolution does not help here. So its important
2) Every one says first meter with spot and then re frame and then shoot. How many of you guys who have said that have used spot metering. If you use it regularly you would know when the time comes to shoot, there is little time to spend meter and then re-framing and then shoot. Especially when you have got the perfect frame setup. So spot metering at the different points is very very important.
3) You can sync flash speed with the high speed setting. So this issue can be solved
4) EOS 20D's menu is awesome. You can quickly get to the setting. EOS 40D sucks. I agree with that. In the field you have very less time to spend pushing and scrolling etc.
5) I disagree with the 10 to 12 argument though it sound good but in reality its not. Check the resolution test done by a guy in the nikon forum with EOS20D and D300. 20D blows 300D in high iso shots and the image is equally great.
Now the argument you can give your customer is that, the image output is the best especially in high ISO. And lens are cheaper. And finally everyone sees the image. They don't know which camera you used to get it.
Badgerh
Forum Enthusiast
If you sell cameras for a living then you should, unlike most of your peers, try to get your facts right. I have been shooting with an OM-4 for 23 years and it never synched above 1/60. The OM-4T with a special flash would allow sync at any speed but it was the flash that was special creating a multi-burst output (The shutter only went to 1/2000). It still has the best metering of any camera ever made IMNSHO. If you want to see decent spot metering, pick up an OM-4 not a D300. BTW the 40D can sync at any speed with any Canon EX flash - using basically the same technology that Olympus invented for the OM-4T in 1985 or near then.
Noise and sharpness. Anyway Mpixels is the one thing you should never be selling on. Print quality, colour, noise, usability, the system are all valid criteria. Megapixels is just marketing borrocks.
The 40D is wonderful - the others in the class are too. Your criticisms are so minor it almost beggars belief that people make choices based on such things. 90% of people who come in your shop will never use spot metering. 95% will set custom functions at most once in their ownership time (probably only a year since they only want the latest toy). Owning a Canon is cool, owning a Sony is not
Badgerh
Forum Enthusiast
Unlike the OM-4 which I have just given to my nephew after 23 years of love. He is doing photography A-level in the UK and they are required to use film and learn to print - how wonderful!
Tannin
Veteran Member
This looked like an interesting thread from the title. It isn't. It's a dud.
Sure there are things to dislike about the 40D. Important things, some of them. Unfortunately, this thread doesn't seem to talk about them, instead we hear whining about the screen (who cares? the screen doesn't take pictures), the lack of ability of the spot meter to follow the AF point (a fair complaint, after all, most of us have probably owned $200 P&S cameras that do this, but hardly earth-shattering), flash synch speed (OK, I'll go along with that one too), poorly thought-out custom menus (yes, they could still use some work, though they are much improved on previous models), and (sigh) megapixels (hey, if you think more megapixels are the answer, buy a current generation P&S - they have way more MP per unit of sensor area. Megapixels don't mean diddly squat most of the time, once you are past 6 or 8.
Nevertheless, there are things that the 40D doesn't do nearly as well as it ought to do. I was looking forward to seeing a list of them all in one place, but it looks as though I'll have to write it myself. It's late and I'm past my bedtime, so I'll just jot down a few of the more obvious ones; maybe I'll come back and write a proper list another day.
1: The asinine ISO change method. What were they thinking? WERE they thinking at all? Sure, it's good to have a dedicated button for it, and good to show it in the VF all the time, but what on earth possessed them when they decided to put it under your finger instead of on the thumb wheel? No other Canon camera has the ISO there, and if you have more than one body, you will forever be fumbling for it, not just on the 40D, but on all your other bodies as well. Worse, it forces you to find the fiddly little button (different place to all the other Canons, of course), press it, and THEN move your finger to a different place to adjust it. Why? Why not have it on the thumbwheel like every other Canon so you can press with your finger and dial up or down with your thumb all in one motion?
2: The totally backwards aperture & shutter speed dials in manual mode. Normally, you have the aperture under your finger, and EC under your thumb. (If you shoot in Av mode, that is, which by far the majority of people do if they aren't shooting manual.) But switch to manual mode and - hey presto - everything is arsebackwards. Why? Again, what were they thinking? On the (older) ID III the factoory default is to do things backwards same as the 40D (or the 20D for that matter), but there is a custom function to put it back the right way around. No such function on the 40D, even though there are custom functions to do a whole slew of things that matter a good deal less. Are Canon determined to make the thing as difficult to use as possible?
3: No mirror lockup. Nothing more to say, it's inexcusable in a modern camera, especially one with so many buttons, several of them doing nothing in particular most of the time.
4: Failure to provide a genuine quick-change-to-common-settings mechanism. The "My Menu" feature is a step in the right direction, but has a long, long way to go before it's what it ought to be. The quick change feature ought to be a one-touch or at most two-touch function. Having it on a menu defeats the point.
Of course, there are things to like about the 40D too - it's an excellent camera in many respects and overall I'm happy with mine, it's just that it could be a whole lot better still, and should be a whole lot better.
Sure there are things to dislike about the 40D. Important things, some of them. Unfortunately, this thread doesn't seem to talk about them, instead we hear whining about the screen (who cares? the screen doesn't take pictures), the lack of ability of the spot meter to follow the AF point (a fair complaint, after all, most of us have probably owned $200 P&S cameras that do this, but hardly earth-shattering), flash synch speed (OK, I'll go along with that one too), poorly thought-out custom menus (yes, they could still use some work, though they are much improved on previous models), and (sigh) megapixels (hey, if you think more megapixels are the answer, buy a current generation P&S - they have way more MP per unit of sensor area. Megapixels don't mean diddly squat most of the time, once you are past 6 or 8.
Nevertheless, there are things that the 40D doesn't do nearly as well as it ought to do. I was looking forward to seeing a list of them all in one place, but it looks as though I'll have to write it myself. It's late and I'm past my bedtime, so I'll just jot down a few of the more obvious ones; maybe I'll come back and write a proper list another day.
1: The asinine ISO change method. What were they thinking? WERE they thinking at all? Sure, it's good to have a dedicated button for it, and good to show it in the VF all the time, but what on earth possessed them when they decided to put it under your finger instead of on the thumb wheel? No other Canon camera has the ISO there, and if you have more than one body, you will forever be fumbling for it, not just on the 40D, but on all your other bodies as well. Worse, it forces you to find the fiddly little button (different place to all the other Canons, of course), press it, and THEN move your finger to a different place to adjust it. Why? Why not have it on the thumbwheel like every other Canon so you can press with your finger and dial up or down with your thumb all in one motion?
2: The totally backwards aperture & shutter speed dials in manual mode. Normally, you have the aperture under your finger, and EC under your thumb. (If you shoot in Av mode, that is, which by far the majority of people do if they aren't shooting manual.) But switch to manual mode and - hey presto - everything is arsebackwards. Why? Again, what were they thinking? On the (older) ID III the factoory default is to do things backwards same as the 40D (or the 20D for that matter), but there is a custom function to put it back the right way around. No such function on the 40D, even though there are custom functions to do a whole slew of things that matter a good deal less. Are Canon determined to make the thing as difficult to use as possible?
3: No mirror lockup. Nothing more to say, it's inexcusable in a modern camera, especially one with so many buttons, several of them doing nothing in particular most of the time.
4: Failure to provide a genuine quick-change-to-common-settings mechanism. The "My Menu" feature is a step in the right direction, but has a long, long way to go before it's what it ought to be. The quick change feature ought to be a one-touch or at most two-touch function. Having it on a menu defeats the point.
Of course, there are things to like about the 40D too - it's an excellent camera in many respects and overall I'm happy with mine, it's just that it could be a whole lot better still, and should be a whole lot better.
Will O
Leading Member
Hmmm, I don't know if "horrible" would be my description of it, but I do agree that it could be better. When I take pictures side-by-side with my wife and her Nikon D40, her images on-screen looks soooo much nicer than mine on the 40D. However (and this is what's important), when we both view our efforts on the computer afterwards, mine (some of which I allmost deleted as soon as I had taken them) are often far superior to those from the D40. It's as if Nikon LCDs are so bright and sharp that you THINK you've got a phenomenal shot - only to discover later that it isn't always the case.
I agree. Quoting my wife's D40 again: its shutter speed can be cranked up to 1/500sec in flash mode. Why can't I do that with my 40D - or is there a way of doing it??
All in all, though, I think the 40D is a fantastic camera. And as for the 10mp vs 12mp thing, I'm not bothered to be honest. At least, not until I hear that the sensor is going to be increased in size to accommodate all those extra pixels. How many times have you heard/read that cramming extra pixels onto a sensor without first increasing its size is just asking for noise problems - I HATE NOISE!!!
Erciro
Veteran Member
Hahahahha. What a statement.
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Ahmet
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'All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.'
Edmund Burke
Greg Henry
Veteran Member
You need to keep in mind, that the average 18 year old who works in the camera department at Best Buy or Circuit City will tell people they "sell cameras for a living". In fact, I've yet to meet one that even knew the differences in sizes between sensors in DSLRs vs. consumer models (uhhh... sensor? Whas that?).
I'm sure the OP has frustrations over the 40D seeing other models next to it, but the concerns/questions brought up by him indicate a generic electronic's store employee who like most unfortunately, has had about 3 days training before being told to "get out there and sell them". :-/
RicksAstro
Veteran Member
Actually, I consider the top wheel the "primary" function and the thumb the "secondary" I always thought it ridiculous that ISO was secondary and welcome the change....my intuition often got it wrong on the 20D/30D and now the 40D works the way I like it. But I can certainly understand your frustration.
Again, I find the way it is now intuitive, but an option to switch would be nice.
Actually, they DO now have a dedicated mirror lockup button, with a bonus feature that you can see what you're shooting...it's called liveview! One press of the button and PRESTO...mirror's up.
The 40D is just more "right" to me than the 20D or 30D ever were.
To me, the biggest disappointment is the sucky auto-ISO...why oh why wouldn't they at least default to 200 rather than 400. I don't consider it very useful as is.
I actually like the spot metering in the center. When you're spot metering, you should be making a choice about "where do I want to be correctly exposed to about 18% grey". This is often a totally different place than "where do I want to be in focus". To couple these together to me would add more confusion and cause more errors...sometimes simpler is better. But, as always, it would be a nice option, particulary for those taking mostly pictures of people where these decisions can be pretty safely coupled.
Rick
Most people without any Dlsr knowledge can pick-up a Canon Dlsr and have it figured out in 5-10 mins. or less. With Nikon and Sony it will take longer. It's not my opinion, the retailers tell me that. I've seen people buy the 400D over Nikon's D40x, because it's easlier to use. Most dlsr buyer's are buying camera's that are easy to use, and have excellent picture quality. Every dlsr camera on the market takes excellent pictures at some point, so its personal preference that's running the dlsr market.
1. It does not wake me up in the morning
2. it does not make me coffee
3. i can not watch movies on it
4. its not solar powered
5. it does not tell me what the weather is like that day so i know weather to go out shooting.
6. it is not waterproof to 1000meters
7. it does not have tetris for those moments waiting for a good shot
8. no blue tooth or red tooth for that matter
9. no wifi access
and finally 10. it does not read me mind.
hope that covers it all other than that i am happy with it.
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i capture the feeling not just the image
2. it does not make me coffee
3. i can not watch movies on it
4. its not solar powered
5. it does not tell me what the weather is like that day so i know weather to go out shooting.
6. it is not waterproof to 1000meters
7. it does not have tetris for those moments waiting for a good shot
8. no blue tooth or red tooth for that matter
9. no wifi access
and finally 10. it does not read me mind.
hope that covers it all other than that i am happy with it.
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i capture the feeling not just the image
The detail rendidition is good although you just bashed it for not having enough resolution and being a 10mp versus 12mp
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http://www.pbase.com/shhe
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