Should I replace 20D with a 40D?

[JulesJ]

I have been offered a 40D body for between £3-400 Should I go for it? Or should I spend a heap more on something better? I love my 20D but having to wear reading glasses to see the small LCD on the back drives me mad, I just can't see it, so the 3" one on the 40D would be great and the major difference as far as i can see. I'm not too worried about the increase in pixels as I rarely print that big, even though I know it is most people's excuse to upgrade.

I like my 10D and it has done me well, but if you know of some ideas to encourage me or dissuade to get the 40D please do. Maybe I'm missing something.

The lenses I use are the beautiful EFS 10-22mm and the accompanying EF 28-135 Image Stabilized.

Jules

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Does Cameron look like Postman Pat or what?

 

[RJ-07]

By all means, you should upgrade to the 40D as I owned one and loved it....!!!

 

[Adam-T]

the IQ isn't much different in RAW but the AF and LCD is in a different universe to the Guess-o-matic 20D - the 40D is a lot better featured, writes to card imstantly, does 6.5FPS and is a lot snappier in operation

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Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 

[jb2u]

The 40D is a cracking camera, the only thing I have against it is the picture quality of the LCD, its not the best and can be hard to see if your pictures are in focus

What else come with the camera, Jules!! Getting it for £300 - 350 would be a good deal if its’ the body, battery and charger.

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Jim

 

[Adam-T]

the only thing I have against it is the picture quality of the LCD, its not the best and can be hard to see if your pictures are in focus

This is very true but after the 20D LCD it's a miracle of a screen ;-) ..

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Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 

[JulesJ]

Yes, sure I'll get the battery and charger with it.
jules

The 40D is a cracking camera, the only thing I have against it is the picture quality of the LCD, its not the best and can be hard to see if your pictures are in focus

What else come with the camera, Jules!! Getting it for £300 - 350 would be a good deal if its’ the body, battery and charger.

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Jim

--
Does Cameron look like Postman Pat or what?

 

[JulesJ]

I'm very amazed that you think the quality of the LCD is so bad! What exactly is the problem, too dark? Not sharp? Flat? And do others agree with this, as it is one of the main reasons for me upgrading?
Jules

The 40D is a cracking camera, the only thing I have against it is the picture quality of the LCD, its not the best and can be hard to see if your pictures are in focus

What else come with the camera, Jules!! Getting it for £300 - 350 would be a good deal if its’ the body, battery and charger.

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Jim

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Does Cameron look like Postman Pat or what?

 

[JulesJ]

Hmmmn! I'm still baffled by this comment, I need clarification. What is wrong with this 3" screen?
Jules

the only thing I have against it is the picture quality of the LCD, its not the best and can be hard to see if your pictures are in focus

This is very true but after the 20D LCD it's a miracle of a screen ;-) ..

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Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

--
Does Cameron look like Postman Pat or what?

 

[R2D2]

The 40D is a cracking camera, the only thing I have against it is the picture quality of the LCD, its not the best and can be hard to see if your pictures are in focus

Agree with jb2u here. The 40D is a heck of a camera, but if one of the main reasons to upgrade is for the screen, the 50D (if you have the bucks) is the first xxD in the series to get the high-res screen and high-res image review. There's a heck of a difference.

R2

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*
Good judgment comes from experience.
Experience comes from bad judgment.

http://www.pbase.com/jekyll_and_hyde/galleries

 

[canonnade]

I would think twice - the images that I get from the 40D are, surprisingly, not as nice as those form the older but quieter - on a per pixel basis - 20D. Thus the gain is really in the other functions, and the screen of the 40D, while larger, lacks the higher resolution of the 50D - which is a nice feature of that model and subsequent ones. The 20D has made some very nice pictures, perhaps more than the 40D, thus I wouldn't immediately change.

 

[cgregb1]

No ... swap for a 50.

Is Canon still offering their 50D for the 20D at 629 USD? I swapped my 20 for a 50 since the 20 had 70,000 shuttter actuations and was eating batteries.

Best deal I ever got. 50 is marvelous. Call Canon repair and let them convince you to swap it out.
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Greg B in Phoenix

 

[whvick]

Like you I had a problem with the small screen of the 20D but otherwise was happy with the camera. I managed to get my hands on a broken Rebel and using the canon loyalty program exchanged it for a Refurbished 50D for only $629 USD. The screen is great!

I keep the 20D for the outings that I do not want to risk the 50D on. I think the extra resolution of the 50D screen makes it a choice over the 40D, and the price is dropping as we speak. Good luck on your decision.
whvick

 

[wlachan]

Hmmmn! I'm still baffled by this comment, I need clarification. What is wrong with this 3" screen?

There is nothing wrong with the 40D LCD, everything in the custom menus are displayed fine. However, for some strange reason, picture playback will not be sharp. This will give you a hard time judging the focus or sharpness of the capture pictures. On the other hand, LV with AF is an excellent way to check any FF/BF with the lenses you have at 10X magnification, especially useful with wide angles. However, you won't be able to adjust any AF compensation. This feature was unavailable until the 50D. If you are buying the 40D, don't dump your 20D just yet. Make sure its AF is accurate. Also, check the release button for any delay (like the 20D). If you are the brave type, you can fix it yourself. It is doable and I just did it few days ago. BTW, the 40D is usable up to iso800, and only bearable at iso1600. The 8MP bodies are probably better at high iso.
http://www.pbase.com/tobbenh/40dshutter
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http://www.pbase.com/wlachan

 

[Adam-T]

There is nothing wrong with the 40D LCD, everything in the custom menus are displayed fine. However, for some strange reason, picture playback will not be sharp.

this is down to the Display Firmware in the cam not displaying it cleary but its easier to say the LCD isn't as good for simplicity (because that's what it affects for most) , the 1D Mk2N is the same , in fact all the 1D and 1DS series for some reason have worse playback dispaly than the cheaper cameras of the same era ..

As for the Dumping the 20D bit - that goes whenever buying an xxD or xxxD body, even the 7D - you never know if you're going to get an AF Lemon, the 40D thankfully seems to be pretty good in a lot of cases..

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Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 

[Adam-T]

the images that I get from the 40D are, surprisingly, not as nice as those form the older but quieter - on a per pixel basis - 20D.

It is in RAW, they screwed the JPG engine in the 40D, in C1 the 40D is like a 10Mp 20D/30D - the 50D is a different matter, it's very noisy and the DR is instantly noticably weaker ..

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Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 

[JulesJ]

Adam, can you clarify here, are you saying the 50D is very noisy and the DR is instantly noticably weaker?

Jules

It is in RAW, they screwed the JPG engine in the 40D, in C1 the 40D is like a 10Mp 20D/30D - the 50D is a different matter, it's very noisy and the DR is instantly noticably weaker ..

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Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

--
Does Cameron look like Postman Pat or what?

 

[JulesJ]

Your insight has helped me a lot and I definitely will not go for the 40D but hopefully the 50D instead. A part exchange from Canon sounds interesting but I have not heard of such a thing here (in the UK) before, but might give it a try. Has anyone here actually done it. I bought the 20D second hand so don't have original receipts, does that make any difference?
Jules

--
Does Cameron look like Postman Pat or what?

 

[MAC]

You have a 40d Adam?

the images that I get from the 40D are, surprisingly, not as nice as those form the older but quieter - on a per pixel basis - 20D.

It is in RAW, they screwed the JPG engine in the 40D, in C1 the 40D is like a 10Mp 20D/30D - the 50D is a different matter, it's very noisy and the DR is instantly noticably weaker ..

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Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 

[JulesJ]

Adam, I think he is asking if you own 40D!
Jules

the images that I get from the 40D are, surprisingly, not as nice as those form the older but quieter - on a per pixel basis - 20D.

It is in RAW, they screwed the JPG engine in the 40D, in C1 the 40D is like a 10Mp 20D/30D - the 50D is a different matter, it's very noisy and the DR is instantly noticably weaker ..

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

--
Does Cameron look like Postman Pat or what?

 

[thomasnb]

the 50D is a different matter, it's very noisy and the DR is instantly noticably weaker ..

Not true

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thomas