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5-1-07	Canon 30D DSLR

I have been into photography for a few years now, and have always wanted to advance to more professional techniques. But the typical point and shoot cameras are a bit lacking in this area. I have owned about 4 Canon P&S cameras, and while they have all been excellent cameras, especially for the price, they still dont have the precise control over the settings that is needed. Not only do most DSLRs give you a wider range of settings, like even longer exposures, higher ISOs, etc. They also give you better and easier control of these settings. You dont have to press menu, down down over set over set, just to change a couple settings. Everything you need is at your fingertips, such as shutter speed, aperture, ISO, focal point, focus lock, exposure lock, and much more. Even though I have been into photography for quite a while, and used many cameras, I am still new to DSLRs. So I am not the most qualified person to do a review of sorts on the Canon. Instead, I will be expressing my opinion on some of the cameras features, what I like or dislike about it, and how it performs.

Brief Specs: 8-megapixel, CMOS image sensor, low-noise / wide dynamic range Recording choice of 6 levels of JPEG, CR2 RAW, or RAW plus JPEG (choice of 6 different levels of JPEG) Canon EOS (EF/EF-S) lens mount, 1.6x focal magnifier 2.5-inch color LCD with wide 170-degree viewing angle 9-point AF unit with high precision cross-type center sensor Ultra-fast start-up time of 0.15 seconds, only 65ms shutter lag time Continuous mode capture: 5fps up to 30 frames (11 frames in RAW mode) 35-zone TTL metering, Evaluative, Partial, Center-weighted average, or 3.5% Spot metering 12 shooting modes, seven Basic Zone modes White Balance: Auto, six presets and Manual color temperature (2800-10,000°K in 100° increments) Shutter speeds: 30 to 1/8,000 seconds, Bulb Mode, 1/250 sec. flash sync ISO Range: 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1,600 (3200 with ISO speed extension)
Equipment Purchased so far: (5/1/07) Canon 30D Camera Body = $1120 Sigma 18-200mm F3.6-6.3 Lens = $332 Canon 50mm F1.8 Lens (used) = $80 Sigma DG Super Flash = $200 Canon TC80N3 Digital Timer/Remote = $110 Wrist Strap = $12 2 Spare Li-Ion Battery Packs = $35 Tripod = $84 Pelican 1450 Case with Padded Dividers = $104 Total= $2077

Build Quality and Feel: This is one of the first things you notice when holding the Canon 30D. It feels very solid and well made. All of the buttons and dials have a fairly nice tactile feel and function well. The smaller P&S cameras are great to carry around with you, but I found that the much larger DSLR felt alot better in my hand, and was easier in actual use. The body is all metal, and the lens all have metal contact points, that seem to lock onto the camera very well. There was no excess play or wiggle to them at all. Even the popup flash seemed well made and sturdy. Something that is complained about on most all cameras, are the flimsy doors that cover the memory card slot. This is not the case on the 30D. Again, it feels very solid and snaps open and closed very well. On the other side are connections for shutter release, video out, and flash sync cables. All covered with a fairly thick rubber cover.

Controls: This is one of the main highlights of the camera I think. Not only are there more features and settings, but they are all easy to access and change. All the settings that you normally want to access are on the camera body itself. Such as shutter speed, aperture, focal point, focus and exposure lock. All accessible without going into any menu settings. Actually, once you have a feel for the camera, you dont even have to take you eye away from the eyepiece to look at the controls. The important information is also displayed in the eyepiece anyway. My one complaint about the controls is that I wish you could customize what dial did what. There is a large main dial on the rear of the camera, and another on top, behind the shutter button, next to the top display. It would be nice to change what dial you want to control a particular setting. For example, in manual mode, the rear dial does the aperture, and the top dial does shutter speed. But, of you set the camera to aperture priority, the top dial now does the aperture. This is a bit odd I thought, it should stay the same, or let you set it. I think they made it this way because they figure you will want to use the top dial the most, as it is right next to the shutter release button.

Speed: I can sum this up pretty easily, outstanding. Each new P&S camera I purchased over the years was faster than the last. My current P&S camera is a Canon SD630. Tiny camera that performs very well, and was very fast, for a P&S. I was amazed by how much faster the 30D was. Every single aspect of it is faster. It can power up and be ready to take a photo faster than you can take the lens cap off. There is virtually no shutter lag from the time you press the button to the time it takes the photo. Auto focus seems much faster than any P&S also. Though this will depend largely on what lens you are using. The Canon 30D is capable of doing 5 frames per second bursts. How many photos it can burst at one time depends on your settings, but I have been able to burst about 20 large JPGs with no problems. The camera will use its internal buffer to store the images until it is full. It will then begin to dump the images to the memory card. You can still take photos as it is doing this, though at a reduced speed. As the buffer catches up and frees up more space, it will resume taking photos at burst speed.
More to come.....