Canon's new 40D...

[MCary]

Yes finally we have info on the 40D. Pre-orders are being taken at Amazon.com.

It appears to be a significant improvement for a very nice price. It has all the new features of the XTi and 1D MkIII. Sensor cleaning, 10 mp and digimarc III. It also has preview mode and is weather sealed. I just bought a Rebel XT for my girlfriend and a 30D for myself last Christmas. This Christmas, 2 new 40D's. She is going to be so surprised. Better start saving.

Mike

 

[Blazer88]

I just noticed that myself. I still don't know if it's enough of an upgrade to dump my 30D quite yet. I find myself shooting more landscape wanting a full-frame sensor so I think I'll be waiting for a 5D or whatever is supposed to replace that model. Plus the low-light performance of the 5D will probably still be better than the 40D. Where did you see anything about being weather sealed?

 

[BlueCorn]

Announced at the same time was the 1DsMIII. I would gladly trade a kidney for it.


http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9761946-1.html

 

[MCary]

The talk about it being weather sealed was on Fred Miranda. The specs say weather resistant. I was saving for a 1D MkIII but except for the 1.3 crop, everything else was covered in the 40D, plus I can get 2 of them for a grand less than the MkIII.

For landscapes I would def. get a 5D. I assume a newer version of the 5D is coming now that the 1 Ds MkIII is out. I assume it'll have a self cleaning sensor, bigger screen, be weather resistant, and probably a 16 mp sensor. But my guess, it's 9 months away.

Mike

 

[Dino]

I've been waiting for the 40D for quite a while, it'll most likely be a year or so before I actually get one but I'm liking the looks of it and especially for the price! Best to wait it out (and save my pennies ), let the initial rush get through and see what/if it has any kinds of problems before I'm going to jump for it though.

 

[Blazer88]

I was doing some reading and a few of the features really have me considering to get one. I like the larger viewfinder, 3" LCD (who doesn't want a larger one? lol), dedicated AF button, 30% faster processing, larger buffer, mirror lock-up for multiple exposures, and the highlight control (automatically won't "blow" out the highlights). I don't really care for the self-cleaning since I haven't really noticed dust within my 30D. I'm sitting on the fence about the live preview, I will have to see it in action to see if it is really useful. And the only weather proof part of the camera is on the battery door and storage compartment, not the whole camera (which I expected). I'll give it some consideration to see if I'll get one. I'm hoping I can order it from some other place than Amazon so I can avoid $120 extra is sales tax

 

[MCary]

If you look at the bottons of the 40D in the photos you can see the same rubberized gaskets around them as the 1D, which are absent in the 30D. So i believe all normal moisture entry points have been plugged. How weatherproof it actually is, is speculation at this point. We'll just have to wait and see.

I've gotten dust in my 30D and cleaning it worries me sometimes so that feature is welcome for me if it works. Not all that happy with the software dust feature. Not because its not nice, but because I would like to stay all on one platform. Since the improvements of the bridge and ACR in CS3, I was hoping not to have to jump between programs.

I'm with you on the preview. Its a wait and see. I'm sure its nice, its just my snobby not wanting it to feel like a point and shoot thing. I do like the grid overlay though and its got to be nice for tripod shooting.

Bigger brighter screen is a biggie. It would be nice if you could see motion blur and small focus problems on the preview sceen so you could reshoot before leaving the area.

Mike

 

[Blazer88]

The 3" screen of the 40D has the same resolution (230K) of the 30D, it's just .5" larger. I don't think small focus problems or motion blur will be any easier to detect. Everything I read says the buttons are the same and only the battery door has been weather sealed so we'll see once the camera actually comes out. One thing I'm really curious about is they say the center focus point is "additionally sensitive" for lenses of F/2.8 or faster, which all of mine are F/2.8 or faster. I'd love to see some tests showing more accurate focusing between the 30D and 40D. And yes Doug, the 1DsMKIII has us all drooling

 

[MCary]

In this shot you can see the weather sealing around the buttons and the hot shoe.

The screen is supposed to be brighter. That and being larger, plus the zoom, I'm hoping will help a little in the field when previewing. I have had what I thought were good shots in the past only to be fuzzy when I download them. Of course the best solution would be to become a better photographer, but until then, I blame my equipment.

BTW, I also like woodworking, but all my tape measures are off!

Mike

 

[ahuxman58]

Its a known fact that all Canons are a tad soft out of the box,turn it up a little and your good to go or in the case of the MK111 turn it down the sensitivity that is.

 

[Dino]

Dpreview link, from the sounds of it they're confused on the weather sealing factor too.

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canoneos40d/

 

[Labman48076]

have to wait

have to wait

till the experts get some hands on time with them I have a 20d now I am considering the upgrade think the features and bennies for me will make it time to replace my 20dbe a while before I would order it any way

 

[danskim]

I preordered the 40D several days ago, and I am looking forward to playing with it. I'm sure it'll be a nice upgrade to the 30D. I just hope there aren't any bugs like the 1D mkIII had in the beginning.
But like mentioned before... I am looking forward to the better viewfinder, 30% faster AF, and better noise handling. The sensor cleaning will be nice too.
If I don't like it/am not impressed... I'll probably get a 6D/5D mkII early next year when they're rumored. I've been itching to go full frame anyways.