Great Camera For The Money

I am a part time professional photographer and have used Canon cameras for over 25 years. I use the EOS 40D as a backup for my EOS 1D MKIII and I am very satisfied with the results I get from this camera. Canon has come a long way with their cameras and the 40D will not disappoint. There are plenty of features for the advanced amateur but for someone new to digital photography the EOS 40D is a great camera to start discovering photography. Canon has always been strong with their CMOS imaging sensors and the 40D continues where the 30D left off. I can easily shoot at ISO 1600 with very little noise when properly exposed. Bump it to ISO 3200 and use in camera noise reduction and still get usable photos. The 3" LCD is great for checking histograms but forget pixel peeping. Canon should have added a higher resolution LCD screen for their prosumer bodies like Nikon did in the D300. The 6.5 fps shooting speed is great for sports shooters and the auto focus does a good job at tracking moving subjects. Canon has also done a really good job with the menu system on the 40D. The MY MENU feature is really handy and allows users to configure their most used settings on one screen instead of having to navigate and dig deep within sub menus to change common settings. Anyone who has owned a Rebel series or older xxD series camera will also notice that the viewfinder has improved in the 40D. It is much brighter and easier to use with manual focus. As for batteries, users of previous xxD series bodies can continue to use their spares in the 40D.

Some of the improvements that I have noticed from prior xxD series bodies include: Faster auto focus as well as more accurate auto focus in lower lighting. A slight improvement in image quality. Better auto white balance. Nicer menus and easier to navigate. The ability to control the 580EXII speedlight through on camera controls. Slightly better build that previous xxD cameras, (with the exception of the 10D which felt great in your hands). Higher frames per second which comes in handy for the sports shooter. Live view!!! I love this feature and it comes in real handy for portrait work in the studio with manual focusing!

Now for what I would change. The LCD screen is poor in sunlight and needs to be higher resolution. Weather sealing or lack there of for a prosumer body. "Don't get me wrong here. I think weather sealing is a joke because how many people are going to be standing in the rain using their cameras in the first place without some kind of protection unless they are shooting professionally? If you want real sealing, buy the 1D series body! As for my other xxD series bodies, most have seen some rain and I have never had a failure!"