By JC (USA)

I love this camera, I had been putting off for years to buy a digital SLR and finally pulled the trigger. I am by no means a pro, but I am tech savvy, so I love all the knobs, buttons, and possibilities to customize.I will say that there is no substitue for skill, no matter how good the camera is. Out of the box I started taking pictures and while the quality was impressive, it wasn’t exactly magazine-quality or like what’d you see on brochures–that’s going to take more skill working the aperture and speed settings using Manual.

Also, another thing that’s very important but often overlooked: Vista comptibility! I didn’t even need to install drivers, just plugged in USB and got my pictures. This is not typical! I have several other gadgets (camcorders, printers, etc.) and for some it was a nightmare to get drivers to work. What a relief to see Canon spend the effort to make their products work with current OSs. Thanks Canon!

By GM (Campbell, CA USA)

My 40D arrived today. I’m loving it. 3in screen, large viewfinder, liveview with live histogram, solid feel of the body, pretty clean ISO800, ISO1600 images (at 10mp resolution) are all big upgrades compared to earlier Canons (400D/20D/30D).

What surprised me most is the so-called “3-D effect” that some people were claiming in other forums. Some pictures I took during daytime have depth (i.e. 3-Dness) that I wasn’t seeing with 400D/20D/30D. Canon 5D is supposed to be similar in this respect. Some claim that it is because of smoother tonal gradation (i.e. high precision A/D, 14 bit raw etc).

If you are a first time buyer, skip the Rebel line and go to 40D (or, maybe 30D) directly. In my opinion, the color reproduction of Rebel line (300D/350D/400D) is inferior to that of 20D/30D/40.

Nikon D80 is also a pretty good camera with a lower price & decent performance. But, image quality at high ISO (i.e. ISO >= 800) is better with Canon.

Don’t get the kit lens. I would recommend Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 or Sigma 18-50 f/2.8—both very sharp, great all-around lenses with performance comparable to Canon 17-55 f2/8 IS. I would also recommend Sigma 10-20 f/4-5.6 and Canon 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS further down the line.

Get a good monitor. If you want precise color reproduction, you’ll need to calibrate your monitor. Spyder Pro etc. kind of products are good for that. On a bad/uncalibrated monitor, images from all cameras may look the same!

Read more about Canon EOS 40D

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