Canon EOS 20D - Dpreview.com preview article

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 8:07 am

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/canoneos20d/

Canon EOS 20D Review, Phil Askey, August 2004

Preview based on a pre-production EOS 20D, Firmware Version 1.0.2

It's been four years and four months since they revealed the EOS D30, the first digital SLR which amateur photographers could really afford. So here we are, 48 months later with the latest incarnation of that original design, the eight megapixel EOS 20D. Not since February 2002 (the EOS D60) has Canon increased the resolution of this line of digital SLR's, in the EOS 20D we have a 1.9 million effective pixel increase, a new AF system, 50% faster continuous shooting and more than double the buffer space.

First impressions of the EOS 20D are good, it feels far less 'prosumer like' and instead feels more like a 'baby EOS-1D' (as described by one of our team). Gone are some of the annoyances of the EOS 10D, the 20D now switches on virtually instantly and focuses quickly, it feels very solid and yet weighs slightly less than the model it replaces. So far so good.

Model line history
Model Announced Effective pixels AF Continuous (JPEG)
EOS D30 April 2000 3.1 million 3 point 3.0 fps, 3 frames
EOS D60 February 2002 6.3 million 3 point 3.3 fps, 8 frames
EOS 10D February 2003 6.3 million 7 point 3.3 fps, 9 frames
EOS 20D August 2004 8.2 million 9 point 5.0 fps, 23 frames

A summary of new features and improvements can be found on the third page of this article.

Two new EF-S lenses
In addition to the EOS 20D Canon has also announced two new EF-S lenses which are clearly aimed at the EOS 20D buyer. The EOS 20D will be offered as a body only or a kit with the EF-S 18 - 55 mm F3.5 - F5.6 lens we first saw in the EOS 300D kit.

EF-S 17 - 85 mm F4.5 - F5.6 IS USM
(27 - 136 mm equiv. FOV, 5x zoom)
EU: €649, US: $599

EF-S 10 - 22 mm F3.5 - F4.5 USM
(16 - 35 mm equiv. FOV, 2.2x zoom)
EU: €899, US: $799

Preview Notes - samples coming
Note that this is a preview of a pre-production EOS 20D, Canon has stated that we can publish samples from this camera but only after 23rd August. Our full review of the EOS 20D will follow as soon as a production camera is available.

Sample images @ Canon
Canon it appears don't mind post images, we have to make you wait...

Click here for EOS-20D sample images @ Canon.co.jp

List price
(body only) • US: $ 1,499
• EU: € 1,599
List price
(with EF-S 18-55 DC) • US: $ 1,599
• EU: € 1,699
Body material Magnesium alloy
Sensor • 22.5 x 15.0 mm CMOS sensor *
• RGB Color Filter Array
• Built-in fixed low-pass filter
• 8.5 million total pixels *
• 8.2 million effective pixels *
• 3:2 aspect ratio
Image processor DIGIC II *
Image sizes • 3504 x 2336 (8.2 MP) *
• 2544 x 1696 (4.3 MP) *
• 1728 x 1152 (2.0 MP) *
File formats • RAW
• JPEG (EXIF 2.21) - Fine / Normal
• RAW + JPEG (separate files) *

Color space * • sRGB
• Adobe RGB
Lenses • Canon EF / EF-S lens mount *
• 1.6x field of view crop
Focusing • 9-point TTL *
• CMOS sensor
• AF working range: -0.5 - 18 EV (at 20°C, ISO 100) *
Focus modes • AI Focus AF
• One shot AF
• AI Servo AF
• Manual focus
AF point selection • Auto
• Manual
• Home position
AF assist • Stroboscopic flash
• 4.0 m range (at center)
Metering • TTL 35 zone SPC
• Metering range: EV 1.0 - 20 EV (at 20°C, ISO 100, 50 mm F1.4)
Metering modes • Evaluative 35 zone
• Partial (9% at center)
• Center-weighted average
• Metering range: 1 - 20 EV (at 20°C, ISO 100)

AE lock • Auto: One Shot AF with evaluative metering
• Manual: AE lock button
AE bracketing • +/- 2.0 EV
• 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
Exposure compen. • +/-2.0 EV
• 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
Sensitivity • Auto (100, 200 or 400)
• ISO 100
• ISO 200
• ISO 400
• ISO 800
• ISO 1600
• ISO 3200 (Enhanced H)

Shutter • Focal-plane shutter
• 30 - 1/8000 sec *
• 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
• Flash X-Sync: 1/250 sec
• Bulb
Aperture values • F1.0 - F91
• 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
• Actual aperture range depends on lens used
White balance • Auto (3000 - 7000 K)
• Daylight (5200 K)
• Shade (7000 K)
• Cloudy (6000 K)
• Tungsten (3200 K)
• Fluorescent (4000 K)
• Flash (6000 K)
• Custom (2000 - 10000 K)
• Kelvin (2800 - 10000 K in 100 K steps)
WB bracketing • +/-3 levels
• 3 images
• blue/amber or magenta/green bias
WB shift • Blue (-9) To Amber (+9)
• Magenta (-9) to Green (+9)
Processing params • Parameter 1 (con +1, shp +1, sat +1, tone 0) *
• Parameter 2 (con 0, shp 0, sat 0, tone 0) *
• Set 1 (con, shp, sat, tone)
• Set 2 (con, shp, sat, tone)
• Set 3 (con, shp, sat, tone)
• B&W (con, shp, filter, toning) *
Custom params
(Set 1 - 3) • Contrast (+/-2)
• Sharpness (+/-2)
• Saturation (+/-2)
• Color tone (+/-2)
Viewfinder • Eye-level pentaprism
• 95% frame coverage
• Magnification: 0.9x (-1 diopter with 50 mm lens at infinity) *
• Eyepoint: 20 mm
• Dioptric adjustment: -3.0 to +1.0 diopter
• Precision matte screen
Viewfinder info • AF points
• Focus confirmation light
• Shutter speed
• Aperture
• Manual exposure
• AE Lock
• Exposure compensation amount
• AEB level
• Partial metering area
• Flash ready
• Red-eye reduction lamp on
• High-speed sync
• FE Lock
• Flash compensation amount
• Warnings
• Maximum burst for continuous shooting
• Buffer space
LCD monitor • 1.8" TFT LCD
• 118,000 pixels
• 5 brightness levels
• 10x zoom playback
Record review • Off
• On (histogram via INFO button) *
• 2 / 4 / 8 sec / Hold
Flash • Auto pop-up E-TTL II auto flash
• FOV coverage up to 17 mm (27 mm equiv.) *
• Guide number approx 13
• Flash compensation +/-2.0 EV in 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
• X-Sync: 1/250 sec *
External flash • E-TTL II auto flash with EX-series Speedlites *
• Wireless multi-flash support
• PC Sync
Shooting modes • Auto
• Program AE (P)
• Shutter priority AE (Tv)
• Aperture priority AE (Av)
• Manual (M)
• Auto depth-of-field
• Portrait
• Landscape
• Close-up
• Sports
• Night portrait
• Flash off

Drive modes • Single
• Continuous: 5 fps up to 23 frames *
• Self-timer: 10 secs
Direct printing • Canon Card Photo Printers
• Canon Bubble Jet Printers with direct print function
• PictBridge *
Other features • Orientation sensor
• Automatically writes FAT16/FAT32 depending on capacity
• LCD panel illumination
Auto rotation • On (playback uses orientation data in file header)
• Off
Playback mode • Single image
• Single image with info (inc. histogram)
• Magnified view (1.5 - 10x in 15 steps, browsable)
• 9 image index
• Auto play
• Image rotation
• Jump
Custom functions 18 custom functions with 50 settings *
Menu languages • English
• French
• German
• Spanish
• Italian
• Dutch
• Swedish
• Norwegian
• Danish
• Finnish
• Chinese
• Japanese
Firmware User upgradable
Portrait grip Via BP-E2 battery grip (option)
Connectivity • USB 2.0 Hi-Speed *
• Video out
• N3 type wired remote control
• PC Sync flash terminal

Storage • Compact Flash Type I or II
• Microdrive supported
• FAT 12/16 and FAT 32 support
• No CF card supplied
Power • Lithium-Ion BP-511A rechargeable battery (supplied & charger)
• Supports BP-511 / BP-511A / BP-512 / BP-514
• CR2016 Lithium battery (date/time backup)
• Optional AC adapter
Dimensions 144 x 106 x 72 mm (5.6 x 4.2 x 2.8 in) *
Weight (no batt) 685 g (1.5 lb) *
Weight (inc. batt) 770 g (1.7 lb) *

Further information found at the link at the top.

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 8:14 am

What.... It doesn't do movies?
;o)

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 8:33 am

magicboy wrote:

What.... It doesn't do movies?
;o)

Ahaha!

So, hopefully there will be an influx of 10d's that come back
on the market slightly used, that I can pick up for a decent
buck. :twiddling fingers: ;-)

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 1:45 pm

This sucks. Dollar is worth less than euro, and still you yanks get to buy it for 100 X less.
Talk about ...

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 2:25 pm

mike5 wrote:

This sucks. Dollar is worth less than euro, and still you yanks get to buy it for 100 X less.
Talk about ...

It's all about getting you to go on holiday there ;o)
I'm off back to NY in February!

Posted: Fri Aug 20, 2004 3:48 pm

Hmmm...time to start saving again. $1 down, $1498 to go.

Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 96 Location: Over there.

The 20D is definitely worth the money you have to shell out for it. You can get it for a few hundred cheaper if you look on pricewatch.

-Fnordiscordia

Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2005 11:10 pm

I just picked up my second body. I love the 20D!

Joined: 15 Oct 2004 Posts: 20 Location: Philadelphia,PA

Why many posts are copied from DPREVIEW.com. Is it means, for new product information, we need to go to dpreview web site or this web site is part of dpreivew.com?

Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 1016 Location: Newcastle, UK

TRedondo wrote:

Why many posts are copied from DPREVIEW.com. Is it means, for new product information, we need to go to dpreview web site or this web site is part of dpreivew.com?

STEP AWAY FROM THE THREAD REVIVALS!