Customer Reviews

Canon EOS D30 3MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you want the ultimate in digital photography, the Canon D30 is the ticket as of December 2000 -- especially if you already own Canon EOS lenses, because they're completely compatible. Canon won't call this a "Pro" camera, because it's not as weather-tight as pro models, but the body is rugged and the output is first-rate.

The D30 has enough features for professional photographers, yet a novice can get great looking pictures from the start. As you learn more about the camera and its capabilities, your images really start to shine.

Want to experiment with long-exposure photography? Go right ahead! Feedback is instant. No more waiting for processing. No more developing costs. Want to blow up your photo to 8x12 inches? No problem. With a little massaging via Adobe Photoshop (tm) and/or Genuine Fractals (tm), even poster-sized prints look great, using photo paper and a photo-quality inkjet printer. Software to get you going, including Photoshop LE, is included.

The D30 accepts IBM Microdrives (1 gigabite of storage in the camera!) as well as compact flash. The included 16 meg flash card is enough to test the camera, but you'll really want to get something bigger, right away. The D30 offers a variety of image compression options -- including the Raw format, which allows the most flexibility and avoids jpeg artifacts. The wide variety of storage options means freedom to shoot at will and experiment. An included cable allows you to connect your camera to your computer's USB port and download images at will.

As I said, all Canon EOS lenses will work with the D30, but there is one difference to consider. Because the CMOS chip is smaller than a 35mm negative, the field of view is different. For example, a 100 mm lens on an EOS film camera works like a 160 mm lens on the D30. They call it a 1.6x multiplier effect, but what it means is that long-distance shooting is easier, and to get wide angle shots, you have to get a REALLY wide lens. For example, a 14mm aspherical wide angle results in a 22mm wide angle shot on the D30.

When the D30 was first released in the Fall of 2000, the demand was far beyond what Canon could produce... in the United States and around the World. As of this writing, the cameras are still in short supply, but well worth the effort and the investment. Kudos to Amazon for adding the D30 to their digital photography offerings.

All of the nice things you're hearing about this camera are true. If you already own a camera in the Canon EOS line and are ready to upgrade to digital, this is the path you want to take. It has all the features a sophisticated amateur wants, plus a healthy serving of "professional" features thrown in. And as others have said, all the lenses and most (not all) of the accessories you already have will work with the D30.

There are a few drawbacks, however... For one thing the autofocus relies on an incandescent lamp rather than the infrared found in nearly all other EOS models. This is a curious choice on Canon's part, it almost seems like they didn't throw in professional-quality autofocus for marketing reasons, since there's a true pro-level Canon digital SLR due out later this year.

Another drawback is that the included software, called ZoomBrowser EX, is not that great. It's designed to help you capture, download, and catalog your digital images, but it runs out of steam once your image library grows to a non-trivial size, and if you want to merge databases because you've done collection on another computer, the software more-or-less becomes unusable.

Also, you end up paying a lot more than $3000, even if you already have the lenses from your other Canon EOS camera. First comes the Compact Flash cards (you really need to get at least two of these so you always have a spare). Figure on getting at least two 128MB CF cards, if you really must have a microdrive that will cost you more. Plan on getting an extra battery too. Then there are the Canon accessories, like a better (infrared) autofocus lamp, an electronic timer for long exposures and intervalometer work (which the included remote-capture software does not do well), and you get the idea... you really have to budget $4000.

Having said all that, this camera really is a joy to use, and once you get used to the instant feedback, your shooting skills will improve, and you'll start getting compliments on how good you are. It really *is* that *good* of a camera. Just be warned that you are jumping into the deep end of digital photography if you get this camera. ... ;-).

Awesome Camera. If you are interested in the sharpest digital photos this is the camera for you. I recommend the Canon EOS D30 unequivocally; it is the best you can buy without breaking the bank. If you already own one of the Canon EOS' then your lenses will fit. The compact flash included is pretty skimpy and my Speedlite 430EZ didn't work. Picture quality is outstanding. Read some of the comparisons with the Nikon and you will see that the D30 beats it for about two grand less. I am totally enthusiastic about it. The instruction booklet is clear and easy to follow. You can use the new 340MB to 1 gig mini-drives to store a whole vacations worth of pictures. I recommend the Speedlite 550EX to expand your abilities.

...

We have tried many digital and analog camera and we are currently working with a total of 7 cameras and one of the most valuable is the D-30.

Our main digital photo cameras are Olympus E-10 and Canon D-30. Both are working well with MicroDrive 340 MB.

A little comparison of the two cameras :

The Canon D-30 camera is perfectly designed for photo reports, quick sequences, dynamic pictures and offers the possibility to change the lense. We use this camera specially outdoor and she delivers brilliant pictures. The way how to make pictures with the D-30 is very similar to analog photography.

Olympus E-10 has a higher resolution, perfect for more artistical oriented pictures, the chip and the lense are very sensible for light and you can shoot in dark conditions. The camera is working slowly and quick senquences or dynamic pictures are very diffcult to shoot. The feeling of making pictures with the E-10 is different from traditional analog photography and only experience will teach the photographer to make correct decisions, specially regarding dark light conditions and the usage of flash.

In other words, if you are searching for a camera that : - will mainly be used outdoor - should have changeable lenses (compatible with almost all Canon EF lenses) - setting quickly the correct autofocus - storing quickly the pictures - displaying quickly the images in the control LCD monitor - large battery and image storing capacities then the D-30 is exactly what you need.

Precautions : - use only brand compact flash memories (we had problems with CompactFlash memories of different noname producers) - MicroDrives should not exceed 340 MB (big MicroDrives become hot and the reliability of the camera is not insured) - 1 battery pack should be enough for approximately 600 pictures. Think to buy enough battery packs.

The D30 is a great camera and takes outstanding photos. I will put it up against my friend's Nikon any day and his camera cost much more. The battery life on the D30 is amazing as I expected the same life as that on the Nikon. Instead, the battery on the D30 just keeps shooting after the Nikon is dead. This is not to knock the Nikon as it is one of the premier cameras around and is a true professional camera, but the Canon will match it picture for picture for less money. Either camera will make you a very happy photographer. I regularly use a Canon EOS 35mm. camera so the transition to the digial is very easy as the controls are so similar. The fact that I can use my Canon image stabilized lenses makes it even better. The D30 does call for one of the EX flash units, so that will add to the cost; however, the on-camera flash also works well . Picture quality is outstanding. I have had no problem with the software, but I generally download all pictures to my computer and do any adjusting, etc. with Photoshop. Hookup to the computer by way of USB is a snap and downloading is fast.

Wow! This camera makes photography fun! I am by no means a professional photographer, but I do take a lot of pictures and try my best to compose, light, and develop good shots. This camera makes it very easy to experiment with different types of conditions on the fly. The resolution is more than enough to get excellent digital images, and the electronics are top notch so far. My first SLR, a film-based Nikon, is a good performer, but messing with the film is painful, and unless you take really good notes, you cannot match the settings to the frame as easily as you can with this camera. The D30 makes learning the techniques so much easier and more satisfying.

A couple of drawbacks -- the default settings for capture format is large JPEG, instead of the native RAW format. It is a simple task to set this, but I took a number of pictures before I figured out (upon download to my PC) that I wasn't using the RAW format. Also, I recommend at least adding a 128MB flash card. The 16MB card you get with the camera is not useful unless you live by your PC -- it really is only good for a quick demo. I can get 93 images (large JPEG) on a 128MB card, which was enough for me to shoot a day's worth of shots and then delete the stuff I didn't want at the end of the day using the camera's editing features.

This camera is more than enough for a wannabe photographer, and makes "going digital" worthwhile because you get everything you need in one package -- ease of use, SLR features (changeable lenses), and a good price in this category. This is a nice product.

Is the D30 the very best digital camera available, no. Is it a very good camera for the price, yes. (...)

I paid about [x] for a D30 body, with the 1GB Microdrive+extra battery as free rebates from Canon. (...) If you figure the rebate was worth about $500, then I paid about [x] for the body.

(...) The bottom line seems to be the D30 makes images about as good as typical 35 MM color film (I'd bet not as good as Kodachrome though).

I did find the camera took some getting used to. For example, washed out highlights sometimes get color fringes and unprocessed images look flat and quite unsharp. After learning about sharpening and contrast adjustment (Photoshop unsharp mask <search web for "D30 unsharp mask" for details>), I'm pretty pleased with the image quality. Being able to instantly get a image histogram moments after snapping a picture is a GREAT way to analyze the contrast range of a scene, and makes me now think how photography with a film camera was totally lacking in immediate feedback about picture quality.

A few features are not so well documented (if you read the manual enough times it's in there), like if you activate mirror lock up, the self timer is 2 seconds instead of 10, perfect for long tripod exposures. I also didn't immediatly realize how important the dial on the back was (needed for white balance selection, exposure compensation, and manual mode control). Speaking of white balance, it's GREAT to snap a picture of a neutral (white) surface (I use a 18% grey card), and instantly get the camera to adjust the color balance. Remember daylight and tungsten filters for film?

I suppose you can use fully automatic mode for quick pictures of UFO's flying by, but think this is a camera more for people who LIKE to adjust things for best quality.

The ONLY reservation I have is resolution being 3.25 megapixels. There are now 5-6 megapixel cameras, but they either cost a LOT more (like the Canon D1...) or else loose a lot of that SLR'ness. Like no TTL viewfinder on the Sony 707 (...), and no interchangable lenses on the Olympus E-20 (at the same price or more as my effectiveprice on the D30). I was very surprised to find that EVERYBODY rates the number of pixels based on all colors. A 3 megapixel digital camera has generally 1.5 megapixels of green sensors, 0.75 of read and blue. This means in a 3 Megapixel RGB image, 2/3 of the final data is made up from interpolation. In my book, that's not REALLY 3 megapixels. Some higher end prosumer/pro video cameras have three sensors, one for each color, although these do cost more.

Based on everything I know now (a lot more) I would still probably buy the D30... (...) I can't think of ANY alternatives that give so much for the price.

...in light of my needs and the state of competitive offerings from Nikon, it's only a mediocre product now. In November 2000 it was a good enough product to prompt me to switch from the Minolta family (incuding the 1.75 MP RD-175 digital SLR) to Canon after 25 years. However, it has some well-documented short-comings. Two that affect everyone are the really poor software and the slow/inaccurate autofocus, especially in low light. The other that affects sports photographers is the slow speed, and general lack of robustness. These issues will be resolved with the introduction of the EOS 1D in late November/early December. The auto-focus is promised to be the same as the EOS 1V and the speed will be up to 8 fps with enough memory to take a 21-shot burst.The body is based on the 1V as well, so it will be enviromentally sealed and tough enough for pro use. We can only hope that Canon gets the software right this time. You can expect to see the 1D in general use by PJ's covering the Salt Lake Olympics - there should be plenty of feedback then. My D30 will not be consigned to eBay just yet though - at $9000Cdn, I won't be getting two 1D's, so the D30 will stay in service as my 2nd body.

As an amateur in the field, the feedback from the Canon EOS D30 makes the learning curve easier than any flight of imagination. Seeing the cause-effect result immediately makes all my efforts at composition and experimentation with light & focus worthwile - plus saving an enormous amount on film procesing. The compatibility of my lenses from my film-Canon made the transition to digital a real value. I now take both into the field and the Digital is so sharp, it is my first camera. But it also allows me to play with film in new and confident ways by eliminating many mistakes I would have made without the insight gained from the digital Canon

I recently moved into the prosumer level of digital. The Canon D30 has proven to be an awesome camera. There maybe better (D60), but if you are serious about digital, the D30 has to be one of the best cameras for the price. There is a slight lag between shots, but if you are not photographing speeding bullets and express trains, the time between shots is hardly a distraction.