Customer Reviews

Canon EOS 40D DSLR with 17-85mm lens

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

 

 

I have had this camera and lens for 9 months. Beautiful photos. Love the "live view" for setting up to take photos with a tripod. Large sensor means excellent low-light capability. Fast start-up time. Extremely fast focusing. Love the ability to take 6 photos per second! Manual controls are wonderful and easy to use. Beautiful display. The EFS 17-85 lens is great (remember to multiply by 1.6 for comparable 35mm focal lengths). Am also using a SanDisk Extreme III CF card. This is a fast card.

The combination of the Canon 40D and the 17-85 lens is tremendous. You have your normal lens, an excellent wide angle, and that 'little extra' reach with the 85mm range. And with the IS feature, you will always get outstanding shots!
If considering the 40D and want the perfect 'walk-around' lens, this is the combination you want.

I purchased the Canon EOS40D approximately 6 months ago with the intention of using it primarily for astrophotography. I wasn't concerned about the specific lens because astrophotography does not require the use of a lens - the body only. I did think that the wider angle lens (17-85mm) would be fun for non-astrophotography though.

After in depth reviews and studying the Canon EOS50D, the EOS40D and the Nikon D80, I decided that in terms of features vs price, the Canon EOS40D was the clear winner.

WOW! Was I right. I have a friend who just bought the Canon EOS50D and after playing with each other's cameras for a day, he decided that I was correct, the EOS40D offers almost as many features for a lot less money.

For scenery, portraits, action shots and extreme close-up shooting, this camera is awesome. However, I find that the camera shines brightest when used for astrophotography. I couple the camera to an 8" SCT telescope on a computerized drive. The first time out was a learning experience - I did everything wrong. Before trying again, I purchased a programmable remote and a 1x to 2.5x, 90 degree viewfinder. The next time I went out things came together. I took stunning photos of the moon to warm up. Then I went to Jupiter and its 4 most visible moons. With a single 10 second exposure and no photo stacking, I could just see a little color in the cloud bands. Again, with a single 10 second exposure, the individual stars of a globular cluster stood out distinctively. I ended that same long night with an excellent photo of the Ring Nebula clearly showing the center hole and its greenish color. I couldn't have been more pleased.

The only drawback to this camera is its weight. For astrophotography, I need to adjust the center of balance of my telescope to its extreme limits. For everyday shooting, I regularly need to take photos with one hand (the why is another story) - something that is virtually impossible with the weight of this camera.

If I were to loose this camera and have twice the value of this camera in cash, I would still buy the Canon EOS40D without any reservations.

This was purchased as a gift for our son. As far as he is concerned it is all the reviewer promised. The pictures he and his wife have taken are vivid and gorgeous. They do lots of bird photography and candid people shots. The rapid shutter speeds on burst allow for some great captures and the lighting and focus are exceptional.

I have had this camera for about 2 months now. I bought it to be able to take lower light level shots with less graininess than my previous Canon G3. I also wanted better optics and resolution. I was a bit disappointed with the low level light performance. It is certainly less grainy but the shutter speed is to slow for most of my purposes. However, I may have been expecting too much. The larger sensor certainly gives better overall noise performance.
The optics gives me better depth of field which is one of the things I was after. The zoom give me enough close up for most of my shots but sometimes I use a 75-300mm telephoto that I bought separately when I run out of gas. For wide angle shots the 17-85mm is handy although it distorts a bit at the low end. I think (and I'm no expert) this is a function of the physics involved with such a wide angle (fish eye effect).
The flash is a big step up from the G3. This camera doesn't "wash out" the color by over exposing. Almost none of my shots suffer from this which was a problem with the old G3.
I use the high compression and have typical file sizes of 1.5 to 2 meg. When blowing up you really don't notice the difference between the less compressed higher quality images. I only use the higher quality mode for shots I know I want the most out of.
Bottom line I really like this camera and would highly recommend it. I use a 4 gig sandisk extreme III memory card.
I would like to say I wish the DSLR community would stop being snobby and push a video mode. There is no excuse now that they have the live view feature. I can't tell you how many times I was shooting stills and my kids did something that needed to be videoed then and there because running to grab the real video would mean loosing the moment altogether. So hopefully there will eventually be that feature. It is the only thing really missing from this camera that would prompt me to buy another. Well that and unbelievable low light level performance.

The 40d is nearly as good as the newer 50d, but when I got mine the sensor cleaner malfunctioned within a week. I ended up returning it for a full refund after using it for several shoots, and got a 50d instead. Pictures in low light are slightly better with the 50d, and that was my biggest need. Everything else really seemed the same.

I love this camera. I've been dedicated to Canon and they've never let me down. This is no exception. I do with that it had better low-light functionality and maybe even went to 6400 (3200 is alright though) but for the price point you can't go wrong. My biggest critique - the 50D came out a week after I purchased this camera.

I received the shipment within 10 days. It is really good for this. I purchased the Cannon EOS 40d camera on Feb 1st, 2009. Received around Feb 10th. I did not test it extensively when I received it. On Feb 27, 2009, when my friends and I wanted to take pictures, it continuously show ERR 99. We checked the battery, lens etc, but no luck. It will show ERR 99 after 5 to 6 shots after reset by unload/reload the battery. We sent an email to them asking if I can exchange one but no response yet. I have contacted with Cannon, hopefully the Canon staff will fix it for me.