Archive for the 'Canon EOS 40D' category

After going to version 1.0.4, we hear that the firmware for the Canon EOS 40D camera is now in version 1.0.5.

I balance between the admiration for a company (Canon) that do not hesitate to quickly correct the bugs of its software and the impatience o seeing the device was obviously not ready for the market when it has been made available.

Latest news about the Canon EOS 40D.

Think Camera has a new review of the EOS 40D. Nothing fancy, but the reliable analysis expected from TC. They love the camera, and I can understand from what I could peek at a couple of models recently.

Interestingly, the review of the Canon 40D at The-Digital-Picture.com shows that they are currently shipping a frimware revision 1.0.4. They seems to think that there is something weird with Adobe CameraRaw when using this firmware. I could not test it by myself. But, be warned.

Additonally, you can find the latest Canon EOS 40D sales guide on the same The-Digital-Picture.com web site. It’s big 11MB PDF, but well worth reading if you don’t have the sales pitch from your Internet e-commerce web site.

Last but not least, Tom’s Guide publishes a review of the Canon EOS 40D in French, more for the consumer than the photogrpaher, but interesting nevertheless.

After rumour time, here is reality for the Canon EOS 40D. There are more and more tests (starting with previews) of this nice digital camera.

• Imaging resource (English)
• DC resource (English)
• Steve’s Digicam (English)
• DPreview, review, Phil Askey, October 2007 (English)
• DPreview, preview (English)
• Chasseur d’Image (présentation) (Français)
• The Digital Picture (English)
• Outback Handbook: Canon EOS 40D Review Diary
• PhotographyBlog (English)
• CNET review (English)
• QuestionsPhoto (Français)

After months of intense speculation and many rumours, Canon is finally ready to disclose all the details about its long-expected Canon EOS 40D (the sequel to the successful 20D/30D Digital Single Lens Reflex - SLR).

But it’s Amazon which has shown all the details by starting a page to take pre-orders: Canon EOS 40D on Amazon. It will be a great camera to cover all needs of the most enthusiastic consumers.

Note: The delivery will only happen after 20th of Spetember 2007.

Most of the admirers of Canon will say that it was worth waiting. The others will notice that -once again- Canon did not create a revolution in this technical segment, but ensures that the pace of evolution is very steady: This is a nearly pro camera with its impressive connectivity, and its consumer-like price.

Nikon and their D200 (soon a D300?), Pentax and their K10D (much cheaper and possibly more interesting) or Sony (and their future high-end camera) should take notice and prepare to fight for the customers that the EOS 40D may quickly attract.

After the recent information (or rumour) that Sony is actually preparing a 14-million-pixel digital SLR camera under the name of either Alpha 200 or Alpha 300, and taking into acount that Nikon is in tight partnership with Sony since the Nikon D200, it is time to ask what resolution will come out of the next replacement of the D200.

I would bet on Nikon using the same 14MP+ for the Nikon D300 (as the D200 used a speedier version of the Alpha 100 10MP sensor). If this happens and the Canon 40D still has a 10MP or even a 12MP CMOS sensor, it could mean that the both Nikon and sony will have a nice time beating the Canon 40D just out of launch. Even if you repeat that resolution is not the solution to all problems, Canon would have to fight for image quality (and we know they are at the highest level of the competition) without having any resolution advantage, while users are still driven by mega-pixel figures.

At least, the end of life of the ageing Canon EOS 30D should be announced on Monday 21st in Canada (along with a similar fate for the G7). There is a very high expectation that this will also mean launch of the Canon EOS 40D.

Complementary note: In the UK, LCE would have started taking pre-orders for the EOS 40D and some of their sales managers would have a launch meeting with Canon on Tuesday the 22nd.

This time, we are nearing the full confirmation that the Canon EOS 40D will be present in the photo stores on September 2nd. Some US Internet users tried to collect direct data and learned that the camera is expected in stock at Best Buy (pre-orders would be accepted from some brick-and-mortar stores) at this date and with a $1599 price sticker (seeing the buzz around it while there is still no official announcement and no camera has been seen out of very closed circles, I have to understand the position of Canon willing to take advantage of the public rush and keeping relatively high prices compared to the $1500 normally requested for a Canon 30D).

Meanwhile some Canon web sites (including China) started experimenting with the removal of the 30D from very visible lists (for example, removal of the 30D from a graphical list of products). All is well in accordance with the preparation of an imminent launch for the EOS 30D.

The AF (auto-focus) system of the 40D would come from the Canon 1D Mk III but in a slightly simplified version. Since we already knew that it would only have 9 AF zones (instead of 19 crosses). “1D Mk III-lite” merely seems to mean that they will use a common algorithm and a simplified AF-sensor set. Hard to say if this will have a performance as impressive as the 1D Mk III.

Nobody is expecting weather-sealing anymore (the 40D will have about the same build as a 30D) and everybody seems to be convinced that the sensor will be a 10MP CMOS sensor with a crop factor of 1,6 (but I keep wondering whether they would bring an even more attractive 12MP in a market already full of 10MP sensors) along with 14-bit Digic-III for the best possible RAW image quality. The ISO-sensitivity should be a major pro of this camera with ISO 100-3200 + 6400h (image quality would be significantly improved from the 30D, leading to one of the best images of the market). All this is protected by active dust cleaning of the sensor (but we are still hoping that they did not copy the relatively poor 400D and went for the excellent DC technology of the 1D Mk III).

The Canon EOS 40D would be able to go as fast as 6,5 frames/second to beat the direct competition of the Nikon D200 (let’s wait for the Nikon D300) with a big buffer (60 JPEG images, 12-15 RAW images). But this enormous speed could be limited by the user from the menus (normal photographers would certainly be in a hot spot trying to avoid double photos with this feather-light-trigger machine; So, Canon decided to offer a confortable saddle to the cow boy who would be afraid to ride bareback this hot-blooded stallion).

If you add the superb 3″ LCD screen, you get a magnificent photo machine that should excite most expert amateur photographers, even more if she has a set of good Canon lenses already available.

Posts about EOS 40D: EOS 40D initial scoop All of them

According to Fred Miranda’s forums, there should be a major electronics company ready to include the Canon EOS 40D into its catalog from September 2nd. Things are getting more and more precise. They should be accelerating now…

This time, it seems that Canon let go a few images to start just-not-officially teasing the public. The first shots are not giving too much information, but it’s a good confirmation that it’s probably arriving very very soon.

No violent changes visible when we compare with the old Canon EOS 20D or 30D.

• I think that the viewfinder will not change since the exterior seems really unchanged.
• The LCD back display sees its size increase notably.
• The use of the button at the lower right of the LCD screen (the one with the little grey flower mini-logo) is not clear to me… Or is it the Picture style button of the 400D/Xti?
• On the rotary button of the left side, we can see the arrival of 3 new exposure modes (I can’t make their marking). Maybe they are user-programmable configurations.

Don’t you like it?

PS: The images are already gone from the original web site (SLRclub).

Update: Northlight-Images just got enough time to catch some more elements before they were removed from a German web site. They add precise information about the functions of the camera. Here are these images:

It gives a fair confirmation of the 3 programmable users modes (C1, C2, C3) and I let you count the number of AF zones or other interesting details.

Posts about EOS 40D: EOS 40D initial scoop All of them

Again, Chasseur d’Images provided its forecast/rumour collection for the upcoming Canon 40D. Since some people wanted to see the list because it may be difficult to find the magazine out of Western Europe, here is a summary:

• Same chassis as the 30D
• Same viewfinder as the 30D
• No specific weather protection (competitive disadvantage against Nikon and Pentax)
• 12/13 Mpixels APS-C sensor with LiveView (as on the Canon 1D MkIII) with a possible USB or Wifi control
• 14-bit encoding (as in the Canon 1D MkIII)
• 1600 and 3200 ISO
• Sensor cleaning
• Still no wireless flash
• Same read LCD as on the Canon 30D
• 5 frames/second
• Improved AF, but no real detail about it or any forecast
• 1/8000s max speed (with 1/250s flash synchro)

Personnally, I found interesting the possible convergence with some of the features of the Canon 5D (I see the advantage Canon would have to do this), but Chasseur d’Images still keeps a possible Canon 3D in a rumoured timeline for 2008.

This is what can be read out of a post on a DPReview forum. The production of Canon EOS 30D would be officially finished in expectation of the Canon EOS 40D (the latest sequel in the line of Canon mid-line of digital Single Lens Reflex cameras).

Confirmation, anybody?

On the frontline of new cameras for the digital SLR market, the Internet forums are agitated -again- with rumours and news quite surprising.

There was the publication of alleged photos of the Canon EOS 40D on a Korean web site (see below). The work of the graphic artist is quite sloppy (the 4 of the logo on the front of the camera is not correctly aligned with the rest and with the 0 of 40D ; The LCD on the back was stuck on the image without cheking the integration into the rest of the design : different colors for the plastic and parts are links quite quickly with little consideration for the manufacturability).

It’s less funnny than the nice work of Samuele Silva dreaming about the 40D.

But now comes that alleged Olympus document, supposedly intended to document the future E-P1 camera for the Olympus sales people and to provide comparison with its direct competition.

Here, we have a very complete PDF document. Parts of it are still availble here and there on the DPReview forums about the Olympus E-P1. The most interesting is certainly the table seen above. First, it is quite difficult to tell if the file is really authentic (if it really comes from Olympus). Then, even if authentic, it may not contain secret revelations Olympus got about its competition (personally, I tend to believe that if a company like Olympus had stolen such information, it would try to keep them near the body to avoid dirty legal consequences : sales people and marketing guys are notoriously bad at keeping secrets in any large company). Last but not least, it would be very surprising that data for two significant competitors such as the Canon 40D and the Nikon D300 would be of the same quality/precision.

In my humble opinion (but it is also the opinion I prefer to refer myself in most cases), it could well be reference data used internally by Olympus and based upon a mix of rumours heard here and there, and realistic projections that the marketing department must maintain in order to intelligently anticipate moves of other camera brands. Not even counting in the added publicity that Olympus gets for the E-P1 from people anxious to see news from the Canon 40D and Nikon D300.

Keeping these position and point of view, you can nevertheless read very interesting information from this table:

• A very probable resolution increase (12MP for Nikon and Canon)
• Olympus does not believe that either Nikon or Canon would abandon in-lens image stabilisation (adding an in-body stabilisation would blur the message to the public and could break the historical advantage of both brands). But Olympus sticks to the in-body solution that has been so positive for brands that could not easily close the lateness in adding IS in a full lens line.
• Nikon will stay with its exceptionally good Auto-Exposure (CCD with 1000+ pixels -for a long time now) but Olympus decide to keep the pace (49 zones on the E-P1).
• As we know it, reaction speed is no longer a real issue for modern SLR cameras, but the race is not finished yet with measurable (if not perceptible) differences between the three cameras.
• 5 frames per second is fast becoming the standard in high-end digital SLR cameras (I find it intersting how many forum talks are about whether 3fps or 5fps are enough for sports photo and how few are about the advantages of blindlingly fast shutter speeds).
• Olympus chose to have the best possible AutoFocus on the E-P1: The fastest and using 11 sensors (it will be interesting to see this in reality since this issue can be critical for fast shooting and sports)
• The viewfinders fields are still a little limited in Nikon an dCanon, but Olympus decided to reac for an excellent 100%
• VEry astonishing: the precision of information about the size of the LCD screen on the back. We know that the trend is to improve confort of the photographer with larger screens, but a Nikon D300 with a 3-inch LCD would be impressive and unpleasant to Olympus and Canon. However, this would present a serious ergonomic risk since the larger the screen, the less space left for fingers and buttons, if the camera body is not bulky…
• Then comes the body protection leaving only the Canon 40D as not splash-proof. You don’t have to work in Canon to understand that this is not their first priority : Even the outrageously expensive Canon 5D has only minimal protection. But the Nikon D300 has to follow in the footesteps of the D200 where it was already welcomed and while the Pentax 10D brought splash-proof designs to a price level never seen before.
• Being positive on the fact that the Canon 40D will include dust-remoal on the sensor does not require extra-sensorial powers since the technology is already here on the 400D/Xti. Nikon still uncertain about this? You bet! Olympus has no doubt for a long time since they even have the best technology on the market (ultrasonic vibration of the sensor).
• In the end, the presence of LiveView (or continuous display on the back of the camera) that requires a sensor low on power consumption and efficient on cooling is probably reachable for Canon, where Nikon (and Sony, their sensors provider for high-end cameras) seems not to be willing to epxlore the field yet.

I let you judge byb yourself, but everything shows that Fall will be very agitated (some even say that July could be the month of shockingly new announcements, but this is not the first time we heard this, is’nt it?).

Main source: Northlight Images.