EOS 400D or 30D?

can’t comment on the self cleaning sensor but the dust protection – ie the sealing is not in the same league as the D200 or more expensive canons. It seems to be little bits of squishy stuff stuck on in various opening doors – not a full seal around them!

Handling wise the 40D feels about the same as the 30D – the LCD is nice being bigger – its like going from the 20D to the 30D again and the viewfinder is a lot brighter.

Dean,

I am a relativity happy 20D owner and must say from the start that I am in total agreement with Paul. However, in as much as the new 40D has been mentioned I would hold off for a few months and see if the body prices edge down a bit!

Eric

Many thanks for your replies, especially Paul for his very comprehensive post. Paul, you’ve pretty much affirmed my thoughts on the 8Mpx V’s 10Mpx argument, and the dust cleaning.

I’m leaning towards the 30D, but I think, as vulcan558 says, it’s a case of getting my mits on them to see how they feel. At the end of the day it looks like it will come down to handling preferences rather than a comparison of specs.

Thanks to you all again,

Cheers,

Dean.

Does anyone know whether the dust protection system of the EOS400D works properly? Is it worth to take dust protection into account when buying a new body?

I would say buy a second hand 30D and use the money you save and buy yourself some good glasses wear. Between 8-10Mpix you would better improve image quality with good glasses then you would do if you shifted from 8Mp to 10Mp.

If you really want to get good photos get the EOS 5D. + Good Glass wear.

I have had my 8Mpix 30D since the day it was released and I have never had bad pictures due to low Mpix count, its always been either Human Error (not getting the light correct for landscapes etc) or BAD BAD BAD glasswear.

Had my 30D for a month or so and very pleased (still getting use to the controls) being an A1 and AE1 owner myself.
Have noted today that the price of the 40D is starting to move down, could be that some dealers have now got them in stock, so this could see the 30D move if any stocks are still available.
anyway while you are deciding have a read of this review.

http://rolandlim.wordpress.com/2007/09/02/canon-eos-40d-review/

and good luck in your decision.

Paul

Hi, Dean,

I think the simple answer is there is no simple answer! Which is the best body to get I think depends purely on what you need and want from your camera. I own both the 350D (the predecessor of the 400D), and the 30D. I decided to go for the 30D after realising I was basically hammering my 350D through very heavy use, and I thought the 30D would be much more up to taking the amount of shooting and travelling I do. I’ll try and outline a few points about each camera though, which hopefully may be of some use.

400D:

Self-cleaning sensor… I’ve heard very mixed reports about the efficiency of the sensor cleaning system. Many people swear by it, others can take it or leave it. Whether you have it or not one thing is certain… You will at some point get dust spots and need to use alternative methods, such as sensor swabs, to clean it.

10 megapixels… I have never been convinced this gives you much of an advantage over an 8 megapixel sensor due to one simple fact; to double the resolution of an imaging sensor you have to quadruple the number of pixels, so to double the resolution of the 350D or 30D you’d need a camera with a 32 megapixel sensor. The 30D outputs images 3504 pixels wide, while the 400D’s are 3888 pixels wide. I’m yet to hear anyone describe how such a small increase gives you the huge advantage some consider it to, beyond allowing you to crop slightly more assuming you have a very sharp image in the first place. Many actually consider it to be a detriment to image quality as higher pixel density usually increases noise, but that again is a subject of much debate and there doesn’t appear to be an absolute ‘correct’ answer.

Size and build… The 350D/400D are very small cameras as far as SLR’s go, quite a bit smaller than my EOS 1000F film SLR. This can be both a good and a bad thing. Some people prefer having a smaller camera for ease of transport and because it fits in their hands a little better than something chunkier. Others consider it a little too small to be entirely comfortable with. It’s a very personal preference, and as with almost every aspect of photography, there is no right or wrong.

Image Quality… My beliefs in photography are very similar to the ones I have as a musician and sound engineer. Any sound system or instrument is only as good as the person working or playing it. Sure, there are differences in equipment which will affect how the end result sounds, but the single most important factor is how much knowledge the sound engineer or musician has to make whatever equipment he or she is using work well, and I think the same applies to cameras. A good photographer will get excellent results from a 30D, 400D, D50, E-500 or anything else he uses. In any case, the 350D and 30D are very similar in terms of how their images look, and I’m sure the 400D will also be very similar.

30D:

No Self Cleaning Sensor… But I don’t see this as a huge problem. Dust spots are just a part of using DSLR cameras for myself and many other users and sensor swabbing isn’t something to be afraid of.

8 Megapixels… Many people consider more pixels to be better, and in some cases it may well be true. If you intend to make huge prints the extra resolution will certainly come in handy, but for general internet use and printing purposes the megapixel hype, to me at least seems to be an irrelevant way of trying to make one camera sound better than another. Do a search on A.Net, J.Net or Flickr for Canon D30 (not 30D!). The D30 was the original Canon DSLR before the D60 and 10D and was only 3 megapixels. There are many examples of stunning photos taken with this camera and as mentioned earlier, to double the resolution you need four times the number of pixels. Any modern DSLR pixel count will be absolutely fine for general use and I certainly wouldn’t let an extra 2 megapixels alone sway by decision to go for one body over another.

Size and build… The 30D sits in Canon’s middle range of ‘prosumer’ DSLR’s, and, as is to be expected from a slightly more expansive camera has somewhat better, more solid build quality. Firstly, it’s bigger. It actually feels much bigger without a battery grip than the 400D with one. As with the 400D, it’s size can be both good and bad. Some consider it too large, others just right. It depends purely on what you as the user prefer. I have quite big hands (good for a bass player!) So the 30D with a battery grip feels perfect for me and is approaching the size of Canon 1D series and Nikon D1x/D2x professional bodies. Secondy, the main body (excluding the memory card door and flash casing) is made from magnesium alloy, making it much more solid and weighty than the 400D. This solidity suits my purposes because I’m on and off planes and other means of transport all the time and use my camera almost daily, so I feel much happier with a slightly heavier duty camera. If you only intent to use your camera for light occasional shooting, you possibly won’t really feel any great benefit from the stronger build (unless you treat it rough, of course!)

Image quality… See above. Any modern DSLR will produce excellent photos if the user has a good understanding of them!

As with everything, the points I’ve outlined are purely based on my own personal findings and preferences, and may not necessarily be correct for you, although hopefully they’ll be of some use. So it’s basically dependant on what you as the person who’s going to use the camera needs. If you don’t need the weight, solidity and size of the 30D and you like the idea of having the sensor cleaning and 10mp, the 400D may be the best choice. On the other hand, for more frequent shooting and heavy use the 30D may be the way to go. I don’t believe if you use good lenses your work will look all that different using one or the other, so I consider comfort; how the camera feels to you, and which is more appropriate for the amount you shoot to be the most important factors.

Hope that helps, and let us know which one you go for!

Phew… Big reply. Pub time!

Paul

If you have the money go for the newest model in that range .
the new 40D is out in the shops . go and look in your nearest Jessops
and ask to see and have a feel and play with some of the them.
they should have some 40Ds in . my local store as them in as of yesterday .
The 30D is a very good camera mines been great over the past year or so. and for the money they are asking for 1 today around £600 its good value.
Like i said visit your local camera store and hold and feel the cameras and then you can make a better decision. be careful of some of the sales rubbish.
they do tend to push you if not careful in the wrong direction for sale target needs on certain brands .

30D, but I’d get the 40D! New sensor and more pixels. Would wait until after christmas before getting one, just so Canon have time to fix any bugs.

As you mentioned, the 30D is a sturdier (and heavier!) beast than the 400D both of which can be a factor if you plan to take your DSLR out and about o’er hill and dale.

Overall, I’d advise going for the 30D.

But then again, as a 30D owner myself I would say that wouldn’t I? 😎

Having done a spot of ‘Googling’ after my post, it would seem that this debate has been going on for some time! I’m still no nearer to reaching a conclusion though!

Dean.