# Canon 40D



## George Farmer (21 Jan 2009)

Does anyone have any experience with this camera, please?

I'm in the market for a new model to replace my old 10D but funds are limited to around Â£500, otherwise I'd likely go for a 5D.

Some reviews rate the image quality even higher than the 5D which I find hard to believe.

I like the fast burst rate as I want to get into more wildlife stuff and I can get some decent shots of the missus and kids horseriding at events etc.

The Live View may come in handy too, and I can't wait to use a 3" LCD over my poxy little one!


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## LondonDragon (21 Jan 2009)

A couple of my mates have the 40D and they are very happy with them, photo quality is excelent but then again it all depends on which type of lenses you put in the end of it. I don't think you will be disapointed with it.

Have a look here: http://www.photosig.com/go/photos/browse?id=42340 only photos taken with the 40D, you can also search on that site for specif lenses, if you want to see what people can do with them.


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## George Farmer (21 Jan 2009)

Cheers mate.

Nice link.


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## Joecoral (21 Jan 2009)

Another very good site for what each lens is capable of: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/for ... .php?f=107
24-105 f/4 L is next on my list.
Never used a 40D personally, but heard good things


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## Dave Spencer (22 Jan 2009)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> I like the fast burst rate as I want to get into more wildlife stuff and I can get some decent shots of the missus and kids horseriding at events etc.



Have you looked in to the FPS with a battery pack fitted, George? 

I know that with my camera fitted with a battery pack and using AA batteries in it alongside the battery fitted to the camera, I get a much higher frame rate than using two camera batteries together. It may be worth looking in to.

Dave.


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## George Farmer (22 Jan 2009)

Thanks Joe and Dave.  

I didn't realise about the increased FPS with battery pack.  I think 6.3fps should be ok for now, anyway.  Over twice as quick as the 10D.

Unfortunately my 10D battery grip is not compatible with the 40D.

I'm selling the 10D now to a work colleague, with Sigma my wide angle lens for a decent price...  Enough for me to replace with the acclaimed Sigma 10-20mm ultra wide angle, anyway.  Then my next glass investment will be the Canon 50mm f/1.4.

I'm pretty excited but will have to wait a few weeks yet.  Maybe the 40D will come down in price, if I'm lucky.

Cheers.


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## Mark Evans (22 Jan 2009)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> I didn't realise about the increased FPS with battery pack.



thats a new one on me too. you'll love the new camera george


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## Dave Spencer (22 Jan 2009)

I`m not sure why we get more FPS with a back up of AA batteries. Maybe they can supply the burst of power required by the camera at the required rate. I would imagine it would be the same for Canon users.

Mmmmm.....f 1.4. You will be amazed at the pics of your kids you can take indoors without the need for flash. F1.4 may cost you an extra Â£100 more or so, but for a lens you may be using for as long as you continue to take photos, the extra is well worth it. The bokeh is pretty good too.

Here is a pic of Georgia taken indoors on a gloomy Christmas morning at f1.6 and ISO 1250. If the low noise capability of the 40D is any good you can virtually kiss your tripod and flashgun goodbye. I rarely use a tripod for tank photos any more.  






Dave.

P.S. Georgia was devastated to find that her Peppa Pig house was actually a CO2 reactor.


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## George Farmer (22 Jan 2009)

Thanks, Mark and Dave.

Great shot, Dave!

The Canon 50mm f/1.4 is around Â£220; a lot more than the f/1.8 but the build quality is far far superior.  Apparently it's one of the Canon pro-users favourite lenses of all time.

The ISO handling of the 40D is on par with the 5D, so pretty good and much better than my 10D.  It's no match for your Nikon D700 though...


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## Joecoral (22 Jan 2009)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> a lot more than the f/1.8 but the build quality is far far superior.



It's not made of plastic for starters!


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## George Farmer (28 Jan 2009)

Well, I decided to treat myself and splash out on the new Canon 50D.  

Should arrive tommorow - I'm like a kid on Christmas Eve!


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## StevenA (28 Jan 2009)

And tomorrow you'll be like a kid on Christmas day mate


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## Dave Spencer (28 Jan 2009)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Well, I decided to treat myself and splash out on the new Canon 50D.



Nice one squire! You will have to bring your tripod over to the hills of N. Wales sometime, and me, you, Stu and Graeme could go round Snowdonia some time.

Dave.


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## Joecoral (28 Jan 2009)

Exciting stuff! Let us know how you get on with it!


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## George Farmer (28 Jan 2009)

Thanks, guys.  The jump from the 10D to 50D is pretty steep and I'm super excited.

And I'm getting Adobe C3 tomorrow too, so I can do some proper 16-bit RAW.  I'm shooting jpegs and using Elements at the moment.    



			
				Dave Spencer said:
			
		

> Nice one squire! You will have to bring your tripod over to the hills of N. Wales sometime, and me, you, Stu and Graeme could go round Snowdonia some time.
> 
> Dave.



Sounds like a plan, Dave!  Cheers mate.


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## Mark Evans (31 Jan 2009)

c'mon george, lets see em'....photos dude....photos!


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## George Farmer (31 Jan 2009)

Hi Mark

I'm blown away by the 50D.  It makes my 10D look like a toy.  High ISO handling is superb and with 15MP there's loads of room for cropping etc.  It's a real pleasure to use and when I figure out CS3 and RAW etc. I'm sure my photography will improve further still.

I've also treated myself to a new Sigma 17-70mm that is far sharper than my old 17-35mm and Cokin P filter system with ND 4 and 8 grads.

We had a nice sunrise in the village this morning....


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## Mark Evans (31 Jan 2009)

i saw the same skys this morning. nice pic mate.

you wait until you start discovering the benefits of RAW processing   

you got more MP than me now!


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## Dave Spencer (31 Jan 2009)

Liking the dramatic sky, George! It reminds me of the opening titles to Doctor Who.

Did you bracket at all, because a HDR of this could look pretty tasty? Or is it already a subtle HDR? I really must calibrate my monitor. :? 

Dave.


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## Stu Worrall (31 Jan 2009)

very nice pic george and im uber jealous of your 50d!  re the FPS increasing with the grip its only a nikon thing so it doesnt happen with the canon gear 

by the way have you checked out the reviews for the Sigma 50mm f1.4?  seems to be getting a bit of good press as the canon 1.4 is an old old lens (but still good)


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## George Farmer (31 Jan 2009)

saintly said:
			
		

> i saw the same skys this morning. nice pic mate.
> 
> you wait until you start discovering the benefits of RAW processing
> 
> you got more MP than me now!


Thanks mate.

I've just been processing some RAW files.  16-bit TIFFs are over 80Mb each!

What I am also impressed with is how powerful my iMac must be.  Everything still runs super quick.



			
				Dave Spencer said:
			
		

> Liking the dramatic sky, George! It reminds me of the opening titles to Doctor Who.
> 
> Did you bracket at all, because a HDR of this could look pretty tasty? Or is it already a subtle HDR? I really must calibrate my monitor. :?
> 
> Dave.


Cheers mate.

I didn't bracket or using any HDR technique.  This was captured in jpeg then straight into PS Elements with some minor Levels adjustment.  What a Philistine eh?!



			
				stuworrall said:
			
		

> very nice pic george and im uber jealous of your 50d!  re the FPS increasing with the grip its only a nikon thing so it doesnt happen with the canon gear
> 
> by the way have you checked out the reviews for the Sigma 50mm f1.4?  seems to be getting a bit of good press as the canon 1.4 is an old old lens (but still good)


Cheers mate.

The 50mm Sigma looks tasty and worth considering over the Canon.  

I'm a big fan of Sigma, especially their performance vs. cost.  I do hear about the odd AF reliability issue but I tend to manually focus most of the time anyway.

Anyway, there's  a sexy sunset right now so I'm off to the fields with my Manfrotto and Lowepro...


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## LondonDragon (31 Jan 2009)

Looking great George, nice snap there of the sunrise  Boys and their new toys hehe
I am in need of a new camera! Still suprised mine is still going, but it will have to do for now hehe
Looking forward to seeing more photos and what the camera can do 
Also curious to see how it performs taking photos of the tank.


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## Joecoral (31 Jan 2009)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> I'm a big fan of Sigma, especially their performance vs. cost.



Sigma 50mm 1.4 is generally about Â£20-30 more expensive than the Canon 50mm 1.4 tho...


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## Joecoral (6 Mar 2009)

How you getting on with this badboy now you've had a few months to play with it, George?


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## George Farmer (6 Mar 2009)

Hi Joe,

I'm lovin' it! It's just a pity I don't have much time as I'd like to use it...

You can see some of my shots on my Flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/35185334@N02/

I'm shooting my first wedding this summer with it, so will be investing in a fast 50mm prime, battery grip and 2x decent 16Gb CF cards soon.

I've just treated myself to Lightroom 2.3 too which is very cool.


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## Mark Evans (6 Mar 2009)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> 2x decent 16Gb



a word of advice mate, get smaller versions. say 4 x 8.0 GB 

so if you happen to corrupt a card by accident or it just break/loose it you only loose a quarter of your images as opposed to half. after all memory is cheap these days
you can borrow my epson p2000 if you like too, to download the cards to the hard drive


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## George Farmer (6 Mar 2009)

saintly said:
			
		

> George Farmer said:
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Top tips there mate.  Thanks.  I've already ordered 1x 16Gb, but will get 2x 8Gb too.  I was considering 1x 32Gb, but didn't for the reasons you explain.

Thanks for the offer of the P2000.  I may take you up on that.  A friend is lending me his 450D as a back up body too.

I'm off to the church and reception with the couple soon to practice.


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## Mark Evans (6 Mar 2009)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> I'm off to the church and reception with the couple soon to practice.



very wise mate, very wise indeed.

after using the p2000. you'll want to keep it! the screen is to die for.


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## George Farmer (6 Mar 2009)

saintly said:
			
		

> George Farmer said:
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Yes, I figured it's my first so I need to!  It will make the couple more at ease with me, as well as give me more confidence and figure out a few settings.  The vicar is cool with flash too, not that I really need it with my ISO....

P2000 sounds ace!  Cheers mate.


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## Joecoral (6 Mar 2009)

I know what you mean about not having the time, hard to squeeze in any photography at the moment!



			
				George Farmer said:
			
		

> so will be investing in a fast 50mm prime



I'd go with the Canon 50mm f/1.4 if it were my money (depending on budget of course)

Some nice captures on your Flickr too   , gotta love 'picking a winner' !


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## taylsimon (5 Aug 2009)

Nice 50D Camera Goeorge, just happens to be the same as mine  

If you can stretch to it there are some lovely image stabalised L class lenses from canon that just take it to a new level, even on my older 20D the results were astounding, when i get around to getting my Mac back from my brother i will upload some pictures i took with the 20D on the Li River in Guilin China. 

Simon.


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## George Farmer (5 Aug 2009)

Thanks, Simon.

I love my camera.  The jump from my old 10D was unreal.  

I'd like some L-glass (who wouldn't?!)  The nearest I have is the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro that's uber-sharp.

I replaced the crappy kit lens with a Sigma 17-70mm that's sharp too, and the classic nifty fifty.  

That's all bases covered for most stuff I shoot but I'm getting more into weddings so could do with some faster and longer glass.

My wish list - 

Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5
Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

What glass do you have?

I look forward to seeing your shots.

One of UKAPS best photographers (IMHO) is Stu Worrall who gets fantastic results from his 30D that's not much more spec than a 20D.  

As you know, it's more about the lenses than the body.  And even more about the person pressing the shutter release...!


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## taylsimon (6 Aug 2009)

Hi George,

I have the EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L USM Lens and the same macro lens as you the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro.

I will be getting the photos from my old mac in 2 weeks when my brother is coming to visit.

My trip to China was last year and i went on 6 internal flights staying with my friends in Bejing as a base then we went to Yangshou and took a restaraunt boat along the Li River to Guilin which is in the south and is Semi tropical with orchids in the trees and 30 degree heat and humidity mountain biking in the mountains there.  Then onto Xian to see the Teracotta army and back to bejing to climb a non-tourist part of the great wall on my birthday with a friend who is a guide.

If you ever get the chance to go to China take the boat from Yanshou to Guilin its amazing and is the place where they filmed the latest HSBC advert with the old guy cormorant [sp?] fishing on a raft, which i was lucky enough to try for myself.

The mountains along the river just seem to go on forever, one range behind another as far as you can see.

The unfortunate part of the trip was arriving in yanshou/guilin in the last few days of of a typhoon so the water and sky instead of being azure blue was washed out a little.

Simon.

Just out of interest Amazon are currently doing the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 L USM Lens for Â£493.98 which although is a f/4.0 is still a great price for an L glass.


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