The new Canon EOS 40D represents the pinnacle of Canon's midrange dSLR cameras and has a proud pedigree that stretches back seven years and through six generations of impressive models. Comparing based on body units alone--at less than half the price of the prohibitively expensive EOS 5D (S$4,999) and slightly more than the Canon EOS 400D (S$920)--the Canon EOS 40D (S$2,099) is an ideal choice for the demanding enthusiast photographer and a great backup system for professionals.

While its predecessors featured minor improvements from model to model, the EOS 40D justifies its asking price with a barrage of useful and powerful new features. The EOS 40D has an increase in resolution--the first since the EOS 20D three years ago--from 8.2megapixels to 10.1megapixels. And to keep up with its competitors like the Nikon D300, it has a dust removal system and a Live View feature to enable framing with its 3-inch LCD monitor.

Design

In terms of size, the EOS 40D is almost identical to its older sibling, the EOS 30D, except that it's a tad heavier. The grip is comfortable and the build quality is high. Photographers who are accustomed to earlier EOS models will find themselves taking to the EOS 40D's handling like a duck to water. The camera has retained its predecessors' familiar top-mounted main dial and rear jog dial (which Canon terms as a quick control dial) combination, as well as the large, top-facing status LCD. As with all high-end Canon dSLR cameras, the EOS 40D's main dial (top) controls the aperture and shutter settings.

In manual mode, the main dial controls the shutter speed, while the quick control dial (rear) varies the aperture. Though Canon has stubbornly stuck to this control system for many years, we still find Nikon’s dSLR dual-control dial system for manual mode shooting more ergonomic. However, we also know of many Canon dSLR users who beg to differ.

The EOS 40D has kept the same row of three buttons lining the top edge of the status LCD that is manifest in the 20D and 30D. Each button has a dual role, allowing users to adjust 1) metering mode or white balance, 2) focus or drive mode, and 3) ISO or exposure compensation (EV) using either the top main dial or rear quick control dial.

The rightmost ISO/EV button is particularly useful as it allows the photographer to keep his eye on the viewfinder in dynamic situations (like sports shooting) while changing ISO or EV on-the-fly.

A new feature that the EOS 40D borrowed from its higher-end compatriots is the AF-On button that's positioned just under the status LCD. This button allows the photographer to maintain focus on a moving subject by pressing it with his thumb, and triggering the shutter release as and when he wants.

The EOS 40D's menu layout features a page-by-page format similar to high-end EOS dSLRs. The navigation interface also remains the same; you can deploy either the "multi-controller" joystick at the rear or the jog dial… The joystick can also be used to select from nine autofocus points as well as fine-tuning white balance on the camera's white balance grid interface.

The most obvious physical difference between the EOS 40D and the EOS 30D is the 3.0-inch LCD (23-pixel resolution) on the former. In addition, the column of control buttons that used to be positioned on the left edge of the LCD have been shifted to form a row below the LCD.

Features

Judging from the technologies and features introduced to recent dSLRs, we suspect the 40D's new features are a result of Canon's reaction to competitive pressure rather than a willingness to integrate them. Nevertheless, we are glad the 40D has them.

As with other midrange and entry-level Canon dSLRs, the EOS 40D features a 22.2 x 14.8mm, APS-C film-sized sensor with a 1.6x crop factor. While the photos produced by this sensor are not as indulgently detailed as the ones shot by Canon's high-end models, it's a virtue that the body is compatible with Canon's EF-S lenses, which are more compact and affordable than standard EF lenses of the same focal range.

Though some may feel a little "cheated", considering that the significantly cheaper EOS 400D has the same resolution and sensor size, it's worth noting that the EOS 40D is still the most advanced Canon EOS dSLR model that can accommodate EF-S lenses.

Powering the EOS 40D is Canon's latest Digic III processor which promises reduced image noise at higher ISO settings and a burst of 6.5fps; but we will evaluate these claims when we analyse its performance.

A useful feature (now common among dSLRs) introduced in the EOS 40D is the Canon EOS Integrated Cleaning System. This works to reduce dust particles on the sensor via a dust-repelling, antistatic coating on the sensor, and shaking the sensor at extreme frequencies to remove dust.

One of the less useful features on the EOS 40D is the sRAW (small RAW) format, which allows RAW capture at a quarter of the camera's resolution (typically 2.5megapixels at half the file size of a full-resolution RAW image).

The piece de resistance on the Canon EOS 40D's new suite of features has to be its 3-inch LCD with Live View capability. Like a compact digital camera, Live View allows framing using the LCD monitor. This enables the photographer to frame low-level shots without repositioning his head to the height level of the viewfinder. It's also good for shooting overhead shots without having to guess what will appear in the resulting photo as he can see his subject in the frame.

However, there is a significant caveat: The EOS 40D cannot autofocus in Live View. The photographer must set the lens to manual and focus by hand. This is because dSLR autofocus systems work by judging focus from the image passing through the viewfinder's line of sight, and not the Live View sensor's line of sight.

In dSLR cameras that claim the ability to autofocus in Live View (like Olympus models), what actually happens is that the mirror drops down for a short moment. This temporarily halts Live View and diverts the light through to the viewfinder for a focus lock, before the mirror flips back up to allow light to pass through to the Live View sensor to display the focused image.

While this seems simple in theory, it takes time for this process to complete And if the photographer moves during the focusing, the focus will be lost, or worse, a poorly focused photo will result.

A workaround to get autofocus in Live View is via a custom function on the EOS 40D. Pressing the camera's AF-On button during Live View will cause the mirror to drop down for normal focusing to be done; and once the photographer stops pressing the AF-On button, Live View resumes with the focused image.

The EOS 30D introduced the Picture Style feature that optimized the camera's sharpening, contrast, color saturation and tone settings into six combinations. These combinations--standard, portrait, landscape, neutral, faithful and monochrome--are used to optimize the camera for different subjects and simulates the use of old-school color-biased film.

Each combination can be reconfigured and there are three additional user-defined combinations that can be saved to memory. Although this feature is probably good for those who shoot different subjects and know the results of the parameter changes intimately, casual shooters will probably use it less for fear of negatively affecting the intended photo.

Performance

In our field tests, the EOS 40D's performance pleased us tremendously. In terms of color, Canon cameras are known to produce "out-of-the box" (unprocessed) photos that are just slightly, but pleasantly, saturated with a mildly warmer tone than those from other manufacturers. The EOS 40D is not an exception, and with its Picture Style feature, allows the adventurous to tweak settings to their heart's content.

As for resolution, we paired the 40D with its EFS 17-85mm lens kit and produced highly detailed photos that can be printed at large sizes without quality compromise.

However, what we were most impressed with was the camera's noise control at high ISO levels. With the noise reduction on (which is the default setting), shooting at ISO 1,600 produced photos with the same noise and graininess as those shot at ISO 800 using a reference 8.2-megapixel Canon EOS 350D--which is a good performer at high sensitivity levels.

At this level, grain was just perceptible, but appeared similar to that of high sensitivity film. Even at the special ISO 3,200 mode, photos were still usable for casual purposes. This excellent ISO performance makes the EOS 40D a great camera for low-light photography where high shutter speeds are needed--like at night events and parties.

Considering that the EOS 40D's resolution has been increased over the last generation with a sensor size that remains the same, this is startling news. A resolution increase without a sensor size increase will cause each light-sensing pixel on the sensor (correctly termed as a "photosite") to be smaller. In turn, the densely packed photosites will create higher electric signal "noise", which usually shows up as increased film grain. It seems the EOS 40D's Digic III processor works well to suppress this usual side effect from resolution increase without an increase in sensor size.

Sports photographers will also appreciate the camera's zippy (but not blazing) 6.5fps continuous shooting capability. Coupled with the highly competent AI-servo AF mode that actively tracks and focuses on moving subjects, we found ourselves capturing well-focused sports subjects in rapid sequential action. However, for the best results, pair the EOS 40D with a lens that has a good focus motor--like Canon's own lenses with a USM motor.

Differences between 40D and 30D

There are some differences between the EOS 40D and its predecessor, the 30D. For one thing, the ISO is now displayed constantly on the top LCD and viewfinder which is unlike the past when you had to press a button to view it. We did not like the black-painted hotshoe in the 30D which is susceptible to visible paint chipping. In the 40D, it's no longer finished.

The 40D now has an auto ISO function (up to ISO 800) which is previously unavailable on the 30D.

And while it is uncommon for a user to open up the CF compartment while the camera is recording images, Canon's stubborn insistence on powering down the CF card when that happens, had resulted in lost images. Now, the 40D displays a warning message and an audile alarm instead and continue to write images onto the card whenever the compartment is opened, by intention or accident.

For potential buyers who intend to purchase the 30D, here's food for thought. The last recommended retail pricing for the 30D body before it was discontinued is S$2,129. And that's still more than the retail price tag of the 40D (S$2,099).

But not everything is rosy. While the 40D has an admittedly larger screen (3- vs 2.5-inch), the pixel resolution remains the same, so theoretically there should be a slight degradation. However, in the real world, it may be too slight to be detected.

Buying Considerations

The EOS 40D's body-only price is S$920 more than the next-in-line Canon model, the highly rated EOS 400D. For this difference, you do not get a sensor size or resolution increase, but you do get a larger LCD with Live View, a better control interface (with the additional quick control dial), a newer and faster image processor, and a continuous shooting capability that is over twice as fast (6.5fps compared with 3fps). So you have to ask yourself if those differences can compel you to fork out the additional money for the significantly larger and heavier EOS 40D.

For users of prosumer cameras who want to upgrade to a higher hardware level, the EOS 40D has the edge over the 400D if budget is not a concern.

However, current 30D users would probably not see the need as the two cameras are still rather close in features. A full-frame SLR like the EOS 5D might be a better upgrade though it would mean that the users would not be av EF-S lenses from the 30D cannot be used.

On the other hand, comparing the EOS 40D to its larger, more expensive and significantly older sibling, the EOS 5D, is not really fair. The latter is sold on the virtues of its full-frame sensor and lacks many of the consumer-focused features that the EOS 40D has. While the EOS 5D is somewhat of a professional rig, the EOS 40D is the most fully featured and flexible system that an enthusiast can get for a reasonable amount of money.

At press time, the Nikon D200 is probably the closest market-available competitor (another one would be Fujifilm's FinePix S5 Pro) to the 40D. Still, it's of a slightly higher class. Yet, because of the small price difference (S$189) for the camera body and relative similarity in terms of technical specifications, the Canon makes for a tempting buy if you are not a huge fan of the Nikon system, or haven't already invested your family heirloom in Nikon lens.

Lastly, comparing the EOS 40D to its very latest competitor, the Nikon D300, they match up almost toe-to-toe on features, though the latter has a higher resolution sensor and a bigger price tag. That said, we prefer the control system on the Nikon and the out-of-the box image quality of the EOS 40D.

Should you choose the EOS 40D, we recommend you splash out S$800 more and get it with its 17-85mm EF-S lens kit. On top of having a highly flexible focal range, this lens features an integrated image stabilizer and Canon's "ultrasonic" focus motor that's super-fast and precise.