Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73194 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Canon
• Model: EOS 20D Body
• Released on: 2004-09-29
• Dimensions: 1.54 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
Quality
A rugged magnesium alloy body provides the first clue that the EOS 20D is no ordinary camera. Canon's award-winning CMOS technology delivers outstanding image quality and 8.2 Megapixel resolution. The DIGIC II architecture drives blistering 5fps continuous shooting with a maximum burst of 23 frame JPEG images, class-leading colour rendition accuracy, quick start-up times and rapid display and zooming of images during in-camera review. JPEG and RAW files write simultaneously with no loss of performance.

Focus
9 auto focus points are carefully distributed across a wide area of the frame for fast, accurate focusing, even with off-centre subjects and particularly with 'rule-of-thirds' compositions.

Distance-linked flash
The E-TTL distance-linked flash algorithm takes factors such as lens distance information and ambient light readings into account for accurate flash metering, even in circumstances such as recomposed shots, or where high or low reflective objects appear in the frame. The camera is compatible with the entire EX-series Speedlite flash range. This includes the 580EX, which transmits colour temperature information for improved colour stability and auto zooms to match the camera's APS-C sensor size.

Lens mount
The EOS 20D is compatible with more than 60 Canon EF lenses, including Canon's EF-S lenses. Built with the EOS 20D photographer in mind, the EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM and EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM cover popular wide (approx. 16-35mm) and standard (approx. 27-136mm) ranges in the 35mm equivalent.

Full control
An extreme high (3200 ISO) setting extends the camera's wide 100-1600 ISO speed range. Both sRGB and Adobe RGB colour spaces are supported. Digital Photo Professional image processing software permits high-speed processing of lossless RAW files.

Connectivity
The EOS 20D's USB 2.0 Hi-Speed connection enables fast download of images to the computer. PictBridge compliant, the camera supports direct printing to any compatible photo printer. It takes both CF and CF-II cards, including cards of over 2GB capacity.

Online sharing
Free membership is included to Canon's online CANON iMAGE GATEWAY, with 100 Megabytes of free storage space for online album storing and sharing. Users can upload images to the site and direct clients, friends and family to secure online 'albums'.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

Great value for money
I've just picked up this camera. I haven't yet loaded the software but I have taken pictures with the camera, and I have noticed a big improvement over my EOS 10D.

The biggest improvement is on the turn-on time. It's now instant, and this was the main improvement compared to the EOS 10D, which took so long to reboot after auto switch-off that you often missed the moment.

Focussing is slightly quicker and sharper, and seemed better in low light.

The 8.2MP, plus the fact that you can record RAW files at the same time as JPEG, means that you could get less than 50 photos on a 512MB card - therefore don't forget to budget for a big CF card. These are coming down in price now, however.

I much prefer the joystick for navigating pictures, and I like the purple, sepia and green "black and white" tones. You'll have to read the instruction book well to use these, but it's worth it, and easy when you work it out.

The flash is a lot higher than on the 10D, which should keep it awa from the wide angle lenses you need to compensate for the 1.6x magnification.

The only major downside is the noise, which seems very loud compared to the 10D. Makes you sound like a professional though, especially if you take 5fps!

For this price, it's a real bargain to my mind.

should be happy with this for a few years.
I upgraded to a 20d from a 300d. The 20d seems to be better built and just as easy to use although I personally find the two rotating controls a little confusing and keep changing the wrong settings. The 20d is quick to power up and use and generally quick at doing everything. A nice touch over the 300d is that you have 3 focus modes including continuous focus in all of the creative or manual modes not just in sport. You can also change the ISO, shutter speed, metering and all other common settings quickly and easily.

The camera is very easy to use and if you have used anything similar you will no doubt get the hang of it in no time at all. The only criticism's I have at the moment are that the on / off switch is for me a little difficult to operate compared to the 300d and the focus and sharpness are still a little soft compared to one or two rivals even on parameter 1 and after cranking the settings up manually.

Overall I am happy with the 20d, 8.2 meg should be enough for most people, and I would recommend that anyone looking at a 10d, 300d or 350d or any of the competitors should concider the 20d as it is so good that once you have one you will probably be happy with it for years to come and if you buy a 300d or 350d instead you will save a few quid but might always suspect that you bought a cheaper alternative.

PS. So far I have had no mirror lock ups or any other errors.

Giant Digital SLR Camera
Without doubt this camera is impressive. The moment you put the 20D into your hands you feel at home with it. The 20D just feels impressive and taking images with this camera is a joy, though more demanding than your normal point and shoot digital camera. Getting to know your 20D will pay lots of dividends in the long run and I would suggest that owners of the 20D read the instruction manual and then read it again, while trying out all the many and varied functions.

It is important with a digital SLR to choose quality lenses. If you buy cheap don't be surprised if your resulting images lack the quality that they could command. A quality flash gun like the 580 EX Speedlite will further help your image taking. Furthermore, I find the BG-E2 Battery Grip - which holds an extra battery - an important accessory along with the Remote Switch RS-80N3 to minimize camera shake. On the memory front, choose well! Cheap memory can result in the loss of those precious images you have spent so long taking. And make sure you have enough memory because an 8 MP digital SLR on RAW mode eats up images at an alarming rate. Personally I have three 1 GB memory cards and still I don't think this is enough.

Once you are set up with everything you will find taking images with the 20D brings you many hours, days, months and in the end no doubt years of fun. The shutter is noisy making the 20D limited for wildlife work but when taking images of landscapes, people or my personal favourite, macro work, then this camera has the lot. You get the build quality of Canon's professional cameras without the price tag. The 20D is heavy, especially with the battery grip and a quality lens attached, so be prepared to use a tripod to help you avoid camera shake.

This camera is beautiful and the little niggles I have over the focusing system etc have not stopped me loving the 20D to bits.