The latest Canon EOS 20D digital SLR camera is released as a direct competitor to the Nikon D70. Canon and Nikon have always been at loggerheads when it comes to DSLR wars. The Canon EOS 20D may just swing the scales in Canon’s favor, given its fast performance, higher resolution and amazing quality of pictures. This article will serve as a Canon EOS 20D review, and highlight to you some of the best features, along with shortcomings of this new camera.

The Canon EOS 20D digital SLR camera
 

Design and Construction

In terms of dimensions, the Canon EOS 20D measures 5.7” x 4.2” x 2.8” (WHD). It’s weight is a hefty 24.2 ounces. The camera body and chassis is made of magnesium alloy, and looks very durable. Holding the camera in your hands, you can tell that it has a sturdy feeling and can be held very stably when shooting tricky shots. I like the presence of a nine-way joystick which allows you move the autofocus point quickly or panning a playback image.
 

Optics and Resolution

The Canon EOS 20D is an 8.2 megapixel resolution camera. It is capable of producing a maximum resolution of 3,008 x 2000 pixels. The camera has an optical zoom of 3x, which is enough for most regular shots.

What’s also interesting about the Canon EOS 20D is the support for auto-exposure, shutter-priority, aperture-priority, manual and six other program modes. If you’re a Nikon D70 user, you’ll realize that it cannot take black and white monochrome images. Not so in the Canon EOS 20D, which is fully monochrome capable. The Canon EOS 20D also exhibits an impressive ISO range from 100 to 3,200, compared to the 200 to 1,600 range in the Nikon D70.
 

User Controls

The Canon EOS 20D has well thought out user controls. There is a subdial behind the shutter button which allows easy access to several features of the camera. You can also find a circular quick control dial on the back of the camera too.

The menus on the Canon EOS 20D are bright, intuitive and very well organized. I found all functions easy to access and the text easy to read even under pretty bright light.

The entire body of the camera is also ergonomically shaped. I like the many non-slip surfaces available on the hand grip and camera body. This makes easier to hold the camera stable when snapping pictures.
 

Storage and Transfer

The Canon EOS 20D accepts both Type I and II CompactFlash memory cards. However, do note that Canon does not include a memory card with the camera kit. So you will need to fork out more money to buy a card (a 512MB card is recommended for this 8.2 megapixel camera). 

Image transfers are done via a USB 2.0 interface, so you can be assured that your image download times are minimal.
 

Battery Life

The Canon EOS 20D comes with one battery pack BP-511A, which includes a protective cover. The advertised battery life of the camera is about 1000 shots with no flash and 700 shots with 50% flash use.
 

Shortcomings

The Canon EOS 20D is a great camera. However, there are a two problems which need to be highlighted. Firstly, there is feedback from several users that some flash pictures are often underexposed and not consistent. Secondly, there are reports that the EOS 20D seems to lock up sometimes. However, this is probably an early firmware bug that will be fixed.
 

Conclusion

In summary, the Canon EOS 20D delivers superb, fast performance and shoots incredible images. It is reasonably priced for a DSLR with its feature set, and should be placed high on your shopping list if you’re in the market for a professional camera.

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