Canon EOS 20D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon EOS 20D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens
Customer Review: How the 20D changed my life!
Summary: 5 Stars
A year ago I sold my Digital Rebel on eBay and purchased the 20D. I have since not looked back. This camera has brought nothing but joy to myself and others. The sharpness and colors from the famed Canon sensor are true to their reputation. Friends and family all love the pictures that come out of this camera. I take it with me almost everywhere I go.
After selling my Rebel, I debated upgrading to the new Rebel XT or the 20D, which I'm sure many of you might be having right now before pulling the trigger. I held both in my hand and played with them at the PMA tradeshow where the XT was introduced. It was very light and felt very small in my hands. I don't have exceptionally large hands, but the XT felt like it was designed for smaller hands. That being said, it is a great travel partner to have being so compact and light-weight.
The other drawback, however, is that the user interface is quite different from the 20D. Although it may seem like a trivial feature, the dial navigation on the 20D has been immensely more convenient and practical when shooting compared to pressing the buttons on the Rebel or the XT. I didn't like having to navigate through the ISO or other changes to white balance via the LCD screen. I definitely think there's a reason why the 20D is more expensive beyond the fact that it has the solid magnesium alloy body. The user interface for me was worth the extra money as well. The more you take photos, the more you will realize the freedom that comes with controlling your aperture, shutter speed, white balance and more with the 20D interface versus the XT. That being said, it is still several hundred dollars more expensive and the XT has pretty much the same sensor (just 0.2 fewer megapixels) with the same results in a different body. So don't be concerned about getting inferior photos with the XT, because the differences are mostly all external.
I highly recommend getting the kit lens with either camera. For an additional $70-100 it is well worth it just for the range and it has pretty decent quality results. Bang for your buck it can't be beat. Make sure you pick up a EF 50mm f/1.8 II USM lens for another $70-80. This is a powerful little lens at a great price.
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Customer Review: A review for amateur photographers like me
Summary: 5 Stars
This camera is loaded with professional features that others have done a much better job detailing than I possibly could. The main takeaway for an amateur is that if you choose to learn a lot more about photography, you're not going to need to upgrade your camera to keep up -- it's there and waiting for you to advance.
But forgetting all that, there are two good reasons for stepping up to this camera over the lesser consumer ones (if you can afford it) even if you're never going to use all those features.
1. Picture quality -- absolutely awesome. Even if you do nothing more than learn what 3 or 4 of the different point and shoot modes do, you'll feel like a pro with the quality of images that come out of this. There's one dial to turn to choose your mode -- you can keep it on the all purpose green mode, or switch to a portrait (which gives that cool blurred background look), or sports mode, or night mode. There are a couple others, but these are the main ones I use. The images are simply far superior to anything I took with mid-range cameras ($500ish) in the past.
2. Speed. My biggest complaint with lesser cameras is the time it takes (1) to turn on, (2) from pressing the shutter to getting the picture (the kids are in a different spot than when I started the picture) and (3) the write time between pictures. Those are completely solved with this camera. It turns on right away. The "shutter lag" (2) is negligible. And it has a buffer to store a number of pictures in cache to write out to the disk so you can rapid fire pictures in an action situation.
For family photos, this is a pretty big investment. But given that these memories are "priceless" and given the quantity of pictures we print -- if I look at it on a monthly basis it seems worth it to step up from the mid-range consumer cameras.
Downsides to consider (relative to lower end cameras):
- This is big -- it's a lot to carry around
- It's clearly expensive and you'll probably want to add on to it with an extra lens, a flash, high speed storage card, etc.
Customer Review: The lens in the kit isn't so bad!
Summary: 5 Stars
I love the D20!! The lens that comes with the kit is not as bad as posted. Look above at pics I posted last night in the photo share area above. It is really what you do with it. It is small, light weight, which is a plus. It isn't an L lens, but it is worth having fun finding it's plus's. It is a fun lens to start out with if you have just started your Canon lens collection and have no other lens to work until you get better. Someone just starting with an SLR camera could do fine with this set, or with the Rebel XT and this lens. I just purchased the Canon 70-300 IS USM DO Zoom Lens and haven't had time to really put it to the test yet, but so far I really like the size and am looking forward to investigating its abilities and possibilities for the Motocross track. So if you are wondering if you should purchase just the body or the kit, I would say if you are starting with Canon and don't have a wide zoom lens as yet, don't be swayed by the pros to not buy the kit. For an extra $70, the kit is great and you will always have a pretty good little, light weight, backup. I have used it for a week while waiting for my new lenses to arrive and have had a great time. The camera of course has been alot of the fun too. I started with the Rebel XT. At first, I thought I wanted a smaller camera, but then found that the bigger lenses made holding the XT too hard for a long time. My hands are not big, I am a lady, but it still didn't feel right, so I exchanged it for the D20. I am glad I did. I love the ease of use and changing settings as I think it is easier than the Rebel. Also the D20 is faster and I have really noticed that. As for the kit lens, if you are going to walk around for a long time and don't want to have the weight of a richer lens sometimes, this will work quite well as it is an 18-55, which is a nice range for just fun stuff. As for the camera: I have just changed from another name brand manufacturer, which I have been with for sometime and am so happy for the change. I never expected I would switch from ----- to Canon, but am sooo happy I did. :>)Customer Review: Great for pictures of kids, lens could be better
Summary: 5 Stars
This review is targeted mainly at amateurs looking for their first digital SLR - someone like myself, that is.
My main purpose for getting this camera is to take picture of my kids. Sure, it's big and heavy, but it's really fast (shutter release as well as focusing) and the low light performance is fantastic - all critical for taking pictures of kids at play. My main issue with my Nikon 5700 is slow focusing (esp. in low light) and dismal flash performance (with built in flash). This camera has no such issue. In low light it uses the flash for AF assist.
Compared to the 300D (which is a great camera too), the 300D feels like a toy. The plastic body of the 300D just doesn't feel as good as the metal body of the 20D. But the main reason I got this is for the low noise photos at high ISO settings.
You cannot use the LCD as a viewfinder. This is probably the case with all digital SLRs (I've only tried a few - the reviews usually assume you already know about such things and don't mention it). This means you'll not be able to take well framed shots from strange angles.
Finally, be prepared to spend a lot more. The 18-55 EF-S is an okay lens, but you'll soon start wishing for more. A kit with the EF-S 18-85 IS USM will be a better value - but I can't seem to find it anywhere.
Anyway, be prepared to spend a lot more. An extra battery or two (few things worse than a digital camera with no power), lenses (unless you already have a good collection of Canon lenses), filters, flash. The good thing is, other than the battery, you don't need to rush out and buy all the rest of it now. This is a camera to grow into as you learn, and you can pick up a piece or two as you go on. And the major investment - the lenses - will continue to serve you as you upgrade the camera body 3 to 5 years down the road.
Don't throw (or eBay) that compact digital camera away. You'll still need it for the times when a bulky camera is not convenient. But this camera will give you lots of fun if you enjoy photography.
Customer Review: The best decision I ever made !!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was thinking between the Rebel XT and 20d . I didn't like the plastic body of the Rebel XT. Also the XT size is like miniature SLR or a crossbred between point-n-shoot and SLR, it just didn't right in my hand. But, the 20D fits like the gloves in my hands. The 20d is a litle bigger than XT. It's metal is rock solid.
I like to travel and take a lot of pictures of people. I thought if I have to take pictures, people will notice me of my shootings, I might as well carry the best camera that I could afford which is the 20d. I just bought mine about 3 weeks ago and I've been taking more than 3000 pictures. I use Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM len (Made in Japan len). The IS (Image Stabilization) feature of the len is a must. Most of the my pics are very sharp. I'm still playing around with this camera. Some of my pics are blurred because I used third party flash Metz Mecablitz 45 CL-4, and it did not synch correctly for right amount of flash needed. I shot mostly in automatic (P mode) TTL flash.
Since I've spent a good amount of money on the camera already, I thought I might as well invest in a good flash. I just ordered through Amazon (which prices are very competitive to Beach or Adorama, B&H) the Canon 580EX flash. I hope this flash will do the trick.
To sum up, so far so good. Very happy with my Canon 20d. The battery that comes with is amazing! I took more than 1000 pictures before I realized I need to recharged, just in case. Also the full recharge of the battery takes less than 2 hours. I plan to get the Canon BGE2 Battery Grip and extra battery set. It's not that I really need it, but I just like the beefed-up look of this camera and made me look like a pro. I'm glad I picked this one over the Rebel XT--I don't think the XT would have the extension of the battery Grip like the 20D.
One more thing. Amazon.com reviews influenced me to buy this camera. I'm very happy with prices and services which makes Amazon my one stop shopping and reading reviews on books and all electronic gadgets.