Canon - 40D Review

After shooting for over 25 years, I just bought myself a Canon 40d DSLR with a 28-135 telephoto zoom lens and I love them both.  For years I carried a Canon XT DSLR with the standard 18mm to 55mm lens and a 70mm to 200mm L lens for backup, but I find the 40d puts me in a whole new world as far as my photographic reaches.  Fast, efficient, very well made, and an LCD screen actually big enough to review photos and assess details without having to search for my reading glasses.  The ISO can be adjusted to need, and the automatic flash can be disabled as required for shooting specifics.  This is particularly handy for museum shots, or in low light situations.  The 10.1 megabyte aspect of the camera makes isolating particular areas of your photos for a full frame quality picture a breeze.  Camera adjustments for aperatures and speed can be easily accomplished, even while on the run. 

After about a week I had begun to feel comfortable with the camera, and after reading a multitude of Canon camera literature, I'm comfortable and impressed with my new found ability for action sequences, confident of my field of focus manipulations, and beginning to catch up with a camera whose features far exceed my abilities at this point.  I also purchased a 4GB compact flash card which allows me to download when I have time, instead of planning downloads when my card is filling up.  I got over 990 pics worth of space when I plugged in the card for the first time!  Couldn't believe it!

The 28mm to 135mm has turned out to be the perfect walk around lens for traveling and capturing a plethora of scenes and events.  I particularly am fond of the lens image stabilization feature which allows great slow motion low light capabilities without tripod utilization.  I shoot with a polarizing filter 90% of the time for color enhancement indoors and out, and this feature has proved invaluable. While shooting in the Sistine Chapel in February of 2008 with minimal light and hordes of tourists bumping into me as we were literally shoulder to shoulder with no chance of a monopod, and the shots came out beautifully.  Well....most of them.  Only so much can be done in a large room with tons of people when everyone is looking up, and no one is looking out.  It's kinda like running for a subway in NYC.

I am very pleased with every aspect of this camera, and would recommend it for expericenced photographers, semi pros, for those wanting to step up from a point and shoot, and for those who just want a pic of the kids at the game.  Good performance and great fun.