Canon 40D mini review - 1500 frames
I’ve now used the 40D for a while and shot around 1500 frames with it. Here is few of my impressions so far.
In the hand
40D feels essentially same as 30D, however the grip is slightly larger and shaped like the 5D. Overall the controls are accessible and there really are no surprises in this front. Build quality feels better than 30D, but 30D wasn’t exactly bad to begin with.
Autofocus
The single thing in 30D that REALLY annoyed me. One of the main reasons for me to upgrade to 40D. Some reviewer say that they didn’t spot that much of a difference between the two, I’d say that the speed isn’t improved that much but accuracy has. A lot. I get constantly higher keeper rate with 40D. I also recently upgraded my 70-200 to the 2.8 IS model and the new AF with center point and 2.8 is amazing. Way better than 40D, I got phenomenal keeper ratio on my first shoot with that glass and 40D. In my experience so far and the type of shooting I do, this alone is enough of a reason to upgrade.
Image quality
40D has 2MP more than 30D, in real life that 8 -> 10MP jump doesn’t make any noticeable difference. Noise characteristics and overall image quality are very similar. The 14bit processing on 40D does help on some extent with high contrast images but overall difference isn’t big.
Continous shooting
40D has a slightly faster fps but more importantly, much larger buffer. I’ve found this to be helpful with my shooting, not so much “busy” blinking in the viewfinder.
Overall, I’ve found 40D to be a worthy upgrade, I can see why some wouldn’t find it as such, but that isn’t all that surprising considering how much there are different shooting styles and needs.