Canon EOS 30D
Playing it Safe

The EOS 30D is a D-SLR that we’ve all seen coming for a long time but very few of us knew exactly what to expect. Canon’s replacement for the best selling and long time consumer staple 20D in the end turned out to be a disappointment for those seeking radical (and often unnecessary) improvement from one model to the next. Mega-pixel count remains at 8.2 and it appears the camera uses the same tried and true CMOS sensor as its predecessor. In the mind of this reviewer however, Canon hit the nail on the head just perfectly.

When designing the EOS 30D Canon’s engineers seem to be begging the question, “If it isn’t broken, why fix it?” As a result, the body of the 30D is nearly identical to the older 20D and its recent full-frame big brother the 5D. It would take a careful eye and a close attention to detail to tell the difference between the three. As boring as this may sound however, it’s really not such a bad thing. All three cameras feel nice and solid in your hands without being too weighty and the rear jog wheel makes for quick menu navigation far superior to any other D-SLR on the market.

So what’s different with the 30D and is it worth the upgrade for existing 20D owners? Let’s first tackle the improvements which should help readers come to their own conclusion the second half of my question. First and foremost, the EOS 30D now features a spot meter (3.5% at center). For thousands of photographers, including myself, the lack of a spot meter on the 20D was its single drawback in what was otherwise a very excellent camera. It seems Canon has finally heard our collective cries and finally included what many consider to be an absolute necessity on any professional level piece of photographic equipment.

The other major (though perhaps superficial) difference is the larger 2.5” LCD display sported on the back of the camera. It’s become common now days for manufacturers to try and slap on the largest LCD possible to the back of their camera bodies and though it does little to change actual photographs produced by the camera, it does make for an overall more pleasant shooting experience. As one would expect, the screen is bright and crisp though it’s a bit disappointing to discover no anti-reflective coating which is quite handy when reviewing images in bright sun situations.

Image buffer has been increased to 30 JPEGs and 11 RAW images; a welcome improvement, particularly in the RAW department. Coupled with a reasonably fast Compact Flash card the buffer performance of the 30D should be more then adequate. Other improvements include smaller and more powerful batter performance, selectable ISO in 1/3 stop increments, a direct print button, and more powerful in camera parameter adjustments.

So again I must ask the question, is it worth it for an existing 20D owner to upgrade to the 30D? In my mind not really, but I believe this speaks volumes for the quality of the EOS 20D and therefore the quality of the 30D as well. For a consumer looking to jump into the world of digital SLR’s or someone new to the Canon line of cameras however the 30D should be very high on their list. When all is said and done it is a sturdy camera and a solid performer in just about ever respect.