20D vs MkII

[drisley]

I was looking at some 20D pics at pbase, and came across one person's page where he was kind enough to write a thorough review on the 20D.
He apparently already owns atleast a couple MKII's and a 10D, and the 20D seems to compare VERY favourably, even besting the MKII when it comes to colour rendition (in his opinion). The 20D seems to blow away the 10D in most categories (in his opinion).

I thought some might want to read his review.
http://www.pbase.com/r_p/canon_20d_notes

[Andy_T]

Thanks for posting, it's a nice little review.

And certainly a thumbs-up for us economically-challenged who can't justify the 1DII :lol:

Best regards,
Andy

[Morden]

Nice little review. I'm so looking forward to using my own 20D when (hopefully) I get it next week. :)

It will be interesting (to me at least) to compare how fast it writes to my varied mixture of Compact Flash cards.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Most MkII owners will scoff at the comparison..

But .. . as an owner of both.. I have to say that the 20D narrows the previously "Grand Canyon" gap that existed between the 10D and MkII considerably!

I have only touched on the 20D's capabilities in the day that I have owned it.. but the 5fps and write speed difference in itself is dramatic as compared to the 10D.

I did not suffer a buffer fill up yesterday, and I was using my slowest card. (the Viking that has been in my 10D that I bring to work with me)

Once I get used to it,. I think the AF point selection "eraser" will be a large imrovement too.

If the AF performance is really all that it is cracked up to be.. the gap will be indeed smal enough for Evil Kanevil to jump it without breaking every bone in his body. :wink:

[drisley]

Well, the fellow who wrote the review uses 10D's and MKII's all day long, every day. So, I think he knows what he is talking about.
However, then again he shoots in a studio, and he has written that the 1DS is still the best.

[defordphoto]

Being that the 20D and MKII use like technology, similar sensors, I'd expect the resulting photos to be of similar quality. If they were not, then 20D owners would effectively have been ripped off. The pixel-peepers will beat this horse to death and people will argue this until the same horse is killed once again.

20D better? I highly doubt that and the opinions are very subjective, AND you'd have to perform some strict tests to prove it either way. The point is, who really cares? They're both awesome cameras focusing on two entirely different markets.

These two cameras compliment very nicely and I look forward to adding one to my arsenal early next year. It'll be nice to have cameras that close that the post-processing will be fairly fairly similar.

One thing I will predict that I know will come true: There will be far, far too many 20D vs MKII threads and people will tire of these very rapidly. ;)

[drisley]

Yes, his opinion is very subjective, and not at all the point of view of a pixel peeper.
He apparently has used the MKII at work daily for a long time, and he is giving his first impressions of the 20D. I take this type of subjective opinion of an "artist" over the numbers of the measurebaters anyday.

The 20D is not better than the MKII, but it really seems to compare favourably, especially for those of us who cant afford the MKII.
Also, as mentioned, this fellow works in a studio, not shooting sports photography. That is where the MKII really shines.

[Malaxos1]

Being that the 20D and MKII use like technology, similar sensors, I'd expect the resulting photos to be of similar quality. If they were not, then 20D owners would effectively have been ripped off. The pixel-peepers will beat this horse to death and people will argue this until the same horse is killed once again.

20D better? I highly doubt that and the opinions are very subjective, AND you'd have to perform some strict tests to prove it either way. The point is, who really cares? They're both awesome cameras focusing on two entirely different markets.

These two cameras compliment very nicely and I look forward to adding one to my arsenal early next year. It'll be nice to have cameras that close that the post-processing will be fairly fairly similar.

One thing I will predict that I know will come true: There will be far, far too many 20D vs MKII threads and people will tire of these very rapidly. ;)


Jim, I ordered one and should be getting it tomorrow, if yoy want you can come check it out...Dean

[Persian-Rice]

Wow thats just wrong......................I guess we cant start comparing a civic to a Modena, hey they both have engines with a multiple of 4........

hahaha.

[timmyquest]

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/130823

[defordphoto]

Being that the 20D and MKII use like technology, similar sensors, I'd expect the resulting photos to be of similar quality. If they were not, then 20D owners would effectively have been ripped off. The pixel-peepers will beat this horse to death and people will argue this until the same horse is killed once again.

20D better? I highly doubt that and the opinions are very subjective, AND you'd have to perform some strict tests to prove it either way. The point is, who really cares? They're both awesome cameras focusing on two entirely different markets.

These two cameras compliment very nicely and I look forward to adding one to my arsenal early next year. It'll be nice to have cameras that close that the post-processing will be fairly fairly similar.

One thing I will predict that I know will come true: There will be far, far too many 20D vs MKII threads and people will tire of these very rapidly. ;)


Jim, I ordered one and should be getting it tomorrow, if yoy want you can come check it out...Dean

Cool! I'll give you a call. I think we might order one here pretty soon as soon as I shift some money around.

[defordphoto]

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/130823

Great link, Timmy. This is what I expected and we'll see more of this more comprehensive comparisions, even though 1D-series owners already knew this coming out of the box. ;)

[roanjohn]

I seriously doubt the 20D can compare to the 1 series bodies when it comes to focusing and tracking fast moving objects.

About the only thing I can say though is that the center focus point on the 20D becomes a cross hair type focus on a 2.8 and faster lens much similar to the ones found on the 1 series bodies. So if this is in fact the truth, then it can be said that AI servo mode, using only the center point, the 20D should be more sensitive than the 10D and just as sensitive as a 1 series camera. Of course, this is yet to be proven.........and I have no experience with a 1.

Ro1

[MediaMagic]

If the AF performance is really all that it is cracked up to be.. the gap will be indeed smal enough for Evil Kanevil to jump it without breaking every bone in his body. :wink:

This is what I'm primarily interested in finding out. If the speed of the AF is faster, then that's a bonus, but my main question is accuracy. I really don't care for how the 10D, like someone else mentioned, focuses "somewhere close within the range of DOF" and calls that a good focus. I hadn't thought of that possibility prior to reading the other thread, but yes, that could be exactly what it's doing which will give the illusion of random front and back focus. I suppose this could also be related to the size of the autofocus spread under/around the AF "square" .. If the area under the spread is simply too large, then the obvious conclusion is that in a complicated scene, the camera couldn't truly distinguish exactly which contrasting feature within the spread should receive absolute focus. With some, what is it, 45? AF points on the 1DmkII, there's no surprise that a single point would deliver pinpoint accuracy as opposed to the large 7 points on the 10D.


I'm thinking that the smaller 9 AF points on the 20D would mean that the spreads are smaller as well, lending to tighter focus pinpointing. Of course, I could be way off reality with the "spread" theory. I'll definately be watching the AF reviews for sure.

[who10]

About the only thing I can say though is that the center focus point on the 20D becomes a cross hair type focus on a 2.8 and faster lens much similar to the ones found on the 1 series bodies. So if this is in fact the truth, then it can be said that AI servo mode, using only the center point, the 20D should be more sensitive than the 10D and just as sensitive as a 1 series camera. Of course, this is yet to be proven.........and I have no experience with a 1.

Ro1

With the sample of one 10D and one 20D I have found the centerpoint cross-hair to be dead-on and consistent for every shot (used a 70-200IS to minimize my own shakey hands). Haven't checked the 9-point system yet - hope to this weekend. Here's a couple that would have been very challenging for my own 10D:

http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=42923

[roanjohn]

About the only thing I can say though is that the center focus point on the 20D becomes a cross hair type focus on a 2.8 and faster lens much similar to the ones found on the 1 series bodies. So if this is in fact the truth, then it can be said that AI servo mode, using only the center point, the 20D should be more sensitive than the 10D and just as sensitive as a 1 series camera. Of course, this is yet to be proven.........and I have no experience with a 1.

Ro1

With the sample of one 10D and one 20D I have found the centerpoint cross-hair to be dead-on and consistent for every shot (used a 70-200IS to minimize my own shakey hands). Haven't checked the 9-point system yet - hope to this weekend. Here's a couple that would have been very challenging for my own 10D:

http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=42923

I AGREE!!!

I've tried using the 20D with my 70-200 f2.8, and the AF is dead on!!! And when I say dead on, I MEAN DEAD ON!!! Something the Rebel something hunts and misses.........sometimes!!! Will be good to see how this thing tracks moving objects......cuz the Rebel really struggles on that.

Ro1

[blinking8s]

Wow thats just wrong......................I guess we cant start comparing a civic to a Modena, hey they both have engines with a multiple of 4........

hahaha.

do you post on ANYTHING other than the 1dsMKII vs ANY camera?

[Persian-Rice]

Wow thats just wrong......................I guess we cant start comparing a civic to a Modena, hey they both have engines with a multiple of 4........

hahaha.

do you post on ANYTHING other than the 1dsMKII vs ANY camera?

I was not the one staring the thread about this, btw when I refer to 1D I 90% of the time am talking about the MKI not MKII.

The MKII is a $5000 pro camera, why would I compare anything to that? other then another $5000 pro camera that is.