Upgraded 10D->New 20D: Key Observations...

[yalemba]

Folks, this morning, I traded in my 10D for the new 20D from B&H in NYC. Based on preliminary results, I have made the following conclusions about 20D:

1. The color saturation, white balance and picture quality are superior to 10D.
2. The focus is extremely fast and accurate.
3. The camera starts immediately as soon as you turn it on.
4. Shutter sounds little noisier than 10D.
5. The camera feels lighter and smaller.
6. The new EOS picture-editing software is much faster for RAW processing.

For those who are interested in learning about my set up, here is the list of equipment, which is now allowing me to create professional quality picture with high consistency (please note that I am an amatuer):
- Canon 20D, 24-70mm/f2.8 L, 50mm/f1.4, Flash 550EX
- White Lightning (2 X1600, 2 X800, Octobox/Honeycomb/Background Reflector)
- Bogen background system; Wescott Muslin
- Bogen Tripod with 322RC2 Ballhead
- Lexar 2x512-1x1024, Sekonic 358

Regards and happy New Year!

[AdamG]

Hi Yalemba! I love my 10D but some of the features of the 20D have me thinking hard about upgrading. Believe or not, one the nicest feature for me is the quick "wake-up" time on the 20D. In a camera shop, I got to try the continuous shooting speed and it's also a definite bonus; although I'm not a sport photographer, I think it would come in handy when shooting bird in flight for example. Here's a question that you don't have to answer: Just how much did you get for your 10D? Since I've still very happy with it, I'm hesitant to trade up unless I get a very nice price for it. :lol: Also, was this some kind of special deal? I didn't see anything on the B&H site about trade-ins. Thanks and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[Reminisce]

Congratulations on your new upgrade!
Yes the shutter sound takes some getting used to. I particularly noted how loud it was during a teacher workshop where I was shooting for a brochure for a month, got my 20D in the middle of the project, from my 300D, and as soon as I would snap a pic with the 20, everyone would turn and look at me, lol. They got used to it after a while.

[yalemba]

The trade-in value for my 10D at B&H was $550. The $1,000 difference between the purchase and trade-in prices, spread over 17 months, cost me around $60/month to use the camera. That's a great deal!!!

[AdamG]

That's a nice deal. Well, since you've got all this nice equipment, we hope to see some pics soon. :D
As for me, I've got to work on the CFO of the house a little more. She'll break soon, hopefully. ;) The trouble is my wishlist is getting longer and longer (I'd love a 100-400MM L, for example) so extra finessing is in order.

[chops]

I'd much rather keep my 10D for a while longer. I surely wouldn't want to upgrade to the 20D and be left high and dry somewhere with it in a middle of a shoot when it decides to have one of its little temper tantrums.

The ole trusty 10D has yet to give me a single problem of any kind. ;)

[James Yeung]

You know what? Even for the regular user, digital cameras = $$$ for manufactuers. What is it nowadays? A 25 billion $ industry? I bought a P&S film that lasted 20 years. I never bothered to upgrade.

Bought my first digital camera 4 or so years ago. Cost me $500CDN.. It was a 1.33MP fuji and was totally inferior after 1 year. 4 months ago, I bought a 300D for $1300CDN. Not to mention new tripod, memory and 100/f2.8 macro lens.

At the time, the 20 year old P&S film Olympus cost around $100CDN (actually was a present from my dad, I was just a wee lad). Was totally happy with it until digital arrived. In the span of 4 months with my 300D, I took almost 4000 pictures. My Olympus probably tacked on under 1000 in 20 years. Damn!

BTW, I just hacked my 300D yesterday. I'm very pleased for the time being. :-)

James

P.S. I'll probably won't upgrade in another 5 or so years. Thanks a lot for going digital...

[aardwolf204]

You know what? Even for the regular user, digital cameras = $$$ for manufactuers. What is it nowadays? A 25 billion $ industry? I bought a P&S film that lasted 20 years. I never bothered to upgrade.

Bought my first digital camera 4 or so years ago. Cost me $500CDN.. It was a 1.33MP fuji and was totally inferior after 1 year. 4 months ago, I bought a 300D for $1300CDN. Not to mention new tripod, memory and 100/f2.8 macro lens.

At the time, the 20 year old P&S film Olympus cost around $100CDN (actually was a present from my dad, I was just a wee lad). Was totally happy with it until digital arrived. In the span of 4 months with my 300D, I took almost 4000 pictures. My Olympus probably tacked on under 1000 in 20 years. Damn!

BTW, I just hacked my 300D yesterday. I'm very pleased for the time being. :-)

James

P.S. I'll probably won't upgrade in another 5 or so years. Thanks a lot for going digital...
Its expensive now because we are on the verge of digital. 5MP may be the norm today but wait 3 years. Exciting times, innovation all over the place.

[Jesper]

6. The new EOS picture-editing software is much faster for RAW processing.
Do you mean Canon Digital Photo Professional? It's also available for the Digital Rebel / 300D and 10D now, you can download an upgrade from Canon's website.

[Reminisce]

Its the way of technology, any aspect of anything that has a digital counterpart will always grow fast and whats new today will be standard tomorrow, and outdated a week later. New USB technologies coming up, AGP is now being tested by PCI Express, Plasma TVs, Laptops with displays better than most home monitors, etc..
The one benefit we digital photographers here have is that, our gear can become new and old faster, but our photos last a lifetime.