The ON-switch

I am puzzled by what the difference is between the ON-position and the "curved line"-position of the mainswitch on the EOS 30D? I have tried to make sense out of the manual in two languages without success. Can anyone help?

The upper position is needed for some operations of the rear wheel. eg. exposure compensation.

Just turn the switch all the way up, and the rear wheel becomes your aperture adjustment in M mode, and EC in AV/TV mode. Turn it just to the first click to disable the wheel.

For the record, it's called the "Quick Control Dial".

I always have mine switched all the way up and never turn it off.

I'm phobic of not turning my camera off. I don't know...I just don't like it. Hell, with a .15 sec. startup time, I turn it off even between shots sometimes! I only have two batteries right now, too, so I tend to "conserve".

Me too, but sometimes the controll dial gets turned accidentaly and I over or underexpose a bunch of shots before I notice. When that happens I decide to use the 1/2 way position, but soon revert back for the convenience of being able to adjust exposure compensation on demand.

You probably use more battery power by turning the camera off and on again than by leaving it on all the time and letting it go to sleep.
I know I'd struggle to empty a fully charged battery in one session anyway so I'm not worried at all about leaving it on at all times.
I usually leave the quick-control active all the time.

I wonder if that could be known for sure. Seems that 1-minute after each shooting "period" would drain more than turning the camera on.

FYI:

http://www.digitaljour​nalist.org/issue0509/w​estfall.html

That confused me. It sounds contradictory to me. Don't let the camera shut itself off, but don't turn it off? So is the guy saying to turn off the "auto off" feature and just leave it on constantly? I also couldn't really get what Chuck said about how to leave it (sleeping or off). Seems he described the levels of power consumption, but didn't say anything about what I said.

The main thing that eats battery power when idle is the monitor on the back, you can turn that off if you like but again, seems too much trouble. I'm willing to bet most of us have pretty much always got a fully charged set of batteries when we take our cameras out. And the 20D is supposed to be good for about 750-1000 pics ( I'm guessing, can't be bothered to check the manual !) - ie a LOT of pictures.
I don't think leaving the camera in standby uses any more juice than turning it on and off, but I would have thought the camera has more to do to get ready if it was actually turned off. The red LEDs by the control dial on the back always flicker when you turn it on with the switch, it seems the same when it gets 'woken' up as well. so perhaps there is no difference?
Point of this ramble is, I can't believe you save enough battery power by turning off all the time to make it worth while, and I like to have my camera ready to take a picture immediately - just in case.

I just turn it off because I don't know when I'll be turning it on again, and I don't want it turning on in my bag all the time and wasting power. Like I said, I've only got two batteries. The 20D battery is supposed to be good for an average of 600 or so shots. The 30D is said to be better on battery (don't know how much better).

As for startup time- The 30D says .15 seconds from off to ready. from sleep to ready it's supposed to be .10. Slightly faster, but your reflexes aren't even that fast.

Thank you for all the advice and I have learned a few new things. Since my posting I have been out taking pictures of mushrooms and flowers teaching my wife how to use the D30. She was enthusiastic, but found the camera to be to heavy for her!

DSLR's use very little battery to simply sit their, so it should be OK.

RonaldS- The 511A batts are really tough. I shoot 2 day horse events (900-1200) shots and do a fair amount of chimping. I turn the camera on in the morning and just maybe, turn it off for lunch break. These are pretty solid tools. Unless you are using the useless on-board flash, your fears and habits are wasted.

As for start up time - a touch of the shutter as you come up to shoot position is a lot better/easier than dicking around with the on/off switch.

Come to Michigan - I'll keep you so busy you won't have time for this kind of silliness.

Jon F.