How many 20D owners upgraded to 30D and why?

Went to the 1D MKIIN before the 30D was released, then got the 5D for full frame later.

Mark

I voted no, but I do have both. I bought the 30D not as an upgrade but as a second body. Now after using both for a while, I would say I wouldn't trade in a 20D for a 30D unless it was free.
I don't use spot metering or 1/3 stop ISO. In low light, 1/3 stop ISO seems useless. Really, is going from 1/20 to 1/25 shutter really gonna help? No. 1/20 to 1/40 sure makes a diff though.

If bigger buffer, spot metering and 1/3 stops for ISO are very important, then yes its a significant upgrade. Importance is relative to the user though.

And i'm not going to bring a 1dmkii into it, because its so much more and even if you got back at least 1k for a 20D, you'd still be at a big loss.

What I would find ironic though, is if they made it a 10mp camera, many people would have called it an upgrade judging from the reactions over the time since the release.

picturecrazy wrote in post #2216218
In low light, 1/3 stop ISO seems useless. Really, is going from 1/20 to 1/25 shutter really gonna help? No. 1/20 to 1/40 sure makes a diff though.

When shooting in low lit gyms, every little bit helps.

I purposesly upgraded from the 350D (XT) to the 20D rather than buy the 30D because the specs were more or less the same except the 30D being a lot more pricey. Oh and the fact I couldn't afford the 30D otherwise I might of got it

@sandpiper and Jon
I did the same, the 30D doesn't offer any tempting features, the 5D does. And keeping the 20D is like a 1.6 tele converter without loosing aperture.

The delta between the 20d and 30d seems pretty small and not enough to buy a 30d as a primary body and keep the 20d as a secondary body. I decided to upgrade to a 1DmarkIIN.

I did. I need spot metering + The bigger screen.
I bought it + a Macro lens ( canon 100 mm f/2.8 ) and got double rebate from BHphotovideo.

I may get a 30D someday, but it's likely something better will be available anyway by the time my 20D peters out

liza wrote in post #2214125
Not enough additional features to justify an upgrade. A true upgrade for me would be to a 1DMkIIN.

My thoughts exactly! My 20D is just over half-life, so I'm beginning to look around, The IIN with another 20D as backup would be great.

The 20D is still a formidable camera & the 30D really is just a slightly tweaked version. Not enough to make the 20D->30D switch without some other factor involved (irrepararable failure & not enough budget for the IIN).

claudermilk wrote in post #2221278
My thoughts exactly! My 20D is just over half-life, so I'm beginning to look around, The IIN with another 20D as backup would be great.

The 20D is still a formidable camera & the 30D really is just a slightly tweaked version. Not enough to make the 20D->30D switch without some other factor involved (irrepararable failure & not enough budget for the IIN).

To play devils advocate. If you added a 30D to a 20D, if you wanted a second body or if you replaced, for the price of an MKIIn, you could get a body and get a good quality lens with it too.

Right now, the 30D can be had in the 1000 range(after rebate). And if you double it up with a lens, you can get great savings.

Used, the MKIIn's generally go for low 3k. Used MKii's go for mid 2k's.
New N's go for mid 3k's.

Obviously nothing matches the AF and just the awesomeness of a 1D camera. But my 30D holds up well enough when I use both. And I've used a 20D before and 10D and various Nikon.

Since its just about always about money, you could fund some good glass.

But yes, if you really wanted to upgrade and get great features, the 1DMKII/n would be way to go, but you need to spend a lot more. About 1,500 more(if you go used), at the very least. That's near what you could get a new 70-200 2.8 IS. And heck, if you go new, you can almost get 300mm 2.8L.

Of course it's all relative anyway. But if 1/3 ISO(which should be standard), bigger buffer, and spot metering are important and the orig 1D's high ISO is not useful to you, then the 30D is a good in between.

I changed from my 20-30D.

I sold the 20D for the same price I bought my 30D (I purchased from HK)
I have noticed enough difference with the 30D, and would make the change again, even if I had to pay another $100-200.
Love the bigger LCD, ISO in viewfinder and spot metering.

My original decision to change was purely because I thought when I want to sell the 20D a few years down the track, no one will want it over the 30D.

Lovin the 30D.

Chris.

My house burned down and the 20d was in it.So i got the 30d.

I returned my 20D after canon lost all but one of my upc's for rebates, i got back $40 instead of $400. I used money from the return and the $40 towards the 30D and L glass

"My house burnt down..."

Now thats what Canon marketing counted on. Hands up anyone else updated because of fire or bomb damage?
I got a 30D because I could. And spot metering...

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I upgraded mainly because the shutter died on my 20D. However, these 3 reasons alone are worth the upgrade to me:

- 100K shutter life vs. 65K
- Larger LCD screen
- 1/3 ISO increments