20D Doesn't impress me much

Bosscat · Jul 31, 2005

After spending the money for this camera I am supremely dissapointed in how poorly it works in AI servo on moving objects such as at a moto cross race.

Pretty sad when it cannot track 4-6 year olds that are not going more then 10-15 MPH.

My Elan 7 is 100 times better then this 20D is.

I tried every lens I have and I am lucky if I have 33% keepers, whereas with the Elan 7 I was in the 80-85% range.

It also seems to have dead pixels.

It's only saving grace is that it doesn't cost nothing to shoot.

If I had slides that turned out this bad, I'd be massively depressed.

I have lost money on not having high quality pictures to sell to the parents of some of these kids.

This camera has become frustrating to say the least.

MDowdey · Jul 31, 2005

sorry to hear that cat!

the downfall of digital is just that...its digital. All the gadgets and buttons are cool, but at the end of the day, when your 20D cant do what your film camera can do, i imagine it IS frustrating.

you can send it to me, if you get tired of looking at it

im still contemplating going back to film for awhile

DocFrankenstein · Jul 31, 2005

What lens are you using?
How close are you to the cars?
How many AF points are you using?

Bosscat · Jul 31, 2005

Doc

Doesn't matter if I use my Sigma 70-200mm F 2.8 EX, the kit 18-55mm, the 50mm F 1.8, the camera lacks consistency.

As soon as I change my location, I get a whack of bad pics and maybe one or two good ones.

As far as how close to the track, I have been trackside at the last 3 races, and when I say trackside, I was literally standing on the track at times.

I was that close doing Snowcross this past winter using film and had great results.

Centre AF point , thats all I ever used with a EOS 650 or the Elan 7.

photogoddess · Jul 31, 2005

It's possible that you have a defective camera. If you're getting that many out of focus, I'd take it back or send it in for service/replacement.

DocFrankenstein · Jul 31, 2005

I think you're supposed to use all AF points.

Neither of your current lenses are actually fast focusing. 18-55 and 50/1.8 are horrible and inaccurate. Sigma is better, but still years behind the L speed. It just doesn't have the snap that L glass has.

So your first problem are the lenses. I own all 3 of them btw.

Also, if you have the cars REALLY close, there may not even be a camera/lens combo which can track it. As you know, it's way easier to shift focus from infinity to 10m than from 10m to 2 meters...

But I've only shot sports with 20D 2 times so I'm not familiar with it at all.

Try posting at www.photography-on-the.net The guys really know the canon gear.

Bosscat · Jul 31, 2005

Those same lenses all worked fine on my Elan 7, and slides always tell the truth.

Been to the Canon forum. Basically told that it must be me, thats the problem because their Canons could never take a bad picture.

Pretty sad when a camera cannot track a small child on a motorcycle, that any world class runner could outrun.

AM convinced that there is something wrong with the body, and it is going back tommorrow.

If I had the money, I'd just by a Nikon.

Always felt they have had better glass.

JohnMF · Jul 31, 2005

ive seen the dead pixel complaint loads of times with brand new digital slrs, should be the first thing you check when you buy it. Defo send it back

thebeginning · Jul 31, 2005

if you buy a nikon, go d2x. the 20d is better technically than the d70. about the autofocus, the tracking mode is active once you use all 9 autofocus points. have you ever tried panning?

DocFrankenstein · Jul 31, 2005

Interesting. get a D70, then 20D is gonna seem really good in comparison

Seriously though, I don't have a solution for you.

What's interesting is that with a hacked rebel and it's crippled AI servo my rebel (300D) gets about 30% keepers... photographing flying eagles and cars.

photogoddess · Jul 31, 2005

I went from shooting with an old Minolta 3xi (with crap lenses) to the 10D. At first, I got about the same percentage of keepers that you're getting. After working with the camera for a bit, staying patient, I finally got the best of the camera. It is different than a film camera and I had to treat it differently. I set it to AI Servo, isolated only 1 AF point and panned with the camera as I shot. Now I've got a more than 90% "keeper" rate. (I've shot Supercross and equestrian sports with it)I don't know about the 20D but the 10D's were prone to have focus problems from the factory. If I hadn't been able to work it out with the camera, I would have sent it back for an exchange or repair. That said, I've worked (still do) with both Canon and Nikon glass. They are both awesome. Try not to be too discouraged. It's possible that you've just got a bad camera out of the bunch.

fadingaway1986 · Aug 1, 2005

I just want to say. all those focus points on the 300D are evil. I believe they are the problem with my out of focus photos. I'm not used to having so many of them - and I think they are focusing on things I'm not trying to. So I just keep it on centre focused unless I want to put it on something else.

Jeff Canes · Aug 1, 2005

I have two EOS 1 & 10D, and have this problem with both models. Try using the bottom focusing point that way as you pan with the moving subject you should be less likely to focus on the horizon.

Remember with action sports it take a lots shoot to get one keeper and luck, personally when I go to my local water ski park I shoot between 700-1000 shoot in 3-4 hours, and end up with maybe 75 keepers

Scurra · Aug 1, 2005

I use a 20D and have had no problems shooting fast moving mountain bikers (20-30mph) from about a meters distance and I can only dream of being able to afford an L lense. I used the kit 18-55 and all autofocus points with the AI servo engaged and got mostly keepers with one or two where the AF points hadn't picked up the right portion of the subject. Equally I've never had any problems with dead pixels, it sounds to me like you may have a bad body, sending it back sounds like a good idea to me. With any luck it'll solve your problems and you'll be able to see that the 20D really is quite a sweet camera.

Karalee · Aug 1, 2005

I have to agree with goddess here, while Im only shooting a 10d, Ive learnt that it takes a bit of practice to use AI Servo. I used it this weekend with only one focus point selected and it worked great, I only had one wildly OOF shot.

I would send it to canon.