Canon 20D

[Soldier7518]

Hi, new to the forum. Im curious how well the EOS 20D stands up to the newer canon models, including the rebel. I just recently purchased a 20D off ebay with less-than 1k actuations in mint cond. for $350, along with an EF USM 20-35mm f3.5-5? lens (mint) for another $250. (Im done buying new gear)
I previously owned an Elan 7, which was great. Film and developing got expensive, but at the time, I couldnt afford a good digital canon SLR, and refused to get the Rebel as it just seemed too amateur "mom & pop" big-brick store based. The Elan 7 was a well needed upgrade from a (older) manual Minolta at the time. I sold the Elan 7 (and lenses), and this 20D is the digital replacement and hopefully and upgrade as it was kindof an uninvestigated purchase. I considered the 40D, but didnt seem worth the extra $100-$150+ over the 20D.
As far as lenses, I used to own an EF USM 20mm fixed f2.8. I would have loved to purchase the fixed 20mm again, but at the moment, I have spent enough money, and the 20-35mm is versatile to start with as my only lens currently.
Im hoping someone can tell me I definately made a good choice for the money, a definate upgrade over the Elan, and that the Rebel's are still a baseline model, even though the 20D is 8-megapixels, and the new Rebels are 18. Im an amateur, and do not submit my work for a living.

 

[Derrel]

I still have a 20D that I shoot for casual,family snaps...it has held up okay...the sensor is quite a bit noisier at ISO 1600 than on many newer cameras...and at ISO 800 even, you must watch out for underexposure.

The 20D does however, shoot pretty nice in-camera RAW+JPEG in monochrome mode, with the Yellow filter setting enabled, and the toning set to Sepia. If you shoot it in JPEG Large + RAW, you'll get a lovely, large monochrome JPEG, and also have a .CR2 raw file that has full color information. Crank the sharpening up one or two notches, and the 20D shoot nice-looking B&W JPEGS right out of camera.

One drawback the 20D has compared with newer cameras is the full-stop ISO settings...it's kind of a slight disadvantage not to have the great ISO flexibility the newer cameras offer. The 20D has two-button control over aperture and shutter, while the Rebels only have single-button control, which is not as handy. The LCD on the 20D is rather small,and only average in quality...but hey....it's a d-slr!!!!!

 

[AverageJoe]

What is your objective for your photography? The answer will help shape the feedback regarding your questions.

One advantage the 20D has over any Rebel is a stronger body and some weather protection. Assuming you are taking this over seas you should be happy with that fact. You might also want to consider picking up the hood for that lens depending on if it came with it or not.

 

[Soldier7518]

No, sorry, I could have been more clear. Im currently in Iraq, but headed home by the 20th. I wont see the new camera or lens until then. I brought a cheap point & shoot for Iraq.
As far as my work, I do mostly cityscapes, landscapes, wildlife, nature, some studio & portrait stuff, and sky/weather. Im just curious about the clarity, metering, color saturation, vibrance, etc. Just the actual functionability & reliability. I cant afford a $2000 camera, and like I said, I went from the Elan 7. Im not sure how the digital world has progressed over the years when compared to film, but I know this was a $1500 camera around 2004'ish.
As for a literal objective, I would like to obtain quality results with a DSLR, as I felt I was able to with my 2004'ish Elan 7 film SLR. Im just hoping that the 20D will be able to get me close to that goal. I have no plans on going pro, or submitting work for financial gain, but with some of my work, I would like to have the ability to enlarge, print and frame an image for display in my home.

 

[Soldier7518]

Derrel, thanks for the help on the specifics. I downloaded the pdf manual and your post helped answer some questions.
I've spent my last few days of freetime searching the web, and seems there was a consensus with people that the 10D was a good steppingstone for people coming from film SLR's into the digital world, as far as image quality is concerned, so the 20D should keep me happy.
Been trying to do as much of my own research in order to not thread-whore, but I cant seem find a solid answer on CF cards. I've gathered that a CF is 3mm thick, CFII is 5mm thick. Wikipedia (not the best source) states the 20D can use:
(CF) (Type I or Type II) and (MD) / max 8GB (The camera can format up to 8GB, but can use larger cards.
Canon's site, "supplies & accessories" only lists up to 512Mb CF for sale, and mentions nothing about Type I or II.
I came across a 8GB SanDisk CF ExtremeIII, CFII/Microdrive for like $12. Another listed as SanDisk CF Extreme CF I, 60Mb/s UDMA 8GB for $85.
I notice alot of threads with people having CF issues and would like to avoid any. I also would like the max storage possible, while keeping it simple.
Can someone make a recommendation on an effecient (speed/size) card for this camera?

 

[Derrel]

Hey,
Glad to see you back. I have had pretty good luck using SanDisk Extreme series CF cards in my 20D. I currently am shooting five, 8 gigabyte SanDisk Extreme III, the ones labeled clearly as "30 MB/s" on the card front. Those are slightly expensive, but fast and reliable. Back in 2005, I bought some 2-gigabyte SanDisk Ultra II cards, which were/are pretty good too.

Buying CF cards on-line from outpost.com,or when B&H Photo has a special is a good idea. Rob Galbraith's website has the CF/SD Database...the 20D has been dropped, but the 30D is still on-line and live. Rob Galbraith DPI: Canon EOS 30D

The 20D and 30D do not have "blinding" write-to speed, so there's not a lot of advantage in buying the absolute top-of-the line CF Cards....I bought the expensive SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s cards because of one,special camera--the Fuji S5 Pro, which is VERY particular about cards, and also writes exceptionally large files, and does very well with that *specific* card.

The 20D and 30D both do well with a wide variety of CF Cards,as you can see...not much sense in spending overtly much....some of the better 2-gig cards are the best bang-for-dollar...both of my IBM Microdrives burned up years ago...the 1-gigs used to cost $450 when I got into d-slr's...today you can spend $24 on-sale and get a good card for a modern d-slr.