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Canon
EOS 10D Review
Peter
Kun Frary
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Canon's consumer DSLR
(digital SLR) legacy began with the 3 megapixel EOS
D30 in 2001. Although a price and performance
breakthrough, the D30 was crippled by a feeble
3-sensor AF array borrowed from the Rebel G. Moreover,
low light AF performance left much to be desired. The
second generation D60 was a step-up in terms of
resolution (6.3MP), but offered little AF improvement.
However, the third generation EOS 10D is the best
performing, most feature packed and refined design of
the series.
Waianae Ridge
Sunset 2 • Canon EOS 10D & EF 70-200 4L
USM • Av mode, -1.0 AE compensation
Major
Features & Specifications
Features from past EOS
film and digital cameras have been refined and
incorporated in the EOS 10D. The EOS 10D is basically
a digital Elan 7 on steroids: AF, metering and
controls are ripped straight off the Elan 7; the
imaging chip comes from the D60; construction is
closely akin to pro EOS bodies; and enhanced
algorithms and CPU reduce noise and improve image
accuracy.
Canon EOS 10D
• Looks, feels, operates and smells like an
EOS.
Seven-Point Wide
Area Auto Focus borrowed from the Elan 7. It
retains the cool flashing AF rectangles but lacks
eye-controlled focus (ECF). The omission of ECF is a
major failing for Canon and makes AF selection slower
and less convenient than the Elan 7E (you gotta press
a button and spin two wheels, sheesh!). AF sensitivity
(Ev .5 to 18) is not only much better than the D30/60,
but is more responsive than the Elan 7 in low light.
Near Silent
Operation. Mirror slap is surprisingly soft,
softer than any EOS camera other than the EOS IX. Of
course, there is no film advance drive. With a USM
lens, this is an extremely quiet camera.
The EOS 20D and 30D are loud in comparison.
Burst Mode. AI
servo and continuous single frames clock at 3 FPS for
a total of 9 frames.
Shutter Speeds.
1/4000 to 30 seconds in 1/3 or 1/2 stop increments.
Bulb and self timer ability. 1/200 flash
sync.
Three Metering
Patters: 35-zone evaluative, center weighted and
partial (9% of frame). No spot meter. Unlike the Elan
7, partial metering can't be linked to the active AF
sensor.
ISO 100 to 3200
are available at the touch of a button and spin of a
dial. ISO 100 is amazingly noise free (grain free).
Noise increases
with both ISO speed and temperature. Living in the
tropics, I've found fast ISO settings too noisy for
normal use, especially during hot muggy days.
Photographers in cooler climates report excellent
results with ISO 800 and 1600.
Multitude of
Exposure Modes: programmed "PIC" modes (sports,
night, portrait, etc.), programmed AE, aperture
priority, shutter priority, manual and depth of field
(A-DEP). Moreover, you may override P, Av and TV modes
with -2 to +2 of exposure compensation or auto
bracketing.
E-TTL Flash.
The popup E-TTL flash sports 43 GN (feet at ISO 100)
and 18 mm coverage. You'll need the 420 EX or 550 EX
external flash for High-Speed Sync (FP) and wireless
multiple Speedlites with ratio control. Flash Exposure
Lock (FE), AE flash compensation function and 2nd
curtain sync are available with the popup flash. Older
flashes A-TTL/TTL (430EZ, 540EZ, etc.) won't work with
this camera except in manual flash mode.
Dioptric Adjustment
(-3.0 to + 1.0) is built into the eyepiece. You
won't care about this if you have 20/20 vision, but a
sharp viewfinder for the rest of us makes for better
shooting.
17 Custom
Functions let you customize controls and/or
features in 61 possible combinations. For example, you
may move AF activation to the AE/FE Lock button or
disable the AF assist light.
Depth of Field
Preview is available via a small button on the
front of the camera. This button also doubles as a
modeling light when used with the 420EX or 550EX flash
in wireless mode.
Mirror Lockup
is enabled by setting a custom function. Locking up
the mirror helps avoid vibration during high
magnification photography or slow shutter speeds. It's
a pain to set a CF when you need this feature, not to
mention disabling it afterwards.
6.5 Megapixel CMOS
Sensor (6.3MP effective). The 10D produces 3072 x
2048 pixel images (smaller sizes available). Raw, JPEG
and Raw with embedded JPEG are the available file
formats.
1.8 Inch LCD.
TFT color LCD with 118,000 pixels and 5 levels of
brightness. While not a wonder screen, I found it
clear under most conditions except sunlight.
Brightness and contrast varies according to viewing
angle. It sure is tiny!
1.6x Cropping or
Magnification Factor. The CMOS sensor is 22.7 x
15.1 mm, about 40% smaller than 35 mm film (36 x 24
mm), resulting in a cropping factor of 1.6x. For
example, a 100 mm lenses has the equivalent coverage
of a 160 mm lens in 35 mm format. This cropping factor
is great for telephoto shooters but bad news for wide
angle junkies.
Magnesium Body.
The metal body shell gives the EOS 10D heft and an
extremely solid feel. In the hand, it feels more like
an EOS 1V than an Elan 7. The metal makes it cool to
the touch.
Computer
Interface. The direct USB 1.1 connection to a
computer is painfully S-L -O -W. Too bad it doesn't
have Firewire. Surely it wouldn't have cost much more.
You'll want to use a Firewire compact flash card
reader to upload images to your computer.
North Shore Boys
• EOS 10D & EF 24-85 3.5-4.5 USM • P
mode
Included
Accessories
File Viewer Utility,
ImageBrowser, PhotoStitch, RemoteCapture and Photoshop
Elements 2.0 are included in the software package.
These early versions of Canon's software
are slow, chunky and unstable. Once
installed,
go to Canon's website and update
to the latest software, e.g.
Digital Photo Professional.
The newest versions are greatly improved and stable under
Mac OS 10.3x and 10.4x (not sure about Windows). The
10D
even
works
with
Pictures
Styles
if you shoot RAW. Tip: to get the lastest software updates,
search under later models such as 20D or 30D.
A
single-well
battery charger,
BP-511 lithium ion battery, neck
strap with
Canon
Digital
emblazoned
across it, manuals, USB cable and video cable are in
the box too. A compact flash card is not included.
Thus, you'll need to purchase a couple 256MB or larger
compact flash cards.
©Copyright
2003-2006 by Peter Kun Frary • All Rights
Reserved