.
Canon
EOS 10D • Accessories &
Conclusion
Peter
Kun Frary
Essential
Accessories
The EOS 10D may use
any of the 50 plus Canon EF lenses (but not EF-s) and most other
EOS system accessories. If you're tempted by a used third
party lens, try it before you buy. Most older Sigma and
Tokina lenses will not work without a new ROM chip.
Sand
Island Cranes • EOS 10D & EF 70-200 4L
USM • Av mode (metered medium toned section of
sky)
Lenses
The typical "normal"
zoom of the film era,
28-70 or 28-105, isn't wide enough
for scenics and groups shots due to the EOS 10D's 1.6x cropping
factor. However the
EF
24-85 3.5-4.5 USM
is an excellent general purpose starter zoom. This
lens is approximately equivalent to a 35-135 zoom in
the 35 mm format, an wonderful range for scenics,
travel and portraits. It's worth paying a little more
for better optics, distance scale, silent AF motor,
faster AF (internal focus), metal mount, manual focus
override and faster aperture. If you're a wide angle
buff, you probably won't even consider an EOS 10D.
However, the EF
17-40 4L USM
(28-65 equivalent 35 mm coverage) is kickin' if you
desire a moderately wide zoom, bulletproof
construction, have bucks to burn and don't mind a
little bulk. Be forewarned the EF 17-40 4L USM
blocks the popup flash on the wide end so don't buy one unless
you own a Speedlite.
Canon
EF 24-85 3.5-4.5 USM
• An ideal walk around lens for the EOS
10D (black available)
The EF 24-85 3.5-4.5
USM and EF
70-200 4L USM
complement one another well and make an excellent kit
if you need additional reach.
Battery Grip
BG-ED3
I shoot lots of
verticals and can't imagine using the EOS 10D without
the Battery Grip BG-ED3, affectionately known as "Big Ed." The vertical shutter release,
AE/FE lock, main input dial and focusing point
selector make shooting verticals as easy as
horizontals. It also sports a tripod socket and set of
lugs for a handstrap or neckstrap. The additional grip
surface improves handling and balance with larger
lenses and flash units.
The
EOS 10D/BG-ED3 combo isn't as comfortable as the EOS 3/PB-E2
combo. However it does fit relatively snugly.
Like the Elan 7E/BP-300, I can feel a small amount of
play when I grab Big Ed for verticals with telephotos.
If you go on long shoots, you'll appreciate the ability to use
two
BP-511 batteries. Unfortunately, the Battery Grip BG-ED3 is
plastic and lacks the tactile elegance of
the magnesium 10D. With
that said,
it feels
better made than the BG-E2 for the EOS 20D/30D.
Big Ed (Battery
Grip BG-ED3) • Big Ed makes shooting verticals
easy.
BP-511 Li-ion
Battery Pack
Canon is overly
optimistic about battery life, estimating 650 images
on a single charge! Shooting RAW with a small embedded
JPEG (ISO 100), a new Canon BP-511 yields
75-100 images with 2 second review and no popup flash.
A SterlingTrek 511 yields about
500 images. Needless to say, you'll
want another BP-511 battery for
travel or long shoots. A completely exhausted battery takes about
90
minutes to
recharge. Postscript (12/2005): Canon BP-511 batteries
are only good for one to two years of moderate use.
Expect to buy spares every year.
Remote Switch
RS-80N3
An electronic cable
release is available, the RS-80N3, for exposures
requiring vibration control. Fortunately, it's more
beefy than the wimpy remote switch for the Elan and
Rebel series (RS60-E3). The RS-80N3 behaves exactly
like the shutter button: half depress locks AF and
exposure and full depress fires the shutter. You may
trip the shutter from 2.6 feet away. The RS-80N3 is
also used for the EOS 3, 1V, 1D and 1Ds.
The remote port is on
the left side of the camera under a rubber boot. You
simply peel the boot upwards to reveal USB, video and
remote ports. The cover is attached
to the camera with a rubber hinge, so there's no chance of losing
it. This design is more convenient than the tiny
plastic caps on the EOS 1V and 3. The RS-80N3 snaps in
the port quickly and easily, but fits only one way.
Unlike earlier EOS designs, the RS-80N3 is easy to
connect in the dark. Of course, you should practice
connecting it during daylight before venturing into
the field.
Final
Remarks
As a chrome shooter
that prefers late afternoon landscapes I have a few
pertinent observations. First, the CMOS sensor is
similar to slide film in terms of exposure latitude
and photographic range. Specifically, the CMOS sensor
can record images with about a 5 stop range from
shadows to highlights. Thus, contrasty scenes--e.g.,
landscape with setting sun--are beyond the ability of
the sensor to fully record. If you're used to the extreme latitude
of negative film, you'll have to refine your metering
technique. Something has to go,
either shadow detail or highlights, and herein lies
the dilemma.
To make matters worse, highlights
are easier to blow out than slide film! Thus, you'll need
to place important highlights at one extreme of the
photographic range (far right of histogram) and let
the mids and shadows fall where they may. The good
news is shadow detail is fairly easy to recover with a
little fancy dancing during RAW conversion and
Photoshop tweaks. Nevertheless, the 10D is at its best
in the soft, even lighting of overcast days, open
shade or in controlled studio lighting.
Best Features
One
of the coolest features of the EOS 10D is adjustable
ISO. Low light shooting and hand held telephotos shots
are just a menu away. ISO 100-400 is very
clean and smooth in appearance.
Higher settings are useable
but rather gritty by
ISO
800. I wouldn't use ISO 1600 except in an emergency. ISO
3200 is pointillistic! However, 15
to 30 second
exposures
at
ISO
100
have
amazingly
little
noise
(Fireworks).
Another big plus
is the 10D behaves and operates like an Elan
7E or A2, but, unlike those models, is built like a tank.
Most camera controls are so
familiar I hardly needed to crack the manual. Plus, all my
lenses, remotes and flash units work on the 10D.
Although the
imaging sensor has the familiar 2:3 aspect ratio, it is smaller
than an APS frame, and thus yields a 1.6x cropping factor.
In other words, lenses have an apparent magnification of 1.6x.
This cropping factor is bad for wide angle buffs but great
for telephoto freaks.
A small sensor has the
benefit of using the sharpest part of the image circle--the
center.
Thus, consumer zoom lenses are stellar performers. This
performance boost isn't limited to sharpness or virtual elimination
of
vignetting and light fall off. After shooting several sunsets
with my 10D, EF
24-85 3.5-4.5 USM and EF
70-200 4L USM I came
to a startling revelation: the 10D somehow increases flare
resistance. Both these zooms exhibit some ghosting and flare
when shooting sunsets with full frame 35 mm gear. That is,
one or more mirror images or blobs of the sun are visible
in the frame. Perhaps increased flare resistance is due to
the cropping factor or the way light strikes the sensor, I'm
not sure. All I know are all my zooms are now fit for eye
fryin' Hawaiian sunsets! Check out these sunset images 1 • 2 • 3 • 4
Finally, 8
x 12 enlargements printed on a Fuji Digital Frontier minlab
are breathtaking: sharp, grainless and vivid. Incidently,
little or no unsharpmask is needed for 8 x 12 prints--they
look photographically sharp as is (low rez images for web
display need unsharpmask). Nevertheless, if you're accustomed
to the over processed images of a point
'n shooter , you may not be happy with the 10D
or any DSLR for that matter.
Dissapointments
The
biggest letdowns are narrow exposure
latitude and the tendency to overexpose highlights in contrasty
scenes. In bright sun, I typically set -1/3 or -1/2
stop exposure compensation to keep highlights from
blowing out. In dimmer and/or more even light,
exposure is usually fine.
I'm
extremely disappointed Eye Controlled Focus (ECF) was
omitted from the 10D. I use ECF much of
the time on my Elan 7E and EOS 3. Automatically selected AF sensors
aren't reliable, i.e., the camera often focuses on the wrong
subject. Selecting AF sensors manually is too slow and
chunky for fast changing situations. Unfortunately,
the dedicated AF selector buttons of the Elan 7 are
missing too! So, I use the center AF sensor and/or FEL
and perform the lock AF-recompose-dance. Reminds me of
using my old 1989 EOS 630!
Why
doesn't the 10D work with the Remote Controller RC-1,
an inexpensive wireless remote? The Elan series and
the new Digital Rebel (EOS 300D) can use it! Instead,
10D shooters must spring for the expensive and bulky
Wireless Controller LC-4.
The
viewfinder is reasonably bright and contrasty, but
small and slightly dim compared to my EOS 3, A2 or
Elan 7E. Even a Rebel Ti has a huge viewfinder in
comparison! The small viewfinder makes it difficult to
compose precisely and caused a marked increase in
slopped horizons in my images.
Conclusion
The EOS 10D's refined
ergonomics, beefy construction and photographic
flexibility make it easy to produce beautiful
images. Although it has a few zits,
the EOS 10D boasts the best value
to
performance ratio in of any DSLR in 2003. If you're an
experienced EOS shooter (film or digital), you'll find
an easy learning curve. However, a point 'n shooter
will need months of study and practice to master the
10D's wealth of features.
Highly recommended for
serious amateurs, tweakers and pros that find an EOS
1D series overkill. Not recommended
for wide angle lovers, point 'n shooters and those wishing to
travel
light.
Postscript
(6/2007)
It's been 4 years
since I wrote this review and the 10D has proved to be both
durable and dependable. Incidentally, the CMOS sensor still
doesn't need cleaning (no dust bunnies at F22!). The 511 batteries
only lasted a year but the camera still works
perfectly. SilverTrek batteries ate kickass.
More Images taken
with the EOS 10D (click to enlarge)
Source
Materials
Canon EOS 10D
Instruction Manual. Tokyo: Canon, 2003
(CT1-1241-000).
Firmware
Updates
1.0.1 Improves
reliability of USB communication during direct
printing. Corrects of Chinese characters display in
the menu system.
2.0.0 This firmware
update adds PictBridge support and fixes 3 bugs:
improves release lag when using Microdrives; corrects
AE Lock operation when using custom function 4
settings; and fixes exposure compensation display
errors when using the ST-E2 Speedlite
Transmitter.
2.0.1 This firmware
fixes the display of color temperature in playback
mode after pressing the INFO button.
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Photo.net
• Canon EOS SLRs
6/25/2003
• Updated 6/19/2007
©Copyright
2003-2007 by Peter Kun Frary • All Rights
Reserved
