Canon 40D, the 400D’s big brother!

I actually thought about comparing the 40D and 400D side by side, but soon realized how much of a stupid idea this was. You can’t compare the two, in fact no one ever should! Moving up from a 400D to a 40D for me was a pretty nice experience, allot of the features on the 40D tempted me more to wait for it once I heard the specs instead of moving to the 30D.

Body

Moving from an amateur body like the 400D to the much more solid, robust 40D felt pretty nice, I’ve had a day with the 40D and can say that it feels very well balanced, where my 400D would drop down at the front with the 70-200mm f/4L lens attached, the 40D just seems to counter the weight, making a nice, even balance. The camera isn’t as plastic fantastic as the 400D and feels like it could take a few really hard knocks before conking out! The massive 3″ LCD at the back is a nice touch, I thought the extra 1/2″ wouldn’t make a difference but it really does, getting it out of the box I saw the LCD screen and just though.. “WOAH!”. The 40D feels really nice in your hands, where your fingers would go over the edge of the 400D the 40D manages to keep every thing on board.

Quite a lot of Nikon users find the on/off switch and the back dial on the 10D/20D/30D/40D a little awkward… well I have no idea what the f**k they’re talking about, I had my doubts about it, but to be honest it doesn’t bother me, and it feels comfortable and natural!

Viewfinder / Live View

I think one of the things that will attract a lot of 400D users (it certainly sold me!) to upgrade is the nice big viewfinder of the 40D, I couldn’t use the 400D viewfinder effectively with glasses. It was a major pain, and required a lot of squinting and made manual focusing really hard! Thankfully, the 40D’s viewfinder is huge in comparison, I’m sure the previous x0D models are just as big.

Surprisingly, I’m not a fan of the live view function, in all honesty, I don’t think it’s been thought out well enough, and I personally prefer using the viewfinder on dSLR’s. Little things with it bother me such as not being able to continuously focus without the mirror having to flick up every time you hit the AF-ON button. The only time I’ll see my self using live view will be in awkward angle shots (which I’ve managed to do without looking into the viewfinder and still get usable images) and when I really want/need to use grid lines, which you can now do using the new replaceable focus screens.

Shutter Speed / Image Quality

The shutter speed on this camera is very satisfying, the jump from 3fps to 6.5fps is very noticeable, hand held exposure bracketed shots are easier and the camera’s weight distribution makes it a lot easier to keep your hands steady compared to the 400D. The new shutter sound take some getting used to, it sounds like a gun with a silencer on it, it’s very muffled compared to the sharp and noticeable clank of the 400D.

Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to look at any shots on my computer properly. I hate Canon’s bundled software and Lightroom doesn’t support the 40D yet which is really annoying, and I’m sure it’s pissing a lot of people off at the moment. I’ll upload some test photos soon, shots at ISO 400 are pretty usable on the 40D compared to the 400D (which, to be safe I’ve always shot at ISO 100/200 and below moving up to ISO 400 only when it’s absolutely necessary) the nice thing about the 40D is that the ISO levels can move up in 1/3 increments.

Conclusion

The 40D is an amazing camera for any one currently using a 400D and wanting to upgrade. If you want something a little bit cheaper, I would jump on the 30D or wait for the 40D to come down in price in the next few months. If you upgrade you won’t regret it, I certainly haven’t and it’s only been 12 hours!

Expect more updates on this article some time soon!

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