Best on the market

Four years and four months since the first Digital SLR camera was revealed they released the Canon 20D.

The lens on this body is above average. The standard lens would be the 18-55mm lens. I chose the bundle with the 17-85 lens because I enjoy the wider range of zoom. The EF-S lens is 17-85mm zoom but on the digital it has a 1.6X magnification ratio. So you will actually be able to shoot using 27.2-136mm zoom range. The aperture range for the lens is 4.5-5.6. This means that the lowest aperture you can use when zoomed at 17mm is 4.5 and the lowest you can you when fully zoomed at 85mm is 5.6. This is something no one every told me so I had to learn it through confusion. To buy this lens on its own would cost an average of $599. The list price for the camera (body only) was only $100 less then the one I bought with a $599 lens. To me it was worth it to upgrade and I am so glad I did.

I believe the Canon 20D is one of the best Digital Single-Lens Reflect (SLR) camera on the market. It has the versatility to use all Canon EOS lenses, as well and some Sigma and Tamron. The camera fits very nicely into my hands (which are small) and it light weight for all that it carries. The Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen is large enough to preview your images once taken.

This camera is great for photographers from beginning to advanced photographers. There are many custom options that may be set so the camera defaults as your preferences, which is a great tool for more advanced/ artistic photographers.

The camera takes Jpeg, and RAW images. The benefit to a RAW image is you are able to adjust more settings once the image is on the computer, whereas with a Jpeg you cannot change the digital data once the image is captured. When shooting in RAW you will capture an 8.2 megapixel image, which can be enlarged up to a 16”X20” image without distorting the picture.

I have never had any problems with this camera and I find it to be very versatile. The 9 auto focus points are very handy for someone who is unable to focus an image themselves. There are several modes for shooting and the user guide is viewer friendly and easy to follow.

Specifications: From (http://www.dpreview.com)

Body material -
Magnesium alloy
Sensor -
• 22.5 x 15.0 mm CMOS sensor *
• RGB Color Filter Array
• Built-in fixed low-pass filter
• 8.5 million total pixels *
• 8.2 million effective pixels *
• 3:2 aspect ratio
Image processor -
DIGIC II *
Image sizes -
• 3504 x 2336 (8.2 MP) *
• 2544 x 1696 (4.3 MP) *
• 1728 x 1152 (2.0 MP) *
File formats -
• RAW
• JPEG (EXIF 2.21) - Fine / Normal
• RAW JPEG (separate files) *

Color space -
• sRGB
• Adobe RGB
Lenses -
• Canon EF / EF-S lens mount *
• 1.6x field of view crop
Focusing -
• 9-point TTL *
• CMOS sensor
• AF working range: -0.5 - 18 EV (at 20°C, ISO 100) *
Focus modes -
• AI Focus AF
• One shot AF
• AI Servo AF
• Manual focus
AF point selection -
• Auto
• Manual
• Home position
AF assist -
• Stroboscopic flash
• 4.0 m range (at center)
Metering -
• TTL 35 zone SPC
• Metering range: EV 1.0 - 20 EV (at 20°C, ISO 100, 50 mm F1.4)
Metering modes -
• Evaluative 35 zone
• Partial (9% at center)
• Center-weighted average
• Metering range: 1 - 20 EV (at 20°C, ISO 100)

AE lock -
• Auto: One Shot AF with evaluative metering
• Manual: AE lock button
AE bracketing -
• /- 2.0 EV
• 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
Exposure compen. -
• /-2.0 EV
• 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
Sensitivity -
• Auto (100, 200 or 400)
• ISO 100
• ISO 200
• ISO 400
• ISO 800
• ISO 1600
• ISO 3200 (Enhanced H)

Shutter -
• Focal-plane shutter
• 30 - 1/8000 sec *
• 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
• Flash X-Sync: 1/250 sec
• Bulb
Aperture values -
• F1.0 - F91
• 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
• Actual aperture range depends on lens used
White balance -
• Auto (3000 - 7000 K)
• Daylight (5200 K)
• Shade (7000 K)
• Cloudy (6000 K)
• Tungsten (3200 K)
• Fluorescent (4000 K)
• Flash (6000 K)
• Custom (2000 - 10000 K)
• Kelvin (2800 - 10000 K in 100 K steps)
WB bracketing -
• /-3 levels
• 3 images
• blue/amber or magenta/green bias
WB shift -
• Blue (-9) To Amber ( 9)
• Magenta (-9) to Green ( 9)
Processing params -
• Parameter 1 (con 1, shp 1, sat 1, tone 0) *
• Parameter 2 (con 0, shp 0, sat 0, tone 0) *
• Set 1 (con, shp, sat, tone)
• Set 2 (con, shp, sat, tone)
• Set 3 (con, shp, sat, tone)
• B&W (con, shp, filter, toning) *
Custom params (Set 1 - 3) -
• Contrast ( /-2)
• Sharpness ( /-2)
• Saturation ( /-2)
• Color tone ( /-2)
Viewfinder -
• Eye-level pentaprism
• 95% frame coverage
• Magnification: 0.9x (-1 diopter with 50 mm lens at infinity) *
• Eyepoint: 20 mm
• Dioptric adjustment: -3.0 to 1.0 diopter
• Precision matte screen
Viewfinder info -
• AF points
• Focus confirmation light
• Shutter speed
• Aperture
• Manual exposure
• AE Lock
• Exposure compensation amount
• AEB level
• Partial metering area
• Flash ready
• Red-eye reduction lamp on
• High-speed sync
• FE Lock
• Flash compensation amount
• Warnings
• Maximum burst for continuous shooting
• Buffer space
LCD monitor -
• 1.8" TFT LCD
• 118,000 pixels
• 5 brightness levels
• 10x zoom playback
Record review -
• Off
• On (histogram via INFO button) *
• 2 / 4 / 8 sec / Hold
Flash -
• Auto pop-up E-TTL II auto flash
• FOV coverage up to 17 mm (27 mm equiv.) *
• Guide number approx 13
• Flash compensation /-2.0 EV in 0.3 or 0.5 EV increments
• X-Sync: 1/250 sec *
External flash -
• E-TTL II auto flash with EX-series Speedlites *
• Wireless multi-flash support
• PC Sync
Shooting modes -
• Auto
• Program AE (P)
• Shutter priority AE (Tv)
• Aperture priority AE (Av)
• Manual (M)
• Auto depth-of-field
• Portrait
• Landscape
• Close-up
• Sports
• Night portrait
• Flash off

Drive modes -
• Single
• Continuous: 5 fps up to 23 frames *
• Self-timer: 10 secs
Direct printing -
• Canon Card Photo Printers
• Canon Bubble Jet Printers with direct print function
• PictBridge *
Other features -
• Orientation sensor
• Automatically writes FAT16/FAT32 depending on capacity
• LCD panel illumination
Auto rotation -
• On (playback uses orientation data in file header)
• Off
Playback mode -
• Single image
• Single image with info (inc. histogram)
• Magnified view (1.5 - 10x in 15 steps, browsable)
• 9 image index
• Auto play
• Image rotation
• Jump
Custom functions -
18 custom functions with 50 settings *
Menu languages -
• English
• French
• German
• Spanish
• Italian
• Dutch
• Swedish
• Norwegian
• Danish
• Finnish
• Chinese
• Japanese
Firmware User upgradable
Portrait grip Via BP-E2 battery grip (option)
Connectivity -
• USB 2.0 Hi-Speed *
• Video out
• N3 type wired remote control
• PC Sync flash terminal
Storage -
• Compact Flash Type I or II
• Microdrive supported
• FAT 12/16 and FAT 32 support
• No CF card supplied
Power -
• Lithium-Ion BP-511A rechargeable battery (supplied & charger)
• Supports BP-511 / BP-511A / BP-512 / BP-514
• CR2016 Lithium battery (date/time backup)
• Optional AC adapter
Dimensions 144 x 106 x 72 mm (5.6 x 4.2 x 2.8 in) *
Weight (no batt) 685 g (1.5 lb) *
Weight (inc. batt) 770 g (1.7 lb) *

I would suggest this camera to anyone interested in photography even if only as a hobby. This is a camera built to grow with you.