Canon EOS 40D Digital SLR Camera - Body Only (Electronics)

Just quality.... Quite simply, this is just a well thought out and quality piece of gear. Built like a tank, great picture quality, low noise and FAST. It focuses quickly and you can crack shots off even in RAW like nobody's business. Programmable user settings and Liveview are useful additions. Might not have all the bells and whistles of Nikon's D300, but it's a much cheaper real-world tool that gives you access to an excellent range of lenses.

I "downgraded" from a 5D, and I love it... The 40D is an incredible camera. I started off in digital SLRs with a Canon 20D (having used Powershot S30 and S60s previously, and 35mm Olympus SLRs before that) and was so impressed I went for a 5D next. Both were excellent cameras, but two things made me consider "downgrading" to the 40D - the frame rate and Live View. The 5D is phenomenal as far as picture quaity goes, but at just 3 frames per second it's pretty poor for action shots. 6+ frames per second on the 40D is just the ticket - and with a quieter shutter too. Although my primary reason for testing Live View was because as a glasses wearer I've always had a love hate relationship with viewfinders - once I started using it I discovered how seriously valuable a tool it is. Unlike a digital compact live view is a compromise here, you have to open the mirror and autofocus is disabled while it's running. But as a tool for framing - and moreover with reasonable definition on a 10x zoom, a tool for accurate manual focusing on macro or distant objects, it's fantastic. All that and the same ease of use and excellent picture quality as the rest of its sister products... the 40D is a no brainer. It might not have quite the resolution of the 5D and its cropped sensor limits wide shots and distorts perspective at some focal lengths, but this is undoubtedly Canon's best camera bar none when you balance features and value for money - and I've tried a few.

Awesome Prosumer Camera I have been using digital cameras since 2002 and have always gone for Canon, my first camera being a 2mp compact. I have been swithering about the 40D for ages and the imminent arrival of the 450D had me sitting on the fence even more. I took myself to one side and had a little chat about what little difference an extra 2mp will make and decided to go for the 40D. I am so glad I did, I have been using a 350D and the step-up in terms of build quality is unreal, you know where the extra money has gone. In terms of exciting new features there really isn't anything to get excited about. Sure, it has liveview but so what, all my compacts have that. Saying that it is a useful feature but not something you are going to show off about. I have been showing friends the camera and althogh there isn't any killer features to show off with, the camera is probably the ultimate incarnation of an SLR in this price bracket. What this camera offers is complete confidence and a feature set that inspires creativity and solutions to any photographic challenge. Everything works well and within a couple of days you come to grips with the controls an away you go. I got a couple of lenses, a Sigma 10-20mm and a Sigma 24-60 f2.8 constant aperture and I am saving hard for a Canon 70-200mm lens. When I get that I will have a very respectable kit that covers any photographic situation. The finish and build of the body is second to none, magnesium alloy throughout and it is light, strong and the rubberised coating is very tactile. A small indentation below the shutter button allows your middle finger to sit tightly against the grip and this gives a real good hold. The buttons are on the whole well position but the four small buttons along the top panel sometimes cause you to twist and convolute your digits to pick certain features. I photograph in a variety of situations from landscape to candid, portrait, still life, the whole lot really and this camera is never away from my side. The menus are indepth but accessible and pretty much every function you could wish for (and a few more besides) is available to tweak, set to auto or disable. I really can't praise this camera highly enough, I shoot mainly RAW files and the quality of the processed image (when using the included software) is second to none. My photography has really stepped up a gear purely due to this camera and for that reason alone I couldn't recommend it highly enough. Don't fall into the megapixel trap, the 40D is pretty comparable to the 450D (especially with the current cashback offer) and you really owe it to yourself to buy a fantastically well specified camera with a build quality that will ensure it gives years of service.

Wildlife shots should never be missed The camara is great, I have stepped up from a 350d and used to use a EOS3 in the days when slide film was the best I could find. If your going to use it to do wildlife photography the camera is unbeatable for the money, at 6 FPS you should never miss a shot and with such a large LCD screen it is so easy to check the shot is in focus whilst in the feild any mistakes can be corrected there and then. A 4GB card will still hold over 1000 shot in high setting (not RAW) I am really pleased with this Chritmas present to myself and am now trying to pursuade somebody else to buy one... Canon have done a great job with this one. It helps having great lenses (which Canon are also very good at) but having a great camera behind them is very important, if you really care how the pictures are going to come out this is a great machine for the enthusiast.

Shutter Noise This is not a full review as such, more of an addition to what has already been said. One issue regarding noise, there is one mode for silent shooting. Live View mode also includes new Silent Shooting, which is made possible by an electronic 1st-curtain shutter on the CMOS sensor that enables shooting with the mechanical shutter completely open. Since there is no shutter cocking noise, operation is almost completely silent.