Rangefinder Magazine
December 2004

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First Exposure by John Rettie
Canon EOS 20D

The Canon EOS 20D is slightly smaller than the EOS 10D it replaces.

When Canon first introduced the EOS D30 in 2000, it was the lowest-priced digital SLR camera, yet it cost about $3000 and had only a 3-megapixel CMOS image sensor. Canon clearly stated it was not aimed at professional photographers. It was over a year before the 4.2-megapixel EOS-1D for pro use appeared, and it cost more than twice as much. Nevertheless, it quickly became a must-have camera for sports and news photographers who needed speed and ruggedness.

	Compared to the 10D, there’s one less button on the 20D, and a useful joystick has been added.

In 2002 Canon upgraded the D30 to a D60, equipping it with a 6.3-megapixel sensor but leaving the rest of the features virtually unchanged. The D60 was on the market for barely a year before the EOS 10D superseded it. This camera retained the same sensor but received many upgrades that made the camera attractive to professionals. What’s more, the price dropped to $1500, making it more easily affordable. Even though Canon still did not position it as a professional camera, the 10D produced great images, and many professional photographers found it was more than adequate to meet their needs.

Earlier this year the 1D received an upgrade that saw its resolution double to 8.2 megapixels, coupled with a further increase in operational speed along with numerous other improvements. The EOS-1D Mark II retained the same body as before, and it started its life cycle priced at $4500.

Now it was the Canon mid-range camera’s turn to get an upgrade. The new camera is called the EOS 20D, and it comes with a new 8.2-megapixel CMOS sensor as well as an all-new body, and its price remains at $1500.

Four unlimited airplanes round a turn during a race for unlimited planes during the 2004 Reno National Championship Air Races. Photo captured on Canon EOS 20D with Tamron 200–500, f/5.6–6.3 Di LD (IF) zoom lens set at 500mm. Exposure was 1⁄640 at f/7.1 at ISO 100.	This P-51D Mustang piloted by Jimmy Leeward flies by at 400+ mph during the 2004 Reno National Championship Air Races. Photo captured on Canon EOS 20D with Tamron 28–300, f/3.5–5.6 XR Di LD ASL (IF) zoom lens set at 228mm. Exposure: 1⁄500 at f/7.1at ISO 200.

One of the most significant changes is Canon’s market positioning of the 20D. In the press release announcing the new camera, Canon clearly states it is “designed for advanced amateurs, photojournalists, wedding photographers and professionals who purchase their own equipment.” Canon goes on to say the “new EOS 20D digital SLR combines speed, image quality, ease-of-use, and ruggedness with compact size and light weight to deliver the highest performance in its class.”

At first glance the 20D does not look very different from the 10D it replaces. However, if you place them side by side, it’s apparent that the 20D is slightly smaller, and some of the dials and buttons have been rearranged on the camera’s back. The body is still built around a stainless steel chassis with magnesium alloy covers. The camera has a smaller mirror, so it can use the new EF-S lenses, which are optimized for the smaller image sensor and cannot be used on any Canon camera bodies except the 20D and the con-sumer-level Digital Rebel.

Of course the big news is the resolution, which has increased from 6.3 megapixels in the 10D to 8.2 megapixels in the 20D. The CMOS image sensor size (22.7x15.0mm) remains the same, so it is an effective 33 percent increase in the overall number of pixels but only a 15 percent increase in the number of pixels in a linear measurement.

This close-up screen capture shows there is very little difference in image quality between the 20D (top) and the 10D. Images taken using a Tamron 28–300mm XR Di zoom lens.	The EOS 20D retains enough detail to be able to see each strand of hair on Los Angeles model, Racquel Marquise’s head.

The actual size of an image captured on the 20D (3504x2336 pixels) is identical to the size of an image captured by the EOS-1D Mark II. However, the physical size of the 1D Mark II’s image sensor is 28.7x19.1mm, meaning the actual individual photo diodes are larger, which should provide better quality.

Canon says even though the photo diodes are smaller in the 20D, advances in technology have made it possible for the 20D to have the same ISO range as the 10D, a higher default ISO, lower noise, higher dynamic range, higher resolution and a brighter finder than the 10D. Furthermore it incorporates some of the advances first seen in the 1D Mark II. For example, Canon has increased the size of the on-chip light-gathering micro lenses, while reducing the gaps between them to half the size found on the 10D.

As an owner of a 10D, I was immediately at home with the 20D. In operation the only real difference is a minor one: a small joystick replaces a button on the left, which was used to alter the direction in which the zoom would move when viewing an image after capture. Now the scroll wheel moves from one image to the next even when zoomed in, which makes it easy to check details from one frame to the next.

The 20D has a smaller mirror, allowing use of the new, “digitally-optimized” EF-S lenses.

The camera immediately feels more solid as it makes a loud (too loud) clunking noise due to a faster mirror and shutter mechanism. I never once found myself out-shooting the camera, even when covering an air show with planes going by at 500mph. The camera can shoot up to 23 frames at 5 fps in JPEG. Most impressively, there is virtually no shutter lag, and the camera wakes up from sleep almost instantly, which is a heck of a lot better than the almost-three seconds it took to wake up the 10D from sleep.

The improved performance is largely due to the inclusion of the same Digic II processor used in the 1D Mark II. It also allows the 20D to use the same new electronic TTL flash algorithms that supposedly deliver better flash images using the new Speedlite 580EX flashgun. I did not have a chance to try this out. However, I did try the built-in flash, and that is a lot better than in the past. It rises up higher and so avoids the annoying cutoff caused by the barrel on larger lenses.

The other accessory I did not get to experience is the external battery grip. It is different on the 20D as it is smaller and will now accept AA batteries. This particular improvement could prove to be a lifesaver if you run out of juice while traveling or if you forget to charge the battery. The 20D comes with a higher capacity Li-Ion battery, and I never saw it drop lower than one-third full, even when I shot several hundred images during a full day.

One feature I would have liked to have seen improved is the annoying way in which the camera records 100 images in a folder and then automatically creates a new folder. On many occasions, when I’m shooting several hundred images it’s frustrating to then have to open each folder and transfer the images to another folder, so they can all be viewed at the same time in Photo Mechanic, my program of choice for viewing images. All other cameras, including the 1D, save images in one folder, so I’m not sure why Canon still insists on this system on the 20D.

	The pop-up flash on the 20D rises considerably higher than on the 10D, hence avoiding the light cut-off caused by large lenses.

During one shoot, when I was changing lenses, the camera locked up on me three times. I had to remove the battery in order to “reboot” the camera. It was not a big deal but nonetheless disconcerting. It turns out it was a common problem that Canon became aware of soon after the first few thousand cameras were sold. Just as I was finishing this review, Canon posted a firmware upgrade on its web site, which I quickly downloaded and upgraded the camera. While it was a shame that a bug such as this should make it’s way into a production camera, it is heartening to know it can be remedied easily without having to send it to a repair center.

The image quality is very good, but I was honestly hard pressed to notice any difference compared to the 10D other than there being more pixels. The look of the images and the sharpness (or lack of it) straight out of the camera appeared to be similar. Focusing seemed better, but it’s still not as fast as with the 1D Mark II. There are numerous new features, such as the ability to save a separate JPEG file alongside a RAW file and the ability to adjust the color balance and color correction. When used with the Speedlite 580EX, the flash’s color temperature is included in the image processing.

I can thoroughly recommend the 20D to any reader looking for a digital SLR camera. I am still a fan of the 10D, and my only serious complaint about that camera compared to the 1D is its lack of weatherproofing. Sadly that is still a potential problem with the 20D, although most photographers don’t have to subject their cameras to abusive weather conditions.

It’s now possible to customize the white balance shift and bracketing in two axes (blue to amber and magenta to green) using the joystick.	Early 20D cameras required an easy-to-perform firmware upgrade to correct a bug in the camera.

One major benefit of the 20D is it is lighter than the 1D, which means it is much more comfortable to handle during a long shoot. I also find the 20D more intuitive in use than the 1D cameras. Considering the way Canon is now marketing the 20D, it makes one wonder how it can justify charging so much money for the 1D Mark II. It might be a better camera, but it’s hardly worth three times as much.

In summary: “The 20D presents, essentially, a unique selling proposition to the thousands of wedding, newspaper and magazine photographers who must purchase their own equipment: most of the speed, resolution, control and reliability of an EOS-1D Mark II for one third of the price.” That quote comes straight from Canon’s own promotional literature on the 20D, but I could not have said it better myself.

John Rettie is a photojournalist who resides in Santa Barbara, CA. Readers can contact him by e-mail at john@johnrettie.com or by snail-mail c/o Rangefinder.