Canon EOS 10D Digital SLR Camera [6MP] - Body Only

Picking up the Eos 10D you can't help but notice the extra weight compared to the D30/60. This is due to the magnesium body. The next thing you notice is the buttons have been rearranged, the body has rounded edges and the new larger LCD panel on the top of the camera which is backlit for use at night.

In use the Autofocus is a huge improvement over the D30/60. There are 7 Autofocus points which can be selected individually or left on auto. The viewfinder lights up showing which AF points are in use. Although not quiet as fast as the Eos1D the focus is fast enough for most applications including sports photography. The next improvement you notice is the shutter lag (the amount of time from when you press the shutter button to the shutter actually opening). The camera feels more like a film camera in operation and there is little shutter lag to worry about.
Images can be reviewed on the back screen which is bright and has good contrast. A useful Zoom allows you to check that the image is sharp, pressing one button zooms in and you can then scroll around the image. This is a feature missing on the more expensive Eos1D.
You will need compact flash cards with a large capacity, a 256mb card will hold around 80 images on fine jpeg and just 37 in Raw.
The E-TTL flash has been improved. This is one area that has caused a lot of problems for photographer before. Using a 550EX flash with previous Canon DSLR's required using the FEL (flash expousure lock) button to preflash on a midtone, locking in the flash expousure before taking the photograph. The Eos 10D works fine with flash without having to use FEL which will be a huge advantage to photographers trying to take candid photographs. The flash expousure is well balanced as gives natural looking photographs.

The white balance is now selectable in Kelvins as well as the preset options including automatic. If a picture taken under tungsten lighting looks a little too orange it's simple to turn the Kelvin setting down slightly for a cooler look. For those who don't want to worry about colour temperatures the Auto white balance mode works well.

The camera can be used in fully automatic modes or with AV, TV, or fully manual modes. ISO speeds range from 100 to 1600 and 3200 can be selected via the menu. Images taken between 100 and 800 show little noise. 1600 looks like film grain, and 3200 is very useable and is better than 3200ISO film.

The image quality is first class providing you invest in good Canon L series lenses. You should be able to print at least A3+ sized prints that compare to 35mm film based images.

At this price there is little competition, the 10D is likely to be a huge sucess for Canon. I am already considering buying a second 10D body as I am that impressed with the camera.


Canon EOS-10D   April 17, 2003
43 out of 43 found this review helpful

I got this camera about 2 weeks ago. I'm dabbling into the semi-professional world and wanted to be able to print at larger sizes than the 3Mpix nikon 995 I had would allow. Due to the amount of nikon accessories I owned, I nearly got the nikon D100. Thankfully I road tested the two of them over a weekend - No comparison...
The 10D is amazing. Negligible shutter lag, quick focusing even in extremely low light levels, picture quality amazing. The 7 point autofocus is superior to the nikon too. The controls are well placed and (alot) easier to understand/change than the D100.
The creative controls are easy to set. The automatic modes (new to me) produce good vibrant pictures with very little effort in terms of exposure/aperture setting etc.
Go and buy one - now (assuming you can spare the cash of course!)


10D Difficult but ultimately rewarding   September 3, 2003
D. Harvey (Herts, UK)
114 out of 116 found this review helpful

I'm a professional photographer, the kit I use has to work perfectly and deliver flawless results day in day out. The 10D CAN do this but it needs time and application to tame this beast. Treating it as if it were a standard Canon SLR just doesn't work. Film is not the same as digital, to get the best out of the 10D you must get the exposure absolutely right (a la slide film) or you will lose valuable detail, particularly in highlight areas. This can be done but you MUST learn how to use in histogram function to do it.

The biggest thing that affects the 10D without question is quality of lenses. Stick a standard Canon zoom on this camera and you will be disappointed with the results, stick a high quality 'L' series lens on, use RAW mode with a non-Canon convertor (like BreezeBrowzer) and you will get absolutely fantastic results, the equal of medium format. The 1.6 factor is slightly annoying if you use wide angles a lot and it really doesn't magnify your lenses by 1.6, it just crops the image. It also means the viewfinder image is quite small.

In use the camera is just what you would expect from Canon, easy to use with masses of sensible features (like a depth of field preview, mirror up function, pc flash socket).

The focusing is not perfect, there is no getting away from that, Canon have used one of their less sensitive focusing mechanisms in the 10D to keep the cost down, only the central focusing point is ultra-sensitive. However in normal use, with the lens stopped down a couple of stops it works absolutely fine and fast.

Digital SLR's are new technology and in comparison with the much more expensive 1D and 1Ds the 10D is good value, better that the new 300D which lacks some features.

Be prepared to spend money on a large CF card or microdrive and GOOD lenses, which will always fit the next generation anyway.

In summary, a fantastic technological marvel which, when tamed will convert you to digital forever, just be prepared to start learning again as it is not such a simple switch from film, but well worth it.


EOS 10D a digital delight!   May 6, 2003
60 out of 61 found this review helpful

I purchased the Canon 10D as a replacement for my Olympus OM system and medium format Bronica kit. I was very trepidatious about changing from my well tried setup, to the realms of all digital, having only had experience of a couple of basic digital cameras, but my worries were definitely in vain.

In short it’s marvellous! The flexibility in shooting it affords, ranging from “point and shoot” to full manual control, with a positive wealth of possibilities in between, coupled with the ability to view, magnify, evaluate and keep or delete pictures at will, is worth the price alone. Add to this the stunning quality from its 6.3 Megapixel CMOS sensor, the 7 point, selectable, rapid auto focussing system, the adaptable metering system, virtually noise free images at up to1600 ISO and beyond and the vast array of excellent Canon EF lenses available make it an absolute bargain.

Although it is packed with features, I found it very easy to operate even though I had never used a Canon EOS camera before. The controls are well placed, well labelled and the most commonly used ones seem to fall right under the fingers, and although a good read of the manual is recommended, if you’re like me you’ll be shooting and reviewing pictures within minutes of unpacking it.

I’m always extremely picky about image quality and usually things that other reviewers rave about just don’t meet my high standards. This time though I can honestly say I’m more than impressed. The Canon EOS 10D has exceeded all of my expectations, and for once when the magazines say that you’ll be blown away, they’re right, but don’t just take my word for it, there’s a wealth of images available on the web for you to download and see for yourself.

So far I have found the battery life to be very good, despite spending a long time with the camera on and not taking pictures, to familiarise myself with all the many and varied features.

The software package supplied is comprehensive and ranges from the fairly simple Canon Zoom Browser EX picture download program to Adobe Photoshop Elements (with applications in between) which although is normally thought of as a cut down version of Photoshop 7.0 has a few tricks up its sleeve the full version lacks.

The bottom line, if you’re looking for a flexible, controllable, digital camera that produces uncompromised quality results, at a price that doesn’t involve re-mortgaging the house, then look no further.


Revolutionary   June 9, 2004
londonreader21
22 out of 22 found this review helpful

Canon can be justly proud of their affordable digital SLR range, which started out with the D30, moved on to the D60 and now the revolutionary EOS10D. Canon are determinedly targeting the 10D at the advanced amateur market, and very definitely not badging it as a professional SLR. This however was the same, some years ago, for the EOS 5 and did very little to dissuade professionals from buying them. The first thing that strikes you about the 10D is the build quality: put simply the new magnesium alloy body makes it feel like a camera designed to take a few knocks. The D60 was seen as very much of a move forward from the D30 but it did have a few problems, one of which was a slightly sluggish auto focus: something the engineers at Canon have sorted out and made much more responsive in the new 10D. As would be expected for an advanced amateur camera, the EOS 10D has an adjustable built in flash, mounted above the pentaprism. Being a system camera it also accepts the new range of Canon digital Speedlites which, as well as the usual bunch of tricks and high shutter speed sync mode, in the case of the top of the range 550EX also offers wireless remote control of slave flashguns. This is a huge step forward in SLR photography. The move from the traditional on camera or bracket mounted single flash head set up, offers the SLR photographer the sort of lighting control only previously available to those using multiple studio heads, and with the added advantage of very much more portable form. Couple the multiple flash facility with digital's ability to show exactly what the picture looks like as soon as it's been shot and the opportunities for experimentation with lighting expand exponentially. On the down side my only real disappointment of the EOS 10D is the very low sixtieth of a second shutter speed sync required to be set when using the PC socket and monobloc heads.

Again, as you'd expect, the EOS 10D offers the facility to shoot in RAW mode and then decode the files into TIF format. Raw mode became more attractive recently with the unveiling of Photoshop CS, the latest incarnation of the program, which includes the ability to deal directly with files shot in RAW format. For magazine publication however I have so far found that shooting in large fine Jpeg format is more than adequate. If you need to make big prints shooting in RAW mode is the best option. Colour rendition by the EOS 10D is also something that needs to be applauded as it's little short of fabulous. The 10D copes with a broad contrast range, easily operates in low light conditions, and renders excellent colour. Noise in the shadow areas at the higher film speeds is greatly reduced on previous models, and the maximum film speed setting is increased from 1000 ISO on the D60 to 1600 ISO on the 10D. White balance can also now be dialled into the camera in degrees Kelvin for even greater control, and there is also the option to shoot in Adobe RGB mode. Wide angle devotees still have to cope with the problem of the 1.6 magnification but ultra-wide zooms are increasingly affordable and it seems that all the camera manufacturers are beginning to take a long hard look at their lens systems with regard to the onset of digital. In my own case I bought the new Canon 17-40mm f4 at the same time as the camera, which gives me an angle of view equivalent to approximately 27mm on 35mm. In some ways it seems pedantic to be remarking upon an extra single millimetre but suffice to say that, like the EOS10D, the lens is brilliant. There is of course a serious learning curve to going digital but in the six months since I bought the camera I find I've only shot 3 rolls of film: as soon as I have a second body I'll be ditching the 35mm SLRs altogether.