cogitech
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 p.2 #6 · The 30D is not an upgrade!!! | |
If the 30D's AF routines are "significantly" better, that *might* be a selling point for 20D owners. The rest of the new "features" aren't that big of a deal.
1) Spot metering: with digital, this feature is much less handy than with film. Use exposure bracketing if you really need to, or better yet, shoot RAW and as long as you are close, everything is cool. More *dynamic range* would have been a true "upgrade."
2) ISO in 1/3 stop increments: I have never felt limited in any way by the full stop increments on the 20D because everything is pretty much usable except 3200 (but even that isn't *that* bad). The 1/3 stop increments on my 1D are much more useful, because noise tends to be more of an issue. I think people will find themselves turning this one off in custom functions, as it'll become annoying flipping through all the 1/3 stops.
3) ISO in the viewfinder: I tend to be fairly aware of what ISO I'm using and my brain still does a fairly good job at remembering. I can't see how having it always staring at me would help in the least. Are their really enough simpletons out there who go around on a sunny day shooting at ISO 1600 because they "can't see it in their viewfinders" to make this a "great feature." Or is it so you can change ISO "on the fly"? No, it can't be that, because it's not like you can snap photos *while* you are changing the ISO, so what the hell is the point of looking in the viewfinder?
4) Bigger LCD: the 20D's LCD is sufficient to check for blown highlights and focus. Why does it need to be any bigger? It's a "nice-to-have" I guess, but not a reason to upgrade. I suppose when the firmware includes Photoshop it'll come in handy...
5) Deeper buffer: With a Sandisk Extreme III card in my 20D, I don't find myself waiting for it very often at all. Would buffering 11 RAWs instead of 6 be nice to have. I guess so, but again, not a reason for most 20D owners to upgrade, considering that it takes only a few seconds to empty its buffer and start shooting again. If someone really needs high end buffering, they'll likely also need a higher end AF system and move directly to a 1D series.
So, is the 30D a piece of sh!t? No. How could it be, considering that it is basically a 20D? I don't think anyone has said it is a POS.
The consensus has been that for 20D owners, the 30D doesn't present much of an upgrade appeal, but for D30, D60, 10D, 300D and maybe even 350D owners the 30D is a great choice.
Well, the 30D is a great choice for these people, but they really aught to look at the price difference between a 20D and a 30D (we still don't know what that will be) and consider that they will get 90% of the features of a 30D if they buy a 20D, and they should also keep in mind tha only two of the 30D's "extra features" are "nice to haves" and the rest is just marketing. Oh, I forgot about the direct print button 
This may all change if the 30D ends up having a significantly better AF system, but something tells me Canon didn't put too much effort into it.
Edited by cogitech on Feb 25, 2006 at 10:03 PM GMT
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