Hello I have a dilema? I currently own a 20D with about 7000 actuations however I see that wolf/ritz camera is selling New Canon 30D's at 699.00 so should I go ahead and sell my 20D and fund a new 30D? Is there much of an upgrade from the 20 to the 30? Please help.
Thank you
Mark
For a while, I had a 20D and two 30D's in use, then I sold the 30D's to get 1DII's. I still use the 20D. The main reason to get 30D over a 20D is it's higher buffer capacity, and consequent higher sustained frame rate. If that's important to you, then it might be worth it; otherwise, don't bother. They have identical image quality. I posted a comparison of my 20D and first 30D here: www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00FhNl
Nah. Just my own opinion, but 20D to 30D is low desirability trade-up from features for $ perspective value. Same resolution. Same AF. Same feature set. About the only thing you gain is ISO adjustments in 1/3 stops, slightly bigger LCD (tough to read in sunlight) and RGB histogram. Is they worth it? The 30D is a good camera on its own merit, but it was an interim release.
In some not distant future, you'll get a used 40D at near that price. Better resolution, better file quality (that's what it's all about) better metering, far better AF, far better flash metering and control, better FPS, Highlight Tone Priority, Live View, etc. The 40D is solid. It's the long keeper in the Canon xxD stable. Best redesign of xxD line in years. The 40D was the 1st xxD model to use the flash calculation algorithms of the 1-DMkII. I don't mean E-TTL II. I mean the 1-D's used a different - superior - ambient metering algorithm than the xxD. Until the 40D.
"For a while, I had a 20D and two 30D's in use, then I sold the 30D's to get 1DII's. I still use the 20D. The main reason to get 30D over a 20D is it's higher buffer capacity, and consequent higher sustained frame rate. If that's important to you, then it might be worth it; otherwise, don't bother. They have identical image quality. I posted a comparison of my 20D and first 30D here"
That, spot metering and a little bigger LCD...IQ seem to be equal. I'd pass on a 30D for 699...The 40D seems to be a better step, at least you get better IQ. You'll get extra MP's, 14bit colorand a suped up AF system, along with a bunch of bells and whistles not available on your 20D. I see them for like $800-$850 in "like new" condition on this forum regularly.
Don't bother...except for SPOT metering and larger buffer there isn't much to scream about. Save your cash for a 5D or 1D series body. If you can get a used 1D Classic your well ahead of the 20 and 30D for about 800 bucks.
I moved from a 20D to a 30D, but that wasn't originally my intention. I sold my 20D with the intention of buying a 40D, but the more I read and thought about it, I decided to fore go the 40D and see what happens in the 5D successor realm. In the meantime though I had no camera and wanted something relatively inexpensive. I found an excellent-condition 30D for sale in the B&S forum from Mike Frank (an extraordinary person to work with, btw) for well under $600. Since receiving it, I love it much more than my 20D, not because it allows e to take better pictures, but because it has all of the features that I'd wanted on my 20D. It feels like a complete camera, and even though it's not the latest body with the latest features or most resolution, it has just about every feature I would need and the performance to match. The improved buffer performance is nice as is the spot meter and 1/3-increment ISO adjustments. I don't know that I'd buy one new at that price when you can find a body almost as nice on this site for significantly less. I really scoffed at the 30D when it came out, mainly because I felt that it was what the 20D should have been in the first place, and it seemed to be a bit of a slap in the face. But after having no camera for a short while and coming into the 30D from a fresh perspective, I really appreciate how very nice a camera it really is. It out-performs me most of the time. Look in B&S first though, before buying somewhere else.
The only difference I remember between the 20/30 was the 30D allows for a few more images if shooting burst mode before the buffer gets over-run. Also the LCD screen is slightly bigger but they are roughly the same aside from that.
