Canon delivers with the 20D
This replacement to the 10D certainly delivers the goods. It is more like the 1D Mark II than the Digital Rebel. It writes very fast to the CF so it will take advantage of high speed cards -- I can barely notice any hit to the CF card when recording RAW files (amazing). Startup time is super quick (0.2 seconds), as is AF. Pictures are amazing even at high ISO ratings (1600 is actually not very noisy). Of course, it is a true Digital SLR, so you can exchange lenses to fit your needs and you have very fine control over how pictures are taken. As for SLRs, It does have a set of "basic" modes which help grab quick shots or allow novices to use the camera like a "Point and Shoot" camera. In addition, the Creative Mode (Advanced) let you take control of the pictures. RAW conversion is not bad, but not great either. I usually just use the Canon RAW conversion software to export to TIFF and go from there with another program. What is nice, you can have the camera record RAW and JPEG versions of each shot at the same time -- so the JPEG gets the immediately gratification and quick viewing and the RAW allows the finer control and no loss of data. Highly recommend this camera and being one of the first (few) pro/sumer DSLR to make 8.2 MP sensor -- it's a no brainer. My only complaint is you cannot record RAW or RAW+JPEG in Basic modes (only JPEG). Even at full retail price, it is a good value.

CANON EOS 20D Amazing? YES IT IS !
Is the EOS 20D all it's cracked up to be? After using it a couple of days I have to say yes. What makes it so amazing?

My top reason, LOW NOISE even at ISO 1600. At ISO 3200 it will create a photo that is ok if you run it through Neat Image. (a free noise reduction program)

Here are some of the other reasons I love it. Excellent quality images. Virtually NO shutter lag, instantly starts up from standby, shoots 5 frames per second. I was able to shoot 32 continuous frames set at 8mp fine using a 1GB Lexar 80X CF card. It has simple to use menus. Very fast to focus (I used a Sigma 24-135mm lens.) The built in flash is good. It has a solid feel; it's light but not too light. Battery life is great; you can set it to go to standby after 1 min because it starts instantly when you press the shutter release.

I have tried to find something I can complain about but I can't. This camera is great!!!! At the price it is in a class by it's self. This is minor but the camera raw software is so so. I'm sure Adobe will update their camera raw plug-in for Photoshop before too long.

The best digital camera available for the money!
And that includes all the offerings from Nikon, Olympus, and Minolta/Konica. I LOVE this camera. The 10D was felt by many to have focusing issues and though I did not have any significant problem with my 10D in that regard the 20D represents a substantial improvement in this area. Canon still is not offering (in this price range) a camera with eye control or 45 focusing points, BUT the nine focusing points that ARE offered are well placed and the camera focuses quickly and surely resulting in tack sharp photos.

The pictures this camera takes are simply beyond belief. Beautifully saturated, tack sharp, NO, and I mean NO noise at 400 or below and barely discernible noise all the way up to 1600 ISO. For all practical purposes 1600 ISO is an entirely usable speed resulting in fantastic pictures. What Canon has accomplished in reducing noise and increasing pixel density proves that they are, for now, the technology leader.

Another big advantage over the 10D is the instant on feature which does not leave you sitting there helplessly until the camera turns on. That happens instantly! A new flash system, ETTL II is a vast improvement over the 10D. And, to my eye, there is an improved dynamic range with slightly less blown highlights.

The in camera processing results in far more pleasing pictures than the previous 10D or Digital Rebel. This camera has a greater burst (more pictures quicker) that the previous 10D.

Now there is currently an issue with mirror lockups reported by probably 10% - 20% of all owners. If you encounter this problem before you update the firmware then simply take the battery out of the camera, reinsert it, and you're good to go. Canon has issued a fix and it is available on their web site. It completely remedies the problem so, not to worry!

One of the greatest things about digital photography is the ability to build a digital dark room for next to nothing. With the included Photoshop Elements you are well on your way to producing pictures that you could only have imagined in the pre-digital days. I am able to recoup pictures that I never would have considered salvageable before this camera.

The other thing I like about Canon is the lens system which IMO is second to none. Also, Canon continues to innovate at a furious pace driving the price of these digital cameras relentlessly downward.

I sold my 10D to purchase this camera and for me it represented a significant improvement more than justifying the cost of the upgrade.

So, I LOVE the camera. LOVE Canon. And LOVE digital. All in all I'd say I'm a pretty happy camper!

A good upgrade from the Digital Rebel
I purchased the 20D as an upgrade from my Digital Rebel. The cost was certainly worth it.

This camera has many, many advantages to the Rebel (as I'm sure other reviewers will point out), but I thought three were worthy of mention:

ISO 1600 and 3200 have very, very low noise. This means that I am now able to get low-light shots that I never could before. For example, I often take pictures of crowded streets at night. Before, I needed to use a flash or else my shots would be blurred by camera shake and the motion of people walking. Now (with the help of a f1.8 lens) I can set the camera at ISO3200 and have the shutter speed be fast enough that I can get clear images. In fact, when I use the Black & White mode, the picture is virtually noise-free.

Rapid-Fire burst mode. When the "multi-shot" function is on, this camera fires like a machine gun. It also writes the images to the memory card much faster than the Rebel ever did. I shot a series of 25 shots in 5 seconds, and it still had them all on the card 6 seconds after I stopped shooting.

Black and White mode. Not just some toy feature, when you are saving as a JPG file (not RAW), the image is actully encoded as a B&W image--meaning a smaller file size. This means more shots per card, and also more shots being able to be held in the buffer. I was actully able to record 90 frames of B&W images (JPG-Large-Fine) at full speed (5 per second) without stopping (onto a 40x CF card).

Like I said before, I'm sure there are tons of other amazing features of the 20D, but I wanted you to know my favorites.

UPDATE: Over the past few months, there have been reports that the 20D locks up on occasion. I had that happen to me only once. Canon has posted a firmware upgrade on it's website that remedies this problem (as well as a few others). I upgraded, and have not had any problems since.

Almost Perfect
I've owned most all the previous versions of the Canon dSLRs and have many Canon lenses. Lately, however, I been trying to decide between the 20D and the Nikon D70 (which has a better lens with the kit version), especially since I've heard of numerous issues with the 20d. Well, I've now tried both and here's my assessment of the 20d.

What I like about this camera:

- Very fast all the way around
- Nice look and size to the camera
- 8MP CMOS sensor is great
- I generally like the Canon lenses better than Nikon's

What needs improvement:

- Flash pictures are very often underexposed and not consistent
- Mirror click is louder than on previous models, making unobtrusive shots difficult
- 18-55mm lens in kit looks and feels cheap
- Camera seems to lock up often (probably an early firmware bug that will be fixed)

Overall a camera with great potential, but I'm going to go with the D70 until Canon fixes the flash and lockup issues. The flash is probably the deal-killer for me - it takes worse flash pictures than my Canon S400, especially for quick, casual shots (a $1500 camera should do better!). The D70 is a mature camera and has no such problems (even though it's not quite as fast).

I'm going to hold on to my Canon lenses and hope for a fix or wait for the next version.

Holy Moly
This is the greatest camera. The pictures are unbelievably awesome. The flexibility is unparalleled. Words escape me.

I used to shoot with a Powershot G2, and had a lot of fun, took a lot of great pictures. However, with this new camera, I simply can't put it down. I look for excuses to use it.

I'm totally addicted.

Erratic Flash Exposure
I owned the D30 before this camera, which I loved and had no problems with. I upgraded to the 20D and enjoy the speed, but pictures using the internal flash are often underexposed. There are many discussions on the Internet about this problem. Some people have exchanged the cameras several times before getting a good one, others argue it's a pro-level camera where the user should manually adjust everything first (why have an automatic mode then?).

I'm not a pro and just want a fast camera with interchangeable lenses that works well in automatic (and P-mode). I don't want to have to fiddle with a bunch of settings just to get a good flash shot.

I wish Canon would address this issue (perhaps something to do with the DIGIC processor?).

FLASH! I GOT NO PROBLEMS It's called flash exp compensation
Anyone buying this camera to use in basic/automatic mode is not getting their money's worth. This camera was made to be shot in the creative mode - P,Tv,Av,M mode. In these modes you can set the camera up in any way that you choose. The internal flash works great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The camera is unbelievably fast!!!!!!!!!!! The focus is unbelievably fast and accurate!!!!! Buy this camera to shoot in the creative modes and you will be totally satisfied. If you intend on using the fully automatic modes you might as well buy a digicam. If your images are a little dark with the flash all you have to do is add a little flash exposure compensation and solve the problem. Don't buy this camera if you are looking for something light, small and simple to use. PS the flash works great in creative mode!!!!!!!

The Best for the Price
I've only had this a few days and I consider myself slightly beyond beginner. First, it is easy to understand overall. I was using only the LCD viewer before and this camera ONLY allows the eye viewfinder in taking pictures. It turns off the LCD for the actual photo, something I have to get used to again but is a better way to take a picture to avoid stray light problems. Fortunately, the viewfinder has adjustments for near-sighted folks like me and it is bigger than in my other cameras, a plus.

I thought a camera producing photos of high quality would be more complex - this is not. I wish I could turn the flash off in combination with macro in automatic mode, though - but no such ability. At any rate, the macro pictures with the flash were fantastic. The lenses are the best. I've had no problems with the picture quality using flash. Other flash accessories are available if the built-in one doesn't suit you or use the flash settings - they are not difficult to learn. And get the EF-S 17-85mm lens instead of the default one. It's worth every penny for the anti-shake ability alone.

Second, the 8.2 mp pictures are the best for a camera in this price range or lower. I had done much research before purchasing the 20D. Other cameras doing 8 mp or less have issues that the 20D does not have. This is a little treasure that I plan to use for years.

Hey, Nice camera!
I was a 10D user for about 1.5 years. The 10D takes great pictures so why bother upgrading right? Well, now that I have messed around with the 20D a bit it was clearly the right choice... although not totally perfect.

The useful improvements for me have been 1. Faster time from turning on the camera to taking a picture. It's virtually instantaneous. The 10D took a few seconds to get going. 2. Faster writing to the CF card. This feature is nice when you are in a hurry to take several shots and then get the pics to your computer. 3. Built-in black and white mode that allows for photo filters to be digitally applied in camera with pretty darn good results. Although I prefer to apply filters in Photoshop. 4. The taller pop-up flash works better with my 17-40mm canon lens. The 10D would leave a half circle blackout between 17-24mm due to the top of the lens blocking the flash. The taller pop-up flash shoots right over it. 5. Super low noise at ISO400 and ISO800. It's even pretty good at ISO1600. With ISO expansion on you can go to 3200 but it was pretty grainy. My 10D shows noise at 400 and above.

Things I didn't realize were going to happen: My digital workflow is a bit messed up now. I usually shoot in RAW, and I use the Macintosh OS to process images. Image capture application in MAC OS 10.3.5 does not support the raw files (now .CR2 files instead of .CRW files in the 10D). 10.3.6 update now allows image capture to recognize the .CR2 files, but it won't build previews for them. That means you have to use a file browser to manage the files. iPhoto will not read the .CR2 files. The new Camera Raw Plug-in (v2.3) for Photoshop CS supports the 20D images (but is not on the list of supported cameras.) So I now use the Photoshop CS filebrowser to look at my files and figure out which ones are good. However, I still can't build icon previews for the .CR2 files so it's a bit hard to find the pics you want in a file folder. I make contact sheets for each shoot and store them with the raw files. None of these problems exist if you shoot in any of the .JPG modes.

My top five good things and my one bad thing. I'm sure the one bad thing will go away after the camera has been out a while and becomes more popular. I would highly recommend this camera to anyone who's graduated from their Digital Rebel and is wanting more.

3-2-05 **** update: iPhoto now supports .CR2 files directly from the camera or a CF card reader. You can drag them to your photoshop icon in the doc to edit the original or you can set a preference to have the jpg preview from iPhoto open in photoshop with a double click. iPhoto, image capture, Digital photo professional, phtoshop CS, photoshop 7, photoshop elements 2, 3 still will not build icon previews viewable in the finder for .CR2 files as of this update. At least iPhoto will allow me to browse photos without having to open them in DPP.

Flash exposure
My first 20d had a problem with flash exposure in auto mode. I returned camera and the replacement worked fine in auto mode. (with flash) Good for that quick picture, and helps out greatly while I'm learning all the many features. The lens for me was great for that extra $100. Later I can get the 17 to 85. Also I must add, after learning how to use the built in flash, it does everything I want it to. Very happy with my purchase.

This is the way to go!!
I previously owned the Digital Rebel and decided it was time for an upgrade so I bought the 20d. All I have to say is WOW!! Everything about this camera is lightning fast. One of the most noticable features is the VERY fast shutter speed. There is no time for camera shake with this baby!! The speed to the CF card is also a very quick, especially when you combine it with a fast CF. People seem to have problems with lockup issues, but as long as you download firmware 1.0.5, you'll be fine. Some 20d's already come with the upgraded firmware.

For those of you looking for a very fast professional camera at a reasonal price, this is it!! Very crisp and sharp images.

Great Camera
I received my 20D last week and have been finding excuses to take out the camera to take great pictures. Start up on the camera is indeed almost instantaneous - as quickly as you can get the viewfinder to your eye, it's ready for you. Being able to use my existing EF lenses was the primary consideration for me and because it costed $5K less than its big brother. One minor quibble that I have with this camera is its lack of spot metering. In some circumstances this would come in very handy but 99% of the time, center weighted would be fine.

I would strongly recommend the extension grip for this camera. Partly because it has the dedicated portrait shutter button and the shutter speed dial but more importantly it extends the grip in landscape mode just a tad bit more. The added height and other features that the extension grip adds more than justifies for the added weight. The grip can also accomodate a second battery.

excellent in all aspects
This camera is the absolute best you can get for the price. It's sturdy, durable, has excellent resolution, and is under $2,000. It produces excellent images and has the highest resolution in its category. Over all this is an outstanding machine.

Very nicely designed camera - fun to use.
I purchased the Canon 20D package with the stock 18-55mm zoom lens about three weeks ago. Since then, I have taken several hundred pictures and am very happy with the camera - highly recommended if you can justify the price. I've broken this review up into sections due to its length.

1. Lens

a. 18-55 mm stock lens

The lens isn't great, but on the other hand, it's not bad. On the pro side, it's lightweight, cheap, small, and seems to focus fairly quickly. The only bad thing about the lens is that it produces slightly soft pictures, but if you won't be blowing the pictures up too large, you probably won't notice.

b. 17-85 mm USM IS lens

Being obsessed with quality, after having the camera for about a week, I purchased (also on Amazon) the Canon 17-85 mm USM IS (Image Stabilized) zoom lens. I've been very happy with this lens and would recommend it if you can afford it. The IS is quite impressive - it really works. This lens isn't perfect either, but it seems noticeably better than the 18-55 (and only six times as expensive!!).

2. Compact Flash

I'd recommend that you purchase a SanDisk Ultra II 1 GB compact flash card with it - these are sold here on Amazon. This card provides about 5 MB per second write speed which is significantly better than many of the cheaper cards - there are some websites on the net which review cards (and even one which has tested them all in a Canon 20D) - it's worth looking into.

3. Battery

The battery life has been very good for me so far - the specs say that you can take about 1000 pictures with flash on half of them, and I don't doubt that (although I haven't pushed it that far yet). The charger is also nice and compact (easy to travel with) and charges the batteries in about an hour and a half (fast!).

4. Design

This camera is fun to take pictures with! Through the lens composing allows precise control of depth of field, focus, and cropping - it's also much easier to use in full sunlight as compared to a point and shoot digicam. It operates much like a film SLR in that you set most of the settings on the top LCD panel, compose through the viewfinder, etc., but it also adds the color LCD screen to view the pictures you've just taken. The other thing I really like about this over a film SLR is the ability to set the ISO and white balance on the fly. With film, you'd have to load a different roll of film for different lighting conditions or ISO - now it's the simple twist of a dial. While these features are available on most consumer point and shoot digital cameras, they're generally much harder to get to through the menu system. One great advantage of this camera is that it has so *many* buttons and dials - it's very easy to get to most frequently used functions without wading through extensive menus. They're also very ergonomically placed so I can switch most settings I care about while looking through the viewfinder just by feel.

Another nice pro is the backlit top LCD panel which makes night shooting easy.

5. Bad Points

Hmm.. Not much I can think of that I don't like about it. My camera came with a 'starter quantity of dust' (quoted from some other website) on the imaging chip - but I was able to blast it off with a rubber bulb. Be aware that digital SLR's tend to gather dust on the chip - especially if you change lenses a lot - but this is nothing against Canon - it happens on them all.

It's a shame that it doesn't show you the current ISO setting in the viewfinder (or on the top panel unless you hit a button). Several times I've left it at ISO 1600 by accident when I didn't really need that speed.

It's a little heavy, but I find that I actually like the weight - makes it feel more solid.

I wish it had an IR receiver so you could use an infra-red remote with it - but alas - it doesn't (even though the Digital Rebel does!). I had to buy the Canon RS-80N3 wired remote (which works well).

7. Conclusion

An awesome camera overall - definitely go for it if you can afford it! I still kept my old compact digicam as a backup for cases when I don't want to carry an SLR, but in general, I'll use it 95% of the time. Much more enjoyable to take pictures with than a standard digicam - try it - you'll like it.

Low latency, amazing quality
This is my 5th digital camera. Previously had used my trust EOS-1N and just accepted that my pictures were going to be a lot worse and (because of > 1 second latencies) never in the thick of the action. The 20D is my first digital camera experience that brings me back to the EOS-1N experience. Wonderful. Latency is subsecond and enough to catch my kids in full unposed action and the photographs are looking good again. As this is an SLR I had to give up my habit of using the LCD to frame the shot. Also realized that this camera does not take video (another newer habit from the other digital cameras).

Very solid, great quality, but cheap-looking lens
I'm not going to repeat all the accolades others have bestowed on this great interchangeable-lens digital SLR. I just want to add a few real-user observations:

1) The 20D is a very solid camera in your hands. From the hefty weight to the sizable size and the solid grip, it makes you feel you are holding a real SLR, unlike with the Digital Rebel (EOS 300D). BTW this is assembled in Japan instead of Taiwan (300D).

2) The camera is very fast. It's not "instant on" like the Nikon 70D but it's still damned fast with very littel shutter lag. When you use a high-speed CF card, the shot-to-shot performance is satisfying for most fast-action scenarios.

3) Great auto focus, great exposure, and great picture quality. Canon's expertise in combining optics and electronics once again shines through. The prints made from this baby, and in part thanks to the 8MP resolution, is just total pro-quality.

4) The kit lens is not really that good, unlike what Nikon bundles in their kits. It's still a high-quality lends but the max aperture is slow and the lens itself looks and feels cheap.

5) The old photography wisdom about how an expensive camera does not turn an amateur into a pro overnight still applies. At least you can impress your girlfriend with cr*p that looks like gold for a second there. :) (sorry didn't mean to sound sexist...)

The EOS 20D is one AWESOME digital SLR. If you are real serious about getting a high-quality SLR, consider the 20D or its Nikon competitor, not a low-priced model.

Unbelievably great camera
For anyone considering getting back into photography after spending a few years 'just taking snapshots' with a point and shot digital camera, this one is your camera.
Shooting with a digital SLR is an absolute pleasure after the last few years of pointing a camera (held at arm's length) and guessing when the the camera would decide to take the picture.
The D20 is incredibly responsive. It's on as soon as you flip the switch and can fire off a rapid fire salvo of pictures that will allow you to capture any scene or event.
The preset functions work beautifully to optimize your photos and the final product is truly impressive.
A skeptical friend who owns the digital rebel and I took photos of the same subjects one day and printed the pictures professionally. We found that we were able to identify the pics taken by the D20 when we were both blinded. I'm not sure if it was the 2 additional megapixels, better metering or better lenses, but at the end of the day I felt that for the extra $800 or so that I spent, I was getting better results.

Excelent camera and price
I have spent a long time considering the purchase of a SLR digital camera to upgrade from my old EOS 35mm. I was set to purchase the 10D for christmas this year but my oh my was I glad the 20D came out, it is faster, quieter, and has 8.2 mp insted of the 6.x mp in the 10D.

The 10D is a great camera and the 20D is only better, the start up takes about 1/200 of a second so you probably won't even notice it, you can shoot repeating photos as fast as the flash will allow (depending on the media card of course) but the system is quick and takes great photos.

The lens that comes with the set is, well, not the greatest, but for costing basicly nothing over the body alone it is a good add on and will shoot some good pictures for you. If your looking to do professional work I'd get a better lens (or purchase the professional EOS digital and professional lens). For the rest of us Sigma has always made great EOS lens.

If you are looking to buy a high quality digital camera this is the one for you, if you want a cheaper camera that is still excelent check out the rebel.

A fantastic serious amateur or even semi-pro body
This camera has been reviewed to death so i'll be brief. I needed this for wedding photos. The Digital Rebel was slow to start and come out of 'sleep', buffer was tiny, slow to save pictures to CF card, had no PC Sync port, had occassional focus problems, plasticky body. The 20D solves almost all those problems. low light focusing still needs infrared/flash help, but the buffer is LARGE, file saving is FAST, and this makes for a great all around pro-sumer camera body.

Only gripe is that mirror is tiny and for those of you (like me) used to bigger mirrors from film 35mm cameras...yo'ull find the light coming through the viewfinder is MUCH dimmer. this makes manual focus all but impossible in low light situations.

i'd get this again in an instant. if you have the extra $, get the vertical grip.

Camera is amassing`
This is real a great thing and also it is good to capture the momments of your life.

This is the best...
Best deal about the camera, go and buy Canon EOS 20D 8.2MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens. You can add flash memory to increase its memory and can record a good amount of video clips as well.

Canon EOS 20D
Very nice camera, after a few days of shooting and reading the manual a couple times you'll feel comfortable with the layout and use of the buttons. This is my first digital SLR I have a couple 35mm SLR's. I am very pleased with quality of the camera and photos

All the advertising talks are true
All the advertising talks are true

I am one of the oldest users of digital cameras. The advent of 800 thousand pixels (not 8MP!) digital camera was a great milestone in my digital camera life. I'm always totally enchanted by the ever-growing intelligent features of newly announced digital cameras so far. My most favorite digital camera was NIKON Coolpix 5000 which was an 8 megapixel machine with superb image quality.

However, the limitations by its compactness are as follows:
- Long startup time (many lost shots)
- Frequent off the marks shots
- Frequent battery changes required
(3 changes per half a day)
- Night shots unsatisfactory
- Many, many blurred images

Last year, magnificent advertising talks of EOS 20D attracted my attention:
- A top shutter speed of 1/8,000 seconds
- 5 fps performance for up to 23 consecutive frames
- Long battery life (700-1000 shots per one charge)

My EOS 20D completely shattered my strong belief that digital cameras were not suitable for long range shots. To my great surprise, the shots taken by the EOS 20D proved otherwise! This is the moment I really felt the happiness of having purchased the EOS 20D.

The EOS 20D features high-resolution of 8.2MP which is the only unsatisfactory point in the long range viewpoint because the race for high-resolution continues on and on. More amazing fact is that it can record 4-5MB data in JPEG and nearly 9MB data in RAW mode in 5 fps performance!

It is possible to take 400-500 shots in one charge even if you check every shot on the rear display. You will be marveled at the battery life continuing for 100-200 shots after the warning of insufficient charge indicated. It is very convenient.

I'm enjoying EF-S17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM lens which is admirably free of blurred images by its stabilizer feature. It is worth buying for all dim environments holding off the use of flashes.

Great for pictures of kids, lens could be better
This review is targeted mainly at amateurs looking for their first digital SLR - someone like myself, that is.

My main purpose for getting this camera is to take picture of my kids. Sure, it's big and heavy, but it's really fast (shutter release as well as focusing) and the low light performance is fantastic - all critical for taking pictures of kids at play. My main issue with my Nikon 5700 is slow focusing (esp. in low light) and dismal flash performance (with built in flash). This camera has no such issue. In low light it uses the flash for AF assist.

Compared to the 300D (which is a great camera too), the 300D feels like a toy. The plastic body of the 300D just doesn't feel as good as the metal body of the 20D. But the main reason I got this is for the low noise photos at high ISO settings.

You cannot use the LCD as a viewfinder. This is probably the case with all digital SLRs (I've only tried a few - the reviews usually assume you already know about such things and don't mention it). This means you'll not be able to take well framed shots from strange angles.

Finally, be prepared to spend a lot more. The 18-55 EF-S is an okay lens, but you'll soon start wishing for more. A kit with the EF-S 18-85 IS USM will be a better value - but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Anyway, be prepared to spend a lot more. An extra battery or two (few things worse than a digital camera with no power), lenses (unless you already have a good collection of Canon lenses), filters, flash. The good thing is, other than the battery, you don't need to rush out and buy all the rest of it now. This is a camera to grow into as you learn, and you can pick up a piece or two as you go on. And the major investment - the lenses - will continue to serve you as you upgrade the camera body 3 to 5 years down the road.

Don't throw (or eBay) that compact digital camera away. You'll still need it for the times when a bulky camera is not convenient. But this camera will give you lots of fun if you enjoy photography.

Love the Canon 20 D but don't buy from B & H Photo Video
The camera is top of the line--no regrets here, except...I have purchased from B&H Photo Video (online)before and did not have a problem. My Husband placed a very big order for my surprise gift, and it turned into a nightmare for both of us. Maybe it's a fluke accident, hey it happens to the best of us, but the customer support service was TERRIBLE. After he placed an online order using his debit card, it automatically withdrew the amount from his bank. To confirm the order he called them...it took talking to 3 or 4 different people to actually locate the order, because according to them the order does not exist (remind you, that amount was already withdrawn from his account). It took them 4 days for the $$$ to be credited to his account. He wrote them a dissatisfaction email...but no response. This was a large order too over $2,300, so you think a company would do anything to keep a customer: maybe reenter the order for them, or atleast apologize and offer a discount, but they chose to ignore that this was actually their mistake. In the age of so many photography businesses and so much competition, their blatant indifference for making such a large sale shocks me. As a business owner myself, I'd say I would do everything in my power to leave a positive impression of myself and my company. Obviousle B&H Photo Video has grown their ego to such extent that they don't care if they lose customers. We will not be return shoppers here. Instead the Canon 20D was purchased from Amazon and it was shipped the same day!

Digital image quality to match or surpass 35mm film
I purchased the Canon EOS 20D in order to continue using the lenses I already owned for my 35 mm Canon EOS. All of my original EF lenses work properly on the 20D although due to the smaller image sensor they act as if they are 1.6 X longer. (For example, a 50mm lens on a 35mm acts like an 80mm lens on the 20D. Image quality is fantastic! Very similar to 35mm quality if not better than some films.

The 20D has a fully automatic setting so a new photographer can confidently use it from day one without the fear of outgrowing the camera's capabilities as his/her skills increase. In fact very few people will ever outgrow the capabilities of this camera. The 20D is well into the range of what would have been considered a professional camera only a couple of years ago.

The only slight disappointment is the 18-55 EF-S lens included as part of the kit. At roughly $100 you can bet that it isn't representative of Canon's better lenses. It looks and feels cheap and doesn't have the resolution one expects from Canon. However it will suffice for the needs of many people and, since it is an inexpensive lens, it can be easily supplimented with better lenses as the photographer learns what his/her needs are. The camera won't be outgrown, the 18-55 EF-S lens probably will be.

Now that I own the 20D...
ALL OF MY OTHER CAMERAS LOOK AND FEEL LIKE POO! My other cameras now feel so sad and pathetic... it's unbelievable. Why didn't I get the 20D months ago?

For the $1500 price range there is no better camera that money can buy.

So what are you waiting for?
-Get it or be envious.

Where have I been?
I received this camera a few weeks ago. Since then, I have taken a hundreds of shots and it's by far the best camera I have ever owned.
The shots are crisp and clean and the flash works great even though I have not purchased an external flash yet. The speed of the shutter amazes me along with a beautiful captured shot. There are many accessories available, though not inexpensive, well worth the price.
Price-wise: A lot of camera for a little price.

Canon 20D raisers the bar!
The new Canon 20D raises the bar for digital photography at a reasonable price. At 5fps and 8.2 megapixels it obviously puts Canon in a somewhat of a quandry, in my opinion. With this speed and memory, the company should re-think its pricing of the Mark II which entered the market at a high price.


Additionally, the competition is hurrying to introduce a quality product in a modest price range. Frankly, I'm not reading much from the others! Since Canon has introduced the 20D, this marks the third digital they've introduced in 18+ months. It seems to me the other manufacturers are still trying to get out of turn three, while Canon already has crossed the finish line.

Worth for Money
purchased the 20D as an upgrade from my Digital Rebel. The cost was certainly worth it.

This camera has many, many advantages to the Rebel (as I'm sure other reviewers will point out), but I thought three were worthy of mention:

ISO 1600 and 3200 have very, very low noise. This means that I am now able to get low-light shots that I never could before. For example, I often take pictures of crowded streets at night. Before, I needed to use a flash or else my shots would be blurred by camera shake and the motion of people walking. Now (with the help of a f1.8 lens) I can set the camera at ISO3200 and have the shutter speed be fast enough that I can get clear images. In fact, when I use the Black & White mode, the picture is virtually noise-free.

Rapid-Fire burst mode. When the "multi-shot" function is on, this camera fires like a machine gun. It also writes the images to the memory card much faster than the Rebel ever did. I shot a series of 25 shots in 5 seconds, and it still had them all on the card 6 seconds after I stopped shooting.

Black and White mode. Not just some toy feature, when you are saving as a JPG file (not RAW), the image is actully encoded as a B&W image--meaning a smaller file size. This means more shots per card, and also more shots being able to be held in the buffer. I was actully able to record 90 frames of B&W images (JPG-Large-Fine) at full speed (5 per second) without stopping (onto a 40x CF card).

Magic in your hand
If you have the cash to spare and love taking photos there is only one thing to know. Buy a 20D. As soon as possible. You will be thrilled. There is no doubt that it is among the best cameras the world has ever seen. I did my research before deciding to buy a 20D. I looked seriously at the Nikon D70, another excellent digital SLR camera and a fair bit cheaper than the 20D, but I chose the 20D for its ruggedness, slightly larger 8mp sensor, and outstanding autofocus.

What is amazing about this camera? Put it on automatic and squeeze the shutter release. In a second you have taken 5 shots. You can take 20 in four seconds, each 8 megapixels in size while the autofocus tracks your running toddler. It feels GREAT in your hand, very sturdy and not overly heavy. Perhaps a tad bulky compared to the digital camera you may be used to. But I find it a joy to hold and use.

It can speed up to ISO 3200 without introducing excessive noise into the image and at 1600 and 800, noise is almost unnoticeable. That means you can take handheld photos without flash indoors in the evening under ambient room light conditions (the 50mm mentioned below, with its large maximum aperture helps too in this regard).

You could spend days researching lenses and accessories. If you are just wading in to high-end amateur photography, let me make some quick and dirty suggestions:

The kit lens (EF-S 18-55mm) is a very good lens for the insanely cheap price of $100. The EFS 17-85 which pros rave about is pricey at $600 and you don't need the 55-85 range much I find -- you will probably consider a decent telephoto (like a 70-300mm) to be a better use of your cash. You may well grow tired of the 18-55 eventually, but it does give you access to wide angle shots at a cheap price.

You absolutely MUST buy the ($75) 50mm f1.8. It is a truly outstanding lens for headshots and portraits. It has fantastic depth of field control allowing you to achieve a nice background blur, and is very very sharp within the depth of field. You will use this lens a lot. Some say it's cheaply made. Probably, but it works wonders and the price is definitely right. 50mm was standard on analog SLRs supposedly due to its rough equivalence to how the human eye observed a scene. On the 20D it becomes an 80mm lens due to the 1.6x crop factor, and at that length becomes the perfect portrait lens in my view.

If you want to photograph ships, houses and palaces, the EF-S 10-22mm f3.5 is a treasure that'll set you back $800. It's definitely not a good general purpose lens, but how cool is it to have a wide angle zoom?

You do NOT need a high speed compact flash card, but you DO need a big one. If you have a 4x 512MB CF, keep it and it will work well with the 20D. A 256MB card will fill up pretty fast as you will become addicted to firing off several shots at once. Sure the 1GB cards are down in price considerably, but don't throw out your old 256 or 512s. The buffer on the 20D is very large, and will transfer the images from the camera to the card during idle time quite happily. Of course if you want to run off 30 images in 6 seconds, go for the ultra or 80x cards. You don't need my advice either.

Buy it and love it. You'll never go back.

CANON EOS 20D SIZZLES WITH FEATURES AND QUALITY PHOTOS
My name is Peter Cannice and I am a photographer in the Phoenix, Arizona area. I'm 37 and have used Canon products since I was about 16 years old. As you can imagine, I've seen a transformation, especially when I went from traditional film to digital images. I've never had a problem that could not be solved with a Canon product and this Canon EOS 20D Digital SLR Camera is no exception to that rule.

The purpose of this review is to help you feel very comfortable in your purchase of this multi-featured and dynamic camera. I bought mine about 12 months ago and after 2 1-hour classes, provided free by Canon in Phoenix, and a thorough read of the instruction booklet, I was off taking great photos digitally in no time at all.

I spent about 2 months doing research on digital cameas at this level and when I made the purchase I had considered about 6 other great cameras. I came close to buying another one, but after talking to other photographers in the field, I was reminded that Canon spares nothing to deliver a digital camera that sizzles with quality, features, durability and construction. The lens, also included with the camera, is outstanding and you can add additional lenses as you'd like.

Have no fear in buying this great camera. I've been using it daily since I purchased it and I've yet to have a problem. Even small things, such as battery life, are outstanding when compared to competitors.

Good luck and feel free to let me know if you have any comments or questions. I'm certain that you will enjoy you brand new camera.

Peter V. Cannice
Scottsdale, Arizona
Horsepete@aol.com

Excellent Semi-PRO D-SLR
The 20D is actually more responsive than my film SLR. Start up speed is virtually instantaneous. Almost no shutter lag. Image quality is excellent with usable images up to ISO3200. Nice to have the 8MP for the extra cropping.

Small quibbles but the controls are tricky to set the ISO and continous shooting. On the other hand the menu system is very easy to use.

Build quality is excellent, but small corners cut on the battery cover and compact flash cover. Also, the battery recharger does not have a cord. Would be nice if battery could be recharged in camera. USB 2.0 support but no firewire (what a drag for a camera of this level).

The 20D has similar controls to the old Canon film SLR's. I felt right at home after using my Canon A-1 (unfortunately a relic at this point).

Camera is a little big and heavy, but that's part of the price to pay when you leave the amateur ranks. The 20D gives you kudos among serious amateurs and semi-pro photographers.

Versatile Machine Is Easy To Use
High-end cameras and other similar machines often suffer from a common fault. The'll have loads of features, but their too damn complicated. I'm pleased to say that this is not the case with the 20D. If you spend some time at the beginning and read the instruction manual (fairly well written) you'll find that the camera is pretty easy to use. My other digital camera, a far less feature-laden compact point-and-shoot, is a lot more difficult. So even if you're new to photography in general or to DSLRs in particular, don't be intimidated by this camera. It's really user-friendly.

Everything they say is true. Great operational times (very important in a camera), incredible battery life (at first I thought something was wrong with the battery icon--it kept showing a full charge after hundreds of snaps), and excellent performance with high ISOs. Coupled with the 17-85 IS lens I can take indoor and other low-light shots that I've never been able to do before, and photography has been my hobby for decades.

Early reviews of this camera mentioned a louder-than-normal shutter release. I don't notice it. In fact, the sound of the release, like everything else on this camera, says "quality.

Having said this, I do have one complaint. The AWB (auto white balance) is terrible in incandescent lighting. You absolutely must set the WB to tungsten if you're going to shoot indoors without flash. Even then your images will be orange. This is OK for me, since I do my own editing and can correct the color balance, but this could be a problem if you don't do your own printing.

Great camera
Just wanted to add my hight marks for this camera (purchased trhrough Amazon). Feels much sturdier than the Digital Rebel. Great focus in low light. Love editing tools that come with the camera - especially correction of white balance in shots made in the RAW mode. I would strongly suggest a choice of high-end lenses for this camera (not the 18-55mm ...), preferably the L-series (I am using the 17-40mm L). Recommend shooting in only RAW mode, hence a 2GB card or greater is recommended.

Canon should be ashamed at themselves!
If your in the market for a good quality DSLR,I can tell you not to buy the Canon D20 from my experience!!!!! I have been using an Olympus 2.1 camera for the past four year's ,and thought it was about time for an upgrade.Well welcome to the Canon family with my recent purchace the 20D.Well I took pictures in the house and they were horrible,lighting with or without the flash was terrible.Took the same pic's with my old Olympus and no comparison,they were great.So I was beginning to think that the D20 just wasn't that good for indoor use without it's bigger flash accessorie.If you read most of the forum's ,that is one of the number one complaint's with this camera.So for the next test I took some outdoor pic's from my doorstep at noon with the sun behind me,and guess what,white balance is to low and color balance is way to red with the canon.Take the same pic's with the Olyumpus and they were fantastic!I cannot believe that 4 year's after the introduction of my old camera that Canon could scew up this badly! When I use photoshop's auto level adjust it does repair most of the canon's poor picture qualities.Funny though ,the same pic taken with my old Olympus hardly changes at all with level correction in Photoshop.What does this tell you? Now maybe in some of the custom modes you can get a decent picture with a D20,but sometimes I would like to just use it's auto mode and not have to figure out how to make it take a decent pic considering the $2000 price tag.Maybe there's a firmware update coming soon that will correct it's poor pic quality in auto mode?I will never know however because I'm going to rant and rave till they take this overpriced pile of garbage back !!! I'm getting the Nikon D70 instead .See ya Canon,dont let the door hit you on the way out!

This Camera is more Pro than Prosumer.
I have used this camera in a professional capacity for around 6 months now and cannot find fault. What people have to understand, if coming straight from the "Point-and-Shoot" cameras, is that there is some post-processing to be done to get the full benefits of this camera. Point and shoots do all necessary colour and white balance adjustments for you, whereas the higher end cameras have a more "Hands on" approach. Setting this camera to FULL AUTO kind of defeats the object of buying it in my opinion! Once you have had some practice or training with a Digital SLR, you will NEVER go back to anything else, but be prepared to go back to school for a bit. To give you an idea, most of the pics on my site were taken with either the Canon EOS 20D or the 10D. If you are serious about photography and want to make the leap upwards, you wont be disappointed. Some people think that buying an expensive camera will make them a better photographer, not so I am afraid. www.panphotography.com

Prosumer Digital SLR creme-de-la-creme
I've had 4 digital cameras,after 15 years of amateur film photography. This is my first DSLR (4th digicam, 2 SLR).
I bought this camera about 4 months from amazon. It is a certainly remarkable camera. Be warned though: the quality of the images this camera takes depend highly on which lenses you use, so if you want crystal clear, sharp, contrasty images, be prepared to spend mucho cash on good lenses.

great dSLR
This is the first dSLR I bought. This is a great camera. Since I agree with most positive comments made by many previous reviewers, I would not repeat them here. Only thing I want to say is about the review titled "Canon should be ashamed at themselves." I read this after I had placed an on-line order. I was nervous. After receiving the camera, I eagerly mounted the kit lens and used all default setting with full automatic functions. I took several pictures inside house and compared it with my Olympus 3000Z. I reviewed the pictures from computer screen and also printed them on 4x6 photo paper using HP printer. The pictures took using Canon 20D are as good, if not better, than Olympus 3000Z. I also tried other functions, such as manual and macro, the pictures are great. I guess this reviewer perhaps happened to receive a defect camera.

I give it 4 stars because its LCD is small. My Olympos 3000Z has 2.0' screen, this one has only 1.8', of course its resolution is higher than Olympos 3000Z. Another reason I give it 4 stars is that I feel the power switch is not in the convenient location. I think it would be more convenient to put it next to the eye-piece so that it can be turned on with our thumb. It also helps to make the switch sliding one, not turning one, as it is now. This arrangement can also save room for bigger LCD.

Better than my expectations
First of all I didn't buy the camera on Amazon because they wouldn't ship it overseas while I was on military deployment. It cost about the same on B&H from which I had no problems as a previous reviewer commented on. Another reviewer was dissapointed becuase of the Fully Auto settings?! Come on...if you pay this much for a camera why would you want to only use it for the auto settings? That person must have really had money to burn and thought that the more expensive the camera, the better pictures they'll get. I had to laugh. This camera gives really great pictures at the auto settings, but I bought it to get into the seriousness of photography, and because I owned a Canon Rebel II about ten years ago that was stolen. Since the beginning of digital photography I couldn't wait until D-SLRs with interchangeable lenses were available and I knew that they wouldn't be cheap either considering! I've taken some really good pictures with my point/shoot Sony cybershot camera, but I finally extended the possibilities of shots I was able to achieve with it, like throwing a background out of focus without getting extremly close to my subject, or lack of aperture settings or telephoto zooms. I loved my Canon Rebel II at the time, but was really a beginner when I had it and didn't understand photography as much until after it was stolen, this was the main factor for me choosing Canon instead of Nikon. The settings felt the same and remember I haven't used that camera in years and it just felt natural. Needless to say I'm getting better at photography and this camera gives me great pictures without me wasting a roll of film to see how my photos came out. Gotta love digital technology right?! If you have the dough get the camera with the 17-85mm package. Unless you're looking for super telephoto or superwide this lense will sastify you for a while on all types of photos.
One other thing I hear about is the 1.6x crop factor? Maybe it's just me but the 50mm looks like 50mms to me. I don't have a 35mm film camera to compare it with, but oh well. I gave it four stars only because of my history with Amazon and I couldn't buy it from them.

Satisfying, except for lack of spot metering
Two months after purchasing the 20D, I'm happy with the quality of shots and of the body itself, but regretting buying a dSLR without spot metering. (Live and learn.)

The one disappointment that still bugs me about the 20D: no spot metering for back-lit situations. This often slows down getting a shot as the only work arounds are bracketting or manually readjusting for overexposing. Yes, this can be a major pain, and "perfect" moment shots can be lost or have underexposed foreground subjects. Folks who shoot mostly in studios really should not comment on spot metering!

Don't be fooled by the partial metering like I was--it really doesn't make much of a difference over the evaluative, especially on human sized subjects! The partial metering area is simply to big to catch a proper exposure in backlit situations.

Unfortunately, the only way as of today, March 9, 2005, to get spot metering in a Canon is to buy a 1D (or 1Ds) Mark II, which is huge and much more expensive. Nikon offers the feature on the D70, so consider carefully before investing in lenses!

Other than this short-of-fatal shortcoming, the camera has few things to complain about. Great images, custom functions, and ergonomics. All things considered, I'm satisfied with the camera and have learned to work around the lack of spot metering (meaning as soon as I realize I'm in a back-lit situation I twirl to slightly overexpose--no matter how fast I twirl, however, spot metering would be faster and more efficient.)

One point playing off a few other reviews regarding firewire: In-body firewire and USB 2.0 are both virtually obsolete. For less than $20 just buy a little CF card reader that plugs directly into a PC/notebook--with or without a cable. Who wants to fiddle with a cable attached to a camera, particularly when traveling and setting up on the often cramped spaces in motel rooms? Just pop out the CF card and stick it into the reader--this lets you drag and drop the files from the card to the PC instead of patiently letting them download out of the camera.

Furthermore, using a card reader means you don't have to install the camera's clunky image download software--Windows 2000 and above handles the card readers automatically, dispaying the card contents just like they are on another drive. And all the card readers come with drivers for Windows 98.

Sincerely,
A somewhat satisfied, and wiser-after-the-fact buyer.

Great prosumer camera!
This camera has many benefits that just blow the competition away and makes it a great "prosumer" digital camera.

The 8 megapixel resolution allows for pictures to be printed up to 11 x 14 at 300 dpi (larger if you use 72 dpi). And the boot up time is almost instanteous!

Unfortunately it does pain me to mention that the camera does lack true spot metering and also it has a rather loud mirror slap (not something I would like to use in quiet settings).

The lens bundled with it is quite adaquate, but I would seriously urge you to consider the 17-85mm EFS IS lens for a larger degree of flexibility.

love it, but picked up a tiny sony cybershot too
All of those concerns about poor results with the built in flash are true -- I'm just an amateur who loves taking photos, for whom this was a first SLR of any kind. So, I love fiddling with the options, and right now, black and white is my favorite mode. This camera makes picture taking a joy, I don't have to miss that fleeting moment anymore with the incredible number of continuous shots per second you can take. But 1 week after buying this camera I had to invest in the speedlite 580EX flash, and I bought the EF-S 17-85 lens as well. With those two additions, I can't take this camera anywhere without forethought. So now, I've gone back to a sony cybershot p200 for all those family pix when we're just hanging out. I would say skip the 18-55mm lens kit alltogether, since I was not impressed with the lens performance, and low light / indoor performance is much better with the 17-85mm EFS for all purpose use if you don't want to do too much post editing.

All things considered, 6 months later, I am planning on staying away from EF-S lenses in the future, since when I upgrade this camera a couple of years down the road, I want the lenses to be compatible with the full 35mm film size sensors of the EOS 1Ds Mark II equivalents. I am beginning to love the picture taking power afforded by an SLR and would love to have access to true wide angle. So if you don't want your $$$ to be wasted, stick to adding on L series lenses.

I would not hesitate at this point in time to buy the 20D again, i.e. I wouldn't wait for the next latest greatest camera, and truly for my use at home and school activities this is more than I'd dreamed of being able to do.

Great Camera - but check out the Rebel XT
I just got this 20D from Amazon last week. I ordered the body only and the EF-S 17-85 IS lens with it. Shipping was on-time. Regarding the camera - it takes great pictures but man is it heavy! With the EF-S 17-85 lens, it feels like it weighs 5 pounds when it is hanging from my neck or when I'm holding it. The build quality is excellent, though. However, I can't help but think I should have compromised for the new Digital Rebel XT. The XT and 20D have nearly the same image quality (8.2MP for the 20D and 8.0MP for the XT) and have the exact same processor (Digic II). However, the build quality of the XT is noticeably cheaper and flimsier than the 20D. But, at a savings of $500 dollars, I'd highly recommend taking a serious look at the XT. Its significantly lighter and will probably be around longer than the 20D (Web rumors suggest that Canon will replace the 20D around Christmas with a newer prosumer DSLR that will be rougly analogous to the Mark 1D (11.1MP, etc.). As it stands, Canon has released a new prosumer model almost annualy since 1999. And $500 dollars is still $500 dollars. I would suggest going to a local retailer (like Best Buy) to play with both models before you make a purchase. Either way, I would recommend buying from Amazon. I have used Amazon.com for 2 years now and have had no complaints with them thus far. Also, I would highly recommend checking out www.dpreview.com and www.bobatkins.com to read other reviews of these and other cameras. I found these sites to be helpful when I was preparing for my purchase.

The bottom line is that I am pleased with the 20D, the 17-85 lens, and the ordering/shipping process as well. I hope you find this review helpful.

not a toy
I have owned canon SLR's (Rebel back in 90's) and digital (G2 since 2000). This (D20) is not a toy. For simple point and click, you are better off with a cybershot, or whatever little gadget takes pictures, makes phone calls and fits in your purse.

This is a camera that is used by the most serious amateur photographers (and several pros when on "leave" :-) ...) ..

It offers unbelievable control and you will end up spending some serious money on lenses and filters before you get done. But, its all about whether you are into it to take pictures of the family, or whether you are into it to take pictures.

The digital workflow it allows is remarkably easy. The amount of "diving saves" you can do to a picture that was not exactly well-taken is incredible. But prepare to learn new skills and spend some time. Like I mentioned, this is a weapon not a toy.

Best Professional-Consumer SLR for the money
My first Digital SLR, and I love it. I've had it for about 3 months, quickly switching from my Elan 7E film body to this. I have numerous "nice" Canon lenses, all of which have worked wonderfully with this camera. My Top Points:

1. Autofocus - incredibly fast. Very accurate. I've read some people have had issues with back focusing, but I must be lucky, as mine is perfect.

2. Start up speed - .2 seconds claims Canon - instantaneous for all intents. I haven't missed a shot yet, althought I leave it turned on, and allow it to auto-sleep after a minute - wakes up quickly with a half-press of the shutter

3. Construction - Body is extremely strong - feels solid and well manufactured.

4. Shutter Speed - no other Digital SLR rivals the 20D's speed for the money.

I have shot about 8,000 pictures since getting mine - weekends quickly accumulate 500-1000 photos. The controls are well laid out, easy to learn and quick to navigate, even in the dark.

No complaints here - only praises.

The Digital Camera All Others are Measured by
For what seems like forever, my gal pal Sara and I have been using a pair of EOS 10qd's I picked up in Hong Kong several years ago. We'd squandered a small fortune on a whole batch of "L" lenses, but we'd never upgraded our camera bodies, I guess because the silly things just refused to break. They just kept right on taking picture after picture, year after year. Oh when was the harsh, ocean going, corroding weather of the Caribbean going to wreak havoc on these cameras, so we'd have an excuse to go out and buy something new. Apparently never. Canon builds good stuff.

Then one day Sara told me she wanted to be a two camera body girl, and she wasn't gonna count that tiny little Olympus digital she kept in her backpack that we used to grab quick shots for boating magazines. She wanted a new body and a film scanner, too.

So we laid out the big bucks and got her an EOS-1V and me, not wanting to be left out, got a digital 20D, because I was just plain tired of being looked down on by these professional sports shooters with duel digitals hanging off their shoulders. So now we're both two camera body people, she's got the best film camera ever made and I've got the best digital camera ever made. And we both have a ten year old 10qd as well. Canon, you can't go wrong with them. They are the standard all others are measured by.

Jack Priest, Sailor Home from the Sea

WOW! The Best Prosumer Digital SLR out there Period!
Update:
I just spent three weeks in Africa in a very desolate and harsh environment with this camera. I have to add - Don't overlook the construction on your dSLR. I had heavy long telephoto lenses on it and the performance of the magnesium case, metal mounts, weather proofing, battery grip all is just amazing. I hate to imagine how a lesser plastic frame might have performed. After traveling by rattling/vibration ridden truck for days, dugout canoes in the middle of swamps, airplanes, hiking -- I came to appreciate Canon's commitment to construction. This camera and and the entire EOS system held up superbly under extremely abusive circumstances and can understand why professional photographers prefer this brand. And the pictures? Oh My, the pictures are just simply the best pictures I have ever taken in my life. Not just because of the locations but because of this terriffic equipment. My friend who had another major brand of camera complained about a muddy ant inside his lens, imagine a muddy ant inside his other major brand lens while he was shooting -- not with my Canon equipment (the sealing held up great). Albeit - he's a better photographer so he probably got amazing shots I didn't -- I didn't worry about the equipment. A+++ to Canon for the camera, the lenses, the battery grip - everything.

On other news, I just read that canon is releasing the 5D so I guess my info from the original review was correct. Its definitely a bigger higher end camera and at $3,200 definitely in a different class. I think I'll keep my 20D for telephoto work and but with its full frame sensor, I might get a 5D for wide angle photography. Again, amazing equipment from Canon.

Original Review:
I'm a first time dSLR buyer (bought the 20D from Amazon -- great service). This was a big jump for me and I read and I read before I decided on this purchase and whether I should jump into the dSLR world. I'd outgrown point and shoot a while back.

On the 20D. I agonized over the 10D and the 6megapix Digital Rebel until the 20D came out and I quickly decided on the 20D. I picked the 20D because of solid magnesium case, 9point autofocus, 8.2megapix sensor and DIGIC II, and Instant On. So even after the Rebel XT came out -- the 20D is in a different class altogether. The 20D is a professional chassis and you can use it as a pro camera -- the Rebel is for world travelers (In my opinion).

My agony now is over what type of photography I want to do. I only have the kit lens and a $79 dollar 50mm f/1.8 II ... lenses are expensive especially the good ones as I'm learning:

Here is what I've learned (intended for the new people who are wondering if they want dSLR or not). dSLR is really about the lenses and the options that you can use on the camera. You need great lenses for great pictures. This is my gradeschool version on dSLRs and lenses and I hope it helps:

The setup -- Lets suppose you are standing next to your car and on your car's hood sits your girlfriend and on the hood unbeknownst to her sits a litle grasshopper. Behind your car is a lake and in the distance there's a huge snow capped mountain. This is the difference lenses make:

Prime Lenses: Would let you take wonderful facial shot of your girlfriend (boyfriend). If the lens has a good aperture, you might be able to blur the background so you only get her beautiful face and get rid of the annoying mountain and they tend to be light and small. (Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 is a prime lens -- $350)

Super Wide Angle Lenses: Expands the foreground and compresses the background. So you'd get a picture of your girlfriend on the car which would both be huge and a lake that would stretch to the horizon and the mountain would look tiny in the far off distance. (Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L is a super wide angle lens -- $1,800)

Telephoto Lenses: Compress the foreground and magnify the distant objects. You would wind up taking a picture that would magnify the mountain in the background but your girlfriend, car, and lake would either be very small and compressed in the foreground or they wouldn't even come out in extreme telephoto lenses as you'd only get the mountaintop and cut out the rest. Your girlfriend would also wonder about your relationship at the sight of the humongous lens: good telephotos can be HUGE and heavy! (Canon 400mm EF f/2.8L is a super telephoto lens $6,000)

Macro Lenses: Let you take pictures of very small things and they tend to allow you to focus quite close in on the subject. You'd walk up to your girlfriend and she'd wonder what you were doing so close to the hood. You'd give her a peck on the cheek and then you'd close in on the little grasshopper next to her. With a macro lens, you'd could take a great picture of the little grasshopper and it would fill my frame. If your girlfriend is like mine, she'd be off the car as soon as she caught glimpse of the bug. Old stereotype here no disrespect ladies - I know a few that would put me to shame. (Canon EFS 60mm f/2.8 is a macro lens -- $450)

Zoom Lenses: Are any lenses that allow you to shift the focal length. That is to say I can make it more wide angle or more telephoto. The 20D comes with a 18 to 55 zoom lens which gives you marginal wide angle and up to 3x telephoto. Not a bad kit lens but its not USM (Ultrasonic) so autofocus is not as fast and not as accurate and can fail to focus sometimes and its not IS (Image stabilized) which lets you take clearer pictures without a tripod. (Canon EFS 17-85mm IS USM is a zoom lens that covers some wide angle at 17mm and some telephoto at 85mm -- $600). You can turn the barrel and you can change focal length!! What a wonderful invention but they're more complex with more parts than primes and the extra parts add weight and they generally affect the amount of light they let in (aperture stuff) but you don't have to change lenses and they offer more flexibility.

Now bear in mind that if you're out there in the middle of a blooming field in Georgia and start changing lenses, you can get dirt or pollen in the sensor. I only change my lenses indoors in a non windy environment.

Exposure and Shutter Speed: Exposure is controlled by the ISO sensitivity of the sensor (ISO rating is another arcane film invention basically lower the ISO number the more sensitivity to light). One of the problems with smaller sensors was noise (graininess) on the pictures at high ISO numbers. Well not on the 20D the noise is imperceptible to me. Shutter speed is also controlled by your 20D...and the 20D has a great shutter 5frames per second, up to 1/8000 of a second. Wow! So you have two out of three big components taken care of here and the 20D is first rate on a ton of other things like custom White balance etc.

A note on Aperture. Its just how much light can come into the lens (the size of the hole). The lower the aperture number f/# on the lense the more light it allows. Aperture determines depth of field (how much of the foreground + background is in focus) and it constrains shutter speeds. Now aperture is a function of lens construction -- a 400mm f/2.8 lens is humongous and costs $6,000 while a 70-300mm telephoto f/4.5 to 5.6 is $1,200 but with the 400mm lens (get this)...you can use faster shutters and freeze the action of a quarterback spinning in midair across the field on a night game (or freeze your son as he's swinging a bat in little league: ball bat and son frozen in midair!). With the 70 to 300mm, you'd have to use a slower shutter and you'd get blurr and blurry does not make the cover of the USA Today nor brings a smile to grandpa. On another example, if you've been hiking for a month to take a picture of a sloth that moves at 1cm a year in some god forsaken South American jungle, the 70-300mm lens will weigh allot less and allow you to run faster than the 400mm white monster lens. If I'm a nature photographer, I'd rather come out with the picture than fall victim to some relocated pigmy tribe because I couldn't run fast enough and have someone years later find my bones still clutching my white 40lb $6,000 lens in the middle of Brazil still attached to my 20D with a flashcard full of razor sharp gorgeously blokehed* pigmy and sloth pictures, ala blair witch project. So get a lens for what you need -- I guess is what I recommend. (*Blokeh are those out of focus circles of light in the backgrounds of pictures taken with expensive good lenses)

A word on Nikon. There are two camps of photographers these days Canon and Nikon (well there are others like Leica - but if you own a Leica you're probably a pro, don't care about feature battles and are laughing at my gradeschool analysis). The 20D is more expensive and better chassis feature for feature than the D100 - go compare 8.2megapix vs 6.1 and the list goes from there. Nikon owners will tell you that their lenses have backwards compatibility 50 years...yes but you'll have to manually focus those lenses and on some of them you have to pay some guy to saw off some metal flaps to make them fit the D100. Canon EF has been around since 1986 and there are a ton of autofocus lenses out there. EF is the standard lens mount that fits the 20D and there is a newer mount called the EF-S Mount that also fits. Canon is very conservative in their advertisement as they aim for educated consumers: D100 claims a burst mode of 144 pictures -- yes but on the low quality setting, 20D can do the same if you cut the quality down...you'll hear spot metering, megapixels, focus speed --- you need to read to understand all of this and make a sound decision. Nikon makes great cameras and I don't want to get into a war. If you already own a bunch of recent Nikor lenses -- your mind is already made up. A good friend of mine owns the D70 and another the Digital Rebel and me with the 20D -- we're all happy. After much review and a ton of reading, I liked the 20D better for my purpose as a personal preference I bought it and am very happy.

On crop factors. Lenses are still stuck in the 35mm film focal length format world and 35mm film is bigger than the sensors on the 20D and this means simply that the EF and EFS lenses turn out more telephoto on the 20D. So a lens marked 10mm is actually a 16mm (multiply mm times 1.6 to get actual focal length) on a 20D and other small sensor cameras (Rebel and Rebel XT). The crop 1.6 crop is not extra zoom -- it only appears that way, its actual lost information. So, to telephoto photographers, this means you carry more weight than you need in physical glass and to wide angle photographers, it means its harder to find lenses that do true wide angle bc the sensor is too small to capture all the information. EFS was designed so they could make smaller lenses at least so don't lose information but they're still labeled "old school" and you still have to multiply. EFS was designed to take advantage of the smaller sensors on the 10D 20D Digital Rebel and Rebel XT. The higher end Canon cameras use a 35mm size sensor. People wonder if Canon will adopt bigger sensors for all lines and if they do, then EFS will probably go the way of the dodo. On the other hand, bigger sensors are expensive to make so who knows where it will go and the 20D has very low noise at higher ISOs (used to be one of the reasons they thought bigger sensors would prevail -- that and the 35mm mindset and large number of lenses out there for 35mm). I can't predict the future -- Canon seems to be still investing in both EF and EFS though and I think that for the next 3-6 years you're fine with either EF or EFS.

I heard a rumour that Canon is planning to release a new camera between the 20D and their higher end 1Ds around December? If you must have latest and greatest and have $4,000 to spend you might want to wait. If true, I'm sure the chassis will cost $2,500 - $3,000 -- just rumours here. I'm keeping my 20D until I can make money to justify more expensive than this extremely good camera. In my opinion, this new camera would not supplant the 20D as much as it would provide Canon a more complete EOS Digital line from Digital Rebel all the way up to the 16.7megapix 1Ds -- they'd provide an true entry level Pro Camera in the $2,000 to $3,000 range. Most interesting to me will be if it has 45pt autofocus and the size of the sensor. Also interesting, Canon is releasing a new 60mm EFS f/2.8 Macro lens. Good quality and interesting choice in focal length. Amazon carries it. I think Canon is telling us something with the type of EFS lenses they're releasing and the market they are targetting. Keep watching Canon.

Back to my 20D, I've only bought a 50mm f/1.8 lens for $79 and the kit lens and a tripod. I can't wait to get a USM (ultrasonic silent 0.5 second focusing lens) with IS (Image stabilization) -- if I can only decide what type of photography. But with what I have, I've taken pictures that have floored my friends and everyone who has seen them. Someone actually said, "I'll pay you for that picture." And that is a great complement to me and to the 20D and the complement goes to the 20D because my lenses are cheap! I am a huge Canon fan now and long and short of it, the 20D is an amazing camera and the best prosumer chassis out there (period!).

Could do with lesser Hype...
I am a camera buff. Have used many cameras and have shot thousands of photos. Having said that, the 20D was dissappointing to me for a few reasons.

1. The white balance is pathetic, especially under incandescent light - absolutely no improvements over the rebel.

2. As with the rebel, many of your shots get over exposed by default. I have consistently been able to reproduce this problem with the rebel 300, rebel 350 and the 20D.

3. Sharpening algorithm looks almost same as what is used in the compact powershot models.

4. No spot metering - was this a hugely complex thing to incorporate? Canon responds to most complaints by "well, you have options to do things manually...". but at the same time, they leave out spot metering which is by far the most dependable manual feature when doing macro photography.

Agreed these are not too many shortcomings. But, these are just so basic that I am not able to understand why the most expensive prosumer dSLR on the market today cannot have these...

Statements like "best value for money.." are very subjective. If you are the kind of guy who could easily afford a 20D, and keep it in your closet and go get another Nikon D70 and still not worry about your budget, then yes, for you this may be a good value for money - lots of features and options to play with.

But if you are like me, for whom an investment of 1500 bucks is like once in a few years thing then this is NOT the best value for the money. You would be far better off getting a cheaper camera that does not have a lot of fancy features but one that does have all the basic features well laid out.

If I have to rely on "Digital dark room" to perfect my photos, I do not need to spend a fortune getting this overly hyped up camera.

I would strongly recommend the Nikon D70 instead of the canon 20D. It does great on all the 4 basic things that I mentioned above which the 20D fails to have....

I do not work for Nikon and these are just my personal opinions.

A review for amateur photographers like me
This camera is loaded with professional features that others have done a much better job detailing than I possibly could. The main takeaway for an amateur is that if you choose to learn a lot more about photography, you're not going to need to upgrade your camera to keep up -- it's there and waiting for you to advance.

But forgetting all that, there are two good reasons for stepping up to this camera over the lesser consumer ones (if you can afford it) even if you're never going to use all those features.

1. Picture quality -- absolutely awesome. Even if you do nothing more than learn what 3 or 4 of the different point and shoot modes do, you'll feel like a pro with the quality of images that come out of this. There's one dial to turn to choose your mode -- you can keep it on the all purpose green mode, or switch to a portrait (which gives that cool blurred background look), or sports mode, or night mode. There are a couple others, but these are the main ones I use. The images are simply far superior to anything I took with mid-range cameras ($500ish) in the past.

2. Speed. My biggest complaint with lesser cameras is the time it takes (1) to turn on, (2) from pressing the shutter to getting the picture (the kids are in a different spot than when I started the picture) and (3) the write time between pictures. Those are completely solved with this camera. It turns on right away. The "shutter lag" (2) is negligible. And it has a buffer to store a number of pictures in cache to write out to the disk so you can rapid fire pictures in an action situation.

For family photos, this is a pretty big investment. But given that these memories are "priceless" and given the quantity of pictures we print -- if I look at it on a monthly basis it seems worth it to step up from the mid-range consumer cameras.

Downsides to consider (relative to lower end cameras):
- This is big -- it's a lot to carry around
- It's clearly expensive and you'll probably want to add on to it with an extra lens, a flash, high speed storage card, etc.

Best Digital Camera You'll Buy - Worth It All The Way
I used a Canon G2 4.0 megapixel camera and this Canon EOS 20D is definitely all that AND a bag of chips. Don't let the price tag scare you. It's really well worth the price and looking back at it, this 20D camera is THE BEST purchase that I've made in a long time. I'm not even kidding. That's why this camera has so many great reviews from all sorts of people. It absolutely takes great stunning pictures, fast autofocus, fast 5 frames per second, sharp focusing, availability and scalability with the entire vast line of Canon EF and EFS (the newer) lenses. You just can't go wrong. This is hands down the best semi-pro consumer model out there. And trust me, I'm not even a pro and when I take pictures of just people at BBQ's or taking fast shots of my friends playing basketball, it's just amazing. My friends can't believe the high quality and clarity of the photos. Taking a photo of my friend dunking the basketball and freezing the picture while he is in mid-air - Now THAT'S amazing! The modes on the camera are easy enough for a point and shoot person to take great pictures but at the same time, offer so many complex options/customizations for the professional photographer that makes this camera a true winner. I totally did my research when I bought this camera and I'm glad I picked it up. I promise you that you'll love the camera too. It's a great investment and it won't be money thrown away later. Later on if technology gets better and Canon releases a better camera, then you can re-use all of your existing lenses and all you need to pick up is another body. I love it! Love the switch to Digital SLR. Can't imagine how I survived without this wonderful camera!

With the 17-85mm lens, it's a deal to get it with this bundle. This lens is the best all around lens. It does everything that the basic standard $50 18-55mm lens does and more. Very good lens to have as a "leave it on the camera and be the 1 lens you choose to have to take it around to travel or carry around with you to take pictures". The one lens that's multi-purpose and good for all around shooting. Can't go wrong! You'll love it! It has the ultra sonic motor that's super quiet, has auto-focus capability for fast auto-focus, and has a good large wide angle for wide shots as well as a healthy zoom for close up pictures. It's made in Japan for high quality, and like a lot of other things in life, there's a reason why it's expensive and there's a reason why you get what you pay for.

Not for people on a budget
As another reviewer rightly mentioned, there are a few basic things that this camera can do better in.

Same time, there are a few things that no other prosumer dSLR does as well as the canon 20D. Eg., sports photography. With 5 fps, this camera Rocks. Whereas, with its bad white balance, this camera is not the best in its class for indoor with lowlight photography. Same goes for Macro mode - Spot metering is just so dear to macro photographers that it is very dissappointing not to have it in such an expensive camera.

If you can afford more than one camera (as most professionals do), then yes, get this camera for your sports and outdoor shooting needs and get a different one for doing your indoor, lowlight and macro shooting needs.

But if you are on a budget like most of us and if you are not going to limit yourself to just sports and outdoor photography, then in my opinion, you would be better off with a different camera - I vote for D70 too. Yes it is just 6 mega pixels but you will really not gain anything with an 8 mega pixel - it is really not a big jump. The professionals will tell you the same.

I give 3 stars only because Canon has a very aggressive marketing strategy and creating a lot of hype around their products. The camera is good, but it has an disproportionate hype to it that could cost some a lot of money...

Simply the best affordable digital SLR camera
I upgraded from a digital rebel to the 20D. I am an aviation photographer and need the speed that this camera provides with a 5fps shutter and 26 image buffer (large jpg). I was very satisfied with the battery life of my digital rebel, but the 20D does even better with up to 700 images per charge with the BP-511A battery. For a backup, I can still use the BP-511s from my rebel.

I have not experienced any lockups or Err99 messages, just outstsanding photographs using Canon L lenses. The camera also works well with my Canon 550EX flash. I'm the type of guy who only reads a manual as a last resort. I haven't needed it with the 20D. Eveything is intuitive and easy to find.

If you are looking for a professional grade camera that will produce photographs that you can be proud of, buy the 20D.

Worth the money
Excellent Camera!!!

Pros:

ýshutter lag is about the same as a film SLR
ý5 frames per second!!!
ýThe Sigma lens for my Canon EOS film camera work well with the digital.
ýBattery life is good (even with that I strongly recommend at least one back up battery)
ýPicture quality is amazing


Cons:
ýIf you are not used to the size of SLR cameras this may seem rather big; however with a good neoprene neck strap the weight is not as noticeable
ýSet at maximum resolution it fills up memory cards quickly - Hitachi makes a good 2 and 4 gig micro drive that is fairly inexpensive compared to other compact flash memory


I have had this camera for about 4 months now and am very happy with it. I do a lot of bird photography. The lack of noticeable shutter lag and the ability to shoot 5 fps have helped me capture some amazing shots of the birds in my back yard.

Specs Schmecs
There seems to be plenty of hyperbole over the specs of this camera vs. the nikon d70. very few of the specifications are so far apart that it makes a huge difference. I guarantee that a professional photographer could figure out how to get the most out both cameras.
Most people i've spoken with that have this camera are upgrading from point and shoots or SLR style cameras from sony, nikon, olympus, canon, etc. This is not a point 'n' shoot inspite of the novice settings on the dial.
Just because you pay $1400 for a camera doesn't mean it will convert your snapshots into artwork. If you're into taking candid shots of your kids goofing off or your wife snoring with her mouth open, or granny's dentures falling out, Stick with a point 'n' shoot. But if you want to develop the art and craft of photography, that takes patient work and time.
Nikon, Canon, Fuji, Pentax, etc. It doesn't matter. Camera's don't make pictures.

May need to clean the sensor often
I have Canon 20D for just two months and took about 1000 pictures. After first two weeks, I found there were some spots on the sensor. Amazon changed a new one for me (very good service). After using for two weeks, there were some spots on the pcitures again. I probably changed lenses for about 7-8 times for the cameras. For some reasons, it seems to me that D20's sensor "attracts" dust easily compared with Digital Rebel (300D). I used 300D for 18 months, but I never have any problem like this.

Please note that, there is a small section in the 20D manual (p36-37) descriing sensor clearing by selecting .... on manual dial.... but there is no sensor cleaning on 20D. Maybe the manual is just translated from Japanese manual and the function is not available for US version.... I am not sure.

The sensor clearing fee is about $80 for Canon authorized prepair shop. D20 generates better pcitures than 300D. but for the sensor cleaning issue, I give it ***. I am really afraid changing lenses now since the sensor gets dust so easily. BTW, the blower does not really work for sensor.

Great with the right lens and a flash
I've owned the 20D since November 2004, and I must have shot around 10,000 pictures with it. Before that, I had a Canon Powershot A80, which delivered consistently good pictures, but was slooooow to start up and had a big shutter lag. The 20D solves these problems with flying colors (no pun intended). Start up is instantaneous (you will spend much longer removing the lens cap!) and there's no shutter lag.

The other expectation that I had was to get shallow depth of field in my pictures (almost impossible with the A80). The problem was that I ordered the camera with the basic 18-55mm lens that comes with it. I shot with nothing but this lens during 6 months (I couldn't afford anything else), and was not very satisfied with the sharpness (even by changing the parameter in the custom functions), the vibrance of the colors, and the poor bokeh. I tried a demo version of DXO optics pro, which made me realize how soft my basic lens was. It's OK, I knew I shouldn't expect too much from that basic lens.

When I was able to afford a second lens, I realized how good the 20D could be. I got a Canon 70-200mm f4L telephoto lens, and man! does this make a difference! The pictures I get with that lens are awesome: crisp, sharp, vibrant, constrasty, and finally I got the bokeh I was expecting.

Then I got the Speedlite 420EX flash, and my pictures became just wonderful. It solves all the problems that people may experience with the built-in flash.

So, basically, try different lenses on this body, and you'll be surprised how much better your pictures can get with the right lens. Your pictures will only be as good as the weakest element of your system. Well, the weakest element won't be the 20D body!

The major complaint I have, though I know it's inherent to all digital SLR (except the Olympus), is the dust on the sensor. It's very disappointing to make 400 shots in a session and then find the same 3 ugly dust spots on every single picture, regardless of the aperture you shot at. I tried the sensor swabbing method to clean it, it worked fine, but it scares me too much to do it on a regular basis. Nothing that Photoshop couldn't fix, but still, it drives me crazy.

I also learned to live without the spot metering, but I still don't understand why they didn't include it. They can't expect you to buy the 1D Mark II instead, since only pros can afford to spend that much money on a body. And you don't need to be a pro to feel the need for a spot metering. Everything I learned about photography refered to the use of that spot metering (John Shaw, Bryan Peterson...).

Anyway, great camera body, very average lens. Expect to invest in a better lens and an external flash. I gave it four stars because of the dust on the sensor (not its fault, but still, it's frustrating).

Great entry-level DSLR
I'm an art student who contructs and photographs hand painted setups etc. I still prefer to shoot with my Hasselblad medium format cam and scan the negatives to get lots of detail for serious work (I'm talking 90 MP files). I admit, it took a lot of persuation for me to try and go into the digital realm. My first digi-cam was a Sony DSC-F717 5.0 MP. I chose it because it has Carl Zeiss optics like my Hasselblad, and good reviews. The photos were acceptable, though it did suffer from much noise at higher ISOs (400, 800), and there was some chromatic aberration on edges. I know Advertising design majors at my college who use the 20D for some projects. It was the first time I saw (13x19) images in print from the 20D. SUPERB quality with the Epson 2200 printer. The 20D and many other Canon DSLRs deliver very clean images even at ISO 1600. However, if you want the sharpest images you can get, with high contrast and detail, you really need to invest in some good (prime) optics as opposed to the pre-packaged zoom lens. So it might be a good idea to just purchase the body alone.

Also, people have been complaining about the lack of spot metering mode. If you're willing to invest...just buy a handheld spot meter.

Almost perfect -but not quite
If you want the full hard core review of this camera you need to be looking somewhere like [...] because there's far more to this camera than a normal user will ever meet.

Having said that we are left with just the little bits and pieces a normal user would use.

The camera is actually a little smaller than optimal for a person with average sized hands, the little finger of the right hand has nowhere to sit and the EOS10D actually feels better. But in normal use you won't notice this. The viewfinder is small, in many cases you just have to trust that it really has done a good job of focus because there isn't enough image for you to see for yourself. I find it quite difficult to be certain that I even have the camera level. It's also not the brightest viewfinder you ever saw.

Battery life is very good, even powering an image stabilized lens, I just filled a 1Gb card on a single battery, that's a few hundred images and the battery still isn't showing low.

Dust has been a small issue, there are cameras now that will clean their own sensor but this isn't one. I eventually found a good hand air blower. You can not use canned air or a brush to clean the sensor, either can damage the camera badly. Once I got the dust off, it was there from new, it has remained clean. So maybe it's not that much of an issue. I use Tokina 24-200, Canon 50mm and Sigma 80-400 OS EX lenses, so I do change the lens fairly often, so perhaps dust isn't that big an issue.

Switch on is unbelievably fast, slow switch on times have cost me numerous shots with other cameras, with the 20D the camera is on by the time you realize the switch has clicked into place. Speaking of which, on a camera with excellent ergonomics the on-off switch is about the only thing that doesn't come to hand well, but it's not a factor in normal use. Just not perfect.

Low light performance has been excellent, the camera will shoot at 800 or even 1600 ASA with no apparent noise. You can even configure it to use 3200ASA, but you get significant noise effects with some faint horizontal lines and grain like effects, though I was shooting under sodium light. Even at 3200ASA the pictures are better than with fast print film under similar conditions.

You do need to be mindful that the exposure controls on this camera really do do what they say, you need to keep your eye on the shutter speed and aperture to get the shot you think you want, this isn't an instant camera that will just make the most of it. Most of the time the idiot modes, sport or scenic or whatever, will actually do a good job of picking the right settings. If you are in a hurry then use the built in functions. For example, in sports mode it switches to predictive autofocus, shutter priority and continuous shooting, which are all good choices.

The autofocus is excellent, however in programmed modes you need to pay attention to which of the focus zones it has actually selected. If there is something closer to you than the subject you may need to select the correct focus point, fortunately this is very easy to do, you can hit the control and then select the focus point using the joystick, both with your right thumb.

Another minor irritation to me is that if you are using the fully auto mode, which does a very good job of most things, it will sometimes select the flash even though the autofocus should tell it that the subject is way out of range. Perhaps I expect too much?

Picture quality? Well, unless you have an absolutely perfect lens and need to make 36" wide posters you are unlikely to find that the camera is a limiting factor. I'm actually waiting to see an Epson R1800 because the current generation of printers can't reproduce the quality I have available with this camera and my lenses.

The built in flash is inadequate and the flash metering is soometimes poor, I was taking pictures near a road recently and whenever a reflective sign was in shot the picture was under exposed. Recharge times are pretty poor too, but I think the built in flash should be regarded as an emergency or backup method only, if you are serious then you need a serious flash. I'll be adding either the Speedlite 580EX or a Metz 54 flash in the near future.

I'll also be adding an L-series lens in place of the Tokina, the Tokina is OK, but not good enough for my brothers wedding.

Would I buy it again? Sure. Will I trade for the next great EOS digital to come on the scene? Unlikely. Maybe if it has a larger viewfinder and a 35mm sensor, but this camera already does way more than I need.

E-300 Vs. The 20D
As I mentioned in my prior review after I had used this camera for a while I would try and do an update well here we go. I have just finished filling a 4GB micro-drive with the E-300, and must say that I am still in awe of this camera.I had the chance to shoot it along with a 20D as well as an XT (Canon) not my cameras but ones that belonged to friends. I still have to put the Olympus at the top. Here's why- first off I take pictures for quality not for speed, if you are the type of photographer that shoots say sporting events, or horses, etc. then no doubt the Canons are your weapon of choice, Because lets face it Canon's "DIGIC 2" processor is truly amazing. But speed aside picture to picture I found the E-300 to be the best as far as over all picture quality and accuracy, and with the exception of the 20D far less noise at higher ISO's. Now I shoot a wide variety of pictures from sky scenes, to low light pix, as well as something I call "lightpainting" wich involves turing down the shutter speed (way Down) and cranking the ISO (as high as you can stand it!) So I guess the type of pictures I take covers the gamut of situations. Again, in each situation the EVOLT blew away the 2 Canons. the most amazing thing is that out of almost 550 shots I had only about 20 where the camera (or myself) had mis-read the shot, the 20D had twice as many (due to the camera) the Xt nearly three times!By mis reading I refer to under or over exsposure, and/or blurred images. All three cameras were set to the auto or "P" mode. The E-300 has also made me want to try flash photography again! Flash photography is an art unto itself and the E-300 made it possible for even myself to get decent results! The flash on the 20D is completely useless as far as I could tell either it was too hot, or too weak, the Xt didn't fair much better. Now before Canon fans call me a lunatic let me explain something the 2 Canon SLR's I used are in thier own right top of the line photographic weapons, more than worthy of the high praise and reviews they have recieved from pro and novice alike. Heck- I had an Xt in my hand ready to buy, until I saw the E-300 further down the counter and decided to check it out, In fact if I was ready to buy another SLR it more than likely would be the Xt (The 20D is just too damn high priced for what you REALLY get)The reason I love the Olympus over the others is the fact that the camera takes great pictures by nature not by settings, it relys on the ability to take amazing pictures at a varitey of situations on a extremely consistant basis. The Canons alas, do not, due to the fact that they are complicated to operate (especially the 20D) and the biggest being that they are not consistant in the quality of pictures they take. This is just my opinion if you love the Canons by all means buy one, but me...I'm staying with the EVOLT. You may take pictures faster, but I'll be taking em better! Happy Shooting!

It's an incredible camera
I bought this back in March from Amazon, specifically for a trip we were taking to Washington DC. I only had a couple of days to get used to the controls before we departed. I have owned mostly Canon cameras in my time and the 20D felt comfortable and familiar from the start. It has an intuitive design and pressing a button and/or turning one of the wheels provides access to the most important and basic functions. I was immediately impressed by the sharpness of the photos, the speed of the autofocus and near instantaneous turn on, as well as the light, yet solid, feel of the body. The ISO range is fantastic and easy to change, great when you don't have a tripod and flash is out of the question - think an orchestra performing Bach's St. John in the National Cathedral. I've also used the camera to photograph rally cars speeding by in a dwindling light and was impressed.

The 20D provides control over all of the functions that you would want, and if not, it will do everything for you. For an advanced amateur, or someone who wants to take their photography to the next level, I think you will find this a camera worth buying. I compared it to other brands within it's price range and found that the 20D is more comfortable, easier to use, and more sophisticated than the others. The price is coming down from what I paid and I'm now considering getting a second one.

spot/ evaluated metering
excellent in every aspect, even though couldn't get much affect changes between spot metering and evaluated metering whether in manual or auto, but alway get perfect metering

Awesome prosumer/almost-professional camera!
I was upgrading from point-and-shoot digital. The choice was between the Canon Rebel XT, Nikon D70, and the Canon 20D. I am glad that I footed the extra cash for the 20D and even the IS 17-85 lens. It's well worth the investment for budding enthusiasts/amateurs like myself. Like playing a violin, you can't really be inspired to do better and do more if you don't have the right instrument.

PRO: FAST system in turning on and triggering, 5 shots/sec bursting (for great children pictures), 1/8000th second shutter speed (fun water pictures), 9-point auto-focusing system, solid feel of the body, ease of menu and yet plenty of options.

IMPROVEMENT: The door for the memory card is a bit loose as it is on the back side of the right hand grip. The shutter is a bit loud if you don't want the turning heads in a quiet setting (but even then it's not so unacceptable as you do have a nice camera to show off!).

17-85 IS LENS: Way better than the cheap stock lens! Image stabilization is great especially if you don't like shooting with a flash.

High quality, great price
I have this camera about 4 months now, and I'm still in awe. It is just brilliant. The body is very robust. It isn't light, but feels solid in your hands. It's well balanced and easy to grip.

The battery life is just great. I've taken about 1200 photos on a single battery charge. I have not yet even considered the need to buy the extension battery grip with an extra battery.

All the functions are within easy finger reach. It is so easy to adjust the settings as you go. I am still learning how to use things. I guess so far I've taken in excess of 20,000 photos.

One little gripe would be sensor dust. I've a small speck of dust somewhere (on the sensor I assume), and I can't seem to get rid of it. Nothing to ruin my photos though. It's not an uncommon thing with any dSLR. A cleaning kit is essential with this camera.

I already have a small collection of Canon lenses. The combination gives me excellent quality photos.

Bottom line - if you're thinking of buying a Digital SLR, this one should come very high on your list of options. I would recommend it to everyone.

Great quality!!!
This camera has an extremely good quality, and it's so easy to use, that it's so much fun to "play" with.

amateur and pros alike can't go wrong with this digital
I don't think there is a camera out there that can compete with the Canon EOS 20d for the money. I am a semi professional photographer and I take images from high speed action to high def. macro. The range of features on this camera is amazing. The custom settings, the auto settings and the scenery settings are all perfect. The camera adjusts the white balance perfectly AND it lets you customize it if you want. It takes 8.2 mega pixels which will let you enlarge phots to as big as you can print them without losing quality. It has speed like no other digital camera. It says in its advertsing that it can take up to 23 shots at a time at 5 frames per second. The advertising is wrong. It can take well OVER 23 shots at a time at 5 frames a second. I have personaly take over 7 seconds of continuos shooting. 36 frames to be exact. And that is at 8.2 megapixels. It takes a high end memory card to do it, but it does it none the less. Image quality? Amazing. Ease of use? Phenominal. Those who say it is complicated probably can't set up their alarm clock either. Don't get me wrong, this camera is so feature rich that you will need to read the manual to get it all figured out. But out of the box without reading a thing I was taking advanced shots, setting my own shutter and or f-stop, changing ISO speeds, taking single and multi burts shots and more without reading the manaul. Now I've worked with digitals before but never a canon. The construction is top rate. It feels solid in your hand. It doesnt feel plasticky, or hollow. The controls are easy to reach, and it's comfortable to hold. Ive heard of people complain that it's to small. Well, I've got fairly large hands and I dont have any trouble holding it. One of the best features on this camera though is thenearly instant on. .2 seconds from flipping the switch to taking a picture. This has saved me a number of times. It also turns off after a minute of sitting idle to save battery life. Then you simply press the shutter button down and it's back on instantly. Oh ya..one of the best things about it for me...it records the photo settings along with the image. When I go back and review my images the camera can also tell me what the exact settings were for each shot so I know what to set them to for the best picture. The battery life is simply amazing as well. I have a 2 gig flash card in my camera. I took over 500 pictures at a mountain bike race last weekend, and I wasnt even close to the end of the power life. Canon says it will take over 700 pics per charge. I believe it! I honestly can't think of anything negative about this camera. Oh wait...the viewing screen is a bit small, and a bit hard to see in the sun. If they could make the viewing screen bigger, and more direct light viewing friendly, this camera would be perfect in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, its not TO small. Just smaller than I prefer. All in all though, I have looked at a LOT of cameras, and I have not found one that even comes close to this one. It has more features, and nicer features. More memory and a faster shooting speed. Easier operation, and better build than any of the cameras that compare in price. So unless you want to spend 3-4000 dollars...the 20d is the way to go.

Terribly made and pictures are too soft
I am very disappointed with the Canon 20D. My first disappointment is with the sharpness of the pictures. I've tried all kinds of combinations for the auto and manual functions, but most pictures came out soft around the edges of the subjects. The Nikon D70 takes much better and sharper pictures. I was actually willing to put up with the softness because of the fast sutter speed, but then came the second disappointment. It's actually a shock more than anything else -when I changed the camera lens for the first time, the lens release button fell out and wouldn't stay in place unless I tape it down. This should never happen on a $1,400 camera! What a mistake in buying the Canon 20D! I'm returning the camera for a refund.

A fantastic camera in all ways
Fast, accurate, and produces amazing results. I take lots of indoor shots in low light, even indoor sports shots (I use two fast Canon zoom lenses) and they come out unimaginably beautiful with the 20D's amazingly clean ISO 1600 performance. The camera reposnds instantly, and focuses so fast I almost never perceive any lag at all. The camera is built like a tank with a very solid feel, and the 5 fps shutter has earned me an unbelieveble collection of sports action shots I could not have gained otherwise.

Cons? I wish the current ISO setting was displayed in the viewfinder, and the shutter is a little louder than my old Minolta 7000i (film SLR). However, this camera feels like an extension of my hand when I am holding it, and I have no plans to replace it for several years.

The best decision I ever made !!
I was thinking between the Rebel XT and 20d . I didn't like the plastic body of the Rebel XT. Also the XT size is like miniature SLR or a crossbred between point-n-shoot and SLR, it just didn't right in my hand. But, the 20D fits like the gloves in my hands. The 20d is a litle bigger than XT. It's metal is rock solid.

I like to travel and take a lot of pictures of people. I thought if I have to take pictures, people will notice me of my shootings, I might as well carry the best camera that I could afford which is the 20d. I just bought mine about 3 weeks ago and I've been taking more than 3000 pictures. I use Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM len (Made in Japan len). The IS (Image Stabilization) feature of the len is a must. Most of the my pics are very sharp. I'm still playing around with this camera. Some of my pics are blurred because I used third party flash Metz Mecablitz 45 CL-4, and it did not synch correctly for right amount of flash needed. I shot mostly in automatic (P mode) TTL flash.

Since I've spent a good amount of money on the camera already, I thought I might as well invest in a good flash. I just ordered through Amazon (which prices are very competitive to Beach or Adorama, B&H) the Canon 580EX flash. I hope this flash will do the trick.

To sum up, so far so good. Very happy with my Canon 20d. The battery that comes with is amazing! I took more than 1000 pictures before I realized I need to recharged, just in case. Also the full recharge of the battery takes less than 2 hours. I plan to get the Canon BGE2 Battery Grip and extra battery set. It's not that I really need it, but I just like the beefed-up look of this camera and made me look like a pro. I'm glad I picked this one over the Rebel XT--I don't think the XT would have the extension of the battery Grip like the 20D.

One more thing. Amazon.com reviews influenced me to buy this camera. I'm very happy with prices and services which makes Amazon my one stop shopping and reading reviews on books and all electronic gadgets.

Short and Sweet - This is a #1 Camera!
I own this camera, my second digital camera, and I am exceptionally happy with it! I will not go into all the technical details about this camera, as this information is available in the product description and in other reviews. I will say that this is not a camera for one just getting into digital photography. This is a (near) professional quality instrument and has so many options that one not grounded in digital photography would be quickly overwhelmed. It is also higher priced than the typical consumer-grade digital camera, with an asking price of right arund $1400 dollars at the time of this writing. Once you add a couple of filters, a telephoto zoom lens, and some other accessories, you quickly have an investment of over $2,000 dollars. Thus, this is not a camera for the masses.

If you are looking for a camera that provides you with all the versitility of a SLR quality film camera, you have come to the right place. Canon's 20D will absolutely overwhelm you with its extensive options! This is truly a versitile instrument that will allow you to do virtually anything in photography! I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that the Canon 20D is the best camera for its price in its class. It blows the competition away.

The camera body has a firm heavy feel to it. It is not a miniature digital camera at all. It fills and fits the hand nicely, much like a SLR should feel. The buttons, wheels, and controls are all within finger reach, but there are so many options that one has a pretty good learning curve to be proficient with the camera. By the way, the instruction manual is well over 150 pages, and it does a mostly adequate job of introducing the camera controls to the operator. Still, it has taken me several weeks of use and review to learn the camera's many features and then remember them so that the operations are automatic.

The pictures I have taken are very pleasing. One can shoot in low light, bright light and all conditions in-between. A flash is available and pops up automatically if desired for additional light. This camera takes excellent pics in low-light conditions.

The lens that comes with the camera is acceptable and I am pleasd with the sharpness of the images produced. Other reviewers have stated that compared to fixed focal length lenses, such as the 50 mm, the variable zoom lens is not as sharp. My view is that the lens provided is very adequate for virtually all applications, however, if the operator wants the very sharpest images possible, especially for portrait work, then perhaps a fixed focal length lens is beneficial. I purchased a EF-S 28-135 IS lens for a telephoto zoom, and am happy with it. Again, the quality of the zoom does not approach that of the Canon "L" series lenses, but then how many consumers can afford a single lens that is over $4,000 dollars? From my perspective as an amateur that shoots a lot of images, I think the 20D is more than adequate for my needs.

I highly recommend this camera to any amateur photographer that seeks a highly versitile top-quality camera that is a definite cut above the rest. If you can afford this camera, buy it. It will give you the creative options a photographer desires in a camera, and will give years of pleasure.

Jim "Konedog" Koenig

Wow! What a Camera
I've been shooting with a Digital Rebel for about a year, that camera is great but it just plain doesn't have big enough onboard memory buffers for the kind of fast action I tend to shoot. This camera, when coupled with a high speed Compact Flash card will rarely bog down and quit shooting when using continuous mode (5 fps) (even more so if you aren't shooting in full quality mode since more frames fit in the buffers). The difference between this baby and the Rebel is like the difference between a Yugo and a Cadillac, just no comparison! The Rebel is a starter camera, this is a real camera. There are three different metering modes, three different types of AF and single and continuous shooting modes available in all "creative modes" (i.e. other than the stock modes they give you for common situations and of course in auto mode). I haven't had a chance to shoot a whole lot with the 20D yet but so far I'd say it's much faster (both on startup and between shots) than the Rebel and much more capable in "mixed-lighting" situations than the Rebel is. With the rebel, the combination of mercury vapor gymnasium lighting and flash would give my shots these awful yellow backgrounds, so far the 20D is handling this situation in a superior manner--i.e. no annoyingly colored backgrounds (Auto White Balance control is much better here). If you use IS lenses I suggest you buy the battery grip. The 20D is made of metal and much more ergonomic than the Rebel but someone with big hands will probably still like the battery grip to make the camera easier to hold onto. The built in flash on the 20D is capable but for real shooting you'll want a professional flash. Canon speedlights (550/580EX) are the most integrated but there are other cheaper choices that are just as good (but may not be as integrated). The 20D has a flash sync port on the side for a "potato masher" handle style flash unit such as made by Metz, Sunpak, etc. This is a pricey camera for most of us but worth the money, I am going to have a lot of fun with this. One last comment: The 20D apparently incorporates some advanced circuitry that operates with the flash to conserve flash power, it's my impression this is more refined on the 580EX than the 550EX but on my first shoot I did notice far less misfires with the 550EX on this camera than on the Rebel. If you're torn between jumping on a Rebel or saving for a 20D then save for the 20D it's more than twice the camera the Rebel is and if you shoot fast moving sports you won't be happy with the Rebel Original, the XT is supposedly a bit improved but I still don't believe they've done very much about improving the image buffers and that is where the 20D shines. Now that I've got my hands on a 20D I'm curious about what the even more expensive Canons can do.

Best digital camera ever
This is a great and easy camera, I take many action photos, like surfing and the results are amazing.

My Best Digital Cameera Yet!!!
I have been shooting for many years and have purchased many cameras from 35mm to digital. This Canon 20d is the Best yet. I have played around with it and still have yet to experience all of the features and capabilities. I shot a wedding and was truly surprised at the outcome of those photos. I have way too many great shots to pick from, for my clients. I shot a self portrait with it and it was so much detail you can see the hairs coming out of the pores on my face. This is a great camera and I recommend it to anyone who wants true professional looking photos.

AWESOME to hold with mindblowing autofocus
This is how an SLR should feel--solid and sturdy without being overbearingly heavy and clumsy. It fits naturually into your hands and feels balanced with a range of lenses attached. The autofocus on this camera is unbelievably fast and accurate. It has become a favorite of photojournalists, and it's easy to see why.

an outstanding camera
After several years of gradually adjusting to the "digital revolution" I decided that it was time to take the plunge and move up to a digital SLR. As a long time Canon emulsion-camera enthusiast it seemed logical to stay with the people I knew, and I have to say I am simply delighted. The 20D is tough enough to deal with field conditions (I am an ecologist who needs must spend extended periods on foggy off shore islands)and, while less portable than the "pocket" digital I have used previously, the results are simply superb. Things of particular note for wildlife photographers include the enormous range of exposure and auto-focus options, the rapid cycle time and "burst-mode" filming that has allowed me to capture guillemots on the wing, the intelligently placed and organized controls, a nice, bright LCD display that allows you to review what you have taken while you are still out of doors, and then of course the ability to use REAL telephoto lenses! I got a Canon 100-300 right away and couldn't be happier with the results. This is a serious camera for serious users but it also has enough "auto" features that novices will get great results out of the box. Oh yeah, did I mention battery life? I find that I can shoot and shoot and shoot until the crows come home....

Picture Quality Poor
I've used several digital point and clicks... I've also use an Olympus C5050. I've been wanting to upgrade to a Digital SLR and believed the great reviews. I've been terribly disappointed with the pictures... all seem far to dark and dull. Doesn't seem to mater which lens or what type of lighting. I'm checking with Canon to see if maybe there is a problem with the camera... if not, I would say this is an awful investment. If you have time to work in the advanced modes, maybe you can find a setting that takes clear, crisp picture; but if you are using in any of the basic modes, you have no control over the results.

excellent choice...
its a good choice as a back up camera to my 1Ds MarkII.the 20D's 8.2mp really do a good job.No comments der.

Pleased with my purchase - EOS20D
I purchased this camera after using the EOS 10D and was very pleased with the price and value for money, it was shipped promptly as advised by Amazon. I have used the camera professionaly and it has met or exceeded my needs and expectations on all occassions. [...]
It can be very easy to use in the fully automatic mode, and my son uses same to take pictures also, with great results.
I would recommend this camera without reservation, well done Canon.

Dim LCD
Apart from all the good points rightly pointed by all reviewers there is one design problem with the camera: the LCD screen. It is simply too dim. To the point that is almost useless on a bright day. The quality of the pictures is great and the bundled software is very powerful and easy to use. Specially the Digital Photo Professional, that comes with no manual, is great. You can find an excelent tutorial here: [...].
Maybe that is why another reviewer complains about the images being too dull. I first tried the camera on an overcast day in Chicago and as almost everything is gray, the pictures at the LCD screen were quite ugly and flat. Very different from another cameras LCDs.

very satisfied
The camera arrived witin the time period estimated by the shipper and unpacked for inspection. The canon EOS 20D is a great camera with only one flaw. The switch the turns the camera on is in a awkward place. All the other controls are placed very well and operate all the camera functions easily.

Well worth purchasing
I was skeptical after switching from from film, medium format, which I have been using for close to a decade. It took a few weeks of playing to figure out how to get the best out of this great digital camera. I didn't get the standard zoom that is offered in the kit, but got the Canon 85, 1.8f USM lens instead. Old habits die hard. If you do a lot of available light shooting for portraiture, this lens can't be beat.
Anyway, once I figured the camera out, I was satisfied with the results. Shooting raw images and using the Photoshop raw plugin yielded the best results.
I don't mind being labled as a Luddite for saying this, but as great as this camera is, it still can't do better quality images than the "old school" medium format camera that I still own.

Still the top of the heap for serious amateurs
The 20D has been out for about a year now, and meanwhile Canon and Nikon have issued much less expensive SLRs aimed at the expanding "prosumer" market. But the 20D is still tops -- the perfect blend of features, size, weight, and good design for serious amateurs, and probably a good backup for a pro. I've had this camera (with the 17-85 mm lens) for nine months and have taken all sorts of shots -- landscape, portraits, telephoto, brightly lit scenes and night shots and it feels solid, sturdy and sure-footed in every situation. The controls are logical and well-placed.

Having hefted the newer, less expensive Canon 350D and the Nikon D70, I'd still buy the 20D. The only complaints are that macro performance of the 17-85mm lens is only so-so, and the LCD screen washes out in bright light.

If you're migrating from a film SLR, this camera is a full-fledged replacement that starts up and focuses fast, with no annoying shutter lag at all. And you have the huge range of Canon accessories. Three recommendations: Use the RAW/JPEG format for your pictures -- that way, when you do serious editing, you can start with the RAW file, which will give you more flexibility and a better result than the JPEG; buy a 1GB CF card; and buy the Canon 420EX flash, which is much less expensive than the 580EX and does a superb job.

I have looked for long time
I have looked for a long time and owned manye digital cameras. but none I have had compare to this. Most good digitals in low light have a delay from the time you press the button until it takes pic. but this thing even with flash is instant. We went out side just after the sun set. and used the camera on P setting with iso of 100. (Very easy to figure out and use this stuff too). I got my wife to jump off the ground. I took 4 pics of her before she landed. No way you would even get a pick of her in air with a reg. digital. We did not time it I just focused then tried to get her jumping. this camera has blew me away. you will not no the differance from this to a real 35mm unless you are a true pro. Useing real lens I think helps as well insteady of built in digital. But the big thing is the DSLR if you want to capture objects moving then please get this camera or at least a dSLR.

The right camera for impassioned amateurs!
Just a little over a year ago, I became fascinated with digital photography, but not for the reasons most amateur photographers cite. I was in the market for a new home and, as I was looking at one with my realtor one day, I ran across a home filled with pictures. These were all pictures taken by the owners with SLR and D-SLR cameras. The pictures were diverse, but they simply made the home quite warm and interesting (disclosure: I didn't buy the house, but I did take away a new passion!). As a result of this "warm, fuzzy" feeling of seeing a large volume of pictures embellishing the flavor of this home, I decided to jump into digital photography with both feet. I knew I wasn't ready for the "big cameras," so I bought the Canon A80 4MP digital. Since that time, I've taken hundreds of photos, some which I've blown up to 8 x 10s and are hanging in my office (the Continental Divide on a snowy day and Puerto Vallarta sunsets). This particular camera, which I reviewed previously, was a great starter camera, and one which I'll hang on to for future "snapshots." That said, this warm fuzzy feeling I had when looking at this home described above has turned into a heated passion. As a result, the "heat" quickly pushed me toward a more serious D-SLR.

When looking for a newer D-SLR, one with greater diversity, features, and higher-quality output, I did my due diligence like I do on most purchases. I did however, read one review that pretty much summed up the camera buying experience. This reviewer said there are three types of camera buyers: 1) those who only buy Nikon, 2) those who only buy Canon, and 3) those who can't decide between Nikon and Canon. Very astute and very true. After much consternation (and not wanting to get caught in #3), I decided on Canon, and purchased the 20D. I must tell you that I look looked at the camera superstores and boutiques, but found that Amazon had a very competitive price and besides, I'm an Amazon junkie. In any event, I purchased the 20D with the 18mm-55mm kit. That said, let me take a quick detour on to lens purchases.

Since my 20D purchase, I've quickly learned that, while the camera is the foundation for high quality pictures, and imagination is the fuel for creating beautiful shots, the lens is the bridge between the two. Honestly, if I had to do it over again, I would not have purchased the 18-55mm lens with the camera; rather, I would have made a body purchase only. This lens is good for "everyday" shooting, but I was looking for the greatest breadth of exposure in the least number of lenses. The 18mm-55mm lens fits the middle of the road in terms of macro/zoom parameters however, it did not fit the boundries I set for the lenses I wanted. Using Amazon customer reviews and several photography-based web sites, I began my search for lenses that would give me the broad range I sought. Although expensive, I believe I've found an excellent, albeit heavy duo: the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Standard Zoom Lens and the Canon EF 70mm-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens. Add a 2x telephoto extender, and I effectively have from 24mm exposure to 400mm exposure (the 2x extender fits the 70mm-200mm lens and doubles its zoom capabilities). Yes, these two lenses (and the 2x extender) have run around $3K, but both are "L" lenses (top of Canon's line) and both should easily provide me with the depth and breadth of pictures I wish to take. (Warning: if you decide to purchase the extender, make sure you check the lens compatibility. The extender only fits certain lenses.) Back to the camera...

As an impassioned amateur, the 20D was easily the best purchase for me given its volume of features and photo quality. I doubt seriously I'll need to upgrade for years. I've taken a few hundred shots since the purchase, and the quality of the photos can only be described as smooth as butter. The color is brilliant, and exposure is top notch. There is no noticeable resolution distress (I believe the pros call it "noise") regardless my focal point. The camera has an instant startup, which is important to anyone needing a quick shot. And, the time differential between shots is immediate. Although this camera allows manual settings for specific shots, I find myself in automatic mode in most cases, both from an ease of use standpoint and allowances for my inexperience. I've read many reviews redressing the built-in flash and its inadequacies however; I've not yet had that problem. All shots I've taken, which have needed additional light, have been more than adequately handled with the built-in flash.

At this point, the absolute only downside I have found is the weight factor in terms of my combination of camera and chosen lenses. The camera body itself is not a weight factor however, add either one of the lenses I purchased and it becomes something of a different story (particularly with the 70mm-200mm lens). Now, this is not to say that I have any regrets relative to these purchases; rather, it is the only downside I've found. The camera body weighs only a 1.5 lbs however, the 70mm-200mm lens adds 2.9 lbs, which makes the total unit weight something over 4 lbs...not inconsequential when taking numerous photos.

All-in-all, this jazzed amateur gives the 20D two thumbs up for ease of use and incredible quality, particularly in the $2,000 and under D-SLR category. VERY highly recommended.

Picture Magic in McFarland
Canon has another winner. We just received our new 20D last week and already I love it. I had been using a point and shoot Sony cybershot for several years and the difference is unbelievable. The frustrating feature of the point and shoot is the lag time between focusing and shooting the picture. You usually miss the action on any sport shots or action shots. This camera is just like the film 35mm. I got great action pictures of UW vs Purdue soccer. The game started at 5pm and it was light out so I was able to use the automatic mode. At 6:30 it was getting dark and the field lights were turned on so the camera wanted to use the flash which was useless at that distance. No Problem. I switched to manual mode changed the ISO and shutter speed and got beautiful pictures just like the daylight ones. The shots can be immediate or multiple just like our film 35mm. I have taken many fall season shots and the still shots are perfect, reflections in the river are mirror images. I would recommend purchasing a larger capacity fast memory card. I got a 1 gig San Disk II which allows you over 300 shots at large size files. The standard lense is good to have for the $100 you pay for it for a wide angle lense. We have a 28mm by 135mm IS lense which is more flexible. I got the camera in 2 days just like advertised and in excellent condition. I saved about $300 by buying it on Amazon.com. Amazon and Canon have exceeded my expectations.

I love it!
I could notice the better quality immediately when I started using it. It allows for much more creativity than my previous camera, a Nikon Coolpix 5000. It is relatively easy to use and still fully automatic for those times you need to snap a quick picture and don't want to worry about exposure and all that. I have a canon eos 35mm and I found the digital SLR to handle much the same. It is a tad heavy which makes it difficult to take night shots without a tripod, but I still think it was the best option for the money. I find it to be a great learning tool for experimenting with the more creative aspects of photography.

The lens in the kit isn't so bad!
I love the D20!! The lens that comes with the kit is not as bad as posted. Look above at pics I posted last night in the photo share area above. It is really what you do with it. It is small, light weight, which is a plus. It isn't an L lens, but it is worth having fun finding it's plus's. It is a fun lens to start out with if you have just started your Canon lens collection and have no other lens to work until you get better. Someone just starting with an SLR camera could do fine with this set, or with the Rebel XT and this lens. I just purchased the Canon 70-300 IS USM DO Zoom Lens and haven't had time to really put it to the test yet, but so far I really like the size and am looking forward to investigating its abilities and possibilities for the Motocross track. So if you are wondering if you should purchase just the body or the kit, I would say if you are starting with Canon and don't have a wide zoom lens as yet, don't be swayed by the pros to not buy the kit. For an extra $70, the kit is great and you will always have a pretty good little, light weight, backup. I have used it for a week while waiting for my new lenses to arrive and have had a great time. The camera of course has been alot of the fun too. I started with the Rebel XT. At first, I thought I wanted a smaller camera, but then found that the bigger lenses made holding the XT too hard for a long time. My hands are not big, I am a lady, but it still didn't feel right, so I exchanged it for the D20. I am glad I did. I love the ease of use and changing settings as I think it is easier than the Rebel. Also the D20 is faster and I have really noticed that. As for the kit lens, if you are going to walk around for a long time and don't want to have the weight of a richer lens sometimes, this will work quite well as it is an 18-55, which is a nice range for just fun stuff. As for the camera: I have just changed from another name brand manufacturer, which I have been with for sometime and am so happy for the change. I never expected I would switch from ----- to Canon, but am sooo happy I did. :>)

As close to nirvana as a hunk of technology can take you.
This camera is so rock solid it's amazing. Nearly everything about it is perfect. It's solidly constructed, works fantastically out of the box with almost no studying. With some work and experience it's obvious that this body is one that professionals would use if they aren't going to a larger format. The lens that comes with it is of middling quality, but it's plenty good to get started in the SLR field.

It comes on almost instantly, has a powerful built flash, excellent battery life, and it's user interface is very easy to get used to. The automation is just amazing and for the most part turns out great shots. Custom modes are great too. The autofocus is excellent, especially when paired with a good lens.

Really the only thing I've ever felt this camera could have used was a larger sensor (it's not a full 35mm). This is part and parcel with the difficulty of getting a good wide shot. You have to go with the EF-S lenses to get a 10 (which is a 16 after conversion) and that lens isn't an L. But the Digic processing is truly second to none, and that makes up for a lot here.

Even so, the convenience and utility of a digital, the warmth and feel of film, and Canon's well-known quality and decent customer service makes this bad-boy a 5. Accept no substitute!

6000 photos later...
Bought the 20d body this summer and now with 5 months & 6000 photos to it's credit, it's still making me glad I bought it.

Runs all day on a charge and features are easy to find and use.

You can see all the tech features on this camera anywhere.. I'm just here to say, I have no reason to look at other cameras in this price range (or even above) with envy !
I'm a person that only upgrades when the equipment is holding me back, and I don't see that happening. Yes, cameras will improve and have more features in the future... will I need them ? I doubt it. I reserve 5 stars for perfect items, and what ever is? but it was tempting to use 5 in this case.
A very happy 20D owner 8-)

the 17-85 is definitely worth the extra $$$$
The 17-85mm is proving to be a very useful and very clean and crisp lens. The IS really works. The 135mm equivalent gets me through a lot of situations where if I were using the shorter kit lens I'd have to change to something longer. I'm really pleased with it (and with my 20D - if only it had a spot meter)

This camera totally rocks I'm blown away
If you're reading this review, chances are, you wanna make the hop to digital SLR from regular digital. I just did and it is amazing. I must say, for about five years a use regular digital cameras. I wish I had gone digital SLR years ago. I think of all the shots that I've missed because of shutter lag once you go digital SLR you will not go back.

One thing about purchasing a digital SLR that you need to keep in mind is. It's all about the lenses! If you're buying this camera do yourself a favor get a good piece of glass. I will have links to sites that have reviews of lenses.

This thing will take 24 shots in a row. That is just so great! With the 8.2 megapixel, you can print 36 x 24 perfectly. The images are just huge. One thing I do like also with his camera, as opposed to the digital rebel. Is that you can capture a JPEG high Quality and raw image simultaneously. Now I don't use raw images very much yet, but I will of the future I'm sure. the rebel is raw and normal quality picture

One other thing I would recommend in relation to this camera is drop a couple dollars on a good flash. I've just started recently using an external flash the 580 EX and I must say lighting is where it is at!

Now, should you get the Canon 20 D. with the included lens it depends, the lens package is only $100 more. And it's an okay lens, but the other ones in the Canon family are way better.

Info on crop factor
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What happens, if I understand things correctly, is that a full size sensor capture the same amount of data as a 35mm film would. A sensor with a 1.3 factor means that the 35mm film area is 1.3 times as large as the sensor, and the same with a 1.6 sensor.

Think of it as simply chopping off some of the data that a 35mm full-frame sensor would capture. Imagine a ruler, where the 35mm camera would capture the full 12" stretching across the frame. If you then put a 1.3 sensor camera in the same location and took the same picture (assuming the same lens, camera mounted on the same tripod in the same location relative to the ruler) the camera's picture would only show the middle 9 inches (approximately). Now if both cameras produce the same size files, e.g. 8MB pictures, you have one picture at 8MB showing a full 12 inches and one picture at 8MB showing only the middle 9 inches. If you print them both at the same size, the picture taken with the 1.3 sensor will appear to be larger.

However, full-frame sensor cameras usually shoot larger MB pictures, so you lose the 1-to-1 relationship between the two pictures. The full-frame cameras shoot at 12MB or larger, so if you then crop THAT image to be 8MB in size by chopping the outer 1/3 (1/6 from each edge) and you will see the same thing as you see with the 1.3 sensor.

So it's not really that the 1.3 sensor magnifies the image, it just APPEARS to magnifiy the image. And since in photography it really is all about appearances, in one sense it does magnify things. But not actually, when everything is put on a 1-to-1 basis, the image isn't actually larger.

What that crop factor DOES do, though, is to reduce the size of the image you can get with the same lens. That means that you either have to move back if using the same lens to get the same field of view, or you have to use a shorter lens to get the same field of view from the same location.

That is where the 1.3 factor or 1.6 factor becomes important in deciding how to shoot a scene, especially for people who are coming to digital from the film world. So when you put your 50mm lens on a 20D, it becomes effectively a 80mm lens (50mmx1.6=80), with the reduced field of view that an 80mm lens would give. So to get the same field of view that you would get with a 50mm lens on a 35mm film body, you need to put a 32mm lens on a 20D body if you are standing in the same spot as with the film camera.

Again, since what we see is of utmost importance in photography, you are actually seeing a magnified image, when both images are printed straight to paper. But if the images are made to be the same size by cropping the larger file to equal the smaller file, there isn't really magnification.
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just fyi

Okay, hope this helps have some fun-and-get-it-done!

Giant Digital SLR Camera
Without doubt this camera is impressive. The moment you put the 20D into your hands you feel at home with it. The 20D just feels impressive and taking images with this camera is a joy, though more demanding than your normal point and shoot digital camera. Getting to know your 20D will pay lots of dividends in the long run and I would suggest that owners of the 20D read the instruction manual and then read it again, while trying out all the many and varied functions.

It is important with a digital SLR to choose quality lenses. If you buy cheap don't be surprised if your resulting images lack the quality that they could command. A quality flash gun like the 580 EX Speedlite will further help your image taking. Furthermore, I find the BG-E2 Battery Grip - which holds an extra battery - an important accessory along with the Remote Switch RS-80N3 to minimize camera shake. On the memory front, choose well! Cheap memory can result in the loss of those precious images you have spent so long taking. And make sure you have enough memory because an 8 MP digital SLR on RAW mode eats up images at an alarming rate. Personally I have three 1 GB memory cards and still I don't think this is enough.

Once you are set up with everything you will find taking images with the 20D brings you many hours, days, months and in the end no doubt years of fun. The shutter is noisy making the 20D limited for wildlife work but when taking images of landscapes, people or my personal favourite, macro work, then this camera has the lot. You get the build quality of Canon's professional cameras without the price tag. The 20D is heavy, especially with the battery grip and a quality lens attached, so be prepared to use a tripod to help you avoid camera shake.

This camera is beautiful and the little niggles I have over the focusing system etc have not stopped me loving the 20D to bits.

How the 20D changed my life!
A year ago I sold my Digital Rebel on eBay and purchased the 20D. I have since not looked back. This camera has brought nothing but joy to myself and others. The sharpness and colors from the famed Canon sensor are true to their reputation. Friends and family all love the pictures that come out of this camera. I take it with me almost everywhere I go.

After selling my Rebel, I debated upgrading to the new Rebel XT or the 20D, which I'm sure many of you might be having right now before pulling the trigger. I held both in my hand and played with them at the PMA tradeshow where the XT was introduced. It was very light and felt very small in my hands. I don't have exceptionally large hands, but the XT felt like it was designed for smaller hands. That being said, it is a great travel partner to have being so compact and light-weight.

The other drawback, however, is that the user interface is quite different from the 20D. Although it may seem like a trivial feature, the dial navigation on the 20D has been immensely more convenient and practical when shooting compared to pressing the buttons on the Rebel or the XT. I didn't like having to navigate through the ISO or other changes to white balance via the LCD screen. I definitely think there's a reason why the 20D is more expensive beyond the fact that it has the solid magnesium alloy body. The user interface for me was worth the extra money as well. The more you take photos, the more you will realize the freedom that comes with controlling your aperture, shutter speed, white balance and more with the 20D interface versus the XT. That being said, it is still several hundred dollars more expensive and the XT has pretty much the same sensor (just 0.2 fewer megapixels) with the same results in a different body. So don't be concerned about getting inferior photos with the XT, because the differences are mostly all external.

I highly recommend getting the kit lens with either camera. For an additional $70-100 it is well worth it just for the range and it has pretty decent quality results. Bang for your buck it can't be beat. Make sure you pick up a EF 50mm f/1.8 II USM lens for another $70-80. This is a powerful little lens at a great price.

(...)

But don't buy from Adorama
Excellent camera, but STAY AWAY from Adorama. Terrible customer service, rude, and completely disorganized. Use another vendor and you'll be very happy with this camera!

Great camera, but EF-S 17-85 lens is a drawback.
Earlier this year I bought this camera as an upgrade to my D-Rebel. Right out of the box I could feel positive differences between two:

1. Better build,
2. Controls layout (especially dial),
3. More focusing modes,
4. Wider ISO range,
5. Fastest shooting speed,
6. Read/write speed (I use it with SanDisk Extreme III CF)
7. and overall feel in the hands.

Battery life is superb.

After reading multiple positive reviews I blindly decided to go with EF-S 17-85mm lens which were in $600.00 price range at that time. After a month or so I started to get feeling that somewhat I'm not satisfied with the picture quality of such an expensive set. Pictures came out soft with so-so contrast. I noticed a lot vignetting and purple fringing. Indoor use with built in flash produced dark underexposed shots. But I continued shooting hoping to improve as I'm getting to know camera better, but.... What a shock it was to me to discover that my old Canon EF 28-105 USM lens outperformed the one I used al this time before. For test sake I also tried my kit lens for D-Rebel EF-S 18-55 and was unpleasantly surprised that it produced brighter and sharper images under the same settings and light conditions. I could not believe it. $600 lens outperformed by cheap kit set. Right there I decided to get rid of it and by an L glass. Later on I read similar complains from other users about this lens that only strengthened my feeling about it. What a relief was for me to find out that there is nothing wrong with camera itself. Now I'm able to produce much better, crispier, pictures using other Canon EF lenses and very happy with my camera up to date. Why 4 stars then, well as many complained

1. No spot metering
2. Poor indoor results with almost useless built in flash
3. Poor tungsten white balance(set it to custom WB to get better results indoors)
4. CMOS easily gets "dirty" (dust)
5. Small LCD display only 1.8"

But I guess Canon is aware of these drawbacks and will use it as an improvement in newer models in this price range.
My advise stay away from the EF-S 17-85 USM IS lens as it can downplay the quality and first impression of the rock solid built and beautiful camera such as Canon 20D. Better invest money in some EF lenses which you can use later when APC CMOS will be gone (as with new 5D) .

The Best
You will find hundreds of reviews and articles on the EOS 20D, I can not add more tech specs. (Steves Digicams, Imaging Resource, etc).

As a user I just can say that if you are a photo enthusiast this camera will cover all your needs, the picture quality is superb, it is super fast, accurate auto focus, solid, excellent grip.

Extra advice: If it is in your budget go for USM lens instead of the plastic cheap lens offered with the kit.

Remarks: Do not forget that more pixels doesn't mean better quality pictures just bigger prints.

Great Camera!
Well there is so much written about the 20D who could add to that? I will say that the battery life is truely amazing!

The only real big drawback I have found to the camera is the Battery compartment door.... The catch is to flimsy for my taste. I somehow managed to break the tiny (and I mean tiny) catch on the compartment door. I still dont know how it broke since I have babied this thing since I bought it three months ago but alas it broke. Anyway Cannon would not replace the derned thing under warranty so there goes $15 for a new door with catch.

Besides that this is a awesome camera.

camera is a sin
I wish no one knew about this camera because it is too cheap and too good. Now pro and joker r playing with the same toys. the game is up. I use the film SL$ Eos 3 and 1 so it was hard for me to buy this "cheap" camera. But when i looked at it next to the 1D the difference didnt justify spending 3 * as much. The only thing i wish it had was the eye control tingie and a better shutter mechanism (it is too loud man). Also i hate the point and shoot selection thing. Actually i dont like dials i like buttons (but that is being picky). It is just to cheap for what it does, any and everyone can now be a pro. But i guess u still need to know how to use the camera to get the shots. the best ý800 i spent this year, within 2 months of having it it has paid for itself in the ý i have saved on film.

to 20D or NOT to 20D that IS the question
When I started looking at digital SLR cameras, I jumped at the 350XT. It has a lot of features and is newer camera than the 20D. However, the differences between the two cameras is like the difference between Canon's line of "L" glass lenses and their regular line-sure they are "all good" but the "L" lenses offer more in terms of performance and features and so too does the 20D. It is a "fast" camera. Fast in autofocus, fast in startup and fast in image acquisition. If you've suffered with a point and shoot with shutter lag, you will be delighted when you use the 20D. Of course, you can still use the point and shoot modes if you want to (they were still there and they do a wonderful job-especially if you are feeling lazy). But if you've owned an SLR in the past, you will love this camera. The creative zones, the processing and speed and overall build quality tell you that it is worth the difference to get the 20. The difference in price between the two camera is about the price of a lens. The kit lens that comes with the camera isn't great, but it isn't bad either and for the money, it's actually a pretty good deal. USM means that it focuses very fast.

Best Digital camera for under $2000
This is my second digital camera. Previously I had used the Fuji Finepix s5000, but wanted to move up to an SLR system so that I could eventually use a variety of lenses.

I was very concerned at the beginning of my DSLR buying process- it seems to me that once a person buys a body and a few lenses, they are committed to that camera maker's "system" pretty much for life, so I wanted to be very certain that this was the right choice. If you purchase a 20d, you are not just buying a 20d, you are making (often) a pretty serious financial commitment to Canon technology.

I chose a canon 20d for a few reasons; I had decided early on in the process to stick to Nikon or Canon, as they are the clear leaders not only of Digital SLRs, but of Camera technology in general. Thus, though certain other SLRs like the Olympus E-Volt or the Pentax *istD are attractive, they simply do not have the range of accessories or the support community of either Canon or Nikon.

I ended up seriously considering three cameras; the Canon 350d (Digital Rebel), The Canon 20d, and the Nikon D70. From talking to other folks who were in the same situation as me, This seems to be a common range of choices people face
I ended up choosing Canon because it seems to me that they have a slightly better line of lenses than Nikon, particularly those available on the used market. This is important, because the more you use your DSLR, the more you will want that lens that is just a slightly wider angle, or just a slightly faster aperture, etc.

Once I decided to go for Canon, I chose the 20d over the 350d primarily due to size and toughness. The 350d is a great Camera, and its sensor is very similar to the 20d. However, the 20d's magnesium alloy chassis is much heavier than the 350d. It can certainly take a lot more abuse than the plastic 350d body- and I tend to take my camera on a lot of long trips. The 350d is a lot lighter, which is nice- but I frankly found its body too small to grip easily. As I have very large hands, this was a serious disadvantage to me. For someone with smaller hands the 350d probably feels fine. You will have to pick one up and judge this for yourself.

The layout of the camera itself is a lot easier to use than the 350d as well. The camera requires far less attention when shifting settings than the 350d, and thus frees up your "focus" for the subject you are shooting. I cannot stress how ergonomic and intuitive I find this camera to be.

Since I have purchased the 20d, I have not regretted it for a minute. This camera is a real joy to work with. The viewfinder is nice and bright (looking through glass again instead of an EVF is a pleasure, believe me). The range of ISO settings from 100-1600 is wonderful, particularly nice are long twilight/night shots at ISO 100 that give you some lovely colors. Shooting night and low light with the 20d will blow your mind. The CMOS sensor of the 20d produces almost noiseless images at high ISO settings.

The best feature of the camera is the quick start up time. It can go from dormant to actively autofocusing in 0.2 seconds. My previous camera took 2 seconds to "turn on." That may not sound like a great deal, but I lost countless shots due to that fact, and it is what pushed me most to upgrade my camera.

I tend to shoot on aperture priority or A-DEP (like auto, but with no flash), but there are a variety of "pre-set" modes for portraiture, sports, night shooting, and so on that are easy to use.

The megapixel count is nice, but not really that important. Comparing images made from the 6 megapixel Nikon D70 and 8 megapixel Canon 20d, one can't really notice any difference until you blow them up to ridiculous sizes. At this level of the MP game, the quality of the lens you use is far more important to final resolution than the sensors pixel count. If you compare the kit lens (18-55mm f3.5-5.6) at its wide focal lengths and lower apertures with the canon 50mm f1.8 prime lens at f8, It looks like you are shooting with 2 different cameras. The same holds for Nikon as well, so don't decide for the 20d simply because it has more megapixels than the D70. Of course, even the worst canon lens beats the hell out of my old digicam on its best day.

I have had a few problems with some older third party manufacturer lenses made for the Canon mount, Like Sigma and Tamron, not working with the new 20d body; but I have been told that if you ship off the lens to the manufacturer they will rechip it for free. All currently manufactured 3rd party lenses ought to work with this body. Keep in mind that the Canon digital sensor is smaller than 35mm film, so there is a "focal length multiplier" that makes your lenses "longer" than they would be on a regular film SLR. The focal length multiplier for the 20d is 1.6 . That means a 100mm lens on a film camera acts like a 160mm lens on a 20d. For those who like to focus close up with telephoto, that's great, because you can buy a relatively inexpensive 300mm lens, and it will shoot almost like a 500mm telephoto. I, however, usually shoot wide (more "peripheral vision") and prefer shorter lenses, so this is a pain. Of course, I would love to have a "full frame" camera like the Canon 5d, but the price is simply to much.

It has a number of strengths and weaknesses, which I will detail below:
Strengths:

The variety of lenses is excellent.
Lenses on second hand market are reasonably priced
Introductory high speed lens (less than f2) is inexpensive (canon 50mm f1.8)
Autofocus aquires targets quickly
Continuous shooting mode is quick- autofocus recalibrates for each shot.
Extremely high ISO capability (1600) for low light situations
Body is physically tough.
Very fast top shutter speed (1/8000) allows open apertures in well lit situations.
Manual focus easy to use
Pop up flash is very high above camera, and thus avoids casting shadows
Flash recycles quickly
CF card memory system is versatile and inexpensive
User interface is the best I have ever seen
Can be used as a blunt weapon if you are mugged

Weaknesses:
It ain't cheap
Very heavy, particularly with long lenses
You may end up spending money on glass that rivals a serious crack addiction
Longer focal length multiplier (1.6) than film, or than Nikon (1.5).
Doesn't work well with older 3rd party lenses without rechipping.
Mirror is very loud, particularly if you are used to a point and shoot.

Comparison with Nikon:
20d is better at telephoto (lenses have internal motors)
D70 is better at wide angle shots (focal length multiplier is lower)
20d is better at low light (lower noise, lower ISO setting).
Nikon fans believe that all Canon users are heretics, and vice versa, so why compare them you dirty heathen.

this camera does it all.....and more
My wife and I were sick and tired of the "shutter lag" that point and shoots are plagued with. We missed a lot of good pictures due to this. That lead me to look at digital SLRs, which do not suffer this malady. Also, most P&S cameras have plastic bodies. While this may keep costs down, and it certainly makes a camera lighter, nothing compares to a good old metal body - like on the 20D. In fact, the metal body was a big reason we opted for this camera over the more affordable Digital Rebel (plus the 8.2 MP vs 6 MP). Canon recently introduced an 8.0 MP version of the Digital Rebel. If a metal body is not a big deal to you, you may wish to look into that.

One thing to keep in mind when using this camera indoors - lighting is important. Indoor pictures turn out darker than anticipated. This can be overcome by proper lighting and camera angle. Outdoors, you will get outstanding results every time.

I have been experimenting with the "creative zone" settings of this camera with mixed results. I have used a slow shutter release to take some good pictures of the moon and stars reflecting off of the Gulf of Mexico. Conversly, I have tried some action shots that were quite blurry - switching back to auto mode corrected this. Any problems I've had with this camera have been user related, not a problem with the equipment.

I love the idea of interchangable lenses. If you're not happy with the zoom capabilities of the camera, get a stronger zoom lens and you're all set. Want to do some macro photos? There's a lens for you out there as well. Keep in mind, the camera itself will not fit in your pocket, and a couple of extra lenses will not either; you will need a good bag to haul the stuff around in. When equiped with the 18-55mm lens that comes in the kit, it is no problem to strap it around your neck and take it with you wherever you roam.

Also, the battery can outlast the Energizer Bunny! We turned off the auto review feature, which extends the battery life furter. If you wish to review a picture, all it takes is a push of the button, and you are in review mode. Want to take another picure? Just "point and shoot", when you press the shutter release to take a picture, you will automatically exit any of the menu items you may be in at the time. If the camera goes into power save mode, just "point and shoot", the camera wakes up as soon as the shutter release is pressed. When turning on the camera, it is ready to take a picture faster than you are. The bottom line, you will never miss a picture opportunity because you are waiting on the camera!

I expect to have this camera for a very long time. I have heard some experts say that any digital camera over 5 MP is a waste for home use, since most people will only print out 4 x 6 pictures, with the occasional 8 x 10, but it is comforting to know that I can use this camera to make much larger prints with no loss of detail. In the long run, I think the initial cost of the camera will be worth it - it should outlast even the best P & S cameras seveal times over.

After having owned this camera for a little over a year now, I can find no faults with it. I recommend this camera to anyone who wishes to make "shutter lag" a thing of the past.

Well worth the price
This camera is a dream come true. It has a fairly thorough user manual that comes with it--thorough for being a free user manual anyway. You can do everything manually, but it also has a pretty sufficient all-automatic function. It is well worth the clams.

The Best Digital Camera Yet!
I received this for Christmas, 2005. It takes excellent pictures. It is pricey, but well worth it. I am very impressed, with the quality of the photos and the quality of the camera. You do not have to wait between pictures, it can take multiply picture at a time.
I have several Sony digital cameras and 2 Minolta film cameras and this is the best of the lot.

This Camera is a dream machine...
I have been a Canon EOS user since film days (can we say those are nearly erstwhile yet?). I always favored my RebelG because it did what it was supposed to do very well, every time, and predictably. I also have some medium format cameras that are just fun cameras, such a twin-lens Rollei on 220 format.

For the past two years, I've owned and used a Digital Rebel with the hand grip, and loved that camera, and the pictures it makes.

Now, I feel like I was missing out on something that whole time because the 20D is all those cameras and a banana split to boot.

I pulled the camera from the box and attached a 28-135 IS, and have been snapping away ever since. The camera feels good in the hand and is easy to handle. The new control styles will take Rebel users a while to accomodate as things are moved around a little on you, but the new control system is well thought out and intuitive on its own.

Setting options on the fly is a breeze, and easier than with my Rebel because two options can be changed with each button. The thumb wheel in the back controls one, and the finger wheel controls changing the other option. For instance, to change the ISO, click the DRIVE-ISO button, and move your thumb on the back wheel. Changing the drive is done with the finger wheel. Slick. Especially when you want to change a lot of options for a quick shot.

EOS accessories work well, as expected. So far, I have attached an ancient 50/1.8 EF (mk I -- the tank lens), the 18-55 EF-S, and the 28-135 IS. Each of these lenses has worked as expected. However, the viewfinder is so much brighter than my old Rebel, that even the lenses seem new. I even used my Speedlite 380EX without hassle. I don't think the 380EX supports TTL-II (the new metering system), but the exposures came out as I have expected them to be from years of EOS use. Even better.

Picture Quality is simply phenomenal. Two years ago, I was astounded at how similarly my Digital Rebel responded as if it were film, but the 20D is not only like film, it's like perfect film. What I mean is that is no matter what you shoot (ISO 100 to 1600 to H (3200)), the image responds the way you expect film would, but you don't have to worry about graininess caused by bad film processing, or from film getting hot, etc... Shooting in H (ISO 3200) is cleaner than the old Fuji 800 I used to shoot.

Now, looking through the viewfinder is a little different: the 9-point AF layout is new to any EOS camera I have handled. The diamond shape is quite an improvement. Plus, I have noticed that the camera gives more information than my Digital Rebel did. There are AF points that dimly flash to show that an object will be in focus, but at the edge of the focal plane. Bright points are in perfect focus. It's a very nice addition to the usual feedback.

The multipoint joystick located on the back of the camera makes it easier than ever to change AF points without getting out of the viewfinder, too. Click the AF-point selecter button on the the far right and slide your thumb over to the joystick to move right to the AF point you want. It couldn't be any simpler!

ONE BIG DIFFERENCE!!!! The shutter sound is totally different than my Digital Rebel. It's louder, but sleeker sounding. The 20D sounds like it is a film camera. For people like myself, who enjoyed film shooting, it is handy to hear the mirror slap up and the shutter motor bzzzeeerrriiipppt!

Setting the drive in continuous can be a bit startling, however, if you leave your finger on the shutter. You can fire off 5 shots in a second, and it means it. bam! bam! bam! bam! bam! What's funny is to hand the camera to someone who has never used an EOS and they will snap 10 pics. Keep it in one shot if you have a mediocre CF card.

Setting in-camera parameters is very, very, very easy. One very nice addition to the 20D is the ability to make custom parameters, but also to tweak the white balance in the same way you can on the top of the line. I haven't needed to do so yet, but I can see where it will be handy in mixed lighting (flourescent/incandescent).

The bottom line is that there is really very little to hold you back from getting this camera, if you want a digital SLR. The fit and finish is awesome (even down to the nice embossed logo on the flash -- so much nicer than the screen printed logo). The styling is appropriate for an SLR (don't expect a light load if you add the battery grip, an external flash, and have a long lens). The end result is spectacular!

You should look into finding excellent printing resources to go with this camera. I use a Canon Pixma at home, and one online service that has exceptional print quality. The prints this camera can make will make you proud to see your friends and others gawking -- but be prepared to print more posters and large, large prints than ever. It's kind of nice when 4x6 just isn't enough for some prints.

The bottom line is a 5 for this camera. Canon has made each feature work well. It has provided durability (even in a 100,000 snap shutter). And it works very very well for what it is. No less than a 5.

One more thing (I can't shut up about this camera, I love it). The features of the camera mechanics themselves (such as the 1/8000 top shutter speed, and little things like 2-d curtain synch, PC synch for studio flashes, etc) are what you expect in a top-of-the line film camera. Many of the similarly featured film-based EOS cameras used to price out around $1000. Given that you never have to buy film or processing, this camera is a steal... it really is. I love it!

If you want to shoot in low light, fast action, or plain old snapshots, this camera is for you.

Good one
Too good

I would wait...
Personally I don't have this camera, but I know the 20D succesor might be announced at the annual PMA in February 20 or so, and that's when Canon will make their announcement with their new lineup of Digital SLR and lens. So I would wait if I were you for this camera's succesor, and there's a good chance it's due out!

Not Perfect but Probably the best camera out there for the money
Not Perfect but Probably the best camera out there for the money. I would actually rate it a 4.5 out of 5. Image quality is excellent, speed is excellent, good focusing. Image quality is limited mostly by the lens quality, the better the lens, the better, more sharp the image.

A few gripes are:

1) comes with sensor dust on the sensor so will need a professional cleaning right out of the box, you wouldnt expect this at this price level.

2) no spot metering, which is almost unacceptable and can be very annoying and cause you to miss the shot, must use manual exposure or adjust other modes with exposure adjustment

3) Mirror slap much too loud, doesnt matter in many situations but during a wedding is disruptive and can get you removed from a church, or during wildlife or candid photography, can scare away or shy the subject

4) misses perfect focus too often, i think a infrared light would help, because when i use my 580 speedlite that has one, it is perfect focus every time. in good light focus is usually dead on, especially if i tell it where to focus.

5) One occassion so far where camera locked up and wouldnt work at all...removed battery and put back in, then it worked again.

6) kit lens is no good, so have to spend an additional $500 on a good lens. I have found the 17-85 4-5.6 IS lens to be great other than its price and the lack of lens hood. No other lens has IS in that focal length and it allows me to take photos in low light handheld to 1/4 second, its pretty sharp, and has a great focal range. I just wish it were "faster" (i.e., f 2.8 throughout the range).

8) I miss 50 iso from my previous camera, the Olympus C-750 UZ. Its good for waterfall shots.

7) Viewer is only 95%, which wouldnt be so bad if it were centered but its is not so cropping is often necessary, wasting at least 0.5 megapixels.

These are the major issues i have encountered so far, but I still like this camera very much. I would have a hard time choosing between the 20d and the nikon d200 if i were to do it all over but the 20d was the best camera out there at the $1300 price range when i bought it and still is one of the best out there in this price range.

One missing feature
For what ever reason Canon doesn't have a way to change the file prefix - and worse it is the same as some of their other cameras - so it is quite possible to overwrite pictures with the same name!

A sane file name would allow the user to put a prefix - like ones initials and then add date and GMT time when the file is moved off of the FAT files system ie (kps20060201-175317 for Feb 1st 5:53Pm + 17seconds)

The perfect camera allmost for me!
Having owned and loved my 10D but for not very long my very honest and not to over-sale camera sales person suggested I not upgrade. He shoots wide angle a lot and I am a rapid fire person, forever and qucikly changing focal length who loves to take kids without them knowing and rarely miss or use a wide angle per se. So his counter part disagreed owning both the 10 and 20 D and I followed suit and have been very impressed but at the same time also upgraded myself to the 20D lens series with the 17-85 lens and the "L glass and Image stabiliazation" as my guy says. The lens that comes with the camera is pretty musch garbage and should be bought with body only or with the upgrade to this fine L lens series unless wanting to go into the thousands for each lens. The pictures have been fabulous so I am not sure how much due to the upgrade to the 20 or the upgrade of the lens. I am dissappointed in the focal length however as previously with an off brand but good 28-200 and I loved the fact I could be taking the whole pool at a party or the nose of a kid and they did not know. This new lens does not provide the length I like so will now purchase the 70 to 200 but consider this a crucial point in terms of focal lentgh to be switching lenses and with the time to switch out a lens and I have numb hands. I am concerned it will slow down my style. Other canon lenses are either in the thousands or lack the image stabilization or the wonderful glass quality of this new 20D series. I will keep a new Tamaron 28 - 200 for the cases in which I feel this is the best alternative as when not needing the same quality and not wanting to change. Also as a red eye hater and I do not care how manty photo editing programs you have, I would only have this or any camera with the flash attachment and find my 550 from the 10d just fine. Be careful as their are items now for just the 20D and not interchangeable with the 10D and I have seen people dissappointed receiving the wrong information. This is a fabulous camera and the sports function is a blast for making of slide shows with photos. Set the time of each photo at one second and the sliide show resembles a video and yet you have the beauty of the pictures. Buy a basic book on how to shoot what you shoot and you can not go wrong. The only way to go wrong is to not take pictures at the highest level even if you still are so excited about how wonderful it is you get more pictures at shooting at a lower level. You must buy a good and I mean a good gig compact flash disk. ( at least one) Why brag about the price of your costco cheap gig disk with slow processing when spending the money for a camera with quick? Also then should of bought the lower level mega pixel any way. Let your email program condense but do not loose the ability to crop! Take, take, take and remember that the best pros used to say of a roll of 36 you were lucky if one picture turns out good maybe two. Do not analyse your roll in playback while shooting or you will miss the next great shot but have discovered the hard to take child can easily be brought into the process by taking their picture, checking for focus and then in playback showing them how you can magnify to their eye lashes. This gets them all the time. Then they are fun and relaxed and no more mug shots as they now want to see how you can do that. Also the joy of the garbage can. I took 450 pictures of my kids school during the halloween festivities and submit to the yearbook but my passion. Why not take so many. You should see my collectiuon of shots. 450 no way. 475 with the cropping out of individuals and garbage canning the not good. No editing, usually just the cropping and done. Then back up and remember the pictures you print today will be gone in 30 to 40 years so the back up on disk mandatory as that wonderful scrapbook that will not have pictures most likely by the time little Johnny now 3 months has kids at 35 can be redone or the pictures still here. Keep that film camera and bring it out no matter how it hurts or feels good and take some black and white four times a year on film for archival records. Set four holidays or special days you will remember and shoot 100 of your family and items of the era. Then you will have the ones here in 300 years for your decendents. Also if you have the disk space save those photos not quite yet saveable by your current abilities or editing software as in the future the technology may be here to get the horribly out of focus one you took of Julie at her first day of kindergarten as she moved too fast focused and looking good or you may learn more. Problems in future include use of compact flash cards instead of smaller disks for memory and the fact of the pins wearing down so try and use a memory card reader vs the camera when downloading. In two years the pins on my 10 d need replacing based on there being prone to damage and bending even when careful, so the camera with extended warranty is needing to go back to Cannon for fixing and now OK but hard to give up camera for 6 to 8 weeeks. Also when push comes to shove if you know your cannon product, no matter the level of customer the support will stand behind you, Technically if you buy from them or another rep whether online or real store and the product deficient from the start the rule of Cannon is you send it back to Cannon and even if it never worked, you are to take for repair or send in for a refurbrished replacement. After buying a i1990 printer for $500 with a rebate of $100 and it never even printed a picture I thought I deserved a new replacement. There is no such thing with Cannon as a "lemon" with a new replacement. They eventually agreed and were very quick about sticking behind their product but then I own the eos elan II e, the 10 d, the 20 d, bought the printer, was talking about a new video so who knows. At least they knew not to make mad a loyal customer but had to go to supervisor and believe nice carries more weight. The use of pictbridge color vs. Print image matching is also a concern as Canon is one of the few to stick with their own system making it a necessity to buy their printers in many cases. Make sure to have a pict bridge printer or you will be disappointed and editing everything as with my set up the 20 d talks to my mac, the mac to my epson with print image matching but since it does not have the pict bridge functioning as well the compact flash can not "speak" to the printer carrt with it the inportant color or exposure information. Without a pict bridge printer to read the quality poor unless editing constantly and with this camera this is not necessary unless you want to change in some graphical sense and not help. This makes it impossible to easily acheive the same colors you see on your screen of your computre and also the matchiung LCD on the camera when printing. For fun and speed the epson 4 x 6 priinter with the LCD display even though more than some counter parts is great for those occassions as it is pictbridge and my kids love for me to take pictures at playdates or sleep overs and then i get them going on a non messy project of a scrapbook with a three hole punch into 12 by 12 paper and markers with a yarn tie or the decorating of foam frames. This keeps the kids busy and they love going home with a framed picture or a few pages of a scrapbook and then I put my kids in a book and the kids are busy and happy for two hours. Worth the 29 cents per print. Make sure you have a pict bridge printer as my new i1990 great and my my brother the 800 something he loves despite using a non cannon camera of lower quality and he needs to edit too much. Looks fake but not due to printer. Good luck. Not a good customer of the 5d for me as not wide angle, you should be sold a camera for how you shoot, not just the camera. My girlfriend bought an olympus, a fine camera, SLR, for $3000, but portrait with slow processor and no sports mode and yet 3 sons out there stealing first all the time. Good camera, wrong fit. Tell the person who you are and how you shoot, go to a good store and then buy here if you want. Anyone ever try to use the amazon extra warranty? I have not had the occasion to use it and now knowing Cannons policy would wonder about exchanges as I know if I buy from the toys r us link the store easily takes something back whether they carry it or not. amazon you are great in every way. i come to you instead of consumer reports or the magazines to get product information thru customer reviews. All is well. Do not go anywhere. Why is my sons math book $70 however. Not you I am sure. Horrible. I know so much about the printers as had to trouble shoot on my own. No cannon, apple or epson person knew about it but the reviews on amazon had others commenting so I knew not just me. So then i get it and then the release of the info in the trades. Any one can recomend a high quality and a midrange Cannon Video?

Best of the Best

This is my 4th digital camera, the previous 3 being point and shoot and I still have my latest point and shoot for the movie capability (S1 IS). The 20D is also my second SLR, my first SLR I still have after 23 years, but more for sentimental reasons, these days.

I did a lot of research before deciding on this camera. Original research started about a year before the purchase, but, at that time did not have a need for DSLR until now. My primary reason for going to DSLR is for the low-noise as it is very important for astrophotography.

Similar to another reviewer, I also considered the 350D and the Nikon D70. I had some advantage regarding the D70 as my brother owns one. The heated decision came between the 350D and the 20D. Size/weight were only a minor consideration for me, but I really did like the metal body of the 20D. I found sites with samples of astrophotos from the 350D as well as the D70. The D70 has an inherent heat problem for long exposures and develops a "hot area" in the upper left portion of the images. The noise reduction it has is effective for reducing this, but I just didn't like the fact that it existed. Comparing 350D results to 20D, well, one would be pressed to notice the differences. However, in looking closely at review sites (such as dpreview), even they admitted the clarity on the 20D edged out the 350D (what is nice, you can see for yourself in their images). No, not a big difference at all, but I am wanting the best of the 2 at this point.

In the end, my decision was for the 20D mostly because this is the very camera Canon themselves used to create a camera purely for astrophotography - the 20Da. My thought is, if Canon chose this, there is a reason. I did not want the 20Da, however, as I plan to use the 20D for "normal" shooting, as well...but I was sold on the 20D.

Having used it for more than a week, I put it through some gruesome tests...including, of course, long exposures. I wanted to check for hot pixels at 30 sec exposures. The short version is: I checked with the Canon 5D results on dpreview and my results are on par with it...and the 5D price is nearing 3 times the 20D price.

Also, in more tests, I have found the 20D noise reduction has improved (I am guessing with the newer firmware my camera has) over what the results are on the dpreview site.

Oh, and of course (for fun) I compared results from the point and shoots I have/have had. I still have results from my A40 and S1 and, at ISO400 the point and shoots are blown so far out of the water you just can't find them.

I am a very happy person. An outstanding camera.

Canon 20D: Highly recommended on all points.

Canon 20D is it!
The 20D is wonderful for my photography business. It is instant on and only takes a quick second to pull up previews of pictures. Other digital cameras of the professional grade took too long to record the image before you could view it. Sharp, quick, and flexible. I would buy this camera in a heartbeat if I was still shopping for one!

Great Camera
The camera is everything I expected it to be and more. Give me a year or so and I may be up to speed on all of it. Everything has been splendid.

Incredible Camera !
This is the best camera I've tested. Of course this is NOT the cheapest camera, but if you really love photography this is the product for you !

a great camera for the money
i have owned this camera for well over a year now. and it has served me great!

this camera has so much less noise than my original 1d, and has a great responce time. everything is near instantanious. and image quality is outstanding!

however, stacked against the 1d mk IIn, it pales in comparison. but thats what you get in comparing a flagship camera to a prosumer camera. however, the battery in the 20d is much suppieor, and the camera itself is smaller and lighter. the images from the 20d acually show more detail, but they are also more likely to be off in some way, just by the nature of the camera. the 5fps is great for sports or fast action. however, it could use a larger burst rate for raw images, like the 10d precursor.

Excellent Camera
Love using this camera. Ease of use allows photographer to spend more time actually creating the photo than fiddling with menus and buttons. Low noise performance is above average for my usage ISO1600 is useable. Things I would have liked to see are permanent ISO display in viewfinder, Antireflective LCD, extended EC settings(+-5) and being able to chose focus point when using "basic zone".

Good Camera
This is my 4th digital camera. I keep upgrading as my skills get better. Finally on a SLR.
I had read that the controls took getting used to. True it took me reading the manual to get them all figured out DUH! Straight out of the box I began shooting in automatic mode and the camera takes remarkable images. The focus at 100 percent can look a little fuzzy because of the anti-aliasing filter in front of the sensor but it is impossible to tell at anything less than 100 percent and sometimes not even there. You can zap it right out with unsharp mask in Photoshop. If you don't have at least Photoshop Elements get it. If you pay this much for a camera what is 70 bucks more.
Out doors the camera is remarkable, indoors the white balance sucks bigtime but you can easily correct it especially if you are shooting raw. On the other side you have completely usable images even at 1600 ISO so that is great. Not much noise at all. 3200 starts to pick up a bit but is still better than some cheap cameras.
So far about 6000 shots and no problems, nothing but praise for this camera. I have shot everything from flowers to faces, streetcars to sunrises and it has performed admirably.
I have shot over 20,000 digital images now with all my cameras and I believe I will stay with this one for a long time. It exceeded my expectations.

What a Pleasure
I have gone from the old 640x480 about nine years ago to a 3.1m for the last few years to the Canon 20d now, what a pleasure to shot. The battery life has not been an issue even with over 250 shots, which should be sufficient for most anybody. There is a small learning curve but you would expect this with any new camera.
The lens choice was a great idea which came from an earlier review of the excellent walk around ability of this lens from the general shots to the closeups of those favorite flowers.
For those individuals who are on the fence about this product I tout it to all I have spoken to. It turned a good photo experience on our west coast road trip into a real serious photo shoot, it also uses the commonly accessable compact flash.
The built in flash works well have not had to explore the options at this time. The delivery of this item when promised was a nice bow on the package.

Well worth the money
I bought this camera about 2 months before my son was born. I knew little about Digital SLRs, but after research I found that this was the one for me. This camera is well constructed and durable. The pictures are excellent. I have blown a few of my pictures up to 11X17 without any problem. Also, if you are going to be doing any editing of photos on your computer, this camera would be great. I would recommend purchasing the newest version of Photoshop or Photoshop elements (when I bought mine it only came with Elements 2.0 and 3.0 was already on the market). Also, if you want your pictures to turn out, you MUST purchase a larger flash. The onboard flash is weak, will leave shadows and it does not allow you to do any type of "bounce" flash. On the whole, this is the best camera I have ever had in my life and it would be great for anyone who has previous experience with SLR cameras.

Helping me record the moments
My kids are in competitive Tae Kwon Do. I have now used the camera my wife gave me one year ago at several tournaments. It is able to stop action and take great shots even in low lighting. Now, we tried it when we went skiing and it also worked great in the glare conditions of the snow. I bought a monopod that worked real well to stabalize and I use software called PhotoFinale to crop and share the photos.

One year into the usage I am still looking forward to each chance I get to play with this "toy".

Next options: battery grip, flash diffuser, extra remote flash...

20D is amazing!
This camera is amazing, I couldn't have asked for more. Just be warned that the manual is pretty terrible. It's best to just play around with the camera until you figure it out, rather than wasting time trying to decipher the manual.

Excellent Camera... slow service from Canon Warranty
This is a great camera. Plenty of resolution. Excellent shot speed. Sturdy frame. The kit lense doesn't do the camera justice. Buy the body separate and add a better lense.

On the bad side, I had a small glitch with the camera's firmware soon after purchase and had to return it for a fix. It was two months before the camera was returned. Sorry, Canon... you lose a star for that.

Great upgrade form the Rebel. Great ameteur-intermediate Camera
Impressive feature list wih affordable price, for the serious ameteur. i've been using the 20D with 18-55, 50mm 1.8, 35-80, 80-200 and 500/1000mm lenses. i am not disappointed. i am planning to upgrade to the L series lenses but slowly.

i do not mean to be over entusiastic about canon, but i am yet to see a Nikon camera with the same specs at the same or ever a near equal price. i've got the FM10 for film photography. i love both my cameras.

Impressive features include:
Mirror lockup
ISO 3200 with noise reduction
18 custom functions
accepts the entire series of canon lens.
heavy metal body (no cheap plastic feel)

An absolutely wonderful camera
This camera is really great. I knew I liked it before, but I immediately began to appreciate this camera all the more when I ended up with a Rebel XT as a "loaner" while my 20d was in repair.

Not that the XT is a bad camera, it just doesn't really compare to the 20d.

The 20d has a nice feel to it; it is fairly large, which is great since I have somewhat large hands. The features are great too. And the image quality is awesome. I don't really need to go into all of the details, as most of the other reviewers have done an excellent job. Let me just say that it is a great camera and is worth the five stars.

The only complaint I have about the camera is that it doesn't have spot metering. The ability to do your light metering off of a single point of interest would be great - and they did add it to the 30d.

Great Camera
I am just a hobbyist. This was a big purchase and a big step for me to get into this level of camera. I still haven't mastered using it yet, and I've had it for a few months.

It does a wonderful job of taking pictures. If you have the right lenses, it can take some of the most beautiful pictures you've ever seen. Again, I'm just a hobbyist/enthusiast. I use it to take pictures for work, too.

I highly recommend getting a couple of VERY good lenses to go with it. Don't go with the cheap lenses that Canon, Tamron, Sigma, etc. make for this camera. Do yourself a favor and get a nice zoom - spend some bucks. You'll be happy you did.

The camera itself is pretty easy to use if you leave it on auto, but that's like buying a race car and never shifting out of first gear. The auto settings are great, and they do a wonderful job, but you can do so much more if you learn to use the camera in Manual, Av, Tv, or P mode. It allows you so much more creativity that you'll be amazed at the difference.

The 30D came out right before I bought the 20D, and I would probably buy it for the price now, but I'm very happy with my 20D.

Cannon EOS 20D
Excellent Camera with high end capabilities. Easy to use and intuitive system controls.

Awesome.
Wonderful camera. Very flexiable, very versitile. Can be the most wonderful creation device in someone whom is capable. Def a good buy now that the 30D is out.

I've had this camera for over a year and I STILL love it.

Outstanding Camera
I am lifelong photographer and I purchased this camera in January. I have taken it on several major trips. It is an wonderful performer. I have many 11x14 enlargements that I have received terrific feedback on. The quality of this camera and the Cannon optics will not disappoint. The price is right now that the replacement is out.

ultra fast
Two years ago when I bought the 20D body, Nikon couldn't come close to its specs. It truly is an excellent camera: ultra fast & feature packed.

I have a few of the better zoom "L" series lens but no prime lens yet: thus, I really can't tell how good this camera and lens combo can really get. But for the zooms I have (about $2000 worth), just don't seem to equal the pictures of my older Nikons.

That aside, because of the blazing speed of the 20D camera, I got pics that I could have never gotten with what Nikon had to offer at the time. Therefore, I love this camera.

This is a great camera - even for beginners
I recently decided to get serious about digital photography when I attempted to photograph my son playing guitar at a concert with a point and shoot digital camera. I missed all of the great shots due to the delay in shooting that is inherent in most point and shoot cameras. I became very interested in a more expensive setup when the Canon Rebel XT had a dramatic price drop to ~$800. But after going to the store and holding it in my hand, it felt way too small and I didn't like the plastic feel of the camera. To help me figure out which camera would be best for me, I determined my main areas of interest for photography and stuck to that while evaluating all possible cameras. My main interests in photography are portraits and my kids' sporting events. Because of this, I knew I needed something with burst capability and a fast write to disk capability, which this camera has. I also wanted easy to access shutter and aperture controls that didn't require me to go into a menu to change - again, this camera is very easy to adjust and use in manual setting with controls for both right on the outside frame of the camera. I'm new to both digital and film photography, but I've been having success in using the manual mode because I've read a couple of books on exposure and the controls on this camera are so easy to use. In terms of support for portraits, I knew I needed a lens that supported an optical range between 85-105mm. That didn't end up affecting my camera body purchase decision.

This is going to sound very superficial, but I really liked the feel of the Canon 20D in my hand. It is not too heavy, and it is very solid. All of the controls are very easy to access and are intuitive. Don't discount the importance of the feel of the camera in your hand. If you do one thing in your search, be sure to go to a store and hold whatever camera you're thinking about purchasing in your hand. Shoot a couple of shots in the store with it. You'll be amazed at your reaction to simply holding the camera in your hand and the impact it can have on you.

I recently joined a photography club at work and about 80% of the people in the club have this exact camera. I purchased this camera before I joined the club. I was amazed. There is a lot of support for new users of this camera in the community - lots of books, videos, and clubs. It's so helpful when you see demos that are based on your exact camera. Don't get me wrong - there is a ton of support for Nikon cameras as well. In fact, Nikon and Canon run neck and neck in terms of quality and continued improvement in their overall camera lines.

I decided not to opt for the Canon 30D because it was more than I really needed, and to be honest, I wanted to save money for some really great lenses. In terms of "glass" recommendations, I bought two lenses to start with - the EFS 17-85mm f/4-5.6 IS USM (for portraits and every day shooting), and you can actually get this lens as an optional kit lens with the Canon 20D. B+H Video in NY offers it with the body as a kit lens and I highly recommend this over the standard poor quality kit lens that is more commonly offered. The other lens I purchased was the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM for shooting sports. This is such a great lens - I can't say enough positive comments about this lens. Worth every penny. I highly recommend the Speedlite 580EX external flash for great indoor candids and excellent indoor portraits. I point the speedlite at the ceiling and bounce the light to get very natural, diffused lighting. Don't use the built in flash on this camera - it is not going to give you good results. Your shots will look like normal point and shoot pictures if you use the built in flash. Also, get at least a 2 GB memory card - the Ultra II SanDisks are the way to go because they have a fast enough write speed to support shooting sports. I can fit about 450 JPEG-Fine shots on a single disk, which is more than enough for an amateur like me. I'm going to move to RAW pretty soon once I learn the basics of Photoshop Elements 5.0, and I'll probably fit ~30% less shots on the disk, so I'll probably spring for a back up disk.

I've shot at least 4000 shots so far with this camera since purchasing it on Labor Day of 2006 and have had no problems whatsoever. It is a great camera body that I'm sure will serve me well for years to come.

Worth the step up from the Rebel
This camera is certainly worth the step up from the Rebel if you truly want to get serious about photography as a hobby.
- The build of the case is superb
- The ergonomics are excellent, it fits right into your hands and all of the buttons are easily and intuitively accessible while you aim at your subject.
- Camera is large and heavy enough for heavy telephoto lenses, whereas the Rebel feels complete unbalanced
- There are just the right number of wheels/buttons for controlling aperture, shutter speed, metering, and focus points.
- unlike the new Rebel, there is an LCD display on top so that the big screen on the back does not have to turn on to show you the settings.

I am recommending this camera over the rebel for build and ergonomic reasons. If you are going to be taking lots of pictures and putting a lot of effort into them, then this next step is completely worth it.