Canon EOS 400D Review

Overall Rating

Image quality is very good. Camera is easy to use straight out of the box. Controls are well laid out with nothing being too difficult to reach whilst shooting. Menu system is easy to navigate. Lightweight with kit lens. Good battery life using single lithium battery. Can support large size CF cards and will work with CF to SD card adapter. Battery grip BG-E3 makes a big difference to the balance of the camera and with two batteries it makes gives a very respectable shooting time. Usual Canon quality for the price. Can take advantage of all the canon lens from the last 20 years, using either the EF or the newer EF-S mounts.

Mirror lock up is a function buried in the menu system and can be hard to get at. Hand grip can be a bit too small. Eye cup is not strong enough and can break within 6 months. Does not come with filter on the kit lens. Some people will always complain that it feels cheap and plastic.

The Canon EOS 400D is a camera that will appeal to the amateur and professional photographer. It is easy to use, has some much needed improvements over the EOS 300/350 and is a very good start to the world of Digital SLR Photography. The fact that it has a small APS-C sensor does not detract from the capabilities of the camera making the images every bit as good as some of the cameras costing three times as much.

I have heard that many professionals who have Pro model Canon cameras will purchase the EOS 350D or 400D as backup cameras just in case something goes wrong or the battery fails.

First Impressions

When I first purchased the camera back in December 2006 I had made a decision that I wanted to have something that gave me more control over the image than my compact Ixus 900Ti did. I am not denigrating the Ixus, it is just I preferred the chance to work with the freedoms given by a DSLR camera and felt it would give me more fun. Two friends of mine had already purchased the EOS 350 and I liked what I saw with them, this coupled with the Canon EOS 350/400D adverts on TV that showed people having fun taking pictures and thought that it might be nice to give it a try. Eventually I decided that the price was right for me and I went out and took the plunge.

The first thing I noticed was the ease with which I could immediately take good photos. It didn't matter whether or not I used the manual functions or the semi autonomous functions, the images seemed to be good. The last time I played with an SLR was when I used my film based Olympus OM4 15 years ago, so I thought that I would be a little rusty. Well that was not the case, I slipped right back in and successfully got on with the job.

Another reason I went with the DSLR route instead of the hybrid compact SLR type cameras, was reduced noise on the DSLR's over the compacts and the ability to change the lenses for something slightly better. The reason I stuck with Canon cameras is that they have yet to let me down, without blowing too much sunshine up the proverbial backside of Canon I have found that they work reliably and without problems.

Functions and Features

The first thing you notice on the back is the large black area given over to the LCD on the back of the camera, at 2.5" across it makes for easy viewing of the images and with a ten times preview zoom you can check for focus and quality of image. Much in common with most other DSLRs you will find a good selection of control buttons allowing you to review images that have been taken.

Unlike the previous EOS 300 and 350 models, the small LCD that displays camera shot information has gone, this information is now located clearly on the 2.5" LCD screen using a black text on a off white background, that makes it very easy to know how the camera is set up. A nice touch is a sensor on the back that turns the LCD off when you place it up to the eye, thus preventing problems when you are about to take a shot.

Being as the camera is aimed squarely at the prosumer market it has functions that can be used by the new user and ignored by those who feel more confident. A dial at the top of the camera will take it from a full manual model all the way to a complete automatic, with preferences for various shooting modes such as Portrait, Landscape, etc. There is even a full automatic mode that will not use the flash for areas that prohibit its use. Personally for my purposes I never used any of the Auto functions as I found them too limiting and have used the camera in all its glory for better or worse.

Most of the functions in the camera can be accessed quickly by the one touch functions assigned to various buttons on the back. For instance it's possible to access the ISO settings, metering options, Auto focus, white balance and timer options by pressing the relevant button on the back. If the camera is set to Auto these functions will not always be available as the camera will make an educated guess as to the actual optimum setting. One comment made by another reviewer states that it would have been nice to reassign some of the buttons to suit your personal needs, especially the direct print button to act as a mirror lock up button. I personally would agree with this as it would make that function easier to get at rather than having to activate it through a menu structure.

The grip on this camera is slightly smaller than I would have preferred, but this was only because I purchased the battery grip BG-E3, this does not prevent your index finger from finding the shutter release button and the jog dial. Even though the camera is made entirely of plastic, it still does not feel flimsy and has a nice feel to it, although nowhere near as solid as the EOS 5D or 1Ds MKII.

The viewfinder is reasonable for a camera of this type, although to get a bright view you will need a lens that has a large aperture greater than f2.8. Dioptric adjustment is available by using a small dial on the right hand side of the view finder. On the left hand side of the lens mount you will find the flash release button, the depth of field preview and the lens mount release button.

The camera supports a hot shoe flash, so it will work with most, but you will need to check compatibility to be completely sure. As with all prosumer models they support USB for download of images and control and settings of the camera. A video out allows you to preview exactly what is on the LCD screen to a TV or other video output. Finally there is a small socket that takes a remote control cable, although there is an infra red control input on the front of the camera.

The usual Canon menu system is evident, with all the functions within easy manipulation, although I would suggest that canon improve the custom functions menu, as this still looks a bit old fashioned.

Finally Canon has introduced their new cleaning system, which according to them will help reduce the problems of dirt on the image sensor filter getting in the way of the images at low F stops. This is a mixed bag, as so far only Olympus has got close to the solution of helping remove almost all dirt from an image sensor. The Canon system is a good start but it needs some serious work to make it better. The problem is that as the CMOS sensor is charged and it will attract dirt that sticks to its surface, this combined with pollution and moisture will lead to a better solution being required before we can all wave good bye to the cleaners.

Canon has had a long association with Compact Flash memory, and this camera continues that tradition. I have managed to test 1Gb, 2Gb and 4Gb cards. It is possible to put SD into the camera but you will need to purchase an SD to CF card adapter. My reason for this was that as my laptop only supports SD cards, it would make sense to use an SD card in an adapter which would allow me to reduce the clutter I carry around with me.

Design

Design is always a subjective and is more a reflection of the reviewers thinking, but there are some rules that can be applied to anything, whether this is a good thing or not is another matter. With the EOS 400D, it has a well balanced look to it whilst using the kit EF-S 18-55mm lens, unfortunately as soon as you put a larger lens on it, such as the 70-300mm, or the EF-S 17-55mm it can look slightly out of balance. This can be rectified if you add the Battery Grip BG-E3 which gives the camera a more professional look to it whilst helping restore the balance to the camera.

As to the layout of the buttons, none of them are out of place, and as with all other canon products a great deal of thought has gone into the position on the camera body. Nothing has to be forced and everything seems to be well placed to allow for a quick learning curve.

The menu system is an example of good design, something that is not always evident until you go to a competing product and try to navigate the menus. This is also something that for me has been a strong point ever since I got my first Canon digital compact eight years ago, consistency of design and function.

For those who like to view the image with information, it is possible to get the shooting conditions of the camera at the time. This can also be linked to a histogram in either Overall or RGB.

Image Quality

I have done several tests with different lenses and bodies and have come to the conclusion that this camera is about the best in the price range, in some cases it is able to compete with cameras costing 3 times as much. There are options for various resolutions and an option of either RAW or JPEG format.

Image quality is dependant on two things: the first is a good lens and the second is correct exposure. With the camera set up properly, the kit lens supplied with the camera is gives good quality as a starter. It shows mild chromatic aberration and fringing at extreme wide angle or full zoom, but apart from that it is a stable lens. For those that can afford it, I would recommend the EF-S 17-55mm f2.8 IS lens, although at almost 60% more than the cost of the body it is a very expensive purchase.

Noise is kept to a minimum and is well below that of the Sony Alpha or the Nikon D80, images are excellent up to ISO 400 with 800 being good and 1600 being usable. There are a number of solutions to post processing the noise out of the image, The Photoshop plug-in 'Noise Ninja' being the first one that comes to mind.

Overall the images are excellent, even with the kit lens.

Conclusions

As you will already have guessed from this review, I think that Canon has produced a very good camera, for both the professional and the amateur market. Professionals will purchase this as a backup, whilst the amateur will purchase it as anything from an introduction to photography to their camera of choice.

It is hard to really point to anything on this model that fails miserably, although the eye cup could do with replacing or the grip could be larger. With a decent lens I have to say the images that come out are fantastic, this coupled with good colour balance and ease of use make it very easy for me to recommend this product.