Canon EOS 400D Review

Watch this item
Canon EOS 400D
3.6 stars
Average rating for this product is: 3.6 out of 5

From 14 ratings and 16 reviews

Thumb up 100% of users recommend this product

Rate it Now:

Click on the stars above to rate this product:

Tweet This Item


MisterW's Review of Canon EOS 400D

9th Aug 2007

Overall Rating

4.5 stars
  • Value for money
    5 stars
  • Image Quality
    4.5 stars
  • Features
    4.5 stars
  • Time Digital Camera Owned
    6 - 12 Months
  • Battery Life
    4.5 stars
  • Ease of Use
    5 stars
Good Points

There are so many, but to highlight a few:
Ease of use - a complete novice could pick it up and use it within 5 minutes.
Very quick startup time and auto sensor cleaning (removes dust particles from the sensor)
10 MP (very useful when cropping a picture) various levels of detail and resolution can be set
Preset modes for those new to SLRs
JPEG, RAW and RAW+JPEG formats
Lightweight
Backward compatible with all EOS lenses (even the early models from 35mm film)


Bad Points

No spot metering
Only 3fps - 5fps would have been better
Perhaps too small for people with larger hands.
Cheap standard 50mm lens - Probably to keep the price down
Only Compact Flash cards for storage.


General Comments

Overall this is a great DSLR with many modes and settings especially for the price. There are better DSLRs but you will have to pay for it.
I have taken around 5000 photos over the last 9months from fast action to landscapes producing some excellent results.
With good quality lens(es) you should produce some excellent pictures. Personally, I use a 70-300 for nature and distance shots. This is a moderately cheap lens and the performance shows. My general use lens: Canon 17-85 IS produces fantastic results so better optics is always worth it.
Picture quality is excellent for 100-400, 800-1600 pictures do become grainy
Pop-up flash is good with a reasonably accurate anti-red eye facility.
Battery life is good (always keep a spare) 3rd party batteries are just as good and a lot cheaper. There is an option for a battery pack and larger grip prices between £75-£150.

The 400D is ideal for putting in a ruck sack or small case and is easily carried around. Use it with a large capacity CF card and you'll not run out of storage space.
Personally, I always use RAW format, novices may prefer the JPEG option to begin with, as RAW must be converted to JPEG or another format for general viewing. RAW does provide much better finishing of the pictures.

Canon's own photo software (comes with camera) is very good and includes a good RAW editor and Printing software, produces better than 3rd party software.

You can see some of my photos on www.heretic-sports.info/daxphotos

Tweet This Review

On average, people found this review very helpful

How helpful did you find this review?