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| Brand: Canon
Category: Photography
List Price: $1,299.00
Buy New: $979.95
You Save: $319.05 (25%)
New (20) Used (4) Refurbished (2)
Avg. Customer Rating:  327 reviews
Sales Rank: 49
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Includes Software: Yes
Optical Zoom: 4.8
Display Size: 3
Maximum Focal Length: 135
Minimum Focal Length: 28
Maximum Resolution: 10
Shipping Weight (lbs): 10
Dimensions (in): 9.7 x 7.6 x 7
MPN: 40D Kit
Model: 40D Kit
UPC: 138030866607
EAN: 0013803086607
ASIN: B000V5QV4S
Release Date: August 30, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Bravo, Canon! September 29, 2007
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
I received the Canon EOS 40D on 9/26/07. From the time I took it out of the box and held it, I knew I was going to like this camera.
Ergonomics: I've been using a smallish Rebel XT for almost a year, so the larger size and grip of the 40D was a delight. And the 40D is nice and grippy in all the right places. And all the controls fall readily to your fingertips--very ergonomic.
Build quality: It has some heft to it, which lends a sense of sturdiness and quality. Also, the extra weight provides a better balance for my EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS USM lens. My Rebel XT, when I had the strap around my neck with the camera hanging down in front, would tend to twist forward under the weight of the lens. With the same lens mounted to the 40D, the camera tends to stay straight--much better balance.
Viewfinder: The viewfinder is another thing that Rebel XT owners will smile about regarding the 40D. The viewfinder is much larger and brighter than the Rebel XT's.
Top LCD: The top LCD display has lots of helpful information that remains displayed at all times (f/stop in Av mode, white balance setting, est. remaining shots on card, battery indicator, metering mode, auto focus mode, exposure scale, ISO, and shooting mode (single shot, 3 fps, 6.5 fps, or timer)). I look at the remaining shots indication all the time.
Rear LCD: The rear LCD is huge (3-inches). And the lettering is large, bright and easy to read--much better for those of us who have difficulty seeing small writing close up. I find that it can be read even if you turn the camera almost all the way sideways to your face. Therefore, the 140 degrees viewing angle rating appears to be quite conservative. The menu options are well-organized, intuitive, and easy to navigate and use. You can set the amount of time the image displays on the rear LCD after you take the shot (Review time = Off, 2 sec., 4 sec., 8 sec., or Hold). I did notice that, despite how very bright this display is, in bright sunlight, it is nearly impossible to see the image in the display. So, I just had to look for some shade (or shield the display from the sun somehow).
Taking Pictures: The 40D lends so much confidence, it is almost impossible to adequately describe. Especially with the excellent EF-S 17-55 lens, there seems to be no shooting situation you can't conquer. The Auto Focus (AF) locks on fast and sure with a quick "beep-beep" in all lighting situations. I generally have the camera set to just the center AF point, since I want to choose the specific spot I want to focus on. The 40D has a high-precision cross-type center AF point that, when used with an f/2.8 or larger lens, provides twice the sensitivity as the other AF points. Lately I've been utilizing the 40D's Highlight tone priority mode and the High ISO speed noise reduction mode. The Highlight tone priority mode expands the dynamic range from gray to bright highlights and the gradations in between become smoother. This mode forces the minimum ISO to be 200. This is no problem, since the 40D produces very low noise, even at elevated ISO speeds. I have noticed that detail in highlights is well-preserved, though I still frequently need to reduce the highlights in post-processing (I shoot RAW almost exclusively). The High ISO speed noise reduction mode applies noise reduction at all ISO speeds, which is particularly effective at high ISO speeds. This mode also reduces noise in shadows. I am having no problems with noise on this camera. And despite this in-camera post-processing, in Photoshop Elements, I still can level, saturate, sharpen, etc. to my heart's content and still wind up with a sharp image, due to the excellent 10.1 megapixel sensor, and the inherently low amount of noise it produces.
Live View: I briefly played around with the Live View mode hand-held, since I have yet to receive my new ball head I've ordered for the tripod legs I recently received. It is really convenient to move the little joy-stick on the back of the 40D to place the little box over the point of interest and zoom in 5x or 10x and manually focus to fine-adjust the focus. You can auto focus during live mode by holding down the AF On button until you hear the quick "beep-beep" of the AF locking on (rear screen goes blank), then release it and the Live View display comes back on immediately. When you press the shutter release in Live View mode, it is nearly silent, since the mirror is already locked up and out of the way. [Note that you initiate Live View mode by pressing the "set" button in the middle of the big wheel on the back of the 40D and the mirror locks up and out of the way immediately, and you get a nearly full-screen, live view on the large rear LCD with info underneath showing (in Av mode) f/stop, exposure scale, shots remaining on card, and ISO speed.]
General observations: The battery seems to be lasting a long time, despite me playing around with the Live View mode, and spending a lot of time going through menu items and deciding which modes I want to use. As of this writing, I've taken about 200 photos (some of which are posted here for you to see). I got the 8GB Sandisk Extreme IV Compact Flash card, so I can just walk around popping off shots without worry of running out of space. I have received a Bogen-Manfrotto 055mf3 tripod, but I am waiting on the Kirk BH-1 ball head to arrive. Then, I will give the Live View mode a thorough going over.
Conclusions (9/29/07): This camera simply does all that is asked of it. There is no better camera that can be used with the top-performing Canon EF-S 17-55 lens, since the 40D is the best 1.6x crop Canon camera body, and the EF-S 17-55 lens can only be used on 1.6x crop Canons. The 40D is ergonomic, sturdy, feature-packed, high performance, high IQ, low noise, and an exceptional value. I'm sure many pro shooters will be snatching these things up, too. And I'm going to have a ball exploring all that it can do. Bravo, Canon!
From the hands of a first-time DSLR user September 29, 2007
1 out of 7 found this review helpful
I made the jump from a Canon S2 IS (with which I was very happy using) to the 40D recently. I consider myself an amateur but with a decent amount of disposable income, and having outgrown the S2, the 40D was the next logical step in terms of moving to a DSLR, having cross-shopped it's predecessor the 30D and the Rebel XTi.
The 40D's advantages over the XTi and 30D were considerable enough that I could justify the increase in price, and not feel like I had "settled" for something that I would later on regret. Yes, the technology of camera bodies progresses so quickly that the 40D might easily become obsolete by this time next year, but at the same time there's enough in this camera that I think, for someone like me, it will be very hard to outgrow it.
I will be using this camera mainly for photographing outdoor action, specifically automotive racing and events. For me, the 6.5fps will be extremely important. The live view is not a big plus for me, I don't foresee myself using that feature much.
The amount of features can make the camera a little intimidating for a beginner. If I was on a tighter budget, its very likely that I could have been content with the XTi, or Nikon's D80. One thing that I am still having trouble getting used to is the inability to use the LCD as the viewfinder (except in live view mode, it's not really the same thing). Also, at 10 megapixels, even the S-normal sized pictures come out huge. It's not like the S2 IS, where I could upload casual shots onto the computer and not have to resize, simply save and upload and publish. But then again, this camera isn't for the casual photographer taking casual photos (at least, not JUST for that purpose).
Novice Photo Enthusiast September 28, 2007
2 out of 12 found this review helpful
I have not had it long, but recently took it to NAPA Valley and was surpised at the quality of many of my photos (I'm still trying to learn its features, so some shots were not as good as I expected.) Looking in the area for a class. I did find it cheaper (by nearly $200.00) and with more (especially an additional lense) included at two other sites, so do what I did not do . . . research for a better deal.
Best Bang for the Buck, by far!!! September 27, 2007
6 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is the Best Bang for your Buck of any of the D-slr out there. The quality is great, and the build is also wonderful. Pair it with one of the fine L series lens, like the 17-40 F4 or the 24-105 IS and you have a true Picture taking machine!!! It is basicly a Mark 3 in Pro-Consumer clothes!!! Blows the pants of all the other brands out there and the image quality is almost the same as a 5D. The 14bit processing helps give a lot more Color detail and depth to the Photo. The Guy from Alaska about the Mark 3 was right about the wonderful colors, and the 40D has them as well. Puts the Nikon D200 to shame, at a fraction of the price! I got mine From Sal's Camera in La Verne CA since Amazon was on backorder and I am so glad I got it, it is by far the finest camera I have ever used!
 Solid look and feel, but LCD... September 25, 2007
7 out of 32 found this review helpful
i just got my 40d last week and it's great. 6.5 bursting mode, big viewfinder, live view and all. it's great for those who do high burst shooting and use the tripod a lot (live view). definetely recommend it.
when i opened the box, it's not that i was really surprised, the 40d has a really tough body, feels really great to hold. then i started shooting w/ it. Lo and behold, i got kinna dissapointed by the LCD screen.... pictures look kinna blue on it. so i played around w/ the picture style setting and altered the Tone making it warmer, so it looked better on the screen. the actual thing is, the picture on the LCD is actually slightly different than on the computer. so would you rather have a nice picture on ur camera LCD or on your actual image on the computer? =P
so in conclusion, i just don't think i need to make this kinna 'trade-off' and settle w/ the 40d screen considering the amount of money i'm paying. =P my suggestion is like anyone else would say. if you have a decent camera body like the 30d or xti, invest on great opticts then maybe the 5D replacement or the one generation after 40d will have much better to offer.
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