First impressions of the EOS 20D are good, it feels far less ‘prosumer like’ and instead feels more like a ‘baby EOS-1D’. Gone are some of the annoyances of the EOS 10D, the 20D now switches on virtually instantly and focuses quickly, it feels very solid and yet weighs slightly less [...]]]>

First impressions of the EOS 20D are good, it feels far less ‘prosumer like’ and instead feels more like a ‘baby EOS-1D’. Gone are some of the annoyances of the EOS 10D, the 20D now switches on virtually instantly and focuses quickly, it feels very solid and yet weighs slightly less than the model it replaces. So far so good.

Specifications

ot surprisingly the EOS 20D feels very much like the EOS 10D, albeit a little lighter. One niggle I did have was the ‘nail file’, a part of the lens mount molding which is directly opposite the inside of the hand grip. This part of the body rubs against your fingernails which leaves little white marks (although not permanent). That aside the EOS 20D is a great camera to hold and shoot with, it’s small enough not to be bulky and ‘weighty’ enough (without feeling heavy) to provide a little weight-induced stabilization. It’s probably also worth noting that the rubber used on the rear of the camera and hand grip is now softer and more sticky than before.

On top of the camera is a large LCD panel which provides a wide range of information about the current camera settings and exposure. The main numeric section of the panel doubles up to provide other types of information such as the ‘Busy’ warning, ISO setting and processing parameter set when these are being changed. The panel has an orange backlight which is illuminated by pressing the backlight button to the top left of the panel, the backlight stays on for approximately six seconds.

Through the viewfinder you’ll see the partial metering circle and the nine focus points of the new AF system. In automatic AF point selection mode the AF points chosen by the camera are highlighted when you initiate AF (half-press shutter release / AF button), otherwise the selected AF point is highlighted*. In the example below all AF points are illuminated, this would only occur if you had pressed the AF point button with all points selected.

The CompactFlash compartment on the EOS 20D is at the rear corner of the hand grip and is opened by sliding the door towards you and flipping outwards. The door itself has a metal hinge and opens with plenty of room to remove the CF card once ejected. It’s worth noting that the CF activity light has moved from a hole in the compartment door to just below the quick control dial on the rear of the camera. The EOS 20D supports both Type I and Type II CompactFlash cards and cards greater than 2 GB in capacity (FAT32).

On the left side of the camera are all of the camera’s connections, these are protected by a rubber cover which allows you to expose the PC sync and remote terminals while keeping the USB and Video out terminals covered. In summary from top to bottom: USB (2.0 Hi-Speed), Video Out, PC Sync (left), Remote terminal (right; N3 type). Kudos to Canon for including USB 2.0.