Low cost
Cropping for sports
Light Weight

Construction is not waterproof
Loud Shutter
Shutter lifetime is only 50k
Gets dusty easy
1.6 crop is annoying for event work.

Although not as heavy duty as I would like in a body, this camera serves me well for wedding and Bar Mitzvahs as my main body. It's cheap enough that I earn back the money I've spent on it in short order (I'm now on my third) but don't have to obsessively worry about it getting damaged. I would recommend to any photographer unless you are doing studio work due to it's low pixel count and 1.6 cropping.

Dave
Dave Blake Photo

Customer Service

I've had this camera broken and Canon was quick in their service, if not a bit pricy

Similar Products Used:

Canon 10D, Canon 20D

-Crop factor when commbined with a full-fram camera
-Canon Customer Service
-Image Quality
-Low-Light Shooting
-Price

-As a previous poster said, the public perception that this 8MP camera is inferior to the 10MP D-Reb

I purchased this camera as a backup to the 5D that I use for most my shooting. I am a wedding photographer, and got nervous having just one camera, but I didn't want to spend the money for another 5D. I was amazed from the first time I used the camera. It functions almost identically to the 5D, with the exception of the high-speed "drive" mode. At the first wedding that I did after buying the camera, I found that it wasn't a backup camera, but a supplemental camera because of the crop factor and the high speed of its continuous shooting.

Image quality is fantastic, noise is low at most ISOs, and I have found that even shooting in low light during ceremonies, fabulous prints can be obtained.

The crop factor is a huge plus for me, as I also carry the full-frame 5D. I get two lenses out of each lens in my kit! I have an 8mm circular fisheye lens that produces awesome pictures on the 30D, as the picture fills almost the whole frame, but you still get the beautiful distortion of the fisheye lens. I also love the extended length this camera give the 70-200mm 2.8, which becomes a 112-320mm 2.8 equivalent.

The only issue I have had with the camera is that an assistant bent some of the CF pins in the camera. Canon should have designed that slot so that it is impossible to install the card wrong. I will say that it is difficult to do so, but it is possible. Canon took excellent care of me, even covering the repair under warranty! I had the camera back in about a week, absolutely thrilling!

Customer Service

FANTASTIC! Covered a repair I totally expected to pay for with a FAST turnaround.

Similar Products Used:

-Canon 5D
-Played around with the first D-Rebel a bit

Low light high ISO image quality compared to other cropped sensors.
Shooting speed and quick controls for action shooting.
Quality of build and access to the fine EOS lenses.
This camera line has proven itself, each generation, to be a fine, reliable tool.

Marketing: 8<10 (public) perception.

When Canon announced the double rebates this fall (my price paid was after rebates) I sold my 10D and 20D and purchased the 30D and 5D. The 30D is a fine backup camera to the 5D as the controls are nearly identical. When I move my lenses from one body to the other the difference in perspective because of the different size sensor increases the versatility of this setup. There are many situations where the denser pixels and shooting speed of the 30D over the 5D give it an advantage, and yet having this combination seems to give me the best of both worlds. Having used this body type for so long I really love the quick control that the dual dial and joystick provide. The 10D took beautiful pictures, the 20D did also but bumped up the performance. The 30D is a further refinement of what was already a very good camera. Having the larger screen, the spot metering, the larger buffer, and the fact that the shutter is rated for 100,000 shots made the upgrade worthwhile. The prints made from my 30D files are fantastic, and although the 5D has an edge in photo quality, I feel that the 30D is more versatile and a real value at it's price point. If you frame your shots carefully 8 megapixles are plenty, and I have made many very large and beautiful prints that have proven this to me.

Customer Service

Never needed it, hope I never do.

Similar Products Used:

10D, 20D, 5D

Read the Pro User Reviews....way to many to rewrite here.

For me....NONE. If you read the pro reviews and such, you will see some "cons" listed, but how can you say their weaknesses if you bought the camera anyway.

I finally made the switch to digital and wish I had done it 5 years ago. Without a doubt, the manufacturers of today have simply made taking pictures a pure joy and have made it easier than ever to obtain sharp, long lasting images as long as the photographer does his/her part.
The Canon 30D I purchased has been nothing short of amazing to me. I have been a loyal Canon photographer for years and all my equipment is Canon, so for me anyway, purchasing anything but Canon would have been a serious waste of money. Since Canon has made all their EOS equipment compatabile, it was a no brainer.
I have found that no matter what camera you have, good glass is a must. I shot many pictures using lesser Canon lenses (non-L series) and found that they cannot compare to the higher end L-series lenses. I am sure this is also true with NIkon, Minolta, etc.
I am sure that any readers of this simple review have read all the bells and whistles the 30D so I won't waste the time by being echoing all those. I will just simply say that the 30D is everything I expected and much more. It is very user friendly, especially if you are already familiar with EOS cameras. It just plain feels good in your hand.
IMHO, if your a Canon user, and want to go digital using an SLR, then the 30D is th camera. Unless of course you can afford to upgrade to the 5D or the high end pro bodies.

Customer Service

Not needed for this unit, but have used them in the past.....No problems, great customer service when I needed them.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 10D, 20D, Elan 7e

hi quality pics with the cmos sensor
not too expensive for a professional 8.2 mp
nice software utilities for your computer
its a Canon

nothing worth mention

I work for a company that sell retinal cameras (machines to take a picture of the inside of your eyes) and we use the eos 30D on it. the retinal camera itself act as a huge lens for the 30D. with the combination of our retinal camera and the 30D we blow our competitors away. the pics we get are much sharper, require less flash and we can zoom in the pic and see more details than our competitors that use 10 MP nikon camera because the 30D use a big hi quality sensor. the sensor is easy to clean. I cleaned at least 100 of em the last year with dry Q-tips and i never came close to scratch one.

Customer Service

It takes a while to get our camera serviced by canon. usually more than a month but we had very few issues with our cameras and i never personally had to deal with their service so ill leave that open

Similar Products Used:

eos 5D
1 Ds
some nikons i dont remeber exactly

Quality build
Speed
Great battery life
Great lens avialability

Maybe a little expensive for some

I have had the 30d since it came out. I upgraded from a Digital Rebel (300d) and the firt thing I noticed was the speed of the 30d. It is also able to focus in really low light and picture quality is awesome.
The big LCD screen in the back is great and the RGB histogram gives you a good idea of what colors you are clipping or blowing. It is a little heavier than my old Rebel, but I like that, it feels very robust.
Another great feature is the Spot meter, if you like shooting in manual mode, the spot can be very handy for tricky exposures.
In general, I love it!

Customer Service

INone so far

Similar Products Used:

Canon Digital Rebel

Excellent high ISO image quality--sighnifcantly better than d200 at this.
Good heft and body style.
ISO displayed in viewfinder when changing or pressed.
Picture style settings banks at tap of thumb on control wheel.

ISO, WB, and Flash exposure just ontop of shutter button.

ISO not permanently displayed in viewfinder--only when pressed or changing.
No weather sealing??? (its okay, it's not a EOS 1 series).

Not wireless cammander flash like d200.

Being an employee, I have had the chance to handle both the Nikon D200 and 30D hundreds of times.

The debate between the two above cameras can go on forever. After reading tons of reputatilbe reviews, I finally came to the point of buying--and ended up buying the 30D EOS (body only). Considering my collection of slow lens right now: 28-105mm f3.5-4.5, Tokina 19-35mm f3.5-4.5, and EF 75-300 IS, high ISO is a major issue (my budget won't allow for fast L lenses at the moment). Also, with the Fall 2006 rebates, the 30D can be had for 1050 dollars--500 dollars less than the d200.

Both cameras handle extremely well--perfect heft and body curvatures to allow for whole days of shooting without fatigue. In my personal opinion though--and countless EOS and Nikon users will agree, is that the D200 does handle significantly better than the 30D in many respects. It almost feels like a baby D2x. But the layout and exposure values are backwards from the Canon system which can be confusing for some.

After carefully studying the auto focus options avaible on the D200, it became clear that the only SIGNIFICANT difference between the two was the "Lock on" (avaliable with short, long, and normal focus lock) feature--which was equivilent to the 30D's AI Focus mode (no focus lock aviable). Otherwise, a large majority of the rest of the autofocus options are better left on default on the D200.

RAW Image quality wise, both are really identical in terms of resolution and detail, but different in high ISO capablities. With the D200, noise becomes visible at 800 ISO and on up. Considering it is favorable to leave the High ISO NR at HIGH, it smudges fine level details at 100% crops, while the 30D retains a cleaner, less NR'd smudged image. The 30D's noise pattern at 3200 ISO is equivilent to the D200's 1600 ISO shots--that's a fact (1 stop cleaner).

Ultimately, it all comes down to image quality and handling. And the 30D is great at both. I'm confident shooting at high ISO levels and enoy switching back and forth between my EOS a2E and the 30D (same layout of controls).

Until then, in Canon CMOS Digic II processors we trust. Happy shooting.

Similar Products Used:

EOS 20D, EOS a2e, Nikon D200, Nikon D70s, Nikon D50, EOS 5D beast.

price is good, 6 pix a second is plenty

none love it

moved up to the 30 from the 20, for more lcd screen, and other small items. I found it to be about 2/3rds light then the 20 I dont know what they did, buy using L glass that is a good thing. Shutter is a little less noisey, but I shoot wildlife and birds, always, and wish that they would work on that. I guess the Rebel is not that way, so I will be ckecking it out on the rebel XTI and the extra 2 pexels wont hurt either. I will still use the 30 for rainy weather etc the body is much more durable.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

20D

Highly Visible 2.5 inch LCD
Faster Shutter Button (less lag time)
Faster ON time (though hardly noticeable)
More solid magnesium body (compared to 350D)
Good Canon Software Support
Solid Canon Customer Service (in the Philippines...so sorry Nikon!)
More Than Adequate Battery Time (from the G2 up to the present 30D)
Higher ISO setting of 3200 - a plus for indoor sports' shooters
Additional Spot Metering
Additional Invisible Sensors more than adequate
Same good 20D uqality and dependability
Good Customer Service in the Philippines and regionally (Singapore)
Good Support for Lenses (repair and maintenance) - Sorry Nikon!

If they can match U.S. Prices for lenses and other accessories, it will blow away any of the competition. Lenses and accessories on the average, cost about 15% more on the average compared to retail U.S. prices (here in the Philippines).
I do not think that waterproofing is such an issue because once you buy a waterprooof camera, it only becomes totally functional with an equally waterproof and dustproof lens so let us be practical. Can you afford the higher end group of
L lenses? Not all L lenses are waterproof except those which cost $1,500 and up.
What will you do with a watertight body and a lens which springs a leak?

I recently upgraded from the EOS 350D and the build quality from plastic to magnesium made a lot of difference. The selector knobs however still had a plastic feel to it because you can hardly feel a click to give you a firm feedback that it is already secure in one of the modes. It really isn't a problem but it feels cheap compared to the Contax G2 Range finder that I am also using. Although the select wheel is more professional looking, the 350D's cursor control is easier and quicker to navigate through the menu. The 2.5 inch display though, is a welcome upgrade considering my 50+ year old eyesight. Usually I do not shoot with reading glasses because it affects my use of the viewfinder. Handling the 30D inspires more confidence than the 350D. Because of the 350D's small size, you are constantly struggling to find the best grip position most especially if you have a medium size zoom attached. The only solution is to get the battery grip to hold on to "something". The shutter lag time of the 30D is a lot faster as compared to the 350D but still falls short of the film cameras. When you are trying to capture an action shot in an indoor sport like basketball. The 3200 ISO setting on the 30D is a very welcome addition for indoor sport shooters. The venue of basketball games sometimes vary from the brightly lit to the dimly lit stadiums and the high ISO availability always saves the day. The best zoom lens that Canon offers is a 70-200 f/2.8 USM. There was a particular stadium wherein the aperature was not enough, I had to settle for a fixed lens 85 f/1.8 to make the poor lighting workable. It wouldn't have been possible also with just a 1600 ISO setting because the best shots were taken using a shutter speed of 1/2000. I am very happy with my new 30D and because I could not afford too many L lenses, I am happy that the 30D allows me to use 3rd party lenses and still come out with satisfying outputs. I do not care if it is not waterproof like the Nikon 200D but I hope that Canon adds an automatic electrostatic cleaning feature for its' sensors to prevent some finicky owners from destroying their cameras by attempting to clean their sensors by themselves. I have used the 350D for almost a year and found no need to clean the sensors. Lastly, I hope that Canon adds a tripod
hole in their battery grips to allow the shooter to shoot vertically with a tripod or monopod without pruchasing an L-bracket for that puropose. To all 30D users, we are indeed blessed!

Customer Service

Canon Customer Serivce and Support in the Philippines is the very reason for the ever growing Canon users (and converts) in the Philippines. The service support for equipment and lenses is superb.

Similar Products Used:

Canon G2
Canon EOS 1V
Contax G2
Panasonic Lumix LX-1
Canon EOS 350D

low noise at high ISO (car shows, concerts, etc).
5 fps shooting
Magnisium Alloy body
EOS L IS lens are the best.
CMOS and Digic 2 processor

not as well built as my Nikon d200

Okay, lets have a professional do the reviewing on this fabulous camera.

First off, I'm a proud owner of both the Nikon D200, Canon 30D, and EOS 1D mark II.

In short, the 30D is incredible for low-light (flashless) shots. The exposures come out realitivly clean and way less noisy than my D200. This is where it excels. Lots of my work is done in low-lighting situations--and yes, many of the best photos ever taken do come from low light situations.

I see almost no resolution differences between either the D200 or my 30D--though the extra 1.8 megapixel has slight minute edge for cropping--either than that...nothing different.