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 In America, we believe that “if something ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But at the Canon factory in Japan, the motto seems to be, “If something works, make it better.” And so Canon continues to churn out improved versions of already successful SLRs. Case in point: the new 8.2MP EOS 20D ($1,499 street, body only), which bumps the very popular 6.1MP EOS 10D (“Formula For Success,” June 2003) out of the picture. But how does the new model compare to the 10D and other lower-priced DSLRs, and does it approach the image quality and performance of the $4,299 pro-level 8.2MP EOS-1D Mark II?
Here’s what we found. For starters, the EOS 20D has a nearly identical body, shape, pop-up flash, and control layout as the 10D. That means it’s built to far tougher standards than Canon’s Digital Rebel, with a well-balanced, stainless-steel chassis and magnesium-alloy casing, along with rubberized surfaces for a better grip. It’s also compatible with all Canon EF and digital-only EF-S lenses (with a 1.6X 35mm lens factor), and a variety of Canon accessories. The few external differences between the 20D and 10D include a repositioned on/off switch (which now activates the Quick Control Dial), as well as a new Multicontroller button that helps you quickly select AF points, set white balance, scroll around zoomed-in images, and position the trimming frame for direct printing.
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New Guts, New Glory
Turn on the 20D, and it’s clear there are big improvements over the 10D—and some features that blow the competition away. Thanks to the camera’s superfast DiG!C II processor, the EOS 20D starts up and is ready to fire in the blink of an eye. This same processor is largely responsible for the camera’s fast burst rate of up to 30 Fine-quality JPEGs at 4.5 fps (or up to six RAW or RAW + JPEG images). That smokes the 6.2MP, $999 Nikon D70’s 14 images at 3 fps, and the nine images at 3 fps of the 10D. (But it’s not as lightning-fast as the 40 images at 8.5 fps achieved by the EOS-1D Mark II.) We found the 20D not only finished saving all those 30 frames within 10 seconds on a 1GB SanDisk Extreme III CompactFlash card, but, within one second of the full burst, captured single frames as fast as we could press the shutter. Wow!
Canon also improved the 20D’s AF, flash, white balance, and image-processing systems over the 10D’s. Instead of seven selectable AF zones, the 20D gives you nine AF zones shaped in a diamond pattern, with a center cross type surrounded by linear sensors (see test results). Our tests show this AF system to be superior to any other in its price class, and capable of focusing down to EV 0 (at ISO 100).
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