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| Photo by Jack Howard |
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Other new capabilities of the 30D aimed at the advanced user include finer adjustment of ISO (now in 1 /3-EV increments -- ISO 100, 125, 160, 200, etc.), and file management that allows as many as 9,999 images in a single folder. (The 20D makes a new file folder every 100 images, whether you want it to or not.)
The 30D also borrows a few tricks from its stablemate, the full-frame-sensor EOS 5D. One is the set of image controls Canon calls Picture Style. Instead of a limited choice of settings (e.g., Normal vs. Vivid color), Picture Style provides a wide choice of presets: Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful, and Monochrome. Within each Picture Style, you can tweak individual levels for sharpness, contrast, saturation, color tone, filter effects, and toning effects.
Careful users should note that Picture Style adjustments affect image quality. We found, for example, that the extra saturation and contrast added in Standard reduced color accuracy from that of the Neutral setting. Similarly, higher sharpness settings improve resolution, but add an uptick in noise.
You can also create up to three of your own custom Picture Styles (for a Velvia look, for example). Combine that with the white-balance shift controls (which let you dial in, for example, extra amber for warming), and you have a truly huge range of in-camera image adjustments.
Another feature ported over from the 5D is the RGB histogram, which can display three separate graphs of the exposure levels of red, green, and blue in the picture, in addition to the usual histogram of overall brightness levels.
A couple more additions to the 30D are a direct print button and diagnostic error messages.
EOS 20D owners will be happy to know that their batteries, vertical grips, remote switches, and other gizmos will work on the 30D. (There was some disgruntlement when Canon went from the 10D to the 20D and changed vertical grips.)
Given everything that this camera can do, and do well, it ranks as a near-perfect advanced amateur/semi-pro camera. Notice the "near-perfect." In field use of the 30D, we were reintroduced to the few quirks and inconveniences of the 20D: Setting a custom white balance, for one, is unduly complex -- a five-step procedure, when most other DSLRs in this class can do it in two.
The 1.6X lens factor of the 30D limits wide-angle shooting, although Canon is addressing this with its extra-wide digital-only EF-S lenses, such as the 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 EF-S zoom that we tested in our January 2006 issue.
We also don't think that the little nub of a multicontroller works all that well in switching AF points, as it tends to skip over points.
And, while the 30D works with the full system of Canon E-TTL II Speedlite flash units, the pop-up flash still can't be used as a remote trigger. (Nikon, Pentax, and the late Konica Minolta all figured out this trick some time ago.)
But that's it for the Complaint Department. The rest is brilliant.
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