Used Canon EOS 20D DSLR Body (Shutter Count N/A) W/ 18-55mm F3.5-5.6

Update:I just spent three weeks in Africa in a very desolate and harsh environment with this camera. I have to add - Don't overlook the construction on your dSLR. I had heavy long telephoto lenses on it and the performance of the magnesium case, metal mounts, weather proofing, battery grip all is just amazing. I hate to imagine how a lesser plastic frame might have performed. After traveling by rattling/vibration ridden truck for days, dugout canoes in the middle of swamps, airplanes, hiking -- I came to appreciate Canon's commitment to construction. This camera and and the entire EOS system held up superbly under extremely abusive circumstances and can understand why professional photographers prefer this brand. And the pictures? Oh My, the pictures are just simply the best pictures I have ever taken in my life. Not just because of the locations but because of this terriffic equipment. My friend who had another major brand of camera complained about a muddy ant inside his lens, imagine a muddy ant inside his other major brand lens while he was shooting -- not with my Canon equipment (the sealing held up great). Albeit - he's a better photographer so he probably got amazing shots I didn't -- I didn't worry about the equipment. A+++ to Canon for the camera, the lenses, the battery grip - everything.On other news, I just read that canon is releasing the 5D so I guess my info from the original review was correct. Its definitely a bigger higher end camera and at $3,200 definitely in a different class. I think I'll keep my 20D for telephoto work and but with its full frame sensor, I might get a 5D for wide angle photography. Again, amazing equipment from Canon.Original Review:I'm a first time dSLR buyer (bought the 20D from Amazon -- great service). This was a big jump for me and I read and I read before I decided on this purchase and whether I should jump into the dSLR world. I'd outgrown point and shoot a while back.On the 20D. I agonized over the 10D and the 6megapix Digital Rebel until the 20D came out and I quickly decided on the 20D. I picked the 20D because of solid magnesium case, 9point autofocus, 8.2megapix sensor and DIGIC II, and Instant On. So even after the Rebel XT came out -- the 20D is in a different class altogether. The 20D is a professional chassis and you can use it as a pro camera -- the Rebel is for world travelers (In my opinion).My agony now is over what type of photography I want to do. I only have the kit lens and a $79 dollar 50mm f/1.8 II ... lenses are expensive especially the good ones as I'm learning:Here is what I've learned (intended for the new people who are wondering if they want dSLR or not). dSLR is really about the lenses and the options that you can use on the camera. You need great lenses for great pictures. This is my gradeschool version on dSLRs and lenses and I hope it helps:The setup -- Lets suppose you are standing next to your car and on your car's hood sits your girlfriend and on the hood unbeknownst to her sits a litle grasshopper. Behind your car is a lake and in the distance there's a huge snow capped mountain. This is the difference lenses make:Prime Lenses: Would let you take wonderful facial shot of your girlfriend (boyfriend). If the lens has a good aperture, you might be able to blur the background so you only get her beautiful face and get rid of the annoying mountain and they tend to be light and small. (Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 is a prime lens -- $350)Super Wide Angle Lenses: Expands the foreground and compresses the background. So you'd get a picture of your girlfriend on the car which would both be huge and a lake that would stretch to the horizon and the mountain would look tiny in the far off distance. (Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L is a super wide angle lens -- $1,800)Telephoto Lenses: Compress the foreground and magnify the distant objects. You would wind up taking a picture that would magnify the mountain in the background but your girlfriend, car, and lake would either be very small and compressed in the foreground or they wouldn't even come out in extreme telephoto lenses as you'd only get the mountaintop and cut out the rest. Your girlfriend would also wonder about your relationship at the sight of the humongous lens: good telephotos can be HUGE and heavy! (Canon 400mm EF f/2.8L is a super telephoto lens $6,000)Macro Lenses: Let you take pictures of very small things and they tend to allow you to focus quite close in on the subject. You'd walk up to your girlfriend and she'd wonder what you were doing so close to the hood. You'd give her a peck on the cheek and then you'd close in on the little grasshopper next to her. With a macro lens, you'd could take a great picture of the little grasshopper and it would fill my frame. If your girlfriend is like mine, she'd be off the car as soon as she caught glimpse of the bug. Old stereotype here no disrespect ladies - I know a few that would put me to shame. (Canon EFS 60mm f/2.8 is a macro lens -- $450)Zoom Lenses: Are any lenses that allow you to shift the focal length. That is to say I can make it more wide angle or more telephoto. The 20D comes with a 18 to 55 zoom lens which gives you marginal wide angle and up to 3x telephoto. Not a bad kit lens but its not USM (Ultrasonic) so autofocus is not as fast and not as accurate and can fail to focus sometimes and its not IS (Image stabilized) which lets you take clearer pictures without a tripod. (Canon EFS 17-85mm IS USM is a zoom lens that covers some wide angle at 17mm and some telephoto at 85mm -- $600). You can turn the barrel and you can change focal length!! What a wonderful invention but they're more complex with more parts than primes and the extra parts add weight and they generally affect the amount of light they let in (aperture stuff) but you don't have to change lenses and they offer more flexibility.Now bear in mind that if you're out there in the middle of a blooming field in Georgia and start changing lenses, you can get dirt or pollen in the sensor. I only change my lenses indoors in a non windy environment.Exposure and Shutter Speed: Exposure is controlled by the ISO sensitivity of the sensor (ISO rating is another arcane film invention basically lower the ISO number the more sensitivity to light). One of the problems with smaller sensors was noise (graininess) on the pictures at high ISO numbers. Well not on the 20D the noise is imperceptible to me. Shutter speed is also controlled by your 20D...and the 20D has a great shutter 5frames per second, up to 1/8000 of a second. Wow! So you have two out of three big components taken care of here and the 20D is first rate on a ton of other things like custom White balance etc.A note on Aperture. Its just how much light can come into the lens (the size of the hole). The lower the aperture number f/# on the lense the more light it allows. Aperture determines depth of field (how much of the foreground + background is in focus) and it constrains shutter speeds. Now aperture is a function of lens construction -- a 400mm f/2.8 lens is humongous and costs $6,000 while a 70-300mm telephoto f/4.5 to 5.6 is $1,200 but with the 400mm lens (get this)...you can use faster shutters and freeze the action of a quarterback spinning in midair across the field on a night game (or freeze your son as he's swinging a bat in little league: ball bat and son frozen in midair!). With the 70 to 300mm, you'd have to use a slower shutter and you'd get blurr and blurry does not make the cover of the USA Today nor brings a smile to grandpa. On another example, if you've been hiking for a month to take a picture of a sloth that moves at 1cm a year in some god forsaken South American jungle, the 70-300mm lens will weigh allot less and allow you to run faster than the 400mm white monster lens. If I'm a nature photographer, I'd rather come out with the picture than fall victim to some relocated pigmy tribe because I couldn't run fast enough and have someone years later find my bones still clutching my white 40lb $6,000 lens in the middle of Brazil still attached to my 20D with a flashcard full of razor sharp gorgeously blokehed* pigmy and sloth pictures, ala blair witch project. So get a lens for what you need -- I guess is what I recommend. (*Blokeh are those out of focus circles of light in the backgrounds of pictures taken with expensive good lenses)A word on Nikon. There are two camps of photographers these days Canon and Nikon (well there are others like Leica - but if you own a Leica you're probably a pro, don't care about feature battles and are laughing at my gradeschool analysis). The 20D is more expensive and better chassis feature for feature than the D100 - go compare 8.2megapix vs 6.1 and the list goes from there. Nikon owners will tell you that their lenses have backwards compatibility 50 years...yes but you'll have to manually focus those lenses and on some of them you have to pay some guy to saw off some metal flaps to make them fit the D100. Canon EF has been around since 1986 and there are a ton of autofocus lenses out there. EF is the standard lens mount that fits the 20D and there is a newer mount called the EF-S Mount that also fits. Canon is very conservative in their advertisement as they aim for educated consumers: D100 claims a burst mode of 144 pictures -- yes but on the low quality setting, 20D can do the same if you cut the quality down...you'll hear spot metering, megapixels, focus speed --- you need to read to understand all of this and make a sound decision. Nikon makes great cameras and I don't want to get into a war. If you already own a bunch of recent Nikor lenses -- your mind is already made up. A good friend of mine owns the D70 and another the Digital Rebel and me with the 20D -- we're all happy. After much review and a ton of reading, I liked the 20D better for my purpose as a personal preference I bought it and am very happy.On crop factors. Lenses are still stuck in the 35mm film focal length format world and 35mm film is bigger than the sensors on the 20D and this means simply that the EF and EFS lenses turn out more telephoto on the 20D. So a lens marked 10mm is actually a 16mm (multiply mm times 1.6 to get actual focal length) on a 20D and other small sensor cameras (Rebel and Rebel XT). The crop 1.6 crop is not extra zoom -- it only appears that way, its actual lost information. So, to telephoto photographers, this means you carry more weight than you need in physical glass and to wide angle photographers, it means its harder to find lenses that do true wide angle bc the sensor is too small to capture all the information. EFS was designed so they could make smaller lenses at least so don't lose information but they're still labeled "old school" and you still have to multiply. EFS was designed to take advantage of the smaller sensors on the 10D 20D Digital Rebel and Rebel XT. The higher end Canon cameras use a 35mm size sensor. People wonder if Canon will adopt bigger sensors for all lines and if they do, then EFS will probably go the way of the dodo. On the other hand, bigger sensors are expensive to make so who knows where it will go and the 20D has very low noise at higher ISOs (used to be one of the reasons they thought bigger sensors would prevail -- that and the 35mm mindset and large number of lenses out there for 35mm). I can't predict the future -- Canon seems to be still investing in both EF and EFS though and I think that for the next 3-6 years you're fine with either EF or EFS.I heard a rumour that Canon is planning to release a new camera between the 20D and their higher end 1Ds around December? If you must have latest and greatest and have $4,000 to spend you might want to wait. If true, I'm sure the chassis will cost $2,500 - $3,000 -- just rumours here. I'm keeping my 20D until I can make money to justify more expensive than this extremely good camera. In my opinion, this new camera would not supplant the 20D as much as it would provide Canon a more complete EOS Digital line from Digital Rebel all the way up to the 16.7megapix 1Ds -- they'd provide an true entry level Pro Camera in the $2,000 to $3,000 range. Most interesting to me will be if it has 45pt autofocus and the size of the sensor. Also interesting, Canon is releasing a new 60mm EFS f/2.8 Macro lens. Good quality and interesting choice in focal length. Amazon carries it. I think Canon is telling us something with the type of EFS lenses they're releasing and the market they are targetting. Keep watching Canon.Back to my 20D, I've only bought a 50mm f/1.8 lens for $79 and the kit lens and a tripod. I can't wait to get a USM (ultrasonic silent 0.5 second focusing lens) with IS (Image stabilization) -- if I can only decide what type of photography. But with what I have, I've taken pictures that have floored my friends and everyone who has seen them. Someone actually said, "I'll pay you for that picture." And that is a great complement to me and to the 20D and the complement goes to the 20D because my lenses are cheap! I am a huge Canon fan now and long and short of it, the 20D is an amazing camera and the best prosumer chassis out there (period!).

Good camera...I noticed over time the lens has some spots that show up on the pictures.. Looks to me to be inside the lens. I have clients who have sent me photos and I noticed similar spots on their images. Should replace. I had issues with the flash not popping up, just click,click sounds - after a good cleaning it seems to fix. Camera body has a good feel. Battery last long - but I also purchased a second battery.This camera is almost 10 years old now. Still produces great picture.

This is my second digital camera. Previously I had used the Fuji Finepix s5000, but wanted to move up to an SLR system so that I could eventually use a variety of lenses.I was very concerned at the beginning of my DSLR buying process- it seems to me that once a person buys a body and a few lenses, they are committed to that camera maker's "system" pretty much for life, so I wanted to be very certain that this was the right choice. If you purchase a 20d, you are not just buying a 20d, you are making (often) a pretty serious financial commitment to Canon technology.I chose a canon 20d for a few reasons; I had decided early on in the process to stick to Nikon or Canon, as they are the clear leaders not only of Digital SLRs, but of Camera technology in general. Thus, though certain other SLRs like the Olympus E-Volt or the Pentax *istD are attractive, they simply do not have the range of accessories or the support community of either Canon or Nikon.I ended up seriously considering three cameras; the Canon 350d (Digital Rebel), The Canon 20d, and the Nikon D70. From talking to other folks who were in the same situation as me, This seems to be a common range of choices people faceI ended up choosing Canon because it seems to me that they have a slightly better line of lenses than Nikon, particularly those available on the used market. This is important, because the more you use your DSLR, the more you will want that lens that is just a slightly wider angle, or just a slightly faster aperture, etc.Once I decided to go for Canon, I chose the 20d over the 350d primarily due to size and toughness. The 350d is a great Camera, and its sensor is very similar to the 20d. However, the 20d's magnesium alloy chassis is much heavier than the 350d. It can certainly take a lot more abuse than the plastic 350d body- and I tend to take my camera on a lot of long trips. The 350d is a lot lighter, which is nice- but I frankly found its body too small to grip easily. As I have very large hands, this was a serious disadvantage to me. For someone with smaller hands the 350d probably feels fine. You will have to pick one up and judge this for yourself.The layout of the camera itself is a lot easier to use than the 350d as well. The camera requires far less attention when shifting settings than the 350d, and thus frees up your "focus" for the subject you are shooting. I cannot stress how ergonomic and intuitive I find this camera to be.Since I have purchased the 20d, I have not regretted it for a minute. This camera is a real joy to work with. The viewfinder is nice and bright (looking through glass again instead of an EVF is a pleasure, believe me). The range of ISO settings from 100-1600 is wonderful, particularly nice are long twilight/night shots at ISO 100 that give you some lovely colors. Shooting night and low light with the 20d will blow your mind. The CMOS sensor of the 20d produces almost noiseless images at high ISO settings.The best feature of the camera is the quick start up time. It can go from dormant to actively autofocusing in 0.2 seconds. My previous camera took 2 seconds to "turn on." That may not sound like a great deal, but I lost countless shots due to that fact, and it is what pushed me most to upgrade my camera.I tend to shoot on aperture priority or A-DEP (like auto, but with no flash), but there are a variety of "pre-set" modes for portraiture, sports, night shooting, and so on that are easy to use.The megapixel count is nice, but not really that important. Comparing images made from the 6 megapixel Nikon D70 and 8 megapixel Canon 20d, one can't really notice any difference until you blow them up to ridiculous sizes. At this level of the MP game, the quality of the lens you use is far more important to final resolution than the sensors pixel count. If you compare the kit lens (18-55mm f3.5-5.6) at its wide focal lengths and lower apertures with the canon 50mm f1.8 prime lens at f8, It looks like you are shooting with 2 different cameras. The same holds for Nikon as well, so don't decide for the 20d simply because it has more megapixels than the D70. Of course, even the worst canon lens beats the hell out of my old digicam on its best day.I have had a few problems with some older third party manufacturer lenses made for the Canon mount, Like Sigma and Tamron, not working with the new 20d body; but I have been told that if you ship off the lens to the manufacturer they will rechip it for free. All currently manufactured 3rd party lenses ought to work with this body. Keep in mind that the Canon digital sensor is smaller than 35mm film, so there is a "focal length multiplier" that makes your lenses "longer" than they would be on a regular film SLR. The focal length multiplier for the 20d is 1.6 . That means a 100mm lens on a film camera acts like a 160mm lens on a 20d. For those who like to focus close up with telephoto, that's great, because you can buy a relatively inexpensive 300mm lens, and it will shoot almost like a 500mm telephoto. I, however, usually shoot wide (more "peripheral vision") and prefer shorter lenses, so this is a pain. Of course, I would love to have a "full frame" camera like the Canon 5d, but the price is simply to much.It has a number of strengths and weaknesses, which I will detail below:Strengths:The variety of lenses is excellent.Lenses on second hand market are reasonably pricedIntroductory high speed lens (less than f2) is inexpensive (canon 50mm f1.8)Autofocus aquires targets quicklyContinuous shooting mode is quick- autofocus recalibrates for each shot.Extremely high ISO capability (1600) for low light situationsBody is physically tough.Very fast top shutter speed (1/8000) allows open apertures in well lit situations.Manual focus easy to usePop up flash is very high above camera, and thus avoids casting shadowsFlash recycles quicklyCF card memory system is versatile and inexpensiveUser interface is the best I have ever seenCan be used as a blunt weapon if you are muggedWeaknesses:It ain't cheapVery heavy, particularly with long lensesYou may end up spending money on glass that rivals a serious crack addictionLonger focal length multiplier (1.6) than film, or than Nikon (1.5).Doesn't work well with older 3rd party lenses without rechipping.Mirror is very loud, particularly if you are used to a point and shoot.Comparison with Nikon:20d is better at telephoto (lenses have internal motors)D70 is better at wide angle shots (focal length multiplier is lower)20d is better at low light (lower noise, lower ISO setting).Nikon fans believe that all Canon users are heretics, and vice versa, so why compare them you dirty heathen.