for the big shots

I did a lot of research before deciding on the Canon 10D, and I do not regret it for a second. I have had it almost a week now, and have become very comfortable using it. I am coming from using an Elan 7E, so it may have been easier for me to get used to it than others, but I find the camera very easy to use.

This camera is so high in it's resolution that you will see the true capabilities of whatever lens you use on it.

Color reproduction is great, the built-in flash is good, but it really needs an external flash to be of serious use for flash work. Build quality is very good, and it feels solid in hand, almost like an extension of me.

The speed of the maximum frame rate is also very good, unless you're a pro sports photographer.

The camera does not come with a CF card. That's probably just as well, since you'll want a large one. I bought a 512 megabyte one, which can handle about 87 RAW images or 202 large fine quality jpegs. I can see I'll need a few more for what I am using it for.

I have done almost 1,100 photos in the week that I have had this camera. Most of them were getting to know various controls and doing tests on lens sharpness and such. But I have noticed that I am learning about photographic technique a lot faster with this camera than I was with film.

If you figure that a roll of 36 exposure pro film, with developing and single print proof printing comes to about $20 a roll, you can think about it this way: 75 rolls of film, or unlimited digital shots? Seems like a damned good bargain when you look at it that way.

I'm free to do photography now, instead of wondering how much I can afford, and where and how to store and catalog the negs.

The Canon EOS 10D is my third digital camera. I started years ago with a Nikon 900, then a Casio QV3000, and just got my Canon yesterday.

Immediately the one problem that annoyed me the most about my two previous digital cameras was fixed - no more long delays between pressing the shutter and taking the picture. In fact you can take a rapid series of up to 9 shots which the camera will buffer until it can write them all to compact flash.

Years ago I had a 35mm film version of the Canon EOS, sadly it was stolen. I knew before buying this camera that I was impressed with the quality and ease of use of the Canon EOS series. The autofocus on the 10D is much faster and quieter than my years ago Canon camera. The user interface on this camera is the best I have seen.

One thing I'm not impressed with yet is the automatic white balance, I think my Nikon and Casio both did a better job, but there are options you can select for the EOS white balance, and this sort of thing is easy to tweak later with Irfanview or Photoshop. I'd give the Canon EOS 10D a 10 for ease of use, a 10 for rapid response to shutter button actions, and a 9.5 on photo quality with the 28-90mm f/4-5.6 II USM lens I'm currently using.

If you have been waiting for a top quality 35mm digital SLR at a reasonable price, I'd say the wait is over.

I have owned a Canon TX and Canon 650 film cameras. I was always very happy with my Canon film cameras. I bought the 10d thinking that I was finally able to get a digital replacement for my old Canon film cameras.

I have now owned my 10d for over a year. The picture quality is only fair. It often selects ISO 100 and gives me fuzzy pictures. The white balance is extremely poor compared with the film cameras. The "full automatic" mode does a poor job of focus and white balance. The "creative" modes are similar to the film cameras but don't seem to work so very well. I am just having a terrible time trying to get the settings right to get good pictures! After a year of trying I am extremely frustrated with it.

Finally, the print pictures I get from it are _always_ too dark. It seems I need to post-process EVERY PICTURE in photoshop to get the gamut correct, or brighten/enhance/correct the photos to make them look right. Argh!

It's all probably user error, but I never had these problems with my old film cameras. If I could easily get PhotoCDs made I would go back to film immediately!