Canon EOS20D Test Shots

Whilst I loved my Minolta A2 dearly, and was in general extremely happy with the results I was obtaining from it, I have realised for a long while that the move to an SLR was inevitable to counter the Minolta's weaknesses (its slow turn on, shot to shot speed and autofocus and its noisy high ISO characteristics). It came down to as toss up between the excellent Minolta 7D and the Canon EOS20D, which the Canon won by a whisker more on lens selection than any other aspect.

Poor weather has so far prevented a rigorous field trial, but the following shot demonstrates some of it advantages over the A2. The lens being used is the EF-S 17-85mm IS.

The original Shot

This is the shot as taken by the camera with no post processing of any kind (other than a resize). It was a heavily overcast day, and the shot was taken in the shade, so conditions were quite dark. However, at ISO400, F5.6 and a 1/30s exposure time the picture has come out beautifully. Much cleaner than an ISO100 shot on the Minolta A2, and very sharp.

Detail Crop

This detail 800x600 crop shows just how good the EOS is. There is hardly any visible noise, and the clarity is breathtaking.

Processed Image

This final picture is the same image cropped for the web, with a slight contrast adjustment and some sharpening. To be honest the original is so crisp it hardly needs sharpening, but I thought it would be interesting to see the results of the process that I normally use for shots from the Minolta.

My verdict? The post processing does make a differnce. As with the Minolta, the slight contrast adjustment brings out the colours, and sharpening highlights the details, but the differences between the original and the final picture are far less marked than they would be with the Minolta. If the camera puts in this good a performance under better conditions (and I see no reason why it should not) I expect to be very happy with it!