Recently, I upgraded my camera to a Canon 40D. I had struggled with an upgrade path to choose. It would have been pretty cheap for me to upgrade to a Canon Rebel XTi from my Rebel XT. The accessories are the same and the body itself is pretty cheap, but I really wanted some of the pro features offered on the 30D. On the other hand, the XTi has some features that the 30D lacks, like self cleaning sensor, dust spot removal, and higher resolution.

Fortunately, I waited and waited and finally, was rewarded with a clear winner in the 40D. It has all the bells and whistles of the XTi, and the pro features of the 30D. In fact, it has a better AF system and it also has higher frame rate on bursts (6.5 FPS). With the upgraded AF and frame rate, it is a viable sports camera.

It also has all the ISO options of the 30D, from 50-3200, with 1/3 stop increments.

As an early adopter, I had to wait for some RAW processing to come available. Fortunately, LightRoom 1.2 just came out with support for the 40D and Bibble Pro also has support for it. I’m still waiting for a decent L quick release plate. The RRS version has been released, but is not very well designed. I’m holding out for the Kirk version which I think will be more likely to be usable.

I did purchase a Chinese knock-off battery grip for the 20D/30D and it works fine with the 40D. There is a new grip specifically for the 40D but it is the same form factor as the old grip and only has a little bit of weather stripping added. It doesn’t have a duplicate of the AF-ON button, so there is really no reason for me to purchase this version (which only just became available at B&H yesterday anyway.) Also the Canon grip is plastic, so I felt there was no advantage to going with that as opposed to the Chinese version.

As for upgrading from an XT, the 40D is a nice step up, but it is heavier as a result of it’s alloy body. I’m getting used to the weight though. I am loving the camera so far and don’t regret the purchase at all.