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Welcome to the third in the Guided Tour series, an Adorama exclusive, where we take you on in-depth looks at today's most popular cameras. Read this to the end and follow the many tips and you'll soon master your camera!
You can read Guided Tours...
...before you buy. The more you know about the abilities of a camera, the better equipped you are to make a buying decision. Our Guided Tours offer extensive information.
...after you buy. You've invested in the camera; now you want to learn everything there is to know about it so you can take advantage of all of its capabilities.
How to read a Guided Tour:
If you just want to turn on the camera and start shooting, go to the "Basic features" section.If want to explore other features in depth, read the "Advanced Operations" section. And to unlock your camera's deepest levels of control, scroll to "Pushing The Envelope."
Now, on with the tour!
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Canon EOS 20D at a glance
Key features
- 8 megapixel sensor
- 1.5X 35mm equivalent
- 3FPS burst mode
- Many monochrome options
- 18 custom functions
- Control layout similar to other EOS models
- E-TTL II flash
- Flash exposure compensation
- RAW+JPEG
- Histogram in image review
User profile
- Film Canon SLR owner/hobbyist buying first digital SLR
- DSLR hobbyist who needs a second camera body
- Pro who needs a back-up body
Positives
- Extensive features for experienced users
- Compatible with all Canon EF-mount lenses
- Extensive features for experienced users
- PC outlet for accessory flash
- All those custom functions!
Negatives
- Smallish 1.8-inch LCD monitor
- Bulkier and heavier than Rebel Xt
- No live preview
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Basic Features
Outside controls: The Top
One of the first places a photographer looks when picking up a camera is the top, so let's look at these controls first, from left to right.
 The control dial, located to the left of the hot shoe and pentaprism finder, is divided into a "Creative Zone," designed for experienced photographers who know their way around more advanced cameras, and a "Basic Zone," which automatically sets optimum exposures for specific subjects, indicated by icons. Beginners should read the Basic Zone description first.
Basic Zone
The Basic Zone begins with a green rectangle--simple auto exposure. This setting locks you out of the camera's many other settings, and does everything itself. It will deliver perfectly acceptable images in most situations and keep you from accidentally changing the camera's settings before you know how to get out of them. If you're a beginner, you can choose this mode, and start shooting. (Come back soon and learn about the more advanced features that give you creative control. For now, just go out and have fun with your new camera!)
Continuing clockwise, the basic zone settings tell the camera to choose ideal settings for: portraits, landscapes, close-ups, sports, and portraits at night or in dark rooms, and flash disabled. These are similar to basic Scene settings found on most point-and-shoot cameras.
Creative Zone
A-DEP: Claimed by Canon to be a simplified way to control depth of field, A-DEP measures the nearest and farthest items that you want in focus. But it's tricky. I tried following the manual instructions and wasn't able to get it to work--you need to press the shutter release halfway while simultaneously pressing the depth-of-field preview button, which is on the left side, at the base of the lens mount. This is simple? There's an easier way to control depth-of-field--read the Av description for details.
M: Manual exposure. For those of us weaned on all-manual SLRs, this will feel familiar: Manual lets you control aperture and shutter speed. Twirl the dial right behind the shutter release to change the shutter speed. Whirl the big thumbwheel on the back of the camera to adjust the aperture. The logical placement of these controls makes it almost--but not quite--possible to operate the camera one-handed. Check exposure accuracy in viewfinder or on LCD panel.
Av: Aperture Priority Auto exposure. Change aperture by twirling the control dial. The camera will automatically set shutter speeds to get accurate exposure. Use this when you want to control depth of field. Choose your aperture, focus, and then check depth by pressing the depth-of-field preview button. See? Wasn't that easy?
Tv: Shutter Priority Auto exposure. Change the shutter speed by twirling the control dial. Use this when capturing action or showing a sense of motion is more important than focus control.
P: Program Auto exposure: Basically the same as auto exposure, but it also lets you take advantage of all of the menu-driven camera functions, such as flash exposure compensation, image recording settings (RAW or JPEG), ISO speed settings, Color balance, metering modes, and sensor cleaning, to name just a few.
Note: The hot shoe atop the pentaprism housing provides full E-TTL automation for EX-series Canon Speedlite flash units, and the camera will synch at up to 1/250 sec--although the "Fast Sync" mode lets you shoot at faster shutter speeds albeit with less light output. Non-EX units and non-Canon flashes will sync at up to 1/250 sec, while big studio flash units plugged into the PC socket will sync at up to 1/125 sec.
 On the right side, there are four buttons in front of the LCD information screen. The button indicated by a bulb icon simply turns on a backlight, which illuminates the LCD screen. Use this sparingly--it drains the battery.
The AF-WB button controls autofocus mode and lets choose the white balance setting. Actually, as you'll see, it's one of several ways the 20D lets you set white balance, although it's also arguably the simplest. To adjust white balance, press this button and turn the thubmwheel knob in the back. Watch the box on the left side of the LCD screen and you'll see the different WB choices--Auto, daylight, shade, cloudy/twilight/sunset, tungsten, white fluorescent light, flash, custom (which you set using a menu item which we'll look at later) and color temperature mode, which switches to a color temperature that you choose manually in a menu mode.
To change the autofocus mode, press the same AF-WB button, then twirl the index finger dial behind the shutter release. One Shot is best for portraits and other still subjects; AI Servo AF is designed for capturing moving objects, especially those moving towards or away from your camera, using Predictive Autofocus. Predictive Autofocus follows a moving object and assumes that it will keep moving at the same speed and change focus to keep pace, even as you're shooting. It's an essential for sports shooters.
Drive-ISO button: This is a button sports and action photographers will use often. Drive controls how many frames per second you're shooting at; the chosen mode is indicated by a rectangle on the right side of the LCD screen. A plain rectangle means you're in single-shot mode, the default setting. A rectangle with three "shadows" indicates you are now shooting at a burst rate of three frames per second. (The EOS 30D has an "H" mode which lets you shoot at a five frames per second burst rate.) Finally, you can also select the 10-second self-timer. Simply press the button, then turn the index finger dial.
Tip: Use the burst rate along with the AI Servo AF mode when shooting fast-moving action. To get even better results, use a telephoto lens with Image Stabiliaztion.
To change ISO, press the same button and move the thumbwheel. The ISO range is 100-1600, and can be set in 1/3-stop increments. "H" mode accesses ISO 3200.
The last button is the metering mode/flash exposure compensation button (see the icons of a meter pattern and lightning bolt and plus/minus). To get to the metering modes, press the button then turn the index finger dial. Evaluative metering is fine for general shooting, and even can handle some backlit subjects, but not all shooting's general.
Tip: Use Partial metering when the background is much brigher (or darker) than the subject. Partial metering covers 9 percent of the image area. Use Spot metering if you want to make sure a specific part of the scene is properly exposed--like a performer on a stage. Spot metering meters only the center 3.5 percent of the image.
For wedding and event photographers, flash exposure compensation may be one of the most useful tools on the 20D. To operate the flash exposure compesation half of this button, press the button and twirl the thumb dial, and check the amount of compensation you've chosen in the LCD finder. This feature lets you increase or reduce flash output of either the pop-up flash or any EX-series Speedlite.
Tip: As an alternative to flash exposure compensation, use the "∗" button described below to lock in flash exposure on a specific part of a scene or subject.
Outside controls: The Back
 Let's look at the back of the camera, this time from right to left, starting with the two buttons on the upper right.
In image preview modes, use these buttons to zoom in and out of an image. In shooting mode, the right button controls the active focus zones. The focus zones are in a cross formation, and you can select all of them or just one using the thumbnail. So if you want to focus on something on the far right, just activate that focus zone. The left button, marked with an ∗ locks in flash exposure. Press the button, recompose, and shoot.
 Above and to the right of the viewfinder is a small diopter adjustment wheel. The first time you use the camera, set your lens on autofocus and focus on a contrasty nearby subject. Then turn the wheel until the subject is sharpest. Change it only if you are an eyeglass wearer and change your perscription.
Dominating the back of the camera to the right of the LCD screen is the Multi-Controller, which we also call the thumbwheel. It controls many functions that require scrolling, such as searching through a portion of an enlarged image, selecting an AF point, navigating menus, moving a trimmed frame for direct printing, etc. Simply nudge it with your thumb and watch what happens on the LCD screen.
 The thumbwheel moves you through menu items and image previews, and works in tandem with the Set button in the middle. When selecting a menu mode using the Set button, the thumbwheel moves you through the options, selects an option, or takes you to the next layer of navigation. It also works with various modes to adjust aperture, shutter speed, and other settings. This is a time-saving innovation that appears on every Canon DSLR except the Rebel series.
There's a tiny light at the bottom right of the thumbwheel, which indicates when an image is being written to a CompactFlash card. When it's glowing, you may not be able to take a photo.
Below the LCD screen you'll find the self-explanatory Delete button. Online menus will ask you if you really want to delete all pictures if that's what you chose, a nice security blanket for ham-handed users.
The On-Off button has three settings--On, Off, and a mysterious third option, indicated by a bent line. This is an energy-saving setting. The camera is sort of in "sleep" mode, but press the shutter release halfway and it will turn on for six seconds so you can make adjustments using the thumbwheel and modes.
Now let's look at the left side of the camera's back.
 The four control buttons to the left of the LCD screen are, from the top: Menu (we'll look at menu items in detail shortly); Info, which brings up histograms and exposure information for images in preview mode, and details about current camera settings when in shooting mode; Jump, which navigates quickly through stored pictures by date or by skipping through preview images 10 or 100 at a time; and the Image Preview button, which accesses images stored on the CompactFlash card.
 Tip: Don't rely on how the image looks in the camera's LCD screen to determine if your exposure is correct; viewing conditions and the monitor's intensity settings will affect what you see. Instead, use the Info button and check the histogram--one of the most powerful features on any digital camera. If you see a "mountain" in the center of the histogram, or the mountain is spread fairly evenly through the graph, your exposure is good. If it's concentrated on either side of the screen, your exposure is off and you should re-shoot.
 The left side of the camera has a rubber door that protects the connectivity outlets. From the top, these are: a Digital outlet, which accomodates a USB cable used to connect to computers and printers; Video-Out, which connects the camera to a TV set; and side-by-side outlets for a flash's PC sync cable (left) and a remote control terminal (right).
Tip: Downloading images directly from camera to computer may be convenient, but it's not especially fast. Consider buying a FireWire CompactFlash card reader--they are not very expensive, but can download a gigabyte's worth of image files in less than a minute. USB takes longer.
 Finally, there are three more buttons on the left side of the camera: The flash button (press it to pop up the flash), the lens release button, and the handy depth-of-field preview button (large, long button in center).
Tip: Use the depth-of-field button to see what will be in focus when you shoot. Otherwise, what you see in the viewfinder is not exactly what you get, since by default the lens remains at its widest aperture except at the moment of exposure.
Advanced Operation: Modes and Menus
The camera's menus are divided into three sections: Camera, Preview, and Tools modes. This is where you can find some of the camera's least-known but useful features, as well as things you'll use either every day or just once.
The Camera menu controls the following features:
 Image Quality: choose from RAW+JPG at any resolution, RAW alone, or JPEG alone (in the green box mode, you can only shoot JPEGs). Resolution settings range from high-quality L (Large) to lower-quality smaller images, which are best for email only.
Red-eye on/off (self-explanatory)
Beep on/off (turns off those annoying beeps the camera makes when it focuses or takes a picture)
Shoot w/o card: Do you really want to do this? If you do, the camera will keep shooting but won't record images if there's no card. If you choose no, the camera will lock up if the CF slot is empty, until you insert a card.
 AEB stands for Auto Exposure Bracketing. Set this and every time you press the shutter release, the camera will take three pictures in rapid sequence--one overexposed, one underexposed, and one at the metered exposure. Use AEB to control the exposure range, up to two stops in 1/3-stop increments.
 WB SHIFT/BKT is the most precise white balance setting this camera offers, and is really for situations where color accuracy is critical. Using the four-way arrow control buttons, move a cursor around a grid pattern (see photo) to shift the image's color balance. Bracket color balance by turning the index finger wheel to move the cursor vertically and the thumbwheel to move it horizontally--the camera will shoot three images at three chosen color biases.
On the horizontal line, the camera will shoot one image with a blue bias, one neutral, one red-biased; on the vertical line, the camera will shoot one green-biased, one neutral, and one magenta-biased. The wheel controls the range of each color bias. (If you didn't follow that, you probably should skip this control.)
Custom WB is simple, and very useful: Photograph a white object in the same light that you want to shoot in, then select the image in this mode. Hit the "set" button, and all of your images will reflect this balance. Then go to the WB menu and choose and set the bottom right setting to save the setting for future use. Don't forget to go back to auto WB when you're done.
Hint: This is a good approach if you know you'll be shooting a lot of pictures in one place.
 Color Temp. You can adjust the color temperature from 2800K to 100,000K in 100K increments. Roughly speaking, 2800K is very warm, akin to a sunset, while 10,000K represents a blue sky. So, if you're shooting a neutral scene that would normally need a color temp setting of 5200K, that scene will have a deep blue cast at 2800K, and an orange overall hue when the camera's set at 10,000K. You can use this to color balace scenes manually--a handy feature if you are shooting in scenes with more than one kind of light source.
The Color Space setting is mainly for commercial printing purposes. Leave it alone unless you anticipate that your photos will be published in a book or magazine.
 Parameters (called "Picture Style" in the 30D): Use this setting to fine-tune your images in camera; you can even approximate the look of classic film emulsions. You can set parameters by choosing one, then using sliders to control contrast, sharpness, saturation, and color tone (also called Hue). There's also a Monochrome that black-and-white shooters will love (we'll get to that later).
To access the parameter settings, choose a parameter and hit the set button. Now scroll through the sliders and make adjustments using the thumbwheel and set button.
Tip: You can choose your own combination of settings to create your own digital "film."
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Black-and-white-friendly: Monochrome modes include sharpness and contrast (left), filter effects and toning effects (below). |
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Now, back to Monochrome: One of the best hobbyist-engaging features of this camera is the Monochrome setting. To get to it, Select Parameters, scroll down to Monochrome, and hit Set. Now your images will be black and white. But it doesn't stop there: Use the thumbwheel to control and change contrast and sharpness, and manipulate relative grey tones by selecting a filter effect that mimics how a black-and-white image would look when shot through a colored glass filter. (Yellow and red filters darken blue skies; green filters lighten foliage, etc.), while you can also choose among neutral, sepia, blue, purple, and green overall image tones).
If you're a serious hobbyist and have ever used black-and-white film or have printed your own images in a conventional darkroom, I think you'll love experimenting with the Monochrome detail settings!
Tip: Try shooting the same subject while changing the parameter settings to see and compare the results.
Image preview modes
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Seeing things: Preview modes include clear screen (left), basic image info (below left), and extended info with histogram (below right). |
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 The third menu is the arrow (image) menu, which handles images that are stored on your memory card. Protect prevents you from accidentally erasing protected images, even when you hit the "erase all" option. Rotate automatically turns vertical images so you don't have to when viewing them in the preview mode. Print order lets you select images to send to a PictBridge-enabled printer for printing direct from the camera. Auto play shows the images on the memory card in sequence--you can plug your camera into your TV and watch the slide show. Review time sets how long each picture stays up during the slide show, as well as immediately after you've taken a picture.
Print Order lets you prepare images for printing direct from the camera onto a PictBridge-enabled printer. Using DPOF (digital print order format) technology, you can attach printing instructions to an image, and when the Compact Flash card is placed in a DPOF-compliant printer, the prints will come out in the size and quantity that you indicate, automatically. Sounds cool? It's worth spending some quality time with your user manual to learn the nuts and bolts of this feature.
 Tools
The Canon 30D's Tools menu controls the camera's operation, how images are displayed and numbered, and let you update the firmware, clean the sensor, and set custom functions. Most of these are set-'em-and-forget-em. But some are tantilizingly useful.
Auto power off will turn the camera off after one idle minute as a default, but you can change that to as long as 30 minutes. Auto-off is a handy way to save battery power so unless you have a pressing need, keep it set at the default.
 LCD brightness has five levels to help you avoid eyestrain when looking at images in different light. Pump it up to full brightness if you're in direct sunlight, but if you're viewing in darkened rooms you may want to dim the finder.
The date/time setting controls the meta data field that travels with your image and indicates the time and date it was taken. Set this when you get your camera--then forget about it (unless you change time zones).
File Numbering assigns each image its own number. These are sequential, but can be reset to 0 if you want. Continuous is the best setting for most users because as the images are loaded onto a computer, there would be no overlap of image numbers which might lead to older images being overwritten by newer ones if the camera's on auto reset.
 Language: You can choose from 15 languages, including Mandarin and Cantonese. The default language is English.
Video system: The default here is the US standard NTSC; PAL is available for other countries.
Format is used to reformat your CF card. Doing this will erase all the card's contents, so do this only if you have already backed up all of your images. You can also select this setting to see how much is left on your CF card.
Tip: Do not erase images from your card by deleting them on your computer; do erase them in camera by reformatting your card on a regular basis.
Custom Functions is another well hidden but extremely useful feature. It accesses 19 different camera functions; while most users will be happy with the default settings, advanced photographers may want to change them to suit their shooting habits. The 30D's custom functions are:
01: Set function when shooting (changes the function assigned to the Set button; 4 choices)
02: Long exposure noise reduction (use for exposures 1 sec or longer; will slow down camera operation slightly)
03: Flash sync speed in Av mode (sets flash at 1/250 sec in AV mode so background remains dark)
 04: Shutter/AE lock button (changes function of shutter/AE lock button; three choices)
05: AF Assist beam (controls where AF assist beam is emitted, from on-camera or off-camera flash, or turns AF assist beam off)
06: Exposure level increments (changes default from 1/3 to 1/2-stop)
 07: Flash firing (Disables flash while keeping AF assist beam on)
08: ISO Expansion (allows ISO 3200 to be selected in H ISO mode)
09: Bracket sequence/auto cancel (adjusts exposure and white balance bracketing settings; 3 choices)
10: Superimpose display (Choose flashing or non-flashing AF targets)
 11: Menu button display position (set whether menu button always starts at top of list or where you were last)
12: Mirror lock-up (enable or disable)
13: AF point selection method (overrides which button combination used to select AF point; three choices)
14: E-TTL II (Choose evaluative or average metering)
 15: Shutter curtain sync (first or rear)
16: Safety shift in AV or TV (enable or disable settings when there's a sudden light change)
17: Lens AF Stop Button Function (use lens AF stop button to handle other camera functions--AF start, AE lock, AF Point M, One Shot or AI Servo, IS start; 5 choices)
18: Add original decision data (Mainly for law enforcement use; verifies whether an image is original or not. Additional kit required.)
Clear Settings does just that: it clears all the custom functions and camera settings that you may have forgotten about. Use this if you want to quickly return to the camera's default settings.
 Sensor cleaning is used to clear dust particles off the sensor. If you're seeing light grey circles on your images, you've got dust, and it's time to clean your sensor. Make sure your battery is fully charged before you do this (the camera won't let you start if there's insufficient juice).
Tip: Most dust lands on a sensor while you're changing lenses. To reduce this, hold the camera facing down whenever you change the lens.
Firmware: Sometimes, the manufacturer will provide a firmware update that addresses a camera malfunction or (even better) adds new functions or improves performance. Check the Adorama News Desk archives Firmware Updates category to see if there have been recent updates for this camera.
That's it for our guided tour. If you've gotten this far and carefully followed along with your camera, you have mastered your Rebel Xt's controls. Now, go out and take lots of great pictures...and if you need some help getting ideas or learning about exposure and composition, be sure to visit the Adorama Academy.
© 2006 Adorama
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