VR Features

Canon EOS 40D

The display and Live View

Written by tUx and filed under Reviews > Digital Video & Photography
Published on October 18, 2007, 11:52 am

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Canon seemed to have went for a party with Nikon and came back with a display that is over-enthusiastic in colour reproduction. It looks a little different from previous Canon LCD screens. Colours are more vibrant and saturated, but that doesn't mean it is 100% accurate. I don't have a photo to show, but the difference between a 30D screen and a 40D screen is noticable.

It's a good idea from a sales point of view. Buyers are attracted to the 'rich colours'. However for other users, the slight shift in colour might cause a little concern. Users just need to understand how much difference is there between the LCD and the actual colour recorded in the image. But anyway, don't put all your trust on a camera's LCD, this 'rule' applies to all brands.








   


By pressing the INFO button, you can view details of the camera itself. Pressing it again brings up shooting information. It's basically a, um... graphical version of the camera's top panel LCD display. It's about the same as the EOS 400D's information screen.










   


The single image playback mode now displays exposure compensation without having the need to press the INFO key to bring up the histogram screen and check the EV value from there.

The histogram screen has been slightly re-arranged from the EOS 30D's. One addition to the playback function is that you can view both brightness graphs and RGB graphs at the same time. With the EOS 30D, you had to set in the menu whether to display either the brightness or the RGB graph.





   


Previously with the EOS 30D, you could only view either a single image or nine images at a time. Canon has added another level for playback review this time, allowing the user to view four images at a time too.










There are a few Live View viewing options: the LCD on the camera, a computer monitor via USB or a computer monitor also but using the WFT-E3A wireless transmitter.

When using Live View, real-time autofocusing is unavailable as the first curtain is up. You will have to perform manual focus when using Live View. The other method is to enable the AF-ON button to perform auto focus when it is held down in Live View mode. However, as mentioned, the curtain will go down to while auto focusing though.