Canon 40D Performance

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Canon EOS 40D Performance

Timing and Performance

Above average speed for a semi-pro DSLR.

Startup/Shutdown
Power on to first shot	0.4 second	Time it takes for camera to turn on. (Very fast; difficult to measure.)
Shutdown	0.3 second	How long it takes to turn off. (Very fast; difficult to measure.)
Buffer clearing time Large Fine JPEG	10 seconds (after 20 LF JPEGs)	Worst case buffer clearing time. -- This is the delay after a set of shots before you can remove the card. Some cameras won't shut down until the buffer is cleared.
Buffer clearing time Small Normal JPEG	65 seconds (after 100 SN JPEGs)
Buffer clearing time RAW	14 seconds (after 20 RAW frames)
Buffer clearing time RAW Live View Mode	24 seconds (after 20 RAW frames)

Startup and shut-down times are quite fast: Not quite as fast as some, but the difference will really be academic. (The difference between 0.3 and 0.4 second really isn't likely to make the difference between a winning image and a lost shot.) Buffer clearing time depends on the image size and quality, burst length and how fast the card can be written to, to the flush the buffer. Live View mode increases RAW buffer clearing time significantly, but has very little impact on cycle times (see below).

Mode switching
Play to Record, first shot	0.3 second	Time until first shot is captured.
Record to play	0.7 second	Time to display a large/fine file immediately after capture.
Display recorded image	0.5 second	Time to display a large/fine file already on the memory card.

Mode switching is very fast. Almost imperceptible.

Shutter response (Lag Time)
Full Autofocus	0.128 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture using optical viewfinder (prime lens).
Full Autofocus Live View Silent Mode 1	0.166 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, using Live View Silent Shooting Mode 1.
Full Autofocus Live View Silent Mode 2	0.168 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, using Live View Silent Shooting Mode 2.
Full Autofocus Live View Silent Mode Disabled	0.283 second	Time from fully pressing shutter button to image capture, using Live View Silent Shooting Mode disabled.
Prefocused	0.061 second	Time to capture, after half-pressing and holding shutter button.
Continuous AF	0.153 second	This mode usually shows no speed increase with our static subject; we have no way to measure performance with moving subjects.
Manual focus	0.078 second	For most cameras, shutter lag is less in manual focus than autofocus, but usually not as fast as when the camera is "prefocused".

The Canon 40D's AF performance is quite fast, a significant improvement over the 30D in most respects. Full autofocus lag is almost twice as fast at 0.128s vs the 30D's 0.245s, though prefocused, lag is just slightly faster (0.061s vs 0.068s). Continuous AF mode shutter lag is a bit longer though, at 0.153s vs the 30D's 0.105s, but shutter lag when manually focusing has been cut in half at 0.078s vs 0.154s. We were pleasantly surprised that the Live View modes add minimal shutter delay; not nearly as much as we're accustomed to seeing.

Cycle time (shot to shot)
Single Shot mode Large Fine JPEG	0.28 second	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Single Shot mode Small Normal JPEG	0.20 second	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Single Shot mode RAW	0.23 second	Time per shot, averaged over 14 shots.
Early shutter penalty?	No	Some cameras refuse to snap another shot if you release and press the shutter too quickly in Single Shot mode, making "No" the preferred answer.
Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG	0.16 second (6.40 frames per second); 20 frames total; 10 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Continuous mode Large Fine JPEG Live View Mode	0.16 second (6.17 frames per second); 20 frames total; 10 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over 20 shots.
Continuous mode Small Normal JPEG	0.16 second (6.39 frames per second); 100 frames total; 65 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over 100 shots.
Continuous mode RAW	0.16 second (6.29 frames per second); 9 frames total; 14 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over 9 shots, then slows to an average of 1.21 seconds per shot, or 0.83 frames per second.
Continuous mode RAW Live View Mode	0.16 second (6.16 frames per second); 9 frames total; 24 seconds to clear	Time per shot, averaged over 9 shots, then slows to an average of 1.14 seconds per shot, or 0.88 frames per second.
Flash recycling	2.9 seconds	Flash at maximum output.
*Note: Buffer clearing times measured with a Kingston Ultimate 133x CompactFlash memory card. Slower cards will produce correspondingly slower clearing times. Slow cards may also limit length of bursts in continuous mode.

Cycle times for large/fine JPEGs are similar to the 30D, but have improved when shooting RAW, to 0.23s for 14 frames vs 0.27s for 11 frames for the 30D's smaller RAW files. Continuous mode has improved from 5 fps to over 6 fps with similar buffer depths. As with shutter lag, Live View mode has little impact on cycle times, though it does affect buffer clearing times. Flash recycling after a full power shot is quite fast at 2.9 seconds, slightly faster than the 30D's 3.0 seconds

Download speed
Windows Computer, USB 2.0	3,102 KBytes/sec	Typical Values: Less than 600=USB 1.1; 600-770=USB 2.0 Low; More than 770=USB 2.0 High

Download speeds are also very fast, so you won't feel the need for a separate card reader.

Battery and Storage Capacity

Battery

Excellent battery life for a lithium-ion design, as long as Live View is used sparingly.

Test Conditions	Number of Shots
Lithium-ion rechargeable battery, no flash	1100
Lithium-ion rechargeable battery, 50% flash (CIPA standard)	800
Lithium-ion rechargeable battery, Live View	170

The Canon EOS 40D uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack for power, and comes with both a single battery and charger. Though runtime is excellent, we do recommend picking up a spare battery and keeping it freshly charged and on-hand, especially if using Live View mode.

The table above shows the number of shots the camera is capable of (on either a fresh set of disposable batteries or a fully-charged rechargeable battery as appropriate), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))

Storage

The Canon EOS 40D stores its photos on CompactFlash memory cards, and no card is included with the camera. The chart below shows how many images can be stored on a 512MB card at each size/quality setting.

Image Capacity vs Resolution/Quality 512MB Memory Card		Fine	Normal	RAW
3,888 x 2,592	Images (Avg size)	89 5.8 MB	185 2.8 MB	29 17.7 MB
3,888 x 2,592	Approx. Compression	5:1	11:1	1:1
2,816 x 1,880	Images (Avg size)	160 3.2 MB	337 1.5 MB	-
2,816 x 1,880	Approx. Compression	5:1	11:1	-
1,936 x 1,288	Images (Avg size)	286 1.8 MB	633 809 KB	55 9.3 MB
1,936 x 1,288	Approx. Compression	4:1	9:1	0.5:1

We strongly recommend buying a large capacity CompactFlash memory card. At least a 2GB card, preferably a 4GB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings. (Check the shopping link above, cards are really cheap these days, so no reason to skimp.)