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Canon EOS D30 Digital SLR

Canon's first digital SLR packs 3 megapixels of CMOS sensor into a speedy, compact body! (Smallest/lightest digital SLR as of August, 2000)

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Page 13:Test Results & Conclusion

Review First Posted: 8/27/2000

Test Results
As always in Imaging Resource reviews, we strongly encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how the camera under test performed: Check out the D30's Picture Analysis page for actual reference images from the D30, shot under controlled conditions.

In our preliminary review of the D30, we lacked the proper version of Canon software to interpret the large number of RAW images we collected. We've now reshot all our test images with the production model, and have had the opportunity to process many of these from the RAW format as well. At the time we performed the original analysis though, we prepared a comparison piece we called the "Three Titans" page, that compares the EOS D30 with the other two major SLR digicams it compete with, the Nikon D1 and Fuji S1 Pro. We think the results of this comparison will be of interest to anyone planning to purchase any of these three digicams.

At the time of our initial review, we commented that we made somewhat of an exception to our normal rule of not testing preproduction camera models extensively for the EOS D30. This was partly because Canon USA made available to us a unit that was supposedly the closest in the world to the final production models. We were told that, to all intents and purposes, the unit we tested would prove to be virtually identical to final production models. As it happens, our subsequent testing of a full-production unit bore out those claims, as we found nothing in the production model that changed any of our conclusions about the D30 or its images.

We feel that several things stand out about the EOS D30's images. The first thing that struck our eye was that they appeared somewhat soft for a three-plus megapixel digicam, particularly a professional model. Closer examination revealed though that the level of detail they contained was actually quite exceptional. The difference apparently lies in the fact that Canon (wisely, we think, for a professional camera) has chosen to treat the images delicately, vis a vis the in-camera sharpening algorithms. The reason we applaud this decision is that image sharpening is something you simply can't undo once it's been done. Thus, if the way a camera sharpens the image doesn't meet your aesthetics or practical needs, you're simply out of luck. On the other hand, if the images are left largely unsharpened, you're free to apply whatever sophisticated sharpening algorithm you'd like after the fact, in imaging software like Photoshop(tm) and various other programs. In playing with the test images we shot with the D30, we found that relatively strong, low-radius unsharp masking in Photoshop (150-200%, 0.3-0.4 pixel radius) brought out dramatic detail without introducing undesirable artifacts. Once subjected to this sort of processing, the D30 images in fact looked better (to our eyes, at least) than what we've seen from most other digicams.

We also noted the excellent color of the D30, which seemed accurate and bright, without any over-saturation. The one area of (slight) weakness we noted was in bright yellows, and to a lesser extent bright reds, which were somewhat undersaturated. Our experimentation with the saturation and tonal adjustments available in Canon's ZoomBrowser software working from the RAW format files showed a very nice ability to choose more or less color saturation though, without obvious exaggeration.

The third thing that really stood out with the D30 was how well it did at low light levels. The bright autofocus-assist light worked well, but even without it, the camera could focus well below 1 foot-candle (about 11 lux). Beyond its focusing ability, the D30's low light performance was exceptional in how consistently the camera behaved when compared to more ordinary shooting conditions: Automatic metering was accurate, all the way out to 30 second exposure times, white balance and color accuracy was extraordinary, and noise in time exposures (more than one second) was excellent when the noise reduction processing was enabled.

We did find the D30's images to be slightly higher in noise than other SLR digicams. We actually found it to be less objectionable in many ways when compared to noise in some other cameras though, because it had such a small, tight "grain structure" to it: We usually see sensor noise appearing as more of an area affect, with large blotches of the image lighter or darker in the various color channels. Apparently inherent in Canon's CMOS sensor technology is an ability to avoid "bulk defects" resulting from the semiconductor fabrication process. (Our guess is that this is related to the per-sensor amplification and digitization circuitry, as opposed to CCD architecture, which dictates that signal processing be conducted at the edges of the chip.) The net result is that the D30's images look exceptionally smooth to the eye: Flat tint areas look buttery-soft and smooth, with none of the blotchiness that characterizes noise from CCD-based cameras we've tested in the past. Overall, the D30's images have a distinctive and exceptionally appealing "look" to them.

On more quantitative fronts, we found that, although the D30's images tend to be slightly soft, due to the aforementioned very restrained use of in-camera image sharpening, the level of resolution and detail is truly exceptional. In fact, it's actually the highest of any 3 megapixel digicam we've tested to date. (October, 2000) Overall, we "called" the D30's resolution as 850 lines per picture height vertically, and 900 horizontally before aliasing became visible, although detail was clearly visible beyond 1000 lines per picture height in both directions.

Canon rates the D30's viewfinder as being 95% accurate, which agrees well with our measurement of 96%. Flash uniformity here was very good, but that's to be expected, as we were shooting with the 100mm lens on the camera. Even the 28mm lens didn't stretch the flash's coverage in the slightest, although again that's not too surprising, given that a 28mm lens on the D30 is only equivalent to a 45mm on a 35mm film camera. (And thus has a relatively narrow field of view.)

We normally report on lens distortion in this part of our analysis, but in the case of the D30, any such distortion will be entirely dependent on the lens used with it. As we noted earlier though, the Canon lenses we tested with the D30 were uniformly of exceptionally high quality, and we were particularly impressed that the less expensive 24-85mm zoom performed as well as it did.

Overall, the D30 delivered exceptionally high quality images, with excellent detail, excellent color, excellent tonal range, and very good noise performance.


Conclusion

Even though Canon themselves don't bill the EOS D30 as a "professional" camera, we see it as exactly what a huge number of Canon-shooting professionals have been waiting for. Its controls, handling, and performance are in every way suited to professional usage. While not coming anywhere near the speed or incredible ruggedness of the EOS 1V film camera or its brethren, the D30 nonetheless shows solid engineering, and at nearly 3 frames per second is fast enough for most applications. When you toss in its excellent image quality, generous ISO speed capability, superb low-light shooting, excellent flash integration, and compatibility with the full range of Canon EF lenses, it'd be a bargain at twice the price. With a suggested retail price in the US of $3,500, and an initial "street" price closer to $3,000, it represents an incredible value. (Particularly when you consider that this price includes the software necessary to access the CCD RAW file format.) Even more amazing, this is obviously just the first of a planned extensive line of Canon pro digital SLRs. Look out world, Canon's on a roll, and the digital photography landscape is changing yet again... For the better! Highly recommended!

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