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Canon EOS 30D By: Shawn Barnett and Dave Etchells Myriad minor feature and interface tweaks make a great SLR even better. Select a topic Reference: Datasheet EOS 30D Sample Images EOS 30D Imatest Results --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Comparison with the EOS-20D 3. Executive Overview 4. Design 5. Viewfinder 6. Optics 7. Exposure & Flash 8. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 9. Operation & User Interface 10. Camera Modes & Menus 11. Image Storage & Interface 12. Video, Power, Software 13. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on EOS 30D Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 5:Viewfinder Review First Posted: 04/14/2006

Viewfinder

Nearly identical to the 20D's viewfinder along the bottom, the 30D's optical viewfinder is excellent, providing a wealth of information and great accuracy. A new addition is the viewfinder's ISO display (available when you press the ISO button on the top panel). Lining the bottom of the display is a strip of information reporting everything from aperture and shutter speed to flash status and the maximum number of burst shots available, with the addition of the new White Balance Correction indicator. While I don't have a formal test for it, the "eyepoint" of the viewfinder seemed fairly high, making it usable with eyeglasses, although I had to press the lenses of my glasses up against the eyecup to see the full viewfinder area. (Courtesy Canon USA, Inc.)

 

 

It's important to note in discussing the 30D's viewfinder system is that the rear-panel LCD display is not usable as a viewfinder. Instead, the optical viewfinder uses a mirror to intercept the image on the way to the shutter and the sensor. Thus, when the camera isn't actively taking a picture, the light from the lens is directed only to the optical viewfinder, and so isn't available to the sensor to drive a live viewfinder display on the LCD. With the exception of the 20Da (made specifically for astronomy), the Fujifilm S3, and the Olympus E-330, all current digital SLRs operate in this fashion.

While not strictly a viewfinder function, the capture-mode Info display shown on the rear-panel LCD screen deserves mention here. The optical viewfinder carries quite a bit of information about camera status as shown above, but there's even more available on the rear panel, just by pressing the Info button. Rather than the exposure settings shown in the optical viewfinder, this display shows date/time, Picture Style selected, Color space, White Balance shift/Bracketing, selected sleep time, type of auto image rotation, flash exposure compensation, color temperature, remaining memory, and the selected ISO. Between this screen, the optical viewfinder display, and the LCD data readout on the camera's top, the 30D offers no shortage of information.

 

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