The EOS 20D offers one of the cleanest image files we’ve seen available from any digital camera, let alone one at this price. The real test of a camera’s sensor comes with night and low-light photography, however. I took this camera out on the town in New York City and was very pleased with the results. I could use a slower zoom lens, boost the ISO to 400, 800, and even 1600, and still see excellent images.

Night shooting has become much easier today with digital cameras because you can set the white balance to match the conditions, use higher ISO settings, shoot without the reciprocity failure problems of film, and see the results immediately on your LCD. It’s easy to misjudge night exposure on an LCD panel, so I always use the histogram to be sure I have enough exposure. Even with images as clean as those from the EOS 20D, you keep noise to a minimum by ensuring your dark areas aren’t too far to the left side of the histogram.

The ideal situation is to use a tripod or other camera support for long exposures with lower ISO settings. Yet I regularly used the EOS 20D with settings of ISO 400 and 800 to keep exposures shorter because I often used a small beanbag (a great accessory for street photography) and loved my results.

White balance is simple to set, which is perfect for night shooting. It can be difficult to judge what looks best for a certain scene—do the lights look better neutral or warm in tone? You can shoot different settings quickly and compare results in the LCD (but reserve final judgment for the computer).

The Canon EOS 20D is a compact, easily handled camera. It offers a newly designed nine-point AF system, DIGIC II processing, a 5 fps speed, a 0.2-second startup time and a magnesium-alloy body. It handles all EOS EF lenses, including the small-format EF-S designs.

SPECIFICATIONS
Effective Resolution: 8.25 megapixels (3520 x 2342 pixels); actual recording pixels: 3504 x 2336; approx. 8.2 million
Lens Mount: anon EF and EF-S
Viewfinder: Eye-level pentaprism
LCD Size: 1.8 inches
Media Type: CF cards
Shooting Modes: Program, Shutter and Aperture Priority, Manual, plus eight additional program modes
Exposure Compensation: ±2 stops in 1/2- or 1/3-EV steps
Metering System: Evaluative metering, partial (9%), center-weighted
Focus Modes: One-Shot AF, Predictive AI Servo AF, AI Focus AF, Manual
Shutter Speeds: 30-1⁄8000 sec., plus B
ISO Equivalency: 100-3200
Power Source: Proprietary Li-ion
Size: 5.7x4.2x2.8-inches
Weight: 24.2 ounces (body only)
Estimated Street Price: $1,499; $1,599 with lens
Contact: Canon, (800) OK-CANON, www.usa.canon.com.