Canon Eos 20D Digital SLR [8.2Mp, up to 5fps] - Body Only

The biggest improvement is on the turn-on time. It's now instant, and this was the main improvement compared to the EOS 10D, which took so long to reboot after auto switch-off that you often missed the moment.

Focussing is slightly quicker and sharper, and seemed better in low light.

The 8.2MP, plus the fact that you can record RAW files at the same time as JPEG, means that you could get less than 50 photos on a 512MB card - therefore don't forget to budget for a big CF card. These are coming down in price now, however.

I much prefer the joystick for navigating pictures, and I like the purple, sepia and green "black and white" tones. You'll have to read the instruction book well to use these, but it's worth it, and easy when you work it out.

The flash is a lot higher than on the 10D, which should keep it awa from the wide angle lenses you need to compensate for the 1.6x magnification.

The only major downside is the noise, which seems very loud compared to the 10D. Makes you sound like a professional though, especially if you take 5fps!

For this price, it's a real bargain to my mind.

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It is important with a digital SLR to choose quality lenses. If you buy cheap don't be surprised if your resulting images lack the quality that they could command. A quality flash gun like the 580 EX Speedlite will further help your image taking. Furthermore, I find the BG-E2 Battery Grip - which holds an extra battery - an important accessory along with the Remote Switch RS-80N3 to minimize camera shake. On the memory front, choose well! Cheap memory can result in the loss of those precious images you have spent so long taking. And make sure you have enough memory because an 8 MP digital SLR on RAW mode eats up images at an alarming rate. Personally I have three 1 GB memory cards and still I don't think this is enough.

Once you are set up with everything you will find taking images with the 20D brings you many hours, days, months and in the end no doubt years of fun. The shutter is noisy making the 20D limited for wildlife work but when taking images of landscapes, people or my personal favourite, macro work, then this camera has the lot. You get the build quality of Canon's professional cameras without the price tag. The 20D is heavy, especially with the battery grip and a quality lens attached, so be prepared to use a tripod to help you avoid camera shake.

This camera is beautiful and the little niggles I have over the focusing system etc have not stopped me loving the 20D to bits.

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The camera is very easy to use and if you have used anything similar you will no doubt get the hang of it in no time at all. The only criticism's I have at the moment are that the on / off switch is for me a little difficult to operate compared to the 300d and the focus and sharpness are still a little soft compared to one or two rivals even on parameter 1 and after cranking the settings up manually.

Overall I am happy with the 20d, 8.2 meg should be enough for most people, and I would recommend that anyone looking at a 10d, 300d or 350d or any of the competitors should concider the 20d as it is so good that once you have one you will probably be happy with it for years to come and if you buy a 300d or 350d instead you will save a few quid but might always suspect that you bought a cheaper alternative.

PS. So far I have had no mirror lock ups or any other errors.

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