Canon EOS 30D

Mini Head-to-Head section with Nikon D200
We recently compared the Canon EOS 5D with the Nikon D200. As these are two new mid-range cameras from the leading DSLR manufacturers, comparing them says a lot about the state of digital cameras and their future. Still, the D200 and the 30D are much closer in price: for someone entering the DSLR market with $1500 or $2000, comparing these two cameras is more relevant to a buying decision. 

Low light / high ISO noise performance
We noted significant deterioration in low light and high ISO with the D200, while the 30D performs much better. Starting at about ISO 500, the 30D looks significantly better than the D200, and by 1250, the difference is enough to say that the 30D can take some useful available-light images that the D200 simply can't.

Color performance (low ISOs)
We tested the 30D in its Faithful mode, which aims for accuracy, rather than the camera's default Standard mode, which boosts saturation significantly. We tested the D200 in its Normal mode, which is the camera's default mode and also its most accurate. The D200 and 30D had identical scores for color accuracy in our lab tests – both scored a very good 5.53. The difference came in their saturation scores. The 30D slightly under-saturated, with a percentage score of 97.3, while the D200 oversaturated with a percentage score of 104.9.

Resolution
When set to their respective default settings, the 30D resolved 1818 lw/ph vertically and 1867 lw/ph horizontally in its Standard parameter, while the D200 turned out 1918 lw/ph horizontally and 2050 lw/ph vertically in its Normal mode. The difference in performance shouldn’t be surprising since the D200’s imaging chip does provide an additional 2 million pixels; however, the D200’s Normal mode imposes much less in-camera sharpening than Canon’s Standard parameter, so the D200’s advantage is actually much more pronounced than the numbers might indicate. When all sharpening is reserved for post processing, files produced by the D200 contain much more detail.

Dynamic Range
The 30D is a standout in dynamic range performance, maintaining very good scores at ISO 1000. The D200 is clearly inferior throughout its ISO range: in High Quality, it manages only 6.8 stops of dynamic range at ISO 100, while the 30D manages 7.57. At ISO 1600, the D200 is down to 3.83 while the 30D hits 5.6 stops.

Auto Focus
Nikon made a new autofocus module for the D200: the CAM1000, a significant upgrade over the CAM900 module in the D100 and D70, though nowhere near as good as the CAM2000 module in the pro-level D2X and D2Hs. We have found the D200 autofocus quick and sure in low light and low contrast settings. It's disappointing that Canon did not upgrade the autofocus when it moved from the 20D to the 30D – particularly in light of the fact that it developed a new AF module for the 5D, which purports to offer better focus tracking and low-light ability. The 30D's autofocus is solidly inferior to the D200's.

Speed / Timing
Start-up to First Shot
The D200 is faster to start up, and because the power switch is on a ring around the shutter release, it's easier to start the D200 quickly. Starting the 30D takes two hands – one to hold the camera and one to flip the switch on its back. It isn't possible to switch it on with one's hands in normal shooting position, and that slows down the process far more than any difference in the cameras' electronics.

Shot to Shot
Both the 30D and the D200 can shoot bursts as fast as 5 frames per second. The 30D manages to shoot 25 in a row, while the D200 can shoot 30 – and the D200's images are 20 percent larger. It's not too likely, however, that the difference in burst length will make the difference between getting a shot and missing it. The dismissive term for shooting long bursts is "spray and pray," and skilled action shooters are more likely to shoot many short bursts of four or five images at a time.

Shutter to Shot
The D200 and the 30D impose almost no delay between shutter and the actual shot. We measured 0.03 seconds of delay with the D200 and 0.05 seconds with the 30D, and both cameras focused before shooting. When they were prefocused, we couldn't measure a delay with either one.

Viewfinder / LCD
Viewfinders on the D200 and 30D are both smaller and less accurate than Canon's and Nikon's best cameras, but they are pretty easy to use. Both cameras' viewfinders crop the image by about 5 or 6 percent, and both crop a bit off-center. Coincidentally, both crop more from the left side than the right. Canon says that the 30D's viewfinder magnifies the view by about 0.9x with a 50mm lens, and Nikon reports that the D200 magnifies 0.94x. The difference between the two isn't enormous, but we found the D200 brighter and a bit easier to focus. More data shows through the Nikon’s viewfinder – ISO is always visible, and the metering pattern shows up as well—but Canon's exposure scale is larger. Eyeglass wearers will find it easier to see the D200's display.

Both cameras have 2.5-inch, 230,000-pixel LCDs. The 30D's display looks good from a wider range of angles, while the Nikon remains visible from side to side, but dims significantly as the angle changes. However, it’s possible to use the Nikon’s menus in pretty bright daylight, something we wouldn't say about the 30D's display. With both LCDs, it's best to examine images away from bright sunlight.