Gordon from CameraLabs has always been one of my favorite content creators and reviewers throughout the years and I love the fact that he circles back and reviews the older gear to remind us of just how far we’ve come.
I remember when the D30 came out, I was still rocking my EOS-3 at the time and thinking I’d never go to digital. Film for life. Basically, I was this guy, with a little more hair at the time.
Ultimately, I gave in. But the D30 wasn’t my first digital camera (the Canon 20D was my first) as I gave into the digital era a bit later.
The Canon D30 was Canon’s first foray into CMOS sensors and it combined that CMOS sensor in a relatively “inexpensive” camera. It really rocked the industry. The basic specifications seem pedestrian now, but at the time, they were state-of-the-art.
- 22.7 x 15.1 mm CMOS sensor (APS-C)
- 3.1 megapixel effective (3.3 megapixel total)
- Max resolution 2160 x 1440
- FOV crop (1.6x)
- Canon EF lens mount (excludes EF-S)
- 3-point auto focus
- 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 ISO speed equivalent
- 30 to 1/4000 s shutter speed and bulb
- TTL 35 zone SPC metering: evaluative, center weighted, partial
- Exposure compensation -2 EV to +2 EV in 1/3 EV or 1/2 EV steps
- Auto White Balance (plus 5 positions & manual preset)
- Eye-level pentaprism viewfinder
- 1.8 in (46 mm) color TFT liquid-crystal monitor
- E-TTL flash mode
- Built-in Flash
- 3 frames per second continuous shooting (max. 8 frames)
- Dimensions (WxHxD): 150 x 107 x 75 mm
- Weight (body only): 780 g
Phil Askey from dpreview’s distant past gave it a glowing review and stated;
Sure, there are things I’d like to see improved, the odd little niggle here and there, nothing that would change the photography experience itself. Value for money? Unbeatable (at the time of writing this review). I have no doubt that Canon will sell every single D30 they ever produce, the question is can they make enough of them?
Here’s Gordon’s review, sit back and enjoy.
So how did Gordon like shooting again with the D30?
Shooting with the D30 23 years after it was launched, I was struck by just how familiar it still looks and feels. In fact it’s testament to Canon’s design and ergonomics that one of the biggest changes on later models was simply moving the buttons on the left of the D30’s upper screen to run along the top instead. These are all cameras any Canon owner can pick up and start using straightaway.
If you prefer to read than watch a video, then take a read through Gordon’s review and enjoy the look back at what can easily be the camera that defines modern digital photography.
Source: CameraLabs
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