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Camera, December 2006 "If there was ever a prime example of a "mature" consumer-level D-SLR, Canon's EOS 400D has to be it. There is so much that's right about this camera - including the value-for-money proposition - it's actually very hard to find fault with any aspect of its design. If there is a complaint it's adopting image stabilisation is still an expensive exercise for 400D buyers, whereas it comes as part of the deal with the other two important new models of 2006. However, despite this, the EOS 400D was still the superior package - resolution, specifications, features, capability, ergonomics, handling, user-friendliness and performance (including aspects such as battery life)."
"Beyond all this, too, is the sheer integrity of the design which makes for a seamless application of the technology to the task. No other consumer D-SLR makes it quite so effortless to get where you want to go - in pictorial terms - and achieve consistently reliable results. Comfortable in the hands of a D-SLR convert, the EOS 400D is also competent in the hands of the more experienced user."
"So what are the essential ingredients making the EOS 400D such a recipe for success? It starts with the compact bodyshell - a delight to handle - and a logical control layout that's as intuitive as it is efficient. The adoption of the LCD monitor as the camera's set-up display centralises all the read-outs and menus in one place. This isn't Canon's idea, but the proximity sensors which switch off the display when the camera is held up to the eye most definitely is, and an example of the company's great ability to refine concepts by taking them a little bit further. And while it has to be said that Canon has been a little slow to address the biggest D-SLR bugbear - dust on the sensor - it's also gone further in its solution from prevention to correction."
"Next is the ten megapixel 'APS-C' sensor - Canon's own CMOS design - matched with superior noise reduction and processing to give 3.0 fps for, in practical terms, unlimited burst lengths. The fact that the 400D performs exceedingly well at 1600 ISO with 5.7 micron pixels is testimony to Canon's ability to handle the post-sensor side of things as competently as what happens beforehand. In this regard, the 400D boasts consistently reliable autofocusing and exposure metering with all the overrides needed for creative control. It's particularly well-equipped when it comes to dealing with colour balance (including bracketing and correction for blue-to-amber and green-to-magenta), plus Canon's 'Picture Styles' settings are an elegantly simple method of fine-tuning the look of an image."
"All this comes together very nicely through the menus and controls and flows pretty well seamlessly into your photography. Most importantly though, it all flows seamlessly into superb-looking photos...so much so, you forget the medium and concentrate solely on the message."
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