Speed And Reactivity

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The EOS 300D is generally of the same standard as a good quality SLR camera for normal and "habitual" use. It takes a little while to start up (3 seconds), but that's not terrible. The speed of the autofocus obviously depends on the type of lens used (ultrasonic or not), but focusing is almost immediate in the majority of cases. The camera's internal memory manages shots taken in quick succession quite well. It is thus possible to capture 3 images per second for a series of 5 or 6 images, before unavailability. The pause may last for several seconds, often 10, on rare occasion as much as 30.

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Concretely, using the camera in "press photographer" mode, as in taking photos from a helicopter, did not pose the slightest problem. There was an immediate response time when the shutter button was pressed and ultra-rapid autofocus (depending on the type of lens used), so the EOS 300D behaved very well. The AF is so accurate, it is sometimes disconcerting, as can be seen in this out-of-focus image. Out-of-focus? Well no, not really, we accidentally focused on the helicopter window, lingering on the corpse of an unfortunate mosquito...In other words, the Canon autofocus is one of the outstanding features of the brand, and this type of shot proves it.

The speed of the EOS 300D is faultless when the shutter button is pressed. The image photographed is absolutely identical to that "seen" by the photographer. When shooting a chronometer in operation, the time delay is almost imperceptible. Canon deserves brownie points for this achievement.

If the EOS 300D triggers quickly, the image is spoiled when it's a matter of downloading images to the computer hard disk. If you rely on the tools supplied with the camera, you will need to connect it to the USB socket, launch the File Viewer application - and take a coffee break. To transfer 33 images at maximum quality will take 5 - 10 minutes. And that's much too long.

The same slowness applies if you want to convert a RAW file to a JPEG (or other file format). You couldn't say the operation is immediate...So few more black marks, but at least these don't affect the use of the EOS 300D "in the field."

Finally, to save some time, while at the same time saving battery life, choose a USB 2.0 card reader.