Canon 20D: Raising the Bar for Prosumer Digital SLRs

Color Reproduction

* For all of our color tests, we reset the 20D and 10D to their factory default settings. A Canon 50mm Macro lens was used on both cameras. The 20D was set to Parameter 2 while the 10D was set to Standard. Then, they were set to record using the highest image quality JPEG option in Aperture priority mode (F/11).

We took a picture of our color chart using each of the following WB settings: Auto, Tungsten, and Manual. Click on a thumbnail below to view the full-size image.

Tungsten

	Auto WB	Tungsten WB	Manual WB
20D	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.
10D	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.
Reference Chart ("actual colors")

Crops

	Auto WB	Tungsten WB	Manual WB
20D
10D

With Auto WB, both cameras have a strong yellowish cast. However, the 20D is just a bit more accurate than the 10D. When Tungsten WB is set, the colors are more accurate, but there is still a slight yellowish cast. Again, the 20D chart is a little more accurate and brighter overall. When both cameras are set to Manual WB, the colors are very accurate. Our only complaint is that the charts are slightly underexposed. Overall, the 20D does the best job dealing with Tungsten light and produces brighter exposures than the 10D.

Daylight

	Auto WB	Daylight WB	Manual WB
20D	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.
10D	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.
Reference Chart ("actual colors")

	Auto WB	Daylight WB	Manual WB
20D
10D

In sunlight, both cameras do a wonderful job producing accurate colors. However, the 10D produces charts that are just a bit brighter than the 20D. At any rate, both cameras produce consistent accurate results in Auto, Daylight, and Manual WB modes.

Studio Shot (Tungsten)

In this shot, we tested each camera's ability to reproduce colors in our studio shot using different WB settings. The cameras were set to Aperture priority mode (f/11) without the flash.

	Auto WB	Tungsten WB	Manual WB
20D	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.
10D	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.	Click to enlarge.

In this comparison, it is easy to see that both the 20D and 10D have an orange-yellow cast in Auto WB mode in tungsten lighting. However, the 10D has just a slightly stronger cast than the 20D. With Tungsten WB, it's a similar story. Both show a lighter orange-yellow cast than in Auto WB. And again, the 20D does just a bit better than the 10D. In Manual WB mode, the cameras do much better. Both cameras underexpose the image, but the 20D is a bit brighter than the 10D. Overall, we were not very impressed with the 20D's performance in tungsten light. We are happy to see it producing more accurate colors than the 10D, but we expect more than this.

Built-in Flash

For the flash test, we set both cameras to Program AE mode and set the ISO mode to 100, white balance to Auto, and recording quality to Large/Fine JPEG. The 20D was set to "Parameter 2" and the 10D was set to "Standard". The pictures were taken from 5 feet away.

Program AE mode
20D (Parameter 2) Click to enlarge.	10D (Standard) Click to enlarge.

While both the 20D and 10D are able to reproduce accurate colors, they have both underexposed the shot in Program AE mode. However, the 10D image is noticeably brighter than the 20D.

Auto mode
20D Click to enlarge.	10D Click to enlarge.

In Auto mode, we can see that both cameras produce pictures with higher levels of saturation. In addition, the 20D now has a slight orange cast on the white background that is most likely caused by saturation of the ambient tungsten light in the room. The background on the 10D image is virtually identical to the Program AE shot. Overall, we found the 10D to produce more accurate images with its built-in flash. The 20D shoots significantly underexposed images in Program AE mode and highly saturated images in Auto mode.