The
Canon EOS
Canon EOS (Electro-Optical System) is an autofocus single-lens reflex camera (SLR) and mirrorless camera series produced by Canon Inc. Introduced in 1987 with the Canon EOS 650, all EOS cameras used 35 mm film until October 1996 when the EOS ...
10D is a discontinued 6.3-
megapixel
In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device.
In most digital display devices, pixels are the ...
semi-professional
digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
**Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
SLR camera, initially announced on 27 February 2003.
It replaced the
EOS D60, which is also a 6.3-megapixel digital SLR camera. It was succeeded by the
EOS 20D in August 2004.
Despite having an
APS-C
Advanced Photo System type-C (APS-C) is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the Advanced Photo System film negative in its C ("Classic") format, of 25.1×16.7 mm, an aspect ratio of 3:2 and Ø 31.15 mm field ...
sensor, the 10D was introduced before
EF-S
The Canon EF-S lens mount is a derivative of the EF lens mount created for a subset of Canon digital single-lens reflex cameras with APS-C sized image sensors. It was released in 2003. Cameras with the EF-S mount are backward compatible with the ...
lenses became available and was incompatible with them. The 10D was only able to mount
EF lenses. All successive Canon Digital SLR cameras with APS-C sensors can mount EF-S lenses.
The 10D captured RAW images in the Canon CRW file format, which is no longer used by Canon, although modern versions of Canon's Digital Photo Professional will read it.
When it was released,
recommended retail price
The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...
in the USA was $1,999 (£1,520).
Compared to the D60
While the 10D shared some similarities with the D60—both used sensors of roughly the same resolution, both used the EF lens mount and
BG-ED3 battery grip—the 10D saw many major changes.
A new magnesium alloy body with changed button layout was introduced, including relocating the on/off switch to the bottom rear of the camera where it could easily be switched off accidentally. New LCD panels were introduced. The on/off switch was later moved back to the upper-left of the camera's rear with the
Canon 7D. Flash strobes were used instead of a dedicated autofocus assist lamp. The shutter and mirror were also quieter than the D60 systems. An upgraded
autofocus
An autofocus (or AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical syste ...
system, using a more-sensitive and wider-area 7-point array similar to the
Canon EOS 30V was also included.
Internally, the sensor was changed to use a new manufacturing process, allowing for an extended
film speed
Film speed is the measure of a photographic film's sensitivity to light, determined by sensitometry and measured on various numerical scales, the most recent being the ISO system. A closely related ISO system is used to describe the relation ...
range of ISO 100 to 3200 with a custom function. The 10 used an upgraded image processor, and was the first DSLR to use the
DIGIC
Digital Imaging Integrated Circuit (often styled as "DiG!C") is Canon Inc.'s name for a family of signal processing and control units for digital cameras and camcorders. DIGIC units are used as image processors by Canon in its own digital imag ...
chipset. Continuous shooting was also slightly improved, allowing for nine images in a burst. The camera introduced
FAT32
File Allocation Table (FAT) is a file system developed for personal computers. Originally developed in 1977 for use on floppy disks, it was adapted for use on hard disks and other devices. It is often supported for compatibility reasons by ...
for
CompactFlash
CompactFlash (CF) is a flash memory mass storage device used mainly in portable electronic devices. The format was specified and the devices were first manufactured by SanDisk in 1994.
CompactFlash became one of the most successful of the ...
cards larger than 2 GB in capacity, the first for a Canon DSLR. Improvements to white balance systems, shooting parameters, sensor cleaning, direct pring support,
Adobe RGB
The Adobe RGB (1998) color space or opRGB is a color space developed by Adobe Systems, Inc. in 1998. It was designed to encompass most of the colors achievable on CMYK color printers, but by using RGB primary colors on a device such as a co ...
colorspace, improved language support and an orientation sensor were also made.
Reception
Reviews at the time of release were mostly positive.
Bryan Carnathan of ''The Digital Picture'' described the affordable price of the 10D as "unheard-of-at-the-time", and the sensor "makes this camera perfect for
nature photography
Nature photography is a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to put a stronger emphasis o ...
", although while the auto-focus was improved from previous models it sometimes did not work properly.
Lori Grunin from ''CNet'' gave it a score of 7.2, praising the value, features and performance while also saying that it was tricky to get sharp auto-focusing.
Phil Askey from ''DPReview'' rated this camera as "Highly Recommended", concluding that "I have no concerns in stating that as things stand (at the time of writing this review) the EOS-10D is the absolute best in class, with the best image quality, lowest high sensitivity noise, superb build quality and excellent price."
Later reviews are less favorable. In 2017 – Canon having manufactured six new generations of high-end APS-C cameras between the 10D and the date of the review – CameraDecision scored it 49% for imaging, 33% for features, 55% for value, 68% for portability, giving an overall score of 46%. They rated it "Average" for all uses except Sport, which was "Good".
Firmware update

The current
firmware update is 2.01 (as of 2011-03-17). It is necessary to update to the firmware to enable PICTBRIDGE support on the Canon EOS 10D. PICTBRIDGE allows the printing of images from a camera directly to a printer, without using a personal computer as an intermediary device.
References
External links
Product PageOfficial Canon Site EOS 10D User ManualParts List With Exploded View Diagrams
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canon Eos 10d
10D
Cameras introduced in 2003