I have been using digital cameras since 2002 and have always gone for Canon, my first camera being a 2mp compact.

I have been swithering about the 40D for ages and the imminent arrival of the 450D had me sitting on the fence even more.

I took myself to one side and had a little chat about what little difference an extra 2mp will make and decided to go for the 40D.

I am so glad I did, I have been using a 350D and the step-up in terms of build quality is unreal, you know where the extra money has gone.

In terms of exciting new features there really isn't anything to get excited about. Sure, it has liveview but so what, all my compacts have that. Saying that it is a useful feature but not something you are going to show off about.

I have been showing friends the camera and althogh there isn't any killer features to show off with, the camera is probably the ultimate incarnation of an SLR in this price bracket.

What this camera offers is complete confidence and a feature set that inspires creativity and solutions to any photographic challenge. Everything works well and within a couple of days you come to grips with the controls an away you go.

I got a couple of lenses, a Sigma 10-20mm and a Sigma 24-60 f2.8 constant aperture and I am saving hard for a Canon 70-200mm lens. When I get that I will have a very respectable kit that covers any photographic situation.

The finish and build of the body is second to none, magnesium alloy throughout and it is light, strong and the rubberised coating is very tactile. A small indentation below the shutter button allows your middle finger to sit tightly against the grip and this gives a real good hold. The buttons are on the whole well position but the four small buttons along the top panel sometimes cause you to twist and convolute your digits to pick certain features.

I photograph in a variety of situations from landscape to candid, portrait, still life, the whole lot really and this camera is never away from my side. The menus are indepth but accessible and pretty much every function you could wish for (and a few more besides) is available to tweak, set to auto or disable.

I really can't praise this camera highly enough, I shoot mainly RAW files and the quality of the processed image (when using the included software) is second to none. My photography has really stepped up a gear purely due to this camera and for that reason alone I couldn't recommend it highly enough.

Don't fall into the megapixel trap, the 40D is pretty comparable to the 450D (especially with the current cashback offer) and you really owe it to yourself to buy a fantastically well specified camera with a build quality that will ensure it gives years of service.