After being ‘accidentally’ leaked last night on Amazon.com, the Canon 40D has now been officially released. If this was the proper date, or if they pushed it forwards due to the leak no one knows.

But here it is, the successor to the popular Canon 30D.

Canon today introduces its latest digital SLR for advanced amateurs and semi-professionals: the EOS 40D. With a 10.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor, 6.5 frames per second burst performance, a newly developed AF system and 3.0” LCD with Live View mode, the EOS 40D makes significant advances in both performance and versatility.

The camera benefits from the new EOS technology platform introduced earlier this year with the professional EOS?1D Mark III. Canon’s DIGIC III processor delivers responsive operation, improved colour rendering and near-instant start-up time. The EOS Integrated Cleaning System combats sensor dust, while a strong magnesium alloy body with weather resistance ensures lasting durability.

“The EOS 40D represents an important step in the development of EOS for the advanced amateur market. It incorporates many of the technologies pioneered in our latest EOS-1 series cameras,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging, Europe. “For digital photographers, the benefits of upgrading to the EOS 40D are real and significant. For analogue SLR users, there’s never been a more compelling reason to make the switch.”

Key features

• 10.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
• 6.5 fps continuous shooting, max. burst 75 JPEGs
• New AF system with 9 cross-type sensors
• DIGIC III processor
• 3.0” LCD with Live View mode
• EOS Integrated Cleaning System
• Clear and bright viewfinder
• Customisable Picture Style processing parameters

It looks like it can compete a bit better with the legendary D200 now, but still the D200s or D300 should be coming out shortly.

They also announced the 1Ds MKIII and some news lenses (18-55mm IS and 55-250mm IS).