[This is the same review I posted for the kit. If you're getting the body because you don't like the 18-55 lens, keep in mind that some dealers offer this camera in a kit with the much nicer 17-85 USM IS (image stabalization) zoom.]The new Digital Rebel XTi camera should appeal to a wide variety of users: those wishing to upgrade from a point & shoot digital, or those wishing to improve upon their first generation digital SLRs. Features and value make this a 5-star camera, but it won't be everyone's cup of tea.
Compared to the previous Digital Rebel XT, important improvements are:
1) 10.1 megapixels. In digital camera circles, this is like saying a car has more horsepower than an older car. While this alone doesn't mean "better" pictures, in reality, combined with other improvements in hardware & software, the results typically are better.;
2) 2.5" LCD panel. This alone has more than one advantage. The obvious first one is that our pictures look larger in review. The second, and for someone approaching 50 (like myself), is that the LCD is now used for all the camera's data (shutter speed, aperture, shots left, etc.). It's much easier to read than the small LCD typically located on the top of the cameras. It might use up the batteries quicker, but, heck, if you can see the info this much easier, then so be it. One complaint, it does not appear that the data rotates when you do verticals (like the Sony Alpha 100).;
3) 9-point AF. The number of points are improved from 7, but the real key here is that it's the system from the 30D, which had a much higher degree of accuracy than the previous Rebels.;
4) Picture Styles. I didn't really appreciate them at first, but simply put, this is like the days of film, when we could use a "portrait" film or "landscape" film. For those that don't like to do a lot of computer work, these can be VERY handy in getting the right look in the camera.;
5) Dust cleaning system. OK, I think the dust problem will probably be a little overblown, now that Canon offers a solution, but it is a real, if not great, threat. Additionally, the way Canon has implemented it is second to none. The first is through hardware. An ultrasonic filter can simply shake the dust off. Second is through software. If you spot a nasty piece that won't shake off, you can do a reference shot, and have the dust removed by software on your computer.;
6)The grip has been improved a little. The rubber on the grip is improved, and an anti-slip strip has been placed on the back where the right thumb goes.
Most all other things Canon is know for still exists. The camera focus fast and quietly. Camera operations are quick and easy to locate and use. Pictures look great.
Now for the other side. This is an unusual time in that all the big players are comming out with a 10 megapixel camera at the same time, so the Canon has some stiff competition. Here goes a simple comparison.
1) Compared to the other two cameras already available, the Sony A100 and Nikon D80 (both also 5-star cameras), the XTi is considerably smaller, and somewhat lighter. Some will like this, even some with medium to medium-large hands. But most people with larger, and some with somewhat smaller hands may prefer the other two choices.;
2) The battery is somewhat smaller than its rival's, and may drain a bit faster due to the LCD being used for info all the time.;
3) Functionally, the rear LCD is not as nice as the Sony's. The Sony's rotates, can be set to enlarged type (50+ user again), and the system that turns it off as your eye approaches also starts the AF on the Sony. [Although many like the top LCD, the Nikon way of needing to push a button on the back, then peak over the top to see what you're setting is not as nice].;
4) No in camera stabalization. The A100 can shift the sensor to help eliminate camera shake. Nikon and Canon require you to purchase rather expensive lenses to get the anti-shake.;
Also, soon to be added to the competion will be the Pentax K10D. Specs are sketchy right now, but it appears to be enter the competition as a 10 megapixel camera with built-in anti-shake (much like their K100D).
Of these 3 currently on the market, the Canon is the least expensive; therefore, it's up to the other 2 to show they are worth more, a very difficult task, indeed.
The best thing I think I can provide is my short experience with this camera, so if you used to have a high end P&S camera and is looking to dive into the DSLR world, you are where I was a few weeks ago.
I owned a Sony F717 which I really loved, but honestly, all I did was set it to Auto and take good pictures. The problem was that I had a toddler at home that doesn't really like to wait till the camera took a few secs to focus and take the pic. I was missing those smiles and moments just because the Sony couldn't take pics fast enough.
I decided to look into newer cameras... Initially my budget was around $400 and I was looking to buy the Canon S3. But after spending several weeks online reading reviews (like you probably are right now), I decided that I wanted a DSLR (you'll find plenty of technical reasons in the web and other reviews). I was then ready to buy the Canon Xt (But the Xti was just around the corner, so I decided to wait a couple more weeks and when the Xti was finally released on Sep 1st, I went to Best Buy and got mine)
It's my third week with the camera, and I'm loving it. I can take pictures of my son faster than he can say "bugga bugga bugga". While I'm still learning how to use the camera to its potential (I've been trying to learn how to shoot pictures in manual mode instead of full automatic), I've been fully satisfied with the results so far.
If you're doing what I did last month, you're probably reading tons of reviews of this camera, the Canon Xt, Nikon D50, Nikon D70, Nikon D80, etc. Don't waste your time on the details.. They're all excellent cameras, and if you're coming from P&S, any of these cameras will be an awesome one for you to learn.
I warn you though. The biggest danger of buying this camera is that you'll soon be lusting after lenses... Now I spend hours on the web checking reviews of Canon, Sigma and Tamron lenses, and believe it or not, it's much harder to buy lenses than to buy a camera.
PS: A Great book I I got was "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. I actually got the book before the camera, and it was one of the main deciding factors that got me into DSLR instead of a pro P&S. The pictures that Bryan shows in this book are amazing and you need control. Now I'm paranoid with getting the smallest Depth of Field possible in my son's pictures (You'll understand this if you get this book or any other that explains concepts of Exposure)
Update (10/04): After weeks digging forums and reviews, I decided to purchase 2 lenses... The canon 50 f1.8 and the canon 70-300 IS. I'm not going to go over the details for these lenses in this review, but wanted to let you guys know that deciding which camera was the easy part. Deciding the lenses is where all the pain resides.
Buy Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens (Silver) Now
I had the Rebel XT and about 8 lenses and was thinking of getting an upgraded second camera body. So when it came out the 30D was a logical choice, but it was not really much of an upgrade from the 20D, which I resisted, so I was not really sure what to do. Then I had all but decided to just take the plunge and get the 30D when I heard the first rumblings about the XTi.Then I started to learn the details about the XTi, more mega pixels, same auto focus, same screen, picture styles, dust cleaning! The only areas that the 30D won in my opinion were build quality, spot meter, and estimated shutter life. Those 3 categories were not enough to convince me that the 30D was worth $300-$400 more than the XTi especially since the XTi had won or tied in most categories. The way I look at it is that the camera bodies are not nearly as important as the lenses, they change so fast that it is not worth it to me to spend more for longevity when it will be outdated in a year anyway. Spend $1,500 on a lens, use it for a lifetime, spend $1,500 on a camera body, regret it in a year. I fully expect the upgrade to the 30D to be released within a year, and now that I have saved by getting the XTi I will have all that much more to put towards it when it comes out.
So basically what I am saying is that, in my opinion, the XTi is just as good, if not better than the semi-pro 30D, so why pay more? Switching from the XT to the XTi was very simple, I can use them both now without any problems. The batteries, battery grips, remote shutter release, and most of the other accessories are also compatible with both, which is nice to keep the amount of gear you need to carry to a minimum.
Unless you want to move up to a full frame sensor, I can't see any reasons why you would not want to go with this camera. If you read books on photography from just 1 or 2 years ago you will realize that this "entry level" camera has features that were not even available on top of the line ($5,000+) camera bodies. With the speed that camera bodies advance you might as well buy the entry level body every year instead of making a huge investment in the pro level bodies and then being shown up by something 10% of that price in a year or two. Not that there are not reasons to buy one of those bodies, I just don't seem have any of them.With emphasis on portability, Canon's Digital Rebel XTi is designed for first-time DSLR photographers and travel enthusiasts. Measuring 5.0" by 3.7" by 2.6" and weighing 1.1 lbs., it is about as large as the largest point & shoot cameras and one of the smallest DSLR camera bodies on the market. Its size is the source of both popularity and criticisms. If you have large hands or a heavier lens, it may feel too small. An optional battery grip can help, but some will want something more substantial. Visit a store nearby to find out for yourself.
The package includes camera body with a lens cap, battery, charger, manual, catalogs, neck strap, USB and composite video cables, and CD-ROMs. You will need a lens and CompactFlash memory card. There may be some static energy in the packaging, so remove the lens cap in a dust-free environment such as the bathroom to prevent dust entering the sensor. Much promoted sensor cleaning system helps, but it's best not to get any in the first place.
Canon sells 4 versions of XTi: black or silver finish and with or without EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. Black or silver is largely a personal preference, but most lenses, most accessories, and all but low-end DSLR camera bodies are black. As for the kit lens, it can be an affordable introduction to DSLR and capable if used exclusively at f/8 or f/11 apertures (soft at other apertures). In other words, the lens is not ideal for shooting under low light. If you don't have to get a zoom lens now, start with Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II. It is famous for top-notch performance at very low price. Due to XTi's APS-C image sensor (compositions are multiplied by 1.6x), this lens becomes 35mm-equivalent of 80mm.
If you have the budget for a good zoom lens, at over 100 lenses, Canon has you covered. Some of Canon's popular zoom lenses include EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM, and EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. If these are too pricey, third party vendors such as Sigma and Tamron make Canon-compatible lenses for less. Their focus is not as nice as Canon's USM but they generally outperform Canon's lower-end lenses.Tamron's SP AF 17-50mm f/2.8 Di II LD Aspherical (IF) and Sigma's 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC and AF 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC macro are popular among budget-minded photographers.
With 10.1 megapixels image sensor, the XTi can benefit from sharper lenses. Although increasing the resolution over same image sensor area can increase noise, Canon has improved the sensor technology to maintain low noise floor and high dynamic range. Performance wise, there's very little to criticize. Great example of Canon's trademark smooth, high contrast, saturated, and low noise. Noise remains low even at ISO 800. It is said that shooting RAW is equivalent to getting an extra exposure (1.0 EV) and it can help you maintain usable details with acceptable noise at ISO 1600. Low noise gives XTi a bit of an excuse for missing in-body image stabilizer. According to Canon, lens is more effective location for image stabilizer, especially telephoto. That's true but I think the feature would've been nice to have. As a consolation, the XTi has mirror lockup that reduces vibration caused by the mirror movement. My sole performance criticism is the metering mode. It includes only partial and not spot metering mode (very useful when shooting high contrast scenes such as candlelit birthday cake). Perhaps more problematic is the evaluative metering mode, which occasionally underexposes images by 2/3 EV or so.
Some have criticized XTi for "plasticky" build. Except for the metal lens mount, the exterior is largely made of high quality engineering plastic with rubbery paint. If you drop it, it will probably crack or break, but it's sturdy and well made. Flipping on the power lever, it starts up almost immediately ready for use. Much promoted auto sensor cleaning kicks in when powering up and down. As with most DSLRs, there's virtually no shutter lag and it focuses in a split second (especially when using a USM lens). In continuous shooting mode with a fast memory card, it can take 10 RAWs or 27 JPEGs at 3 frames per second. RAW images are 10 MB each, so get a speed 2 GB or larger memory card, such as SanDisk's Ultra II series.
Replacing both 1.8" LCD and info display is 2.5" high resolution LCD with LED backlighting. It displays current camera settings, photos in memory, and menu. Thanks to greater real estate and more refined user interface, XTi is very intuitive and pleasure to use. The minus is 10% lower battery life, which was merely adequate to begin with. XTi has 95% crop 0.8x optical viewfinder that displays 9 auto focus points, shutter speed, aperture, and more, but misses ISO speed, white balance, and metering mode. Overall, XTi's viewfinder is more than adequate but pales to Nikon D80's larger and more comprehensive one.
Highlights of software package are ImageBrowser (Mac OS X Universal Binary), ZoomBrowser (Windows), and Digital Photo Professional (Mac OS X Universal Binary and Windows). ImageBrowser and ZoomBrowser are easy-to-weight lightweight applications for managing JPEG and RAW. Digital Photo Professional is considerably more powerful and lets you use XTi's dust delete data feature for removing dust its sensor cleaning hardware couldn't remove.I've been using the 400d/XTi for about 2 weeks now, and I love it. Shutter response is very fast, and the LCD is easily readible, even in very bright conditions. The 9 point AF is far superior to the 7 point AF offered on the 300 and 350d models, and the added resolution (10.08 MP) is a nice bonus. The anti-dust protection, particularly the automatic sensor cleaning, is great as I change lenses quite often.
I'm sad to say that the 400d has replaced my (more expensive) 30d for most applications. The 30d clearly has a better build quality, but that's the only advantage I can see at this point. If you want a lightweight, moderately inexpensive prosumer-grade camera, the 400d is about as good as you can get for the money.
PLEASE NOTE: if you are new to digital photography, the camera is important, but lenses are FAR MORE IMPORTANT. If you want to get great results with the 400d, you're going to have to buy good lenses. The kit lens (18-55, NOT USM) sucks -it makes a good paperweight, but that's it. If you're a beginner I'd recommend the 50mm f/1.8 MK II (or the f/1.4, if you can afford it) to start. The f/1.8 MK II is cheaper than the kit lens, and while it's a prime (doesn't allow you to zoom) it's much sharper in low light conditions (and the f/1.4 is even sharper than the f/1.8).
Overall, I give this camera a 9 out of 10. For the price, it's the best you can get. Just remember, lenses are more important than the camera. A 300d with L-series lenses will outperform a 400d with low/consumer grade lenses in all settings. If you already have a 300 or 350d, save your money and invest it in better optics. If you don't already have a dslr, this is perhaps the best entry-level model on the market.
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