I went digital 5 years ago. My first was one of the very old Olypus digitals; no removable storage, just a cable to the computer, 120 low resolution or 30 medium resolution shots and then the memory was full. The colors were always off, there was no zoom, and it was amazing that it worked at all. No wonder I also bought a pocket 35mm camera to take "real" pictures since the Olympus' were so small, grainy, and colorless. At least the 35mm had a datestamp option. 3 years later I bought the Canon PowerShot S30, then when I lost it (or had it stolen?) I replaced it with the S40. The PowerShot S50 sold today is the same body style with more pixels and a couple of annoyances fixed.This camera is NOTHING like those cameras. I had plenty of complaints about the S30 & S40. My biggest gripe was missing the shot. I take pictures of children, especially at school functions. I would line up a wonderful shot, push the button... and they would move! They'd get up and walk away, they'd turn around, they'd crowd into the subject, I was missing 80% of my shots. About a year later, the shutter would finally click. So my hard drive is filled with so-so shots that would have been winners if that annoying delay hadn't gotten me... again!
No problem with the Digital Rebel. Press the button, focus is lightning-fast, then click goes the shutter. You look through the viewfinder to frame your shot, not at the back on those hard-to-read LCD screens. Several modes allow multiple pictures, just in case, such as in Sports mode. I am seeing such an improvement in my pictures since I got this camera a few weeks ago. First of all, they are always framed properly, because I'm not dealing with sudden motion after shutter release, nor am I dealing with an LCD for a viewfinder, or a "viewfinder" that makes me correct for parallax. Next, the colors are amazing. Third, 6.3 megapixels... when would I ever want that much? When I want to crop 80% of the picture and still print what's left!
It is great to have a camera with some heft that still doesn't feel like a brick. As everyone else says, get the kit lens. It is 18 to 55mm, so a nice wide-angle lens for group shots, etc. I find 55mm not close enough for shooting children; the S30/S40 I mention above has an 11-55mm range which I already knew to be insufficient for shooting kids. Thus I bought the Canon 28-200mm zoom lens and keep that one on the camera, only switching to the kit lens when I do big groups or a lot of similar portraits (that big zoom lens weighs four times as much as the body!)
Yes, it is an amazing camera for "under" $1000. Truth be told, I spent more than that on accessories; the 28-200mm lens was almost $500, with 6.3 megapixels you might as well buy the biggest flashcard you can, and that's 2 GB these days; you'll need a case, you really ought to buy skylight filters to protect those lenses from getting scratched, an extra battery is a really good idea... well, you see what I mean.
Still an amazing camera, especially after dealing with those tiny toys for all these years.
What I really wanted was my old Canon EOS 650 (35mm) camera to work with a digital camara back so that I could make use of my existing investment in lenses. Well guess what, that is exactly what the Digital Rebel provides!
Much to my surprise, all of my old EOS EF lenses work very well with this camera and I am getting much better results than I expected. This is a huge improvement over my other digicams better resolution, color, overall quality, and I am in awe of what I get with my long telephoto lens.
A few notes. First, buy the kit lens (18-55mm EF-S); for $100 you'll use the lense and it is an incredible value (certinaly worth 2 to 3 times the cost). Second, if you take many indoor photos you'll want an external flash; I went with Canon's 420EX unti as it provides E-TTL exposure (essentially, the amount of flash is controlled by what the camera meters through the lens a pretty amazing capability). Third, get a good amount of memory, like 2 512K card; its relatively inexpensive and by taking lots of photos you'll learn more about the camera's abilities sooner.
I am getting very long battery life (well into many hundreds of photos per charge), so unless you are headed off into the woods you may be able to hold off on purchasing a spare battery.
In summary, if you are an old 35mm EOS photographer, this is a complete no brainer since you get to use your lens investment. If you aren't, I'd highly recommend this camera anyway (and look into the Canon 70-200mm/f4 telephoto lense its extremely high quality and a reasonable price). Now smile and say "Canon".
Buy Canon EOS 6.3MP Digital Rebel Camera with 18-55mm Lens Now
canon's competitors must be scratching their collective heads wondering how canon has managed to deliver a true interchangeable-lens digital SLR for less than a thousand bucks. this is nothing short of a revolution in the d-SLRs world and it's hard not to get excited!pros:
can't stress this enough: value, value, value a formidable d-SLR has landed south of the thousand dollar barrier.
6MP CMOS sensor.
excellent resolution matches canon's own EOS 10D.
seven manually selectable AF points fast and reliable.
2.5fps continuous shooting speed up to four images regardless of resolution.
accurate color reproduction.
images virtually noise free at ISO 800 and below.
very little redeye occurrence.
good metering, although no direct control of metering mode.
good manual preset white balance.
shooting priority play mode simply half-press the shutter during playback and you're ready to shoot.
supports RAW format.
excellent AF speeds, with virtually no shutter lag.
impressive shot to shot times basically you can shoot as fast as you can compose your shot.
good selection of exposure modes.
orientation sensor for automatic image rotation.
playback magnification up to 10x.
allows computer controlled shooting with included software.
feels solidly built despite the plastic body.
easy to use, integrated controls and displays.
bright, high resolution LCD.
fully compatible with canon extensive lens line.
excellent battery life (but i still recommend getting a spare).
excellent printed manual and supplied software bundle.
cons:
to minimize cannibalization of 10D sales, the 300D has been pre-programmed to have less flexibility (forced AI focus, forced evaluative metering, etc).
no spot metering.
low noise levels at ISO 1600.
no flash exposure compensation.
cannot fine-tune white balance.
make sure you don't open the memory door while the camera is writing into the flash memory or else you will lose everything that's left in the internal memory buffer.
plastic body with compartment doors that should be meatier.
LCD has no anti-reflective coating.
reduced continuous shooting rate and buffer size (2.5 fps for max 4 images) vs the 10D.
ISO sensitivity not displayed on viewfinder status bar while being changed.
no flash memory provided so add a few $$ to your budget to get at least 128MB.
proprietary battery again, a few more bucks for a spare.
there's nothing in the market that can touch this camera today. if you're shopping for a camera in the thousand dollar range, make sure you take a close look at the 300D.
i hope this helps you with your buying decision. peace.
Read Best Reviews of Canon EOS 6.3MP Digital Rebel Camera with 18-55mm Lens Here
I've had the Rebel for about a month now, and it's been an amazing blast up the photography learning curve for me. It is my first SLR, though fortunately my third digicam, and ... well, wow, what a great camera to learn on.I'd like to just run down the "cons" listed by a different reviewer below (or above? how do they order these things? ;-):
"to minimize cannibalization of 10D sales, the 300D has been pre-programmed to have less flexibility (forced AI focus, forced evaluative metering, etc)"
* This general point is true, but it is rarely an issue for me, at least. You can override evaluative metering, you can fool it into Servo AF mode (and the "sports mode" pushes it into Servo AF mode as well), etc. The only thing I miss is mirror lock-up, for long-exposure dusk shots ... but hey, that just isn't worth the $600 and .75 pound tax I'd pay for the 10D.
no spot metering.
* Not true. Locking exposure (holding the '*' button) yields spot metering in most modes, though the "spot" is about 9% of the FoV.
low noise levels at ISO 1600.
* The Rebel has the same sensor and image processing goo as the 10D, and the 10D reputatedly has some of the lowest noise at any given ISO. ISO 1600 is pretty darn fast, some noise is inevitable.
no flash exposure compensation.
* Yeah, this stinks a bit -but at least you can get it with one of the EX flashes.
cannot fine-tune white balance.
* Not sure what "fine tune" means here -you can set it to "Custom white balance" and read off of a white source (e.g. white card, paper), and it retains that custom setting (even through on/off cycles of the camera).
make sure you don't open the memory door while the camera is writing into the flash memory or else you will lose everything that's left in the internal memory buffer.
* Never have run into this being an issue -opening the memory door is quite an unnatural action, I can't really see it ever happening accidentally, and the big red flashing light would be a reminder not to do it intentionally.
plastic body with compartment doors that should be meatier.
* Metal (zinc) would be heavier, and the Rebel is plenty durable -I crashed my mountain bike at 20mph with this sucker on my hip. I rolled onto it and cracked the filter, bent the lens, but the body was only scratched a little, and continues to work perfectly.
LCD has no anti-reflective coating.
* My theory has always been that you can't see diddly on the LCD anyway. The real benefit on the 300D is that you can set the pic review mode to show the "info" screen, which includes the histogram -this is VERY useful for checking to see if you have the exposure right without having to squint at a tiny LCD screen and guessing.
reduced continuous shooting rate and buffer size (2.5 fps for max 4 images) vs the 10D.
* Again, another thing you get with the additional $600 ... but compared to the other digicams I've owned, this one feels like a rocket!
ISO sensitivity not displayed on viewfinder status bar while being changed.
* It is displayed on the external LCD, however. I do wish that it was always visible on the LCD (not just when changing), as it's a little too easy to set it to, say, 400 in some low light situation, and then forget it's there and only remember when you note, several days later, that "wow, that shutter speed sure is short ..."
no flash memory provided so add a few $$ to your budget to get at least 128MB.
* Included flash cards are virtually always too small and basically get tossed.
proprietary battery again, a few more bucks for a spare.
* Are there any "large" cameras that take, say, AA's? Not many ... the BP-512 that the Rebel uses is a SWEET battery, too, in terms of life.
Want Canon EOS 6.3MP Digital Rebel Camera with 18-55mm Lens Discount?
I have been intrigued by this camera since its release. My old camera is a Canon PowerShot S30 (3.2MP). I wanted to buy an SLR to advance my photography skills and capabilities. When this beauty came along bearing a price tag under $1,000 and received prestigious acclaim I knew I wanted one. But I decided to delay for a few months, waiting to see what competition would arise, and how quickly the price would drop. That competition presented itself as the Nikon D70. Ultimately, I decided to get the D-Rebel because the price-to-quality ratio is exceptional; the ~$300+ more for the Nikon doesn't seem justifiable for what I think are negligible factors. Besides, my PowerShot has served me well and I'm used to the Canon system.I've played with mine in the field for two days. Last weekend was my introduction day and I made a lot of mistakes -camera shake, off-focus, underexposure. Today I went back to the same spots [in similar weather] and received much better results by using my tripod, setting the exposure compensation to +1/3 (most of the time) and sometimes forcing a longer shutter than 'auto' suggested. My photos went from dull to incredible with a few easy adjustments. If your photos come out poorly always exhaust the manual solutions before blaming faulty camera construction.
If you're moving up from a [Canon] SLR, many of the characteristics of the D-Rebel will be familiar. If, on the other hand, you're used to a P&S like myself some things will be awkward. For example, using the viewfinder instead of the LCD monitor to compose shots; using the Main Dial and LCD panel to implement settings; and manual focusing. My PowerShot allows manual tweaking, but it is usually easier to let the processor handle certain functions. The SLR is different -it invites you to play.
I have read complaints about the camera's construction. Indeed, it is an all-plastic body, whereas the D-Rebel's big brother, the 10D, is magnesium alloy. But I think this will be an insignificant point for most people; the plastic body is sturdy enough to handle a day's work. It has a nice firm rubber grip on the right side. A friend has an EOS Elan 7 (n or ne) and the weight is approximately the same.
I also know some people don't like the fact that the D-Rebel uses the flash as an AF-assist lamp -particularly because once the flash pops it will take a flash exposure. But the solution is simple enough: push the flash back down. The camera automatically re-evaluates the shutter speed, maintains focus and takes the shot. You will need to have it on a tripod for the shot to be successful, though.
After a lot of reading and searching for components to make up a great system, I ended up buying: Rebel with 18-55mm lens; EF 55-200mm II USM lens; 1 Gb Sandisk Ultra II CompactFlash; 420EX Speedlite flash; Sto-fen Omni-Bounce diffuser (for 420EX); Tiffen 58mm Deluxe Enhancing Filter Kit; Samsonite Worldproof 3.2 Download SLR bag; Tamrac Small Lens Case. (I wrote a review for the Samsonite bag. I think it's fantastic for carrying all my gear. I use the Tamrac bag when I want to travel light.)
Here's a stupid mistake I made that I'd like to enlighten others to, so that they may avoid doing the same. When I first tested the camera most of my shots were indoors and required the flash. In many of those shots I noticed a black blob. I thought maybe my flash was defective. The manual says there are certain conditions where the flash may be obstructed. My solution was simple enough: two of my fingers were in the way. With my PowerShot, I had become used to lifting my ring and pinky fingers away from the flash and lens so they would be out of the way... now doing it put them in the way of the flash. Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one.
Here are two things I feel quite fortunate to have learned (i.e., stumbled upon), as I did not read this in any review.
(1) When using a [Canon] digital SLR you need a "Type II" lens. Lenses have always induced aberrations of light, which would create 'ghosts' and other weird things. But 35mm film is produced with a coating that prevents them. When you use a D-SLR, however, that coating is not on your sensor, so those light artifacts appear again. So Canon created the "Type II" lens, where the aforementioned coating is on the glass. The only problem is that there are only a handful of these lenses at this point. Unfortunately, this dramatically weakens Canon's claim that you can use "over 50 lenses" on your D-Rebel. While technically true, you probably wouldn't like the results. (Popular Photography magazine ran an article about this, which is on their site.)
(2) Don't fall for tricky CompactFlash advertising. I bought several Viking Components CF cards for my PowerShot. They always worked well and I almost bought a big one for my D-Rebel. Then I considered the Lexar "40x" because they have a good reputation. "40x" sounds good, eh? The Sandisk Ultra II works at 60x! At the Large-Fine setting, this will save you one-third second of write-time. That is big when you think about action photography. The Sandisk card can write 3 images when the Lexar can only do 2. The Vikings are worse; they can't even write one image/second!
I am exceptionally pleased with my purchase -not with just the D-Rebel, but the whole system. It pays to do your research and decide what's right for you. Personally, I think I put together an excellent 'amateur SLR' package that will allow me to grow and explore for a long time. Hopefully you will feel the same with a D-Rebel over your shoulder.
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