Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens (Black)
by Canon
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens (Black)
Customer Review: Canon Rebel XTi compared to Canon 40D
Summary: 5 Stars
My husband and I regularly use the XTi and 40D, both with separate Canon 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 zooms. (He always used the lens, so I caved and bought a 2nd one - it's a great all-around.) We've used these bodies for nearly a year now.
My husband has large hands, but he prefers the XTi body. I like the extra weight of the 40D, especially for a largish lens like the Canon 70-200mm L. The smaller XTi body fits better into holster bags. The off-on switch is easier to operate on the XTi - it sticks out, whereas the 40D's off-on switch is flatter to the body. The XTi's buttons and menus seem a bit more intuitive than the 40D, but has fewer options for people who like to fiddle with new things. I think the 40D battery lasts longer than the XTi, although that's an impression, not a scientific study.
(For the record, I had a chance to shoot with the Sony Alpha A200. That body feels cheaper to me in its build. And I think the lens choices are much better for Canon and Nikon.)
Looking at similar shots taken with identical lenses, it is very difficult to differentiate between the results. We are amateurs. My husband likes landscape mode, I like Av mode. One huge difference between these cameras is that the 40D has the ability to automatically set the ISO film speed in creative modes as well as point-and-shoot modes. When I'm using the XTi, I find it a pain to have to remember to check the ISO number and set it for conditions. For example, as it gets darker towards dusk, you might want to set the ISO to 400 rather than 100. (Remember: for both bodies, the ISO setting is automatic for basic modes like "landscape," but I shoot mostly in Av mode.)
Another interesting difference is the sky. When the XTi takes a picture of, say, a sunset in landscape mode, the sky is rich and red while the rest of the shoot is too dark. If I use landscape mode (or Av, for that matter) with the 40D, it adjusts things so that the sky is always washed out or white in order to make the rest of the shot visible. It often washes out a blue sky to white as well, even shooting Av mode at aperture 22. So if I want to get that sky color (at the expense of everything else too dark,) I have to point at sky only, press shutter halfway for exposure, and then recompose the shot. Then the picture turns out like the XTi. (I know, I know - probably need to buy a graduated neutral density filter, but I am so lazy and so cheap.)
Something else to consider is that the accessories for these two cameras are not compatible. Although the CompactFlash cards are the same, the remote switch for the 40D doesn't work with the XTi, the batteries and chargers are not interchangeable, etc. This makes the pair less than perfect backups for one another, and more stuff to haul on a trip.
For the price, I think the XTi is a better bargain than the 40D, although I suspect it's a lot like my brain: I'm only using the 40D at 18% of it's true capacity! Although I would still choose the 40D over the XTi, my husband prefers the XTi. For people who don't do weird things like reset the white balance or shoot in raw, the XTi is a superb choice - it's just an outstanding deal now that the prices have dropped even further. If you're not a real gadget nerd, I'd recommend buying the Xti, taking the money you save over the 40D and putting it towards a great lens.
Customer Review: A valuable camera for great photography
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent camera for those who want to pursue photgraphy seriously. [SLR stands for single lens reflex]. If u r just planning to use it as a point and shoot camera [in AUTO mode] plz dont waste ur money. Like all SLR cameras its bulky if u compare with slim-trim point-n-shoot cameras in the market which slide-in easily in ur pocket. There is no real time preview in the LCD at the back so u have to see through the eyepiece for framing the photo. Its actually gives u the image as seen through the lens. Since, all light that enters the camera through the lens gets diverted to the eyepiece via a mirror infront of the sensor, we have no real time preview as no light falls on the sensors. Moreover there is a curtain [shutter] infront of the sensors [CCD type for canon]. Shutter controls the amount of light falling on the sensors. u can reach extremely fast sensor speeds like 1/4000 secs which gives u freezing image of moving objects. For night or astro photography one can keep the shutter open for as long as 30 secs. ISO range for the EOS 400D [rebel xti] is 100-1000, where 100 is the native sensitivity. For night mode one can increase the ISO but the picture is grainier or use flash [which fills the image with light n destroys the whole effect in the photo] or can decrease the sutter speed. At lower shutter speeds camera shake can blur the photo very badly, so one must use a tripod or use an IS [image stabilized] lens. The lens that comes with the camera [18-55 mm lens] is not very good and u cant expect more from a $50-75 lens. The canon has a vertical tilt sensor which rotates the image if u shoot it vertically. The re is a sensor which turns off the LCD in the front when u move ur eyes close to the eye-piece and this is really helpful. Imagine shooting in the night mode with something bright below ur eyes....it would be terrible. The kit aslo includes a battery n a charger esp made for the EOS 400D camera. With fully charged it's sufficient for a full day of active photgraphy.
The camera uses a CF [compact flash] card [normal cameras use SD or SDpro card]. Writing image to the card is fast. The camera takes a while if the card is full, to get ready to trasfer the image. I have used canon A630 and it gets ready very fast to trasfer the images to the computer.
With this camera in continuous shooting mode one can shoot approx 3 images per second which u wont achieve with a normal digital camera. It has a maximum burst [total no. of photos one can shoot in the above mode] of approx 20 when there is no flash and image is small/fine jpeg. With RAW images it would be smaller.
If I compare it with Sony Alpha series, Canon EOS 400D is clearly a winner. Sonys camera doest even look good. Compared to Nikon it has a body that is cheaper [$200-$250]. Nikon has more features that are more subtle and u might not use them. Nikon has one screen at the top of the cmaera when the data for various parameters like shutter speed, white balance, exposure, focus, ISO etc is shown. The LCD at the back is only for image preview. The canon's one LCD at back does it both, and i like that. Furthermore canon has only one dial to control compared to 2 in Nikon. Canon has an extremely good series of lenses too for all kinds of photgraphy.
Customer Review: Great camera, but the included Macintosh software is tricky to install
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been wanting a digital SLR for a long time and with the introduction of the Canon Digital Rebel XTi, I decided the time was right. My experiences are based on about 7 years of point-and-shoot zoom cameras and, before that, a manual focus Canon A-1 film SLR.
As SLRs go, the camera is very compact out of the box. Unfortunately, it didn't stay that way after I attached the optional BG-E3 battery grip. It feels very solid regardless of the attachments, but I think it's a little easier to handle with the extra bulk of the battery grip, which also allows for up to three times the battery power of the standard Li-ion battery when used with the high capacity NiMH AA batteries currently available,
The lens included in the kit is passable, especially if you can't afford a better lens, but I found that a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens gives noticeably sharper images. I will be using the kit lens only when I need 18-24mm focal lengths.
One of the first things that impressed me when I started using the camera was the autofocus speed. It is really fast and works well in lighting conditions that would make my Canon PowerShot S1 IS's autofocus choke. It uses the flash as a focus assist light when the light gets too low for the autofocus to work unassisted.
The controls are well laid out. They provide one-button access to white balance settings, ISO settings, autofocus modes, and exposure modes. Exposure compensation is accomplished almost as easily: turn the dial next to the shutter release while holding down the aperture/exposure compensation button with your thumb.
My only complaints center around the difficulty with which the included Macintosh software installed. First of all, unlike software installers for any other package I've installed under OS X, which give you the opportunity to authenticate with an admin name and password even when installed from a normal user account, the installer for the included software does not. Therefore, you *must* install the software while logged into an admin account. This is very bad installer design IMHO.
Secondly, the Digital Photo Professional application would not operate correctly when run in a normal user account unless it was run once in an admin account. I presume that the first run installs some extra software (plugins or drivers?) in a location only writable by an admin user. Before I figured this out, the app would not decode nor process RAW images, more often than not resulting in the SBOD (spinning beachball of death) and requiring a force-quit of the app. However, once I got it working, the software worked well on the RAW images I had captured with the camera. I was able to brighten up a slightly underexposed RAW photo of one of my cats in a particularly expressive pose by about 0.5 stops with no noticeable quality loss.
I would heartily recommend this camera to anyone who has been disappointed with the image quality, speed, and other limitations of a point-and-shoot.
Customer Review: If you're coming from Point and Shoot Cameras
Summary: 5 Stars
You'll find plenty of technical reviews on the web regarding features and specs for this camera.
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.
Customer Review: Digital camera that feels like a great film camera
Summary: 5 Stars
I've used Canon cameras since the days of the original Canon AE-1, in the 1980s. More recently I've owned several Canon digital point and shoot cameras. This is the first Digital SLR that I've owned and it's just a wonderful camera.
As soon as I switch the camera on it's ready to go. I'm using lenses from my Canon EOS camera of a few years ago and they work wonderfully with the Digital Rebel XTi. The only difference is that the effective focal length is slightly larger, so a 35mm lens on the Digital Rebel is the same as a 50mm lens on a film camera.
There are a LOT of controls on this camera that make it easy to change film speed (up to ISO 1600), focus points, and other settings. I spent the first week playing with the camera so I can get used to making changes quickly. I also bought the book Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D Digital Field Guide and read through it to learn more about the camera. This was MUCH better than just the user manual which came with the camera.
The camera is FAST at taking pictures, even when using the flash. The flash is high enough that I see a lot less red-eye. I've tried using lower resolution settings and find that even the Medium setting produces super sharp pictures with lots of detail.
The Digital Rebel goes into a low power mode when left on, and is ready to shoot as soon as you press the shutter release. I've left it on for more than 2 days and still find LOTS of power left in the battery. So far I've been able to leave the camera on and shoot over 300 pictures without running the battery down completely.
If you're going to use this camera to shoot in Raw mode, you'll need a BIG memory card. I bought a Kingston 2GB CompactFlash Memory Card with the camera, fast and fairly large capacity. When I'm using Raw mode, the camera takes a Large format JPG picture together with the Raw one. With a 2GB card you'll have enough room for about 100 pictures, versus over 550 with just Large mode alone. So you may want to consider the 4GB Kingston Compactflash Card.
Colors from the shots are really nice with great skin tones, even when using the flash. The Rebel has a lot of different photo modes, but I'm mostly sticking with P where it chooses both aperture and shutter speed. I can use the small wheel just behind the shutter release to easily change these for more speed or better depth of field.
I'm really glad I chose this camera, and I'm looking forward to many years of happy picture taking with it.