Rebel Eos

Rebel Eos
Movers and Shakers in Cameras on Amazon
The bestsellers in Camera's this week are the Canon PowerShot SD780IS in first, in second is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7, and in third is the Canon EOS Rebel T1i. Since there are no big changes in bestsellers we will look at the mover and shakers for the w...

Xsi Rebel - Left My Nikon D40 Behind And Never Looked Back

After using the Nikon D40 for the past 6 months I was in desperate need of a new DSLR camera. Not wanting to break my bank account I had been eyeing up the latest consumer level SLR from Canon, the XSi Rebel, and eagerly awaiting its release date.

Compared to other SLRs in this class the Canon XSi Rebel includes the following:

- 12.2 Megapixels: They just keep going up! This alone gives the Rebel XSi an advantage because (at this point in time) there is no other consumer level SLR camera with more megapixels on the market. I've even had a few friends tell me they're looking to upgrade from last years Rebel XTi which had 10.1.

- 3.0" LCD Panel:. Just when you thought they couldn't make it any bigger Canon upgrades their LCD screen yet again. Another reason amateur photographers will be happy to either upgrade or flat out purchase the XSi Rebel is because Canon has added an extra half-inch of screen space on the back, making for easier viewing and putting a stop to blurry photos before they get a chance to spread.

- 9-Point AF: The EOS XSi Rebel has a high-precision 9-point wide area AF sensor for fast, accurate focus even in dim lighting. It has a number of focus modes, including One-Shot AF, AI Focus AF, AI Servo AF and Manual. In Live View Function, the EOS XSi Rebel has two AF modes: Quick mode, which uses the camera's standard 9-point AF system, and Live mode, which is a contrast-based AF system that reads the sharpness of subjects right from the imaging sensor, and can be overridden by pressing the AF mode selection button. A familiar feature in PowerShot cameras, Live mode AF uses similar technologies to achieve focus, while Quick mode is more appropriate for capturing action or for shooting in low light.

- Outstanding Image Quality: Canon's CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) sensor captures images with exceptional clarity and tonal range, and offers the most pixels in its class. It offers many of the same new technologies to maximize each pixel's light gathering efficiency that were first seen with the professional EOS-1D Mark III model. It's an APS-C size sensor (22.2 x 14.8mm), and there's an effective 1.6x increase in the lens's marked focal length when attached. Canon's DIGIC III Image Processor dramatically enhances image quality and speeds up all camera operations for intuitive operation. It works in concert with the EOS XSi Rebel's sensor to achieve unprecedented levels of performance in all lighting situations.

- 14-bit A/D Converter: With the EOS XSi Rebel, analog to digital signal conversion is executed by a 14-bit processor, which generates digital data with incredibly smooth tones. Formerly a feature only present in top-of-the-line pro digital SLR cameras, the 14-bit conversion gives incredibly smooth transitions from light to dark colors, with far less risk of "banding." A sky at sunset is a perfect example. With this rich 14-bit gradation the EOS XSi Rebel offers RAW images of the highest quality that can be processed with Canon's Digital Photo Professional software. Even JPEG files, which are always finished at 8-bits per channel, use the full 14-bit conversion initially to generate the best possible color and tonal detail. Another huge benefit of the 14-bit conversion is the Highlight Tone Priority option, which allows critical shooters to increase the level of detail in bright areas of a scene up to one stop, without affecting overall exposure.

- Auto Optimization: The EOS XSi Rebel's Auto Optimization is yet another image-quality tool that comes to the rescue in tricky lighting conditions. It can actually lighten dark areas of a scene while ensuring that bright areas maintain tonal detail. It's now available in all shooting modes, including P, Tv, Av, and Manual.

- Precision Operation: The XSi Rebel operates with such effortless speed that operation is nothing short of intuitive. With instant startup times, speedy autofocus and minimal shutter lag, the XSi Rebel is one of the fastest cameras available today. It can shoot up to 3.5 frames per second, in bursts of 53 JPEGs or 6 RAW files, so you'll never, ever miss a shot.

- Advanced Features: The XSi Rebel's 35-zone evaluative metering system with improved white balance analyzes light based on each zone in the viewing area, enabling the camera to choose the overall best exposure for the entire scene. It now features a spot meter, which reads a tiny area (about 4%) of the picture for extremely precise metering. It also provides Center-weighted average metering and partial metering for accurate exposure no matter the situation. The XSi Rebel also has an improved, high magnification viewfinder that provides a larger overall view, and increased brightness and clarity. And the XSi Rebel has a Display-Off sensor that automatically turns the LCD monitor off whenever the camera is at the photographer's eye. All relevant shooting information, including ISO, is displayed right in the viewfinder so it's easy to change settings without moving the camera away from the eye.

- Flexible Storage: The EOS XSi Rebel is the first EOS Digital SLR camera to use popular SD and SDHC memory cards only. Compact, inexpensive and available in increasingly large capacities, SD and SDHC memory cards are a perfect complement to the XSi Rebel's compact and lightweight body design.

- Self Cleaning Sensor Unit: It's Back! A key element of minimizing dust is preventing it from clinging to the front surface of the imaging sensor. To combat against this, the EOS XSi Rebel features a Canon-designed Self Cleaning Sensor Unit. The low-pass filter at the front of the sensor shakes off dust automatically with ultrasonic vibrations, removing dust from the sensor assembly. The EOS XSi Rebel has a new coating on the front surface of the low-pass filter, to increase its resistance to dust sticking to the sensor.

This is about as good as it gets for consumer level SLRs. Canon has done it again with it's innovation and user-friendly design. Well worth the upgrade from the Nikon D40.

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