300d Canon Eos

A Review Of The Canon Rebel XS DSLR

The digital SLR revolution transformed the way photos were taken, by producing amazing photos and putting the professional in control. The average person, though, couldn't take advantage of DSLRs till companies such as Canon began to manufacture reasonably priced DSLRs such as the EOS 300D or the Digital Rebel. This was five years ago, and since then Canon has launched the Rebel XT, Rebel XTi, and the Rebel XSi. The XSi, launched in January 2008, took explicit photos at a reasonable cost. When competitors saw the public response, they took the cue and began to downgrade their present models to suit public requirements. In an effort to counter this competition, Canon smartly downgraded the XSi in such a way that the photos remained crisp, but the cost was reduced. This new camera was first launched in the U. K. as the EOS 1000D and thereafter in the U. S. as the Rebel XS or the Kiss F Digital. The XS, as I will refer to it hereafter, began to be Canon's camera at the entry level.

The camera is similar in design as compared to the XSi and the buttons can be easily differentiated by feeling them. You can use the buttons to scroll the menus and access various key functions such as ISO speed, camera settings display, white balance and other functions. One touch of the DISP button displays all the important camera settings on the screen which include aperture size, shutter speed, ISO sensitivity, exposure level, shooting mode, etc. These settings, when compared to the picture displayed, provide a learning experience to the amateur photographer.

If you are an amateur you need not worry as the camera's gyro sensor equipped IS lens kit has great image stabilizing capabilities that can reduce blur resulting from camera shakes, and give sharp hand-held pictures. You can pre-focus and define the focus area using the 7-point autofocus feature. 5 out of the 7 points are spread across the viewfinder in a horizontal manner, and the remaining two are above and below the centre point. These auto focus points are indicated by tiny red LED dots that blink before the focus is locked. Serially scrolling up and down the menus can be irritating, so you can display shortcuts to your frequently used functions using the My Menu function.

The XS uses a 10 megapixel CMOS sensor that is APS-C sized. This means that the sensor size is smaller than the ones used in 35mm cameras. Although such sensors give a narrower angle, the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens kit help achieve wider angle and 1.6x magnification. In order to achieve this, the EF-S lens is designed to fit so close to the image sensor that it gives the mirror just enough space to turn in and out of the way.

The Live View feature has both phase-detect and contrast-detect modes. You can view images up to an amazing 1:1 magnification in Live View as well as during playback. During playback you can also view your photos as thumbnails. Keeping the Depth of Field button on the front pressed, you can see how your background or foreground will appear in the picture. In dim light you can turn on the pop-up flash with the button provided on the front side. The flash illuminates your subject up to a good 12 feet distance. You are allowed to increase the ISO sensitivity up to 1600 to get better pictures in dim light. The DIGIC III image processor enables you to shoot continuous JPEG images at 3 frames per second. The images can be stored on an SD or SDHC memory card.

Now that you know what you can do with the XS, let's see which features of the XSi have been left out by Canon during the downgrading. In terms of specification, the XSi was a major leap ahead of its predecessor, the XTi. Although Canon has compromised some specifications of the XSi in order to arrive at the XS, the XS is still ahead of the XTi. The most noticeable difference is the reduction of the screen size from 3.00" of the XSi to 2.5" of the XS. The 12 megapixels have been reduced to 10 megapixels. 9-point AF has been reduced to 7-point. The rubber-surfaced hand and thumb grip has been reduced to a coarse plastic grip surface. The other differences are minor.

Inspite of all the changes the XS still takes pictures that are equally good. Off course, it beats the XSi price wise with its $599 price tag, exactly what Canon planned to do. Also, when compared to most cameras in its price range, it does exceptionally well.

Learn more by visiting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EOS