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Canon EOS 6.3MP Digital Rebel Camera with 18-55mm Lens| Manufacturer: | Canon | | List price: | $999.99 |
| Our price: | that is 100% off! |
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| Canon EOS 6.3MP Digital Rebel Camera with 18-55mm Lens |
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Average rating:  |  |
a great intro into digital SLR ownership |
I had an Olympus 5MP point-n-shoot Camedia camera I was pretty happy with for portraits. I was annoyed w/ the fixed lens that prevented me from taking good photos of wildlife. I have hummingbird feeders in my backyard and unless you've had the opportunity to work with hummingbird families for years, the sweet, tiny animals are skittish and don't often pose for you when you get too close. When my point-n-shoot stopped focusing, I took advantage of this situation by rationalizing this bigger purchase.
What a joy it has been to use this camera. The 6.3MP is a significant improvement over 5 and the ability to take photos in manual mode cannot be understated. With the fixed point-n-shoot, the camera refused to shoot if it didn't "feel" that it was in focus... so it was impossible to shoot sunsets, lightning or other natural beauties in the "infinity" range of the focal length.
The Rebel makes use of Compact Flash - the oldest, yet still the best technology for taking fast, high-quality photos in digital cameras.
My less than perfect rating is due to the small memory buffer. You can take up to 3fps very easily, but if you click-click-click the shutter, it doesn't matter if Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and Elvis start doing a little soft-shoe right in front of you, by the time the Rebel finishes writing the recent 3 quick shots to the CF card, the shot of the century has already slithered back into the swamp by the time the camera is ready to be used again.
If you're taking portraits, not a problem. A click here and there and you'll never notice the lack of memory buffer... but if you're shooting at a ball game or other quick moving objects, you're going to get frustrated very quickly.
The flash is decent, but you really need a good flash like the 580 in the hot-shoe if you want a better even spread and avoidance of red-eye. A lot of folks shrug about red-eye since most affordable or free programs like iPhoto or Photoshop Elements have built-in correction for red-eye - but red-eye correction by one click is only available for humans. If you're shooting wildlife, forget about any software that has a one-click (or a million clicks!) solution for blue-eye in dogs, yellow-eye in cats, flaming-demon eye in bunnies or the variety of odd reflections you will get bouncing off retinas of various species. The best way to circumvent this problem is to avoid bouncing flash directly into the retinas of your subjects from the get-go. No more glare or odd reflections when you use a better flash.
The ability to upgrade to better lenses is the crux of SLR ownership. The sky is the limit. Get a good wide-angle and a good, fast telephoto and you've got yourself set for some great shots. This camera isn't going to take advantage of CF cards faster than 40x, so you can save money by buying the slightly slower CF cards, but I invested in the 80x cards so I can use them when I upgrade cameras.
This Rebel has gotten me back into photography after a decade-long hiatus. The camera automatically detects vertical shots and turns them 90 degrees for you in the LCD window. It is quick and easy to adjust the ISO to "push" the film (so to speak) to take advantage of low-light situations, but you get the same grainy effects as you do when you push real film.
With an ISO of 100 and using a 512MB CF card, you have 157 photos at your disposal - if you push it all the way to 1600, 104 shots on the same card. At 400, your shots are already compromized regarding print quality... but if Sasquatch comes-a-knockin' in the wee hours, you'll still get decent proof if you shoot at 1600.
Having a background in film photography spanning 2 decades, I didn't even have to consult the manual for this camera to use it fresh out of the box. It handles in many ways like a professional film SLR, and unlike the point-n-shoots, there aren't cryptic settings that have no film parallel.
For sunny days and outdoor shots, this camera is a sheer joy to use. |
| Canon EOS 6.3MP Digital Rebel Camera with 18-55mm Lens - Canon |  |
Great camera! |
| I have owned a Canon EOS Digital Rebel 6.3mp for several weeks now and love it. Fantastic pictures & features. I worked with SLR's for many years. Figured it was time to "move up" to the digital SLR and glad I did. This camera has plenty of features available, or you can just set it for "auto" and that works fine, too. Though an optional flash is not needed for most photography I wanted one for far shots and such. Canon makes several models dedicated to this camera, but I find them weak (220EX) or costly. Shop carefully in trying to find a compatible flash. It needs to be "dedicated" to the digital Rebels. One that will work with AF (auto focus) or the SLR (film) Rebel may not work right. I also received conflicting information from Ritz Camera, both on-line and in the stores. Bottom line, if you need a flash, shop carefully and ask all the right questions. Personally I have held off buying one hoping more models at a lower price come out. The camera does already have a small pop-up flash. BTW, the Tamron AF 70-300 Macro 1:2 zoom is a nice lens to buy with it, and priced nicely at Beach Camera. |
| Canon - Canon EOS 6.3MP Digital Rebel Camera with 18-55mm Lens | |
Right for amateur moving to SLR; good enough for prosumer |
This review will be really two parts: one for the amateur who has been using point and shoots, or has experience with film based SLRs; the other one for the prosumer or advanced amateur who is either going to digital from film Canon EOS bodies or is getting into pro-level digital shooting on the low end. For the former, the camera is pretty much all you need; for the latter, it is lacking key functionality, but IS workable.
I'm in the latter category. I've done freelance photo work in the past, but not since the digital age began to take off in the late '90s. I've been shooting EOS cameras since the early '90s, and added medium format in the late '90s for wedding and portrait work. I'll be honest: I didn't like the idea of digital at first. Sure, the workflow improvements over film sounded great, but I wasn't seeing the quality of digital vs. film. I still am very much a believer that, at least for prints, especially big prints, film delivers a better overall picture quality. But the quality of digital SLRs since the release of the Digital Rebel is so good, the workflow advantages trump film in all but rare situations. I'll still use my medium format equipment for landscape and outdoor pics I'll print large and frame, but other than a pocket 35mm, I can't see using film much at all in that category, after seeing what I can do with the DReb.
If you are primarily an amateur who is either used to using a Point and Shoot (film or digital) or who has used a consumer film SLR, you'll find this camera easy to operate and use to the extent you used your other cameras. I bought this without the lens, as I have other lenses and the packaged one didn't offer me anything, but for those without Canon glass, you get a surprisingly good lens with the kit. Remember, though, that the lens will only fit on the Digital Rebel, its successors, and possibly the 10/20D line of Canon EOS bodies.
Shooting is pretty simple. Charge the battery, which is easy -- the charger blinks depending upon its charge. You can look at the charger with the battery on there and see where you are, charge wise. It doesn't take very long to charge the battery fully. Once you have the battery in the camera, you'll need a Compact Flash card. I recommend SanDisk Ultra II cards. You won't experience any write time problems over an above this camera's natural limitations. Then, set the ISO value (100-1600), set either the pre-programed mode on one side of the dial, or the traditional Program/Shutter Priority/Apeture Priority settings on the other side, and you are ready to rock. Remember that unlike many digital cameras, the LED on the back of the camers DOES NOT function as a viewfinder. Aside from displaying various camera options, it shows what you shot after shooting.
If you want to use this as an advanced amateur/pro setup, you can, but know its limitations. I bought this in March and have been shooting all sports with it. I'm using a Canon L USM lens, and have gotten some terrific shots. But I've also missed some that have led me to decide to sell this camera and pick up a 20D. The problem I get into is focusing speed and zones. The 2.5 fps with only a 4 frame burst isn't as big a problem as it sounds. I can still get good action in the burst mode, but admittedly 5 fps with 22 or 25 (20D) bursts is much better. If you want to use this to shoot something like concerts or indoor events, you won't have the same focusing issues. You will have to deal with any flash limitations, but for that information, you will have to read another review. I'm not a camera flash guy under any definition.
The only real problem I've had with this camera is that my shots are consistently underexposed by about .5-.7 of a stop. I shoot exclusively RAW mode (never shot JPG on this one other than first dozen or so shots) and it has been correctable when I convert the images. This is more of a minor irritation, and may not be noticable in JPEG shots. I've seen others using this camera complain of it as well.
This camera is as good of a consumer camera as you will find. If a pro, or semi-pro, can make something function for his or her needs, you know the consumer can get everything they need out of this. I've been shooting since I was 8 or so, have owned umpteen cameras, and this one fills its market niche as good as any of them. |
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