[wpramazon asin="B0012YA85A"]
[wpramazon asin="B0029U0WWU"]
[wprebay kw="digital+slr" num="8" ebcat="-1"] [wprebay kw="digital+slr" num="9" ebcat="-1"]
Find More Digital SLR Products
[wpramazon asin="B0012YA85A"]
[wpramazon asin="B0029U0WWU"]
[wprebay kw="digital+slr" num="8" ebcat="-1"] [wprebay kw="digital+slr" num="9" ebcat="-1"]
Find More Digital SLR Products
Great camera, one of the best low(er)-end DSLRs on the market,
My journey with DSLRs began back in 2003 with the original Digital Rebel. DSLRs changed my photography for the better like nothing else. Five years and some 25,000 shots later, it’s still going strong. Along the way I upgraded to the Canon 30D, which is a fantastic camera as well. When the 40D was announced, I decided to wait until the 50D sometime in 2009, but wanted a newer backup/second body for my photography needs. So when the XSi/450D was announced, it sounded like a perfect fit for my needs.
I got it from Amazon.com three days ago, and have given it a pretty good workout since then, having shot about 650 shots under a variety of shooting conditions and with a number of different Canon and third-party lenses. The following are my impressions.
The build feels very good. The camera feels wonderfully light yet well built. I’m 6ft tall with average size hands, and the camera feels good in my hand. The battery grip, to me, defeats the purpose of having a small, light DSLR, so I opted for a Hakuba/Opteka grip (it’s a plate that screws into the tripod socket that enables you to use the excellent Canon E1 hand strap with it) and I couldn’t be happier. I’m not a fan of neck straps, so this works well for me (see the uploaded photo for the configuration).
Most of the menu buttons on the back feel different from the ones on the original Digital Rebel and the 30D; the XSi buttons feel more tactile and have a definite “click” to them when you press them. The exception are the Exposure Lock (*) and AF selector buttons, which have retained the deeper, softer feel of the older cameras. Just different, not better or worse, for me.
The LCD is now 3″ with 230K pixels. The playback images look great, and probably because of the higher resolution of the sensor, there’s a very slight delay when you zoom in to 10x while the image loads and displays properly. People coming from other cameras or brands might not even notice it–I only did so because of the difference between it and my two other Canon DSLRs (which have lower resolution sensors). The viewing angle of the LCD screen (how clearly you can see the screen from side and up and down) is excellent; you can still see the screen holding the camera almost straight up for an overhead shot (more on this later). I’d estimate the viewing angle is about 160-170 degrees both horizontally and vertically.
The Digital Rebel has a separate status screen above the main LCD screen, and the 30D had one on top of the camera, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the big LCD acting as the status screen and no top screen. I’m happy to say that this arrangement works well, at least for me. The back screen makes it really easy to take all the settings at a glance. The viewfinder is much larger and brighter than that in the Digital Rebel. A humongously welcome feature for me is the always displayed ISO value in the viewfinder.
The camera is only 1/2 of the image quality equation, the other being the lenses being used. Coupled with my favorite lens, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4 L telephoto lens, the XSi turns out fantastic images. The supplied kit lens is very light and compact for being an image stabilized lens, and turns out good performance. The IS is certainly very useful.
Two features that used to be missing from the Digital Rebels and found in the more expensive DSLRs are now featured in the XSi: spot-metering and flash exposure compensation (these may have been available in the previous Digital Rebel model, the XTi, as well). The inclusion of those two features make the camera a much more complete and compelling photographic tool. The timer function now has a custom mode, where it’ll count down from 10 seconds then take a number of shots (specified by you) in succession. No more running back and forth to reset the timer after each shot! There’s also the traditional 2-second timer.
Let’s talk for a minute about sensor and the ISO values. XSi/450D has five ISO values you can choose: 100 (best image quality), 200, 400, 800, and 1600. Higher ISO increases the camera sensor’s sensitivity to light, thus you can achieve faster shutter speeeds for a given lighting condition. However, the trade-off is that the sensor “noise” (think grain for film photography) increases with higher ISO, so you get a degraded image quality in return for less blurred photos from hand shakes (thanks to faster shutter speed). This may come in handy in situations where flash photography is not permitted, such as a museum or a concert or theater. HOWEVER, compared to point-and-shoot digital cameras, the larger sensors of DSLRs, including the XSi, means that even at ISO 800 and 1600 you get very usable images right out of the camera. Running the images shot at those ISO settings through any number of third-party noise reduction software will improve them even further…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|Great camera, amazing battery life, now the perfect price!,
I have had the XSi for about 3 months now and I am thouroughly impressed with it. This is my first DSLR and I was a little wary about going with a brand-new and untested camera, but I have always like Canon (I used an ELAN II in High School and I bought a SD600 about 2 years ago to take snapshots of my son). Overall, I have not been disappointed with the quality of the photos that the XSi produces. The IS lens works great and I have taken some pretty amazing photos (for me at least). I do have just a couple of issues, both good and bad, that I think those who are looking at buying this may want to know.
Battery life — Great battery life. I should say, AMAZING battery life. I have taken over 5000 photos and I have only had to charge the battery twice.
Live View — LiveView is not for beginners. It is not a replacement for your Point-and-Shoot. You can’t use it in the AUTO mode (Green Square). This isn’t that big of a deal for me, I prefer full manual myself, but the whole point of this feature, I thought, was to make it more user friendly for the Point-and-Shoot photographer. My wife can’t use Live View in it’s current form (I specifically bought a DSLR with a live view function so she could still use the camera). So, if Live View is a big selling point for you, You may want to look at some others (If it isn’t that big of a deal to you, then this is still an amazing camera — added 4-23-2008). If you do studio work, though, you can hook the camera up to your PC and use it as a remote viewer. But it is not a point-and-shoot camera in Live View. In my earlier review, I said that it would be nice if Canon fixed some of the Live View issues with a firmware update, I was mistaken. Live View is a nice feature once you figure out it is not meant for beginners. Studio and landscape photographers will find Live View a great tool.
Image Quality — I have had some great success shooting in a studio setting as well as some great outdoor shots. In the studio, I used tungsten “hot” lights with the subjuect against a white background. The photos turned out great. Skin tones are perfect and there is very little, if any, chromatic abberation at the edges. It shoots great outdoor shots as well. We just got into beekeeping and I was able to get some AMAZING shots of our bees up-close outdoors. The bees looked dirty and not very interesting from a distance, but the macro photos I got up close are beautiful and full of wonderfully crisp details. The lens is a little short, the image quality you get from it is pretty good considering it only costs $100. I do plan on buying a longer lens in the near future.
Overall, the camera is solid and feels nice in the hand. It isn’t too heavy, yet still feels sturdy. If you can afford the higher price, I don’t think you will be disappointed. If you can’t, the XTi is still a great camera. And if you can afford to wait a few months for the price to drop a little (LIKE IT ALREADY HAS!!) I would. I was able to work a few extra weekends so I could afford to get this, and I can tell you, I don’t mind it a bit, because the quality of photos I am getting has been totally worth it.
— Update —
I was incorrect when I said you couldn’t use the 9-Point autofocus in Live View. You can use the 9-point autofocus while in Live View, but the mirror flips down and focuses so you can’t see what you are trying to focus on until after the camera has actually gone through the autofocus process.
— Update #2 —
I have now had this camera for almost two months and I am happy to report that the more I use it, the more I love it. Once you learn the layout of the camera and you load the MyMenu with the tools you use most often, the camera becomes an absolute delight to use. I have taken over 5000 photos with it so far and now I need an extra hard drive to put them all on.
I was able to rent a Canon EF 24-105 IS L lens and a 580 EX II Speedlite for my sister’s wedding. WOW! What great photos. The camera interfaced with the flash flawlessly and I am more convinced than ever that much of the quality of your photos comes from the glass you use and not as much from the camera itself (I think it is about 65% lens to 35% camera body give or take a few points– I know there will be those who disagree, but that is my take on it, and I am sure if I had a 1Ds MkIII I would think that there wasn’t a peice of glass good enough for my camera).
This is a great beginner dSLR and a great camera all around. I am very happy with my purchase and I have had no regrets whatsoever about spending the $900 to buy such a great tool. Amazon now sells it for $799, you can’t go wrong at that price!
Was this review helpful to you?
|Roughly as good as can be expected.,
My title is rather pessimistic, I know, but I’ve been playing with this camera now for a couple of hours, so I’ve had a chance to get a feel for what consumers are going to probably like, and not like, about this lens kit.
First, if you are a serious photographer, you are going to be better off buying the body of this camera separately from the lens. It isn’t that the 18-55mm, 3.5-5.6 aperture lens is bad: it just isn’t great for inside work, as far as I can tell. The kind of “meh” aperture range means you’ll struggle a bit in “normal” indoor lighting to get hand-held shots that don’t really want flash, and the problem with the flash is it is straight-ahead flash, so that your attempts at head shots are going to potentially have a deer-in-the-headlights quality about them. This will be because even zoomed in to 55mm, you’re going to need to be close to a subject for a portrait shot–closer than you really would like to be. Getting the two-lens kit, for a couple hundred dollars more, might be a really good alternative here, because I think the longer telephoto in that kit can go out to 200mm, giving you more flexibility in where you need to stand for shots. I was pretty sure when purchasing the kit that I was going to quickly need a really solid prime to go with it, and the Sony 50mm f 1.4 has already proven itself a valuable addition.
The good news is that, aside from the “adequate-but-kind-of-meh” lens, everything else on this thing mostly rocks! I was a bit nervous because I had seen other reviews in which some reviewers chewed on the ergonomics a bit, but I’m not really finding that to be a problem so far. The battery door, the door to the memory cards, etc., are rigid and open happily and confidently. As far as the battery goes, my advice would be to pick up an extra battery, because after charging mine the first time, I was down to roughly half power without having taken that many photos (maybe 75 RAW out of what I was being told was a 500-image total available. I didn’t expect the battery to make it for 500 shots, but it looks like I would have gotten about 150 shots out of the charge, and I can definitely see situations where a photographer would run into trouble from that.)
One thing that may not be immediately obvious from pictures is that the right-hand grip is quite comfortable, and there is a design feature on the back (basically a bit of a “hump” that provides the right thumb a place to get a kind of secure purchase so that you really shouldn’t ever feel like the camera is in danger of slipping out of your hand. I always put my left hand under the bottom of a camera anyway, so that I can adjust the focus ring easily, and even though this camera and its lenses have auto-focus, that’s still a comfortable place for the left hand.
Many of the features and details of the camera are things that you can find in other reviews or in detail lists for this product, so I won’t repeat all of that. I will state that I had no problems with the placement of the shutter button. I had seen some criticism on line suggesting that the reviewer felt like he was putting a lot of stress on a couple of fingers while firing the shutter button, but I really just didn’t find that to be the case.
All of the controls are really pretty intuitive. I turned the feature off that shows the pictures of what various things mean. If you are stepping up to a SLR from a point-and-shoot, do yourself a favor and learn what aperture is, and white balance. The joy of this camera is taking a photo with “automatic” settings, and then going to manual, taking the same shot, and realizing how completely screwed up your own sense of the shot is! <smile> Actually, this is kind of valuable, in that the digital nature of the camera means that you (and I) can get a real lesson about what happens when changing aperture or shutter speed, even sometimes by very small amounts.
In many ways, this camera is an ideal camera for a serious hobbyist (I’m not going to go hyperbolic and say “professional,” because the limitations of this camera are the sort that wouldn’t be tolerated by a professional being pushed to the limits of digital photography. It isn’t that a professional shot can’t be taken on this camera, but that there are digital bodies that would make a professional’s life much easier than the a230 would).
It is going to pretty much meet all of my needs for awhile, at least with the better lens on the front, and maybe a really good zoom to give me a bit more range of options.
The build quality seems fine to me. Nothing is jiggling. Lenses go on and off with no problems. Definitely buy the LCD cover that’s available from Amazon. Otherwise, you’ll discover that basically everything smudges the LCD display. It isn’t the end of the world, but your nose will constantly be pressed against the display, so there will always be a bit of oil and…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|Sony Alpha a230L DSLR,
This was a Christmas gift to myself, purchased mid-November 09.
I’m a beginner DSLR user. I won’t go into a catalog of specifications this camera has, those can be found easily on the sales information listing for this camera on this website or from Sony. I will highlight the features I use and like or dislike.
This camera has been exactly what I wanted for learning photography. I did not want a lot of bells and whistle. Out of camera picture quality is very important to me. I am not ready to spend time at the computer post processing when I would rather be outside shooting pictures.
The Sony a230 does not have live view or video, but I did not want live view or video capability. I have both on my advanced zoom and never use it. Optical viewfinder important due to the fact that I am far sighted and find live view screens not usable in 98% of my pictures since I like shooting outdoor/nature/landscapes the majority of the time.
PROS:
*Out of camera colors/picture quality is great. I love the colors and textures this camera produces. Again, this is a personal preference. Exposure compensation can easily be changed +/-2 as well as color saturation in the menu. I have enjoyed the black and white out of camera results also.
*The GUI menu system is easy to use, clear/crisp with easy to find advanced menu settings. Because of the great GUI, I have to say that my learning curve has been much much improved over my advanced super zoom, in fact, I rarely use the Green Zone (auto/preset modes) on this camera. I am using Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority and easily experimenting with manual white balance etc. VERY FUN and REWARDING. If you so choose, different color scheme options allow you to change the display to either Black, Brown, White or Pink. (I haven’t experimented to see what is the best viewing for outside use yet, leaving mine set to White default)
*18-55mm kit lens excellent IQ and good overall practical range to have for most photos. I love having this wide angle capability that I didn’t have in my advanced zoom camera.
*ERGONOMICS & BUILD: At first glance I thought it looked a little plasticky, but once I held and examined it, changed my mind. It feels sturdy and well made (which was proven recently when it accidentally was toppled from my dining table onto the floor. I like to hike, and did not want a bulky heavy camera to lug around. I know this is a personal thing, but I really like the balance and feel of this camera in my hands, even with the additional larger 70-300mm lens I purchased later for this camera, it still feels good to me.
The menu buttons on back may be too simplified/stripped down for experienced users, but I like the way they are arranged, ISO setting is easy to access. For learning, having less buttons to accidentally hit and cause frustration has been good.
*VALUE reasonably priced for those on a budget. Kit lens 18-55mm included
*OPTICAL VIEWFINDER. I love this VF. Nice clear crisp, with sophisticated auto focusing when it senses my eye.(this can also be turned off if for batery power savings, since it will start focusing the lens if gets anything close to the view finder, when carrying)
Camera settings are displayed through the viewfinder, wheel on front of camera below the on/off power button allows you to change settings based on what menu mode you are on. Field of view seems to be very good in my limited experience. 9 cross focus points.
*Auto-Bracketing feature. Will take up to 3 different shots with exposures shifted either 0.3 or 0.7 steps.
I can’t speak knowledgeably about dynamic range since I haven’t played with those settings yet.
*Lens options. Knowing I can use Minolta A-mount lenses is a plus
CONS: *at some point, maybe I will wish there are more advanced features available on this model, like an AEL button. A “depth of field” button is mentioned by more experienced users, but being far sighted, I have to load the pictures up on my computer to see the true quality of the final picture, so I usually take several pictures of the same thing, tweaking the settings and the angle as insurance. So a depth of field button probably wouldn’t help me.
*Bigger screen on back, it has a 2.7″. Larger would be nice for viewing
*Not the fastest frames per second on the market at 2.5, but have to say this is not an issue for me so far. I have been able to get some decent bird in flight pictures. I don’t normally shoot sporting events, except for baseball.
*like any camera, low light situations are a challenge. In low light, the auto focus has a hard time. Some patience and experience/or in my case, trial and error is needed. I find if I switch to manual focus and manual white balance settings this…
Read more
Was this review helpful to you?
|WOW, this is my first DSLR Camera, I love it.,
this is just about the perfect entry-level DSLR.
It has everything that you need to get great shots out of it, without the high price tag or a bloated feature set. I’d definitely recommend it. It’s not the best, technically, but it’s a great learning tool, performs well under stress, and an expert can get great shots out of it across the ISO range and in all lighting conditions. I would say that this will become legendary for its value as a DSLR. It’s the closest thing to a “throw it up and shoot” cheap little box film camera that you can get in a DSLR. But it still takes great photos, it’s very fast, nice and small, obviously cheap, and very easy to use.
I have to say I’m very happy so far with my choice, and this camera is my first DSLR Camera. The auto focus is fast and accurate. The shutter response is quick. The image quality is very good with lots of detail. The exposures have been very accurate with a minimal number of photos with blown highlights. The image stabilization kicks butt. The dynamic range optimization really does pull highlights out of the shade.
Pros:
-In-body Stabilization
-Compatible w/ Minolta lenses
-Smallest and lightest DSLR
-Very simple to use
-Vivid and good image quality
-Its high ISO (3200) low light performance is increbible
-Price
Cons:
-New Sony lens are expensive
-Some noise at high iso.
Just got this camera for couple days, will update more soon…
Update: 04-2010 – I have taken about 27,000 pictures with this camera, so far so good.
Was this review helpful to you?
|One or two to remebemr, that is.
Can I make a suggestion? I believe youve obtained something good here. But what should you added a pair links to a page that backs up what youre saying? Or possibly you could give us one thing to look at, one thing that may connect what youre saying to one thing tangible? Only a suggestion. Anyway, in my language, there arent much good source like this.