Getting The Big Picture

My wife and I only wanted a 5.0 (or higher) megapixel camera with a changeable lens, a through-the-lens viewfinder and user friendly controls for under $1000 - In other words, we wanted the moon. We ended up with the 6.3 megapixel Canon EOS Digital Rebel / EOS 300D.

I must admit bias here. We've owned a Canon EOS Rebel (35mm film version) since they were introduced 12 years ago. It's like a member of our family, in part because it's gone just about everywhere we have but more because it has faithfully helped us preserve our most precious memories. So, when I read last spring that Canon was planning a fall introduction of an SLR digital camera based on the EOS Rebel for around $1000, they had my attention. I realized we already had two lenses that would fit this new Digital Rebel and we already had a handle on the Rebel's program and auto-exposure mode settings. This old dog wouldn't have to learn a lot of new tricks!

After researching the Digital Rebel I learned that Canon opted to use the same CMOS sensor (which is that thing that replaces the 35mm film) found in their popular and reliable EOS D10. I had seriously considered the "D10" but not being a professional photographer, $2000 was a bit out of my league. I was pleased to see it would be powered by Canon's BP-511 lithium-ion battery. This is the same battery they use in most of their camcorders and some other cameras. This battery can be found just about anywhere for under $50.

So, "What'll this baby do?" - Let me first explain what it won't do:

* It won't capture 20 seconds of video with (or without) sound.
* It won't let you do in-camera photo effects like B&W, Sepia, Negative, Blurred edging, etc.
* It won't play music, remind you of appointments or wake you up in the morning.

NO VIDEO CAPTURE:
You may like the idea of being able to take a short video with a still camera but consider this; The cheapest camcorder gives you higher quality video than the most expensive still camera can, not to mention that "video capture" uses up lots of your storage media.

NO IN-CAMERA EFFECTS:
Maybe you want to print photos in black & white or other special effects. With the excellent suite of photo-editing software Canon provides with this camera, you can. Adobe Photoshop Elements is easy to navigate and allows you to crop, resize, and apply any kind of special effect (including those mentioned above) and much more. Canon also includes quality programs for making digital photo albums, creating slide shows and stitching photos together in panoramas. I have not found the need to buy additional photo-finishing software. You also have the option of downloading your images directly to your computer or to a Canon printer.

NO BELLS & WHISTLES:
If you really want a digital camera that does more than capture quality images, the EOS-300D is probably not for you.

What this camera will do is take professional grade photos in JPEG or RAW image formats. JPEG is probably the most commonly used format for everything from photo processing to email attachments. Professional photographers are more likely to use the RAW format, which requires some advanced computer processing before printing photos. For us "technically challenged", JPEG is much more manageable. Like image format, image quality is selected via the easy to understand and navigate menu of the Digital Rebel. There are seven selectable image qualities:
- Large/Fine = 6.3 MP/uncompressed
- Large/Normal = 6.3 MP/compressed
- Medium/Fine = 2.8 MP/uncompressed
- Medium/Normal = 2.8 MP/compressed
- Small/Fine = 1.6 MP/uncompressed
- Small/Normal = 1.6 MP/compressed
- RAW format, also = 6.3 MP uncompressed

The difference between compressed and uncompressed relates to the saved file size. A large (6.3 MP), uncompressed image will yield an 8"x10" print with definition that rivals that of a 35mm film print. Our local newspaper photographer once gave me some sage advice: "You can always reduce the quality of a digital image but you can't make it any better than the settings initially used to shoot it." So, I always set any digital camera to its highest JPEG image quality and largest file size. If I need to "dumb it down" (shrink it) for emailing, etc. I can do that on the computer anytime.

With the Digital Rebel set on fully automatic and auto focus it does everything for you - aperture setting, shutter speed, flash, and focus - All you do is point and shoot. If you're "old school", you can select Manual mode and adjust all settings yourself. My wife has a real talent for photography and sometimes likes to manually set the camera to get "that certain shot". Camera settings are displayed in the viewfinder and on the rear LCD panel. I like having some control over settings but I'm perfectly content to let the Rebel do the lion's share of my work. In Program mode, aperture and shutter speed are automatically set based on the ISO setting (yes, you can set the film speed from 100 to 1600 ISO) and I decide whether or not to use flash. There are additional modes for shooting portraits, scenery, close-ups (not macro), fast moving action and nighttime or low-light events as well as manually setting only the aperture or only the shutter speed. Selection of auto or manual focus is done on the lens itself.

The Digital Rebel has a very slight lag between the shutter press and image capture. I only notice it when taking fast action shots but I've learned to compensate for it. Another option here is to switch to continuous capture instead of single image capture. This option is available only in certain program modes. When you press and hold the shutter the camera will rapidly take 3 or 4 consecutive photos. After taking a shot you can preview it on the rear-mounted 1.8" LCD color screen. The length of this playback time can be set for 2, 4 or 8 seconds. Pressing the play ">" button allows you to review or delete any of the images you've taken.

Images are stored on a Compact Flash card which, by the way, is not included from Canon (what do you want for a grand?). CF cards are probably the most common and least expensive of all storage media. I use a 256MB card that will hold just over 70 Large/Fine quality images. The cost of storage media is dropping and you can buy a high-grade 256MB CF card for less than $60. I suggest using at least a 128MB CF card (about 36 L/F images). The BP-511 battery is big which accounts for the rather large handgrip that holds it. The tradeoff here is amazingly long battery-life between charges.

I neglected to include the following important lens information with my initial review:

LENS OPTIONS:
Canon offers two ways of buying the Digital Rebel - with lens or without. If you have any of the Canon EF series lenses (like those used with the 35mm film Rebel) you already own a lens that fits the Digital Rebel. Opting to purchase the body only will save you around $150 or so. One thing to keep in mind is that CMOS image sensors will clip some of the image. This means that the captured image is multiplied by a factor of 1.6. A 75mm - 300mm lens will actually produce photos that appear to have been taken with 120mm - 480mm lens. It's like using a 1.6x tele-converter but without the loss of image quality.

Even though we had two EF lenses for our 35mm film Rebel we decided to buy the Digital Rebel kit that included the EF-S 18mm - 55mm (which translates to 28.8mm - 88mm) f/3.5 - f/5.6 lens. It is very well made with a smooth auto-focus motor and 11 glass elements in 9 groups. I've been told the EF-S lens alone is easily worth $200 or more. It has a solid feel and its relatively wide-angle 18mm (28.8mm) allows for shots I previously could never get. The only drawback is that the EF-S fits on Digital Rebels but nothing else, including 35mm film Rebels. Unless you already have a high quality 18mm-55mm Canon lens I'm willing to wager you would soon regret buying the body only kit.

The Digital Rebel is a lot of camera, but not more than you can, or will want to use.