Canon Digital Rebel / EOS-300D Digital Camera with EF-S 18-55mm Lens

My wife and I are both amateur photo enthusiasts - we enjoy taking photos. We started with a few cheap Kodak cameras and various 35mm point-and-shoot cameras, and then we entered the digital world with a Sony Digital Mavica (the original). Although the Mavica is a "nice" camera, the 640x480 resolution just wasn't making the grade for us anymore. We simply wanted better quality photos.

My wife gave me a new Canon Rebel 2000 35mm SLR kit a few years ago. We loved the ease of use, range of features, and quality photos that the Rebel 2000 provided. Also, the availability of lenses and accessories really made the camera a great value. We did spend a lot of money on film and developing, then spent even more time scanning prints into digital format for archiving and email purposes. Scanning prints was tedious and sometimes produced less than desirable results.

Also - the cost of film and developing services, combined with the delay between the time the photo was taken and the time we were able to view the results, really put a cramp in our creativity.

As our skills and tastes matured, we decided that we wanted a higher-res digital camera. We were shopping for a point-and-shoot model, when we learned about the new Canon Digital Rebel. The feature that enticed us the most was the ability to use our existing Canon EF (and compatible) lenses on the Digital Rebel body.

We were intrigued; a 6.3 megapixel camera with a resolution of 3072 x 2048 pixels? We have taken hundreds of shots using the Canon Digital Rebel and included "kit" lense (and two other lenses). The sizes of our pictures so far range from 1.2 MB to nearly 4 MB in jpg format. We have yet to use the included raw format.

The auto-focus and automatic settings of the Digital Rebel provide excellent shots most of the time. The pop-up flash works well and usually doesn't wash out the subject.
The built-in red-eye reduction works great with this camera. The Digital Rebel feels good in our hands; it "fits" like a quality camera should.

Being free of the costs of film and developing, we are now free to experiment with the many settings that the Canon Digital Rebel offers.

We have experimented with the various automatic and manual modes of the Digital Rebel under differing lighting conditions, and never thought twice about wasting expensive film or paying for developing... it is awesome! Using the built-in viewer, we quickly eliminate any shots that didn't work as we intended, making room for more shots on the compact Flash card.

We purchased two 256MB CF cards and a card reader for the PC. We have been able to get over 100 shots on a single 256MB Compact Flash card.

Some of the features we like most about the Canon Digital Rebel:
- Uses Quality Canon EF and EF-S Lenses (and compatibles)
- 6.3MP 3072x2048 resolution - awesome!
- Color accuracy is excellent
- Shutter-delay is nearly non-existent - 2.5 FPS
- 4-shot burst-mode for action sequences
- Over 300 shots on one battery charge
- A true Digital SLR for under $1000 new
- Rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery
- Built-in video-out port (cable included)
- Compact Flash is the media for recording images
- Various modes from full-auto to completely manual

So far we have nothing but praise for the Canon Digital Rebel. Now we have no excuse for not improving our skills and techniques, becoming better photographers.