Canon EOS Rebel XTi (400D)

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worse camera canon have ever made. RAW images taken with the 70-200 2.8L are extremely soft when comparing with the 1dII in exact same shooting condition (indoor with flash in manual mode). There's absolutely nothing good about the new copy I purchased.

Like some other members I had the Rebel XT and traded it with the XTi for which I am grateful. First, the pictures are much, much richer and so far I have experienced less misses than I did with Rebel XT. Rebel Xt wasn't as sharp as the Xti. Xti is much sharper with great texture and color tone. Xt had lots of soft. Playing with Xti, some of the pictures come as good as the ones in apparel catalogs. I don't know if I need another or better camera for a long time unless I make some progress in terms of learning more to need the sophistications of cameras like Mark 1 or others. You can increase or decrease the burst of light of built-in flash in Xti, but I am not sure if this feature was an option with Rebel Xt. If you are looking to buy a new camera and deciding between Xti or Xt, I recommend the Xti.

For the price? Nothing at all.

I decided to get into photography after spending a 3 week long holiday in South Africa with a bunch of friends. Two of whom are professional photographers. After using one of them's Canon EOS 5D consistently, I was hooked.

As soon as I was home I ordered this camera, the EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM lens and the the BG-E3 grip. So far I have not been disappointed.

I take all my images in RAW and I was surprised by the quality of the images it produces. This camera should last me until when I can afford a full frame (one day).

The only problem I've had with it so far is that I was unable to get the Dust Delete Data function to work.

PS phronq: Menu 3rd tab -> LCD auto off -> Enable

In conclusion, the Canon EOS 400D is a fantastic entry level D-SLR. Highly recommended.

;0)

Jon
www.thewrongun.com

Darker images/under exposures. Not as sharp as 350D

Compared to 350D a little bit less sharp and gives you much darker images at the same settings.

Still. Its pretty nice camera, but..

http://www.wirtoft.com/foto/Compare350Dwith400D/index.html

When the buffer is full it takes a long time for it to clear. On .jpg you have to fill it on puopose, otherwise you can shoot till your finger is tired. The button to press to adjust for the Fstop in manual is in the wrong place. I smear my glasses each time I use it.

What I wanted was a 5D. After research, this was the closest Canon made that I could afford. When I received the XTi I tested all of my lenses on it. they were all too soft. Called the dealer and they recommended factory service. I didn't like paying shipping and waiting to get a new camera fixed but they did an excellent job. If it had been this good when I got it it would have been a 10+. One underexposed shot before service and none after. Focus is perfect and fast compared to my old D60. I went to a Blue Angels air show this week end. 1000 shots, 4 out of focus, to me that's good!
After PS processing you can make a 8X10 from a 100% crop and it looks sharp. If you want to get the most from this camera or any 10mp cropped sensor get the best lenses made or it won't look sharp. Read reviews and forums sometimes after market lenses are as good as a L from Canon. For example a Tamron 90mm 2.8 macro, or Sigma 15 2.8 full frame fish eye. It has lots of barrel distortion though. I fix mine in PS when I need to.
With any piece of equipment if it does not perform like it should contact the dealer and or the manufacturer and have them make it good.

Picture quality in low light

I am dumbfounded. This is my first advanced camera so maybe I was wrong to expect better photos then a $300 point and shoot.

Outdoors in bright sunlight. I get amazing bright, rich colored, sharp images.

In the dark, within in the flash range I get also very good pictures.

But....in the in between lighting situations which is the majority of pictures you will take the images are dark and fuzzy.

Even some of the interior shots I have seen posted on here are fuzzy.

I tried same same subject with all the different modes, ISO settings, white balance settings.....and still FUZZ.

Awkward and small grip, very small viewfinder. only 3 frames per second with relatively small buffer, silly mirror lock-up, flash exposure control stuck in menus (unless you use a custom function), awful kit lens

I've owned a lot of Canon dslr's including the 350D/XT and I really like the 400D/Xti. It is still very small and light but is bristling with every feature you could need, all for a knockdown price.

The viewfinder is very small, too small for manual focusing (although the autofocus is really excellent) and the grip is best used with a camdapter and hand strap or an optional battery grip but hey, this is supposed to be a small light, cheap camera that takes good pictures and thats what it really is.

Image quality is very much the same as the 8 meg Canons and I find I really like the dual-use rear LCD as it gives a much bigger info screen than the dual screen models do, on a bright white background

It is very typically Canon, it's menus, dials, commands etc are all very familiar and work well enough.

Canon will rightly sell millions, but any kit buyer will surely have to replace the dreadful kit lens, which does the camera no favours at all, silly.

this little camera is a BEAST.

first of all. the size is great. this was the main reason i decided on buying this camera over the 30d. paired with a nice travel lens this system is no larger than several ultra zooms on the market. this camera is LIGHT overall but it's very substantial in your hands for it's size. although the body is plastic, it is very solidly put together and the plastics are high quality. i think those calling the build quality cheap are just being a bit snobby. true there's no magnesium body but it's lighter and it's not like the 30d is weather sealed which is what i would be looking for if i were taking rugged build quality into consideration. unfortunately only the higher end canons feature this quality Sad

but again the size is great. the grip can feel a bit small from time to time and i DO have small hands (or at least i thought i did) but the battery grip quickly solves this problem very well. true the 30d has a larger grip but the xti can solve the grip problem with the battery grip while the 30d can't get any smaller.

the lack of spot metering is a shame but i feel that function is more useful on cameras with a live view lcd (VERY PERSONAL view and not one that is shared with a majority of of more professional photographers who require precise metering) anyway so i don't miss it. if it's important to get an accurate reading and you're using a zoom as many do, centerweight, zoom in, lock exposure, zoom out. it's not the most convenient or elegant of solutions but it can get the job done.

the 3 fps is no problem, i find it is very sufficient but i don't commonly photograph sports.

the 10 mp sensor really tests your lens quality. i find i need very nice glass to get a sharp image.

noise is not a problem. those complaining of the high noise levels at iso 1600 need to get their post-processing skills down. the noise that results from this camera at any iso setting can be compensated with noise reduction filters (noiseninja/neatimage). using these tools can make a world of difference. i'll take the extra megapixels for more detail capture and headroom for cropping. it's not like you won't get noise with an 8 mp sensor... and frankly i'd probably put images with an 8 mp camera through the noise filter anyway so i'll take the extra mp to catch more detail. with these filters the more you start off with the more you'll end up with.

autofocus system is GREAT. props to canon for implementing the 30d system into the xti. what a nice bonus and really makes this camera even more compelling and competative with its big brother.

although many say this camera underexposes i have had mixed results. frequently enough i feel it has a tendency to overexpose... this could just be me...

i don't miss a monochrome screen. the lcd works great and shows all the information one needs all on one screen in a very elegant visual interface. although it is true that much of the information is superfluous and repetative (i rarely use the lcd to choose my autofocus point for example) and one could argue that a small monochrome lcd on the top could display all the information one actually needs to see. But i still find that the screen works great as a center for information and i feel with smaller cameras like this it's better to make things simpler physically.

as for the lcd itself, it's great. viewing angle is very nice and it's nice and bright. haven't had one qualm as far as this is concerned.

shutter isn't as loud as say the 20/30d. it's a more smooth mechanized sound versus a sharp clack.

all camera functions can be changed very quickly. the interface is very well thought out. but i agree that the print/share button is very superflous. why not mirror lock-up? but this is a qualm that many have with many canon models so i guess one just has to deal with it.

startup time even with sensor cleaning is very quick and snappy. without it, it's instantaneous.

dof preview button is a very nice little addition in my opinion. Many say that it's just whatever but i think it's very useful and a nice little feature.

buffer is great. unless you're shooting sports in raw you probably won't have too many qualms. if you shoot jpeg, i doubt you'd have to worry about filling the buffer unless ur a furious picture taker. but pretty much you can shoot as quickly as you can compose even in raw.

only real qualm i have with this camera REALLY is the viewfinder. it is a tad small. lack of overlay is not a problem in my opinion. If you're using a dslr you should be able to compose your images without any help although they are nice little additions, things like the dof preview button make up for it in my opinion.

but mainly i chose this camera for the price. 30d sounds appealing but if you're going to go with a backup camera, i personally think it'd be a better idea to go for something smaller that's more discreet than ur main camera. save your money for nice glass. rather than a 30d and a lower quality glass, i'd rather go with my xti and use the money saved towards a 17-55 IS.

better glass and knowledge of photography will increase the quality of your pictures far more than the few extra features the 30d can offer you.

Unless you're capturing sports and NEED 5 fps (which many might) or if you for some reason just HAVE TO HAVE spot metering then go for the 30d. But i'm perfectly happy with my XTi and look forward to having the amazing 17-55 f/2.8 IS in a smaller lighter body.

slightly cramped grips

Overall the 400D/XTi is a great camera. Pick it up for a consumer SLR, it beats the D80 any day!

Too many hypercritical people whose photo expertise is confined to counting pixels and try to seem better than you or me.

Perhaps I had a bad 20d. I use the camera for visual note taking and archiving my art work. The 60mm Macro and 17/55 produce superb images - especially when using the mirror lock, even with normal and wide angle. I was almost shocked at the sharpness and contrast. I use DXO that takes both the optical shortcomings and body into account when processing images. I would compare the quality of its images to film - even medium format and 4x5 even though the detail of the larger formats
may be greater prior to scanning. (Not all of us have drum scanners.)

Some of the best photos I have seen are grainy B&W's, some D. Lang, Weston, D'Arazian, Stern, Avedon, Bresson, Brady and so many others photo shot with an M4, G5 or a wobbly, old wooden view with leaky bellows.

We are limited to three additive colors and (in principal) 3 subtractive. We can only REproduce. An image of a pear is not a pear.

It is not a 5D camera, some underexposure but for the price it is a great deal.

If you are looking for a great camera to teach you the ropes of Digital Photography this is the camera. Its easy to learn and there is several good instructional DVD's and Books already on the market to help you learn the camera's features.

Grip Shape - Fixed with extra battery grip

Why spend a few hundred dollars more on the 30D that is heavier and bigger, has lower pixels and less technology (no antidust sensor shake) ????

No spot metering, slightly soft images with kit lens.

Grainy, small grip, no auto ISO in creative modes

This is a nice entry level DSLR, which can serve you well as a back up for a professional DSLR. Its really value for its money.

But at the end i sold the camera. I didnt like it for a few reasons:

* ISO 1600 only works well in good light, like a well lit restaurant. Otherwise is quite grainy.
* The grip is far too small. Maybe it was designed for small asian hands?
* Dark and small viewfinder, no rule of the thirds overlay like on Fuj and Nikon.
* Soft pictures. This camera has no less then 2 low pass filters. You need expensive L-serie lenses to make up for this.
* No auto iso in creative modes.
* The use of flash for AF assist in low light is very annoying.

weak battery (sterlingtek 1500mah fixes that), ISO800 starts to show noise, no spot meter, priced much higher than competition, no 2nd display (like XT& 30D)

Have had this camera for about 4 months. Picture quality is great, even with the kit lens (came from point and shoot). start up time fast, large ISO range with decent noise control. 3200ISO would be much welcomed.

for the price, it should have spot metering like every other entry level DSLR.

10MP is probably overkill for this camera. should have kept it at 8 to help further reduce noise.

people complain about underexposure. mine exposes the same as a friend's 30D. Problem seems to be blown out of proportion.

great camera for starters, if I could do it again I'd buy a 30D.

The meter underexposes all shots!!

Stay away from this camera!!

The meter consistently underexposes the shots by 1 stop or more. I compared it to my rebel xt shot for shot.

The xti produced (dark) underexposed shots!!!

B&H returned it for another copy, to which I had the same horrible results. I called Canon, they were aware of the problem, but had no fix for it as of yet.

Other people have had the same results, see their postings in this forum.

Buyer be aware!!