Canon Digital Rebel XTi/400D/Kiss Digital X

[NarendZORCE]

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0608/06082416canoneos400drebelxti.asp

Worldwide naming
� Canon EOS 400D (Europe / Asia / Elsewhere)
� Canon Digital Rebel XTi (North America)
� Canon EOS Kiss Digital X (Japan)


Major new features / changes

��10 megapixel CMOS sensor
��Separate low pass filter with ultra-sonic vibration to remove dust
��Anti-static coatings on sensor surface, software based dust mapping / removal
��Nine area Auto Focus sensor (same as EOS 30D)
��Picture Styles, larger range of image parameter adjustment (same as EOS 30D)
��Faster image processing
��Removal of control panel LCD display, now uses main LCD monitor
��Proximity sensor below viewfinder eyepiece to disable main LCD during composition
��Camera settings made on main LCD (such as metering, white balance, ISO, AF area etc.)
��Setting adjustment saved with half-press of shutter release
� Continuous shooting buffer up to 27 JPEG and 10 RAW images
� Large 2.5" LCD monitor with 160� viewing angle
� Image magnification available in record review
��Histogram available as brightness (Luminance) or RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
��Traditional Chinese language (in addition to Simplified Chinese)
��Up to 9999 images per folder on storage card
� Lower introductory list price ($100 lower)


What's missing? (at first glance)

� No programmable Auto ISO (such as seen on the Nikon D80, almost 'ISO priority')
� No spot metering
��Settings such as ISO not repeated on viewfinder status bar while being adjusted
��Mirror lock-up buried in a custom menu
��Hand grip virtually identical to that of the EOS 350D / Digital Rebel XT
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[NarendZORCE]

Digital Rebel XTi
EOS Digital SLR Camera
Item Code: 1236B002

Incredibly Advanced. Remarkably Simple.

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi offers an unbeatable combination of performance, ease-of-use and value. It has a newly designed 10.1 MP Canon CMOS sensor plus a host of new features including a 2.5-inch LCD monitor, the exclusive EOS Integrated Cleaning System featuring a Self Cleaning Sensor and Canon's Picture Style technology, all in a lightweight, ergonomic body. The Digital Rebel XTi is proof positive that Canon continues to lead the way with their phenomenal digital SLRs.



High performance digital SLR with 10.1 Megapixel Canon CMOS sensor and DIGIC II Image processor.

Large 2.5-inch LCD monitor with new user interface and wide viewing angle. Fast 3 frames-per-second shooting with 27-frame burst and a 0.2 second startup time.

High precision, wide area 9-point autofocus system.

Picture Style settings for a broad range of control over color, contrast and sharpening. Print/Share button featuring advanced camera direct capabilities for greater user control while direct printing.

EOS Integrated Cleaning System featuring a Self Cleaning Sensor Unit

Fully compatible with over 60 EF and EF-S Lenses and a wide range of EOS System accessories

Source: Canon USA
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Drags, Circuit, Solodex, Rally, Karting, the Shows, the Girls, the Car you drive...
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Oh Yeah! Feel the Rush, it's like... WOW!
May the (Mass x Acceleration)-F+Z be with you...

[NarendZORCE]

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/XTI/XTIA.HTM

Canon Rebel XTi User Report
By: Shawn Barnett
Date Posted: 09/01/2006; Updated 11/30/2006

Similar in weight and size, much of the user experience with the Canon Rebel XTi is like the Rebel XT. They're both small digital SLRs with good heft and a solid feel. But there's more to like about the XTi, from the finish to the fit to the interface.

We were fortunate to see both the black and silver models this time around. I'm not fond of the silver on either the Rebel XT or XTi, though I didn't much mind the silver on the original Digital Rebel. Both black and silver finishes have been changed from the XT. The black finish is smoother and more of a satin black. It gives an impression of painted metal rather than bare plastic, as the Rebel XT's finish did. The XT tended to collect what looked like scratches on its surface, but they were very often fingernail dust, abraded from my nails when they rubbed against the paint. Most conspicuous were the marks between the grip and lens, where my fingers are still too often pinched as I wrap my hand around the grip. It was just rough, tough paint they used on the XT's body. The paint on the Rebel XTi is smoother and makes the camera look metal rather than plastic.

The silver paint, which I think they call "chrome" is a brighter silver, also more metallic looking. It looks garish to my eye, but I'm sure many will like it. Like Canon's legendary white lenses, the silver body should tend to get a little less hot in direct sunlight.

Grip. I'd have preferred a more dramatic increase in grip size, but I'm glad for the improvements that were made. For his part, Dave expressed vehement hatred of the Rebel XT's grip, but he was more pleased than I was with the subtle changes we both perceived in the XTi's grip. The changes aren't easily seen; it's more the hand that notices a change. First, there's more of a coarse texture to the grip surface. It also appears that they rounded the front slightly, where your two middle fingers rest, giving perhaps a millimeter or two of rise; then they re-tapered the grip's shape to have slightly more fullness left to right, with just a little more material rounding out toward the right. What I don't like is that where the Rebel XT's grip met the camera body (the side toward the lens) at a stronger right angle, the Rebel XTi's grip is more rounded, preventing me from wedging my fingertips into the corner. Pentax recently made the opposite change in their redesign of the *istDL to the K100D, and I prefer it. My standard form of carry is either up by the chest holding the lens in my right or left hand, or down to the side with my hand around the grip. I use straps only very occasionally, and I hate them the whole time, so a camera's grip is very important to me.


The thumb grip is better. Rather than a single bulge in the upper right corner, there's a nice tapering curve that supports the heel of your thumb as well as a rubber pad for your thumb to grip. Note also the black navigation buttons and more practical knurl on the mode dial.

Overall, I'd say the Rebel XTi's grip is improved. I still have to curl my pinky finger under the battery compartment, because the grip isn't tall enough. Even my wife, who liked the XT's grip, wasn't as enthusiastic this time. She liked how light the camera was, but not the inside of the grip, nor that her pinkie finger had to curl around the bottom to allow her index finger enough room to rest on the shutter. The 30D grip felt more sturdy to her. "I think I'd get tired holding the XTi all day," she said. It's probably a non-issue if you use a camera strap, though, as most do.

Attaching the BG-E3 battery grip extends the length of the gripping surface, making a world of difference. Even without the BG-E3, the front grip is enhanced by an improvement in the thumb grip on the back. Both the Rebel XT and the 30D have a single large bulge in the top right corner that gives a decent counter to the front grip. The Rebel XTi adds a smooth curving ridge that runs down from this bulge, adding extra support and some sense of comfort. There's also a soft rubber pad right where the thumb needs it most, making for extra traction. Despite my quibbles, the combination of minor enhancements does make for a more secure and comfortable hold so you can focus on getting a great shot.

The Rebel XTi's larger screen has dictated a few changes to buttons, with the five left buttons shrinking again to small round buttons instead of the larger reverse-D shaped buttons of the Rebel XT. These new buttons have a soft, but detectable click. Since there's no longer a monochrome status display, the LCD illumination button is gone.

Upper left of the Rebel XTi's 2.5 inch LCD is something that surprisingly wasn't included on the Rebel XT: the now almost ubiquitous Print/Share button. First introduced on Canon's digicams, the first SLR to receive this feature was the over-$3,000 Canon EOS 5D. The button glows blue when connected to a compatible printer or computer via a USB connection, meaning you can begin printing or transferring images right away. It took a little time for my computer (an iMac G5) to wake up and get all the pieces in place for the first time, but after that it worked just fine, and transferred images very quickly via the USB 2.0 connection.


Screen dimmer. An IR emitter and sensor shuts the Status display off.

Just above the LCD and below the optical viewfinder are the IR emitter and sensor that detect the presence of your eye or other object (such as your stomach if you have the camera on a strap). This tells the camera that the monitor no longer needs to be on, and prevents glare from interfering with the light coming through the viewfinder. It does not start up the autofocus system as we've seen on the Sony A100; Canon has opted to leave that job to the shutter button. The advantage to that decision is that while you move the camera around, you won't be turning the AF system off and on repeatedly, which can wear on the battery.

External tweaks. There are other changes that are mostly cosmetic, like the larger Canon logo on the front of the camera, and a slightly redesigned mode dial on top. The latter looks more machined on top and has a slightly more useful knurl around the outside. The shutter button is also black instead of silver on the black model, to more closely resemble the rest of the black body EOS models. The five-way navigator buttons on the back are also black on the black body. The corresponding items on the silver body are now silver, and many of the accents (the mode dial and power switch, the rubber thumb rest, the left side panel and its rubber door, and the lens release button) are dark gray.

The design of the Rebel XTi is very similar to the XT, but its lines are slightly more organic, looking more mature and sturdy. Those few enhancements noted above, along with the better paint make the Rebel XTi look more professional.


Still CF. Existing Canon EOS owners can sigh with relief that their existing collection of cards will still work in the Rebel XTi.

Staying standard. With most other recent consumer SLRs switching to SD cards, I fully expected Canon to follow suit by switching to SD in the Rebel XTi, but I was pleased to see a nice big CF door in place. It appears nearly identical to the Rebel XT; perhaps a little longer due to the new rear grip addition, but functionally the same. In general, you're still able to buy larger cards for CompactFlash because the card format is larger and can fit more chips for less money. I'd prefer the choice of both, for users with different needs, but that adds money to the bottom line; and remains a feature of the far more expensive Canon 1D-series.


Firing it up. Wrapping my hand around the improved grip, the hold is sturdier. I can use my index finger to reach back across the top deck and flip the camera on. It's a little less comfortable than on the Olympus E-500, but still quite possible. The green lamp on top flashes to life, as does the LCD on the back. The gray status display comes on, showing the current settings. In the lower right corner, a little rectangle appears with animated sparkles for a second, then the estimated number of frames available on the card appears (when you turn the camera off, a black screen comes up with the same animated sparkles as shown at right). I can bypass the cleaning process if I'm in a hurry by half-pressing the shutter button; otherwise, it takes about a second to complete the cleaning process. I noticed no sound while cleaning initially, but since I've had an opportunity to try it in a quieter room, I do hear a series of pulses, then a high-pitched ringing sound. It's not really distracting, though, and you have to listen for it. (For more on Canon's impressive new sensor cleaning and dust reduction system, see our expanded explanation under the Optics tab.)



Simple, informative. The new Status Display is perhaps not as pretty as others we've seen, but it's informative and minimalist. Note also the three-stage battery icon.

Bigger LCD. The Canon Rebel XTi joins the lion's share of current digital SLRs with its larger, brighter 2.5 inch LCD with 230,000 pixels. Its viewing angle is 160 degrees, to help you show off your images to more people than the XT allowed. Like many other consumer SLRs, the Rebel XTi's color LCD stays on to serve as status display. It uses more battery, but the new Status Display is a lot better than the old monochrome LCD, mostly because there's more room to display the camera's many potential settings. On the XT, you had to look through the viewfinder to set the AF point, or use the cryptic number display on the monochrome LCD; but with the XTi, you need only press the AF point selector button, look at the back of the LCD -- or through the viewfinder -- and use the four-way nav buttons to select your AF points. At rest, you can double check the setting just by glancing at the Status Display again, where it is permanently displayed.

Other EOS cameras with a top Status Display require you to press a button, tilt the camera toward you, and turn the dial to make your changes (or look through the viewfinder). On both the old XT and the new XTi, all the buttons are on the back with the display, and most items can be changed with the Five-way Navigation buttons. The simple, clean gray and purple screens that come up to change common items like ISO and AF Mode are unimpressive at first, but once you use them a few times, the advantage of such a minimalist approach is clear, because all you see is what you're after.


If you want to change the ISO, all you see are options for ISO, no menus, no icons to tell you how to navigate from here, just the words and numbers necessary. Use the arrow buttons to select among them, or the Main dial, and either press the Set button in the middle of the four arrows, or press the shutter button to go back to capture mode. The chosen item is selected, and shows up on the Status Display, regardless whether you press the Set button. Note that here you can scroll upward through the list by pressing the up arrow repeatedly, or use any of the other arrow keys to move around in the list: moving from ISO 100 to 800, for example, rather than scrolling through the others.




I especially appreciated having the Picture Style menu so close at hand. A press of the Set button brings it up, and you can make changes very quickly. If shooting in Standard mode, all settings are just four button presses away. I was a little disappointed, however, to find that unlike in the ISO menu, you cannot move from Standard to Monochrome by pressing on the right arrow. You have to scroll up or down, or roll the Main dial through all the intervening items to get where you want. As I say, it's only four or five moves in either direction to get to Monochrome, but it's a significant difference in how this menu works, when it looks just like the ISO menu above.
The battery icon has been improved a little, adding an additional stage to the formerly inadequate 2-stage battery icon of other EOS cameras. You could say it was a three stage icon, but flashing an empty battery outline to indicate empty is too little too late. It's good to have a little more advance warning with an additional bar.


Most valuable. Here's my top choice for the greatest improvement in the Rebel XTi: the AF sensor borrowed from the 30D.

New AF module. It doesn't stand out quite as much as the higher resolution and the anti-dust system, but the Rebel XTi's AF sensor upgrade is significant, because it's the same sensor used in the 20D and 30D. Shortly after completing the Rebel XT review, I spent a lot of time with it, comparing it to the Canon EOS 20D in all kinds of shooting situations. It became clear that the 20D was significantly faster in low light than the XT or the original Digital Rebel. It wasn't just the 9-points of the 20D vs the 7-points of the XT, it was just far better at analyzing a scene and deciding where to focus.

As a torture test, I grabbed both cameras and asked my son to run around in a lamp-lit room while I tried to snap his picture. The XT hardly got a shot off, compared to the 20D which more often than not locked and fired time after time. I've done the same test with other digital SLRs, and the Rebel XT beats them--but the 20D was even better. My tests with the shipping version indicate that the Rebel XTi is roughly equal to the 30D in low light.

Anyone looking at a digital SLR to take pictures of the kids at play or sport needs to know how important good low-light AF performance is to a good experience, since a good many sports are done indoors in low light, or at night, and the players are moving at high speed. Though it's still very difficult to get good sports shots with any camera, you're more likely to get something good if you start with a camera like the Canon Rebel XTi.

The Rebel XTi's viewfinder does not have the flashing red boxes that the 30D does; instead it has small red dots that light up in the middle of the boxes. Depending on the background, sometimes one is better than another, but I think both of these Canon AF indicators are easier to see in more lighting situations than most other solutions on the market.

Viewfinder. Okay, so now I've turned the Rebel XTi on and checked the settings. Now I hold it up to my eye and the IR sensor turns off the display. I haven't tested it yet, but apparently sunglasses could keep the sensor from seeing its signal returned. Of course, glare from the sensor is unlikely to bother you much if you're in light bright enough that you're wearing sunglasses. According to the remarkably complete white paper on the Rebel XTi, some fluorescent lamps could also turn off the monitor if placed too close to the source. So don't do that.


What you see & don't. You'll see everything but the grid shown here when you look through the viewfinder. The grid shows a layout of the Rebel XTi's 30 metering zones and does not (unfortunately) appear.

Peering through the viewfinder, it's a little disappointing that the magnification hasn't been improved as we've seen on the Nikon D200 and D80. Greater magnification is just more comfortable, and easier to verify focus. That hasn't stopped me from getting great shots with the existing magnification, however, so take it for what it's worth. AF points are arrayed in a diamond pattern, which Canon says helps improve subject tracking. My son has demonstrated that. The LED numbers for Shutter Speed and Aperture seem a little larger, and there are two new icons, a Flash Exposure lock indicator and a White Balance adjustment indicator. With my glasses on, the viewfinder picture is not quite complete, with vignetting around the corners. I have to press my glasses close to my face and up against the rubber guard to see the full frame.

If I'm in manual mode, I can adjust Shutter speed with the Main dial behind the shutter button, and press the Av button to adjust aperture, all without taking my eye from the viewfinder. The little arrow beneath the exposure level indicator responds to show levels like an old match needle. Pretty simple, and a very common method employed on this range of digital SLRs. This one puts my thumb right up against my cheekbone, but it's not bad. Slightly higher-end cameras have two wheels to control both variables in manual mode, but these lower-end cameras save a little on the bill of materials by assuming that most users will use one of the full- or semi-automatic modes.

Squeeze. With everything set, I half-press the shutter and the Rebel XTi tells me which AF points it's selected. If I don't like the selection, I can press again, and it will very often choose another set of points. This actually works very well most of the time, but when I'm doing important work, or facing an odd lighting situation, I switch to the center AF point on almost every camera. If I'm feeling lazy, I just keep hitting that shutter button until I'm satisfied.

Then I slowly squeeze the shutter button all the way down. The shutter sound is pretty well identical to the Rebel XT. A snap with a winding noise. It's not film that's being wound (obviously), just the shutter spring being reset by a small motor. Luke (our test wizard here at Imaging Resource) thinks I'm nuts, but I still suspect that they chose this winding motor on purpose, because that's what people expect SLRs to sound like (ever notice in the movies that even the smallest point and shoot camera sounds like it has a big professional motor drive?). The original Digital Rebel and EOS 20D didn't make this sound--at least not loudly--nor did the EOS 1D, but the Rebel XT and 1D Mark II certainly made quite the whirring sound. The XTi still has it.

When in AI Servo autofocus mode, the Rebel XTi doesn't need to lock focus like the XT and 20D did before the shutter will fire. Just press it all the way and it will capture whatever it sees. Another feature that appeared on the 30D is that the shutter button no longer needs to be released completely to make a follow-up shot. With the 20D and Rebel XT, you had to release the shutter button completely and the camera went through another AF cycle before the shutter could be released again. With the XTi, you can keep shooting more rapidly if you're satisfied that the focus is just fine. You just release the shutter halfway rather than all the way, and press again to capture subtle nuances in a scene.

Playback's enriched. A few enhancements to the Canon Rebel XTi and EOS 30D are good enough that they're worth the upgrade from the perfectly decent Rebel XT and EOS 20D models. One is a special auto-rotation mode. I hate auto rotation. You have this big rectangular screen that matches the orientation of the sensor, and you're going to rotate the image on the camera so that it's smaller and harder to see? I'd rather just turn the camera; after all, it wasn't hard to turn the camera when I captured the vertical shot, so I can easily do it again to view it. On the other hand, if I've taken a lot of shots, hand-rotating the vertical ones when I copy them to a computer is a bit of a pain. The Rebel XTi will let you have the best of both. Auto rotate can either rotate the images on the camera and the computer, or leave them as captured on the camera and rotate them on the computer. That time savings alone is worth the upgrade if you take enough pictures.

It's important to note that the new Auto Rotation works well if you use Canon's software, but many applications can get confused and rotate the image again. For my own sanity, I've opted to leave Auto Rotation off when I shoot with the Rebel XTi.

Another feature to come over from the 30D and higher cameras is the option of displaying either luminance or RGB histograms. The latter can often reveal an error in white balance if all three colors do not seem to be balanced across the histogram's range.

Finally, because the Rebel XTi's display is on while the camera's on, the name of the INFO button has been changed to DISP, for Display. The difference is that INFO regulated the amount of information that showed up primarily in playback mode, but the Display button can also turn the Status Display off to save battery when you still want to keep the camera's power switch on and the camera ready.

Print/Share button. The ability to print out a contact sheet, complete with mock film edges, directly from the camera will sell a lot of portable printers and PictBridge printers in general. When it's important, I prefer to print from within Photoshop, but sometimes it's nice to just plug into a PictBridge printer and toss out a few 4x6s. Among the possible in-camera improvements that you can apply before printing is the all-important red-eye reduction.

The XTi offers an expanded feature set that matches or exceeds the capabilities of the 30D. Here's a list of the printing capabilities added since the Rebel XT:

35-image "contact sheet" index printing
Single-image prints with EXIF shooting information
20 image contact sheets with EXIF data
Red-eye reduction function
Face brightening correction function
Additional supported paper sizes (4 x 8", 10 x 12", 8 x 10", 14 x 17")
Improved printing effects (Natural, Natural M, B/W, Cool Tone, and Warm Tone added)
Adjustment of printing parameters
Addition of supported paper (Fine Art, Photo Rag, Super Photo paper)
Improved buffer depth. The Rebel XTi can also shoot more pictures than its predecessor in continuous mode. I picked a simple photograph hanging on a beige wall and managed to fire off 34 shots in Large Fine JPEG mode. That's more than they're stating, and we're pretty sure we have a target or two that could make the Rebel XTi capture fewer than the 27 Canon-estimated shots before the buffer is filled. But they're rightly quoting an average, since the size of a JPEG shot can vary widely based on the relative compressibility of the subject. Since RAW files are also losslessly compressed, their sizes vary too, but it seems to stick more closely to 10 frames to fill the buffer in my informal shooting (our test results show it at between 9 and 12 frames).

Battery. The XTi's battery is the same as the XT's, the NB-2LH, but because of the larger display, its function as a Status display, and the new self-cleaning system, battery life is reduced. You can expect 500 images at room temperature (without flash) and 360 shots with 50% flash usage. At freezing temperatures, that expectation goes down to a still-respectable 370 and 280 shots without and with flash.

Competition. The Rebel XTi's obvious competition is the Canon 30D, the Nikon D80, and the Nikon D40. Sure, the Olympus E-500, Sony A100, and Pentax K100D are also contenders, but those comparisons are for a separate article. Since many XTi shoppers will be comparing the camera to the Nikon D40, Nikon D80, and Canon EOS 30D, I've snapped some images of the XTi next to all three so you can get an idea of the size differences. For the record, I do prefer the D80 and 30D grips, but that might not be a huge consideration for you if you plan to use a camera strap to carry the camera.

Size comparisons: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi vs Nikon D80
_________________
Drags, Circuit, Solodex, Rally, Karting, the Shows, the Girls, the Car you drive...
ZORCERs done know... the speed lifestyle magazine in the Islands, ZORCE
Click to hear it >> http://www.zorce.com/fortheforums/Zorce15NEW.mp3
Download & SEE iT! >> http://www.zorce.com/fortheforums/Zorce-15.mp4
...........................................................
Oh Yeah! Feel the Rush, it's like... WOW!
May the (Mass x Acceleration)-F+Z be with you...

[2NR Smurf]

look out for a n00b review soon on this camera....
_________________

[2NR Smurf]

5-10 more working days....lets hope i get it in time for Solodex on the 14th...

and lets hope they dont bollocks it up during shipping
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[Princess-Kaveshla]

Great resources with the reviews...
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Mowgli : "Use the Zorce Princess Kaveshla!"...
Prayer works. Just do it.