Canon EOS Digital Rebel Review
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Review
Date: Nov 24, 2003 |
Image Quality
The
Canon EOS Digital Rebel is a digital camera
targeted to serious and advanced amateur photographers
and its image quality is comparable to other 6
megapixels resolution professional
digital SLR cameras. It produces image quality
professionals make a living by -- and that far
surpasses anything currently output by consumer
and prosumer digital cameras. In other words,
image quality and feature-wise, the EOS Digital
Rebel is a professional dSLR with a price point
that makes it accessible to the amateur photographers.
Since
most of you are interested in the EOS Digital
Rebel because of the professional level image
quality made possible by the large image sensor,
I have taken a number of the picture samples at
the high ISOs of 400, 800 and 1600 so you can
have an idea of the presence or absence of noise
at those ISOs. Of course, I have also included
pictures at ISO 100, the lowest ISO on the EOS
Digital Rebel. The minimal noise present at high
ISOs opens up low-light and action picture possibilities
once reserved only to those who could afford the
expensive professional dSLRs.
For this review, I used the following settings
as my preferred settings:
-
Shooting Mode: Program AE
-
Metering Mode: Evaluative (default)
- ISO:
100
- Image
Size: 3072x2048 (Large)
- Image
Quality: Fine
- White
Balance: Auto
All the pictures on this and the other pages (including
the navigation pictures at the top of each page)
have been taken by the EOS Digital Rebel for this
review. The pictures on this page provide a good
sample of what the EOS Digital Rebel is capable
of and I have provided the 800x533 version. Remember
that this version is of slightly lesser quality
than the original 3072x2048 version. Please open
and download only once to your hard drive -- and
save me some precious bandwidth. Thanks!
| Clicking
on a picture version will display the 800x600
version image in a separate window. Leave
that separate window up for all the other
images will also display in that same separate
window. |
 Traditional
Chinese Pharmacy located inside the T&T Supermarket
at the Promenade Mall in Thornhill. The EF-S lens
has only a maximum aperture of F3.5 at 18mm. At
28mm, the max. aperture is probably F4.0, and
this gives me a slow shutter speed of 1/30 sec.
This shot is hand held and I probably could have
boosted the ISO to 800, trading a faster shutter
speed for a bit more noise. The amount of detail
at ISO 400 is extremely good and the picture has
virtually no noise. Focal Length 28mm, Program
AE, Evaluative, Parameter 2, shutter speed 1/30
sec., aperture F4.0 and ISO 400. [File size: 3.4
MB]
 The
EOS Digital Rebel comes with Contrast, Sharpness
and Color Saturation set to +1 (Parameter 1) by
default. This gives vivid colors and a bit of
sharpening in camera. If you do not like to post-process
your images, you may like this setting, while
others may prefer to control these settings in
an image editing software. See the next image
for normal settings (Parameter 2). The EOS Digital
Rebel also allows you to set up 3 of your own
Parameters by customizing the contrast, sharpness,
color saturation and color tone settings to your
liking. Focal length 24mm, Program AE, Evaluative,
Parameter 1, shutter speed 1/40 sec., aperture
F3.5, ISO 400. [File size: 3.4 MB]
 Here
is a similar shot as the one above, but this time
with Parameter 2 (i.e. normal). Notice that the
colors are more subdued and the image appears
soft. If you are an advanced amateur photographer,
this may be your preferred setting since it leaves
you in control and you may adjust contrast, color
saturation and sharpness yourself in an image
editing software. However, I find that Parameter
1 is quite good for most shooting situations.
For those of you requiring maximum post-processing
control, you can also choose to save your images
in RAW format. Focal length 25mm, Program AE,
Evaluative, Parameter 2, shutter speed 1/50 sec.,
aperture F5.0, ISO 400. [File size: 3.3 MB]
 "By
welcoming this new century this bell is produced
as a symbol of everlasting friendship between
the City of Mississauga and the City of Kariya."
I take this picture not quite expecting the engravings
would come out so clearly. I would like to say
I carefully selected the exposure settings for
this picture, but truth is they were all 'mistakes':
I mistakenly set the Mode dial to Shutter-Priority
and rotated the Main dial until the aperture showed
F5.6; I also forgot to reset the exposure compensation
of +1EV from a previous shot. Sky is blown but
makes an effective backdrop to the dark bell.
The use of the zoom throws the trees in the background
nicely out of focus. Focal length 55mm, Shutter-Priority
AE, Evaluative, Parameter 1, shutter speed 1/13
sec., aperture F5.6, +1EV, ISO 100. The camera
was set on a tripod. [File size: 1.9 MB]
 Night
shot of the Mississauga Civic Centre. I wanted
to test out the maximum 30 sec. shutter speed
at ISO 100, and see what kind of noise the EOS
DR gives. You've got to check out for yourself
the original version! Again noise is virtually
non-existent. Remember this is a 30 sec. shot!
And, when the camera indicates there is not enough
light for the AF to lock, I simply switch to Manual
Focus. Focal length 18mm, Aperture-Priority AE,
Evaluative, Parameter 1, shutter speed 30 sec.,
aperture F22, ISO 100. The camera was set on a
tripod. [File size: 2.2 MB]
 Sushi
Bar inside a mall. At the highest ISO of 1600,
noise is visible. So, if you want to avoid noise
at all cost, you should be safe using ISO 100
to 400, and perhaps even 800. Use ISO 1600 only
when you absolutely must. Focal length 53mm, Program
AE, Evaluative, Parameter 1, shutter speed 1/160
sec., aperture F8.0 and ISO 1600. [File size:
4.1 MB]
 Here
is my deep shade in the foreground to bright sun
in the background picture. I dial in a slight
+1/3EV exposure compensation to ensure some detail
in the shade without blowing the highlights. Focal
length 18mm, Program AE, Evaluative, Parameter
1, shutter speed 1/160 sec, aperture F8.0, +1/3EV,
and ISO 100. [File size: 4.2 MB]
 Another
shade to sun shot, this time using the A-DEP mode
to ensure the walls as well as the far object
outside the window are both in focus. The camera
chooses an aperture of F3.5 -- I would have thought
it would have selected a smaller aperture to increase
depth of field? Focal length 18mm, A-DEP, Evaluative,
Parameter 1, shutter speed 1/1,250 sec, aperture
F3.5 and ISO 100. [File size: 2.7 MB]
Two
totem poles reaching up to skylights letting in
the streaming sun present yet another opportunity
to test the dynamic range of the CMOS image sensor.
A straight shot with no exposure compensation
puts the Evaluative mode of the light meter to
the test as well. So far, the EF-S 18-55mm lens
has been very good in various challenging situations.
However, this is a really difficult shot and the
EF-S lens starts to show some chromatic aberration
especially where the strong sunlight interacts
with the window panes. Focal length 18mm, Program
AE, Evaluative, Parameter 1, shutter speed 1/15
sec, aperture F3.5 and ISO 100. [File size: 2.2
MB]
 Subway
arts are a great idea and I wish more subways
would have them. However, due to the low light
conditions, they are quite difficult to photograph
without a tripod. But, with the EOS Digital Rebel,
I simply dial in ISO 800 to obtain a shutter speed
just fast enough for a hand held shot. Focal length
55mm, Program AE, Evaluative, Parameter 1, shutter
speed 1/40 sec, aperture F5.6 and ISO 800. [File
size: 3.0 MB]
What,
no panorama shot? Well, since the panorama shot
is achieved using PhotoStitch and I have already
provided a number of samples from other Canon
cameras, there is really no point in reviewing
PhotoStitch again.
Need
a place to upload your photos? Free photo sharing
and photo hosting web site at cassepoze.
A
Personal Word
The
Canon EOS Digital Rebel brings "professional"
image quality and dSLR functionality to the mass
market. It is suited exceptionally well to serious
amateur photographers who are willing to take
the time to learn how to use the camera. Spend
the time and effort to learn the camera and photography
in general, and the EOS Digital Rebel will reward
you with exceptional quality pictures.
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