Canon EOS Digital Rebel Review
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Review
Date: Nov 24, 2003 |
User's Experience
Tuesday,
Nov 11, 2003 - Here's what I receive in the box:
- EOS
Digital Rebel (with eyecup, body cap and lithium
backup battery for the date and time)
- EF-S
18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 (with lens cap and dust cap)
- Neck
Strap (with eyepiece cover)
- Battery
Pack (with protective cover)
- Battery
Charger and Power Cord
- Interface
Cables: A/V; USB
- English
and French Instruction Manuals: Pocket Guide;
Instruction Manual; Installing the Software
Correctly; Battery Pack Instructions
-
Software CDs: Digital Solution 6.0; Adobe Photoshop
Elements 2.0
For
many of you reading this review, I am assuming
that you have only used consumer digital cameras
so far, SLRs are new to you, and you are wondering
if upgrading to the EOS Digital Rebel is a good
move. I am also assuming that you are at least
a serious amateur photographer who is perhaps
feeling some of the limitations of current consumer
(and even prosumer) digital cameras and are tempted
by the professional level image quality the large
image sensor of the EOS Digital Rebel makes possible.
First
of all, there are a number of differences you
need to be aware of:
- The
lens is interchangeable. With the EF-S 18-55mm
lens, manual focus is achieved using a thin
ring at the very tip of the lens, while the
wide ring on the lens is for the zoom. Both
rings are smooth, fast and precise. You may
also purchase a good selection of quality lenses
that tremendously expands your picture-taking
horizon.
- The
LCD cannot be used as a viewfinder to shoot;
it only displays the image after you have taken
it. On the other hand, you now have a true,
quality viewfinder, with dioptric adjustment
(if that still does not give you a clear image,
there are 10 optional dioptric adjustment lenses
you can try).
- The
camera is bigger than the compact and ultra-compact
you may have been used to so far (but is quite
light since its body is made up of a composite
of magnesium alloy and plastic). On the plus
side, the handling is superb, and if you have
large hands, you will appreciate the comfortable
grip.
- Depth
of field (DOF) is now something you must be
aware of. This is really a good thing and provides
more flexibility to be creative with composition.
Take the time to learn about DOF, and how to
control it.
- Low-light
photography is at last possible! Yeah, little
to no noise when using high ISOs; virtually
no shutter lag, permitting candid shots indoors;
and, if desired, the use of a powerful external
flash.
- White
Balance is more sensitive and that's another
thing you need to pay attention to. Setting
the white balance to match the actual existing
lighting condition often produces more accurate
colors.
The
very first thing you need to be aware of is that
the EOS Digital Rebel takes interchangeable lenses,
and if you have purchased it with the optional
lens kit (which we hope you did, simply because
it's so cheap), you have to 'bayonet' it on. Before
you do that, we recommend that you read the Instructional
Manual to ensure you do it correctly.
Note
also that since the lens can be removed from the
body, there is now ample opportunity for dust
to enter either, so use the dust covers whenever
the lens is off the body.
OK,
before we do anything, let's charge up the battery.
The battery charger has a blinking red light which
indicates how far along the battery is charged:
it blinks once per second when the battery is
between 0-50% charged, twice per second when it's
between 50-75% charged, three times per second
when it's between 75-90% charged, and stays on
when it is 90% or higher charged. After the red
light stays on, you still need to charge it for
another hour. In all, it takes about 90 minutes
to recharge a fully depleted battery.
The
EOS Digital Rebel comes with a separate date/time
lithium battery that goes in just beside where
the main battery goes (at the bottom of the camera,
under the handgrip). This date/time battery lasts
about 5 years, so you shouldn't have to worry
about it with a brand new camera.
While
the battery is charging, let's install the lens.
Twist off the dust cover from the lens and the
body. Align the lens with the body using the white
square on both. Then, holding the lens at the
back, give the lens a clockwise twist until it
clicks into place. (Note: the red dot is to be
used for alignment when attaching lenses other
than an EF-S lens.) To detach the lens, depress
the lens release button and twist the lens anti-clockwise
until the white squares align, then remove. Ensure
you follow this alignment procedure carefully
so as not to damage the contacts on the lens and
body. Now, switch to Auto-Focus by sliding the
focus mode switch to AF. Slide it to MF if you
want to manually focus using the focus ring.
Install
the supplied software: Digital Solution 6.0 and
Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.
Being
here in Canada, all documentation comes in both
English and French versions.
The
User Guide is well written and illustrated,
but the small format means small prints.
I
take the time to set the EOS DR to the way I would
like to use it. This is accomplished through the
MENU button, and various other dedicated buttons:
MENU
(Shooting):
- Quality
= Large Fine (3072 x 2048 pixels)
- Red-eye
= ON
- AEB
= 0
- WB-BKT
= 0
- Beep
= ON
- Parameters
= Parameter 1
MENU
(Playback):
- Review
= ON
- Review
time = Hold (a half-press on the shutter release
button instantly reverts the camera back to
Shooting mode)
MENU
(Set-up 1):
- Auto
power off = 4 min.
- Auto
rotate = ON
- LCD
Brightness = 4
- Date/Time
= today
Dedicated
Buttons :
- Drive
Mode = Single
- Exposure
Compensation = 0
- ISO
= 100
- White
Balance = Auto
Usually
I don't like to use the Auto power off feature
because I find it very inconvenient. But with
the EOS Digital Rebel, I find that I easily forget
to turn off the camera, so it's probably a good
idea here to set the Auto power off feature to
some amount of time so as not to risk running
out of battery power uselessly.
Keeping
Focus
One
important thing to learn is how to select an AF
point. There are seven (7) AF points and by default
the camera will automatically select one or more
of these AF points, probably based on the most
contrasty subject at the AF points. This may or
may not work for some situations, resulting in
out-of-focus pictures when the camera selects
an AF point other than the one pointing at your
main subject. I generally use single-focus at
the center AF point. Fortunately, by dedicating
a button to it, Canon has made it easy to select
your preferred AF point, as well as to quickly
switch to any one of the other AF points for spot
on focus accuracy.
To
select single-focus at the center AF point as
your default focus setting, simply press the AF
point selector button (top rightmost on the back
of the camera), then rotate the Main dial until
the center AF point lights up. The camera will
remember that setting and uses it as the default
from then on. [Note: selecting AF point is possible
only in P, Tv, Av and M modes.] If you do choose
a different AF point for a certain shot, you need
to remember to redial in your preferred AF point.
A
neat feature is A-DEP, or Automatic Depth-of-field,
that you select from the Mode dial. This uses
the 7 AF points to determine the nearest and farthest
subjects to keep in focus. This should be especially
effective for group shots, ensuring everyone in
the picture is in focus. This is the theory. In
practice, since the AF still works on finding
the most contrasty subjects, it will only find
the nearest contrasty subject and the farthest
contrasty subject.
So
far, we have been talking about One Shot AF where
the camera achieves focus and locks it. There
is another type of focus that tracks a moving
subject: Predictive AI Servo AF.
For
sports and wildlife photographers, selecting Sports
mode on the Mode dial also switches on the Predictive
AI Servo AF, which will track a moving subject
right up until the time of exposure. This increases
your chance of getting spot on sharp images of
moving subjects.
Now
comes the part that is a bit controversial for
some people: AI Focus AF. In Auto, P, Tv, Av and
M modes, the EOS Digital Rebel will automatically
switch from One Shot AF to Predictive AI Servo
AF, if necessary. This is a good or bad thing,
depending on which side of the camp you're on.
I guess it all depends on intent: whether you
intend the moving subject to be in focus or not.
If it is the former case, i.e. you are tracking
your main subject which is moving, it's fantastic!
If it is the latter case, and your main subject
is not moving but somebody or something else is,
the result may not be what you intended.
I say 'may' because AI Servo AF kicks in
only under certain conditions:
i.e. if it detects movement at the locked focus
point and distance. For example, if you are using
single-focus at the center AF, lock the focus
and recompose, and somebody (not your main subject,
who is now at the side) walks towards you and
crosses the locked focus point, AI Servo
AF kicks in and starts tracking the moving subject
-- your main subject is now, unfortunately, out
of focus. How often you encounter this kind of
situation is a question that you only can answer,
depending on the type of photography you take.
It
would have been ideal for Canon to have given
us the choice to enable this automatic switch
from One Shot AF to AI Servo AF, though I personally
don't find this to be the big issue some make
it to be.
Metering
Modes
A
second controversial feature Canon equipped the
EOS Digital Rebel with is the default Evaluative
metering. Usually the photographer can choose
among Evaluative, Center-weighted average and
Spot metering, even in cheaper consumer digital
cameras. That Canon defaulted the EOS Digital
Rebel to Evaluative metering speaks volume as
to its positioning as a simple to use, fun camera.
Though you cannot specify your preferred metering
mode in the MENU, you can still switch to Partial
metering ('Spot' at 9% of center area of screen)
by pressing the AE Lock button in the Creative
Zone modes (P, Tv, Av, M, A-Dep). In Manual mode,
the default metering is Center-weighted average
and switches to Partial when you press the AE
Lock button.
It would have been ideal if Canon did give us
the option to default to one of the three metering
modes in the MENU, as well as being able to switch
among them with each subsequent press of the AE
Lock button.
But
the control is still there -- and truth is, it's
not a bad idea at all, and I personally like the
quick switch from Evaluative to Partial with a
simple button press without having to resort going
into the MENU to do so. As far as I am concerned,
this is again not the huge issue some make it
to be.
The
Green Box (aka Full Auto)
Initially
I set the EOS Digital Rebel in the Beginner Amateur
Photographer category. I have now revised and
set it in the Serious to Advanced Amateur category.
I am slightly amused when I hear people argue
that a $900 dSLR should allow them to obtain beautifully
exposed images in Full Auto mode (Green Box on
the Mode dial). The EOS Digital Rebel is not
for Point-and-Shoot photographers or Beginner
Amateur photographers who are not willing to invest
some time to learn the camera as well as photography
in general.
The fact that there is a "Green Box"
on the Mode dial (i.e. Full Auto mode) does not
imply you can just point-and-shoot and expect
to obtain beautiful, perfectly exposed pictures.
Think about it! If that were the case, why would
anyone ever bother with all the other modes?...
But,
why does my cheapo point-and-shoot digicam on
Full Auto give better pictures?
It's a bit like driving a car and a tractor trailer
truck. Just because you have automatic transmission
on both, it does not mean if you can drive an
auto transmission car, you can therefore drive
an auto transmission tractor trailer truck. They
are two different beasts, have different operating
criteria and require different licenses to operate.
If
you are a point-and-shoot photographer and are
tempted by the superb image quality of the EOS
Digital Rebel, I would suggest giving it a try
for a couple of weeks using Program AE mode and
ISO 400. These two settings in combination will
probably cover all the focusing and exposure situations
you could encounter. Check out our image
samples.
Gingerbread
Man Cookies:
41 mm, Program AE, Evaluative, Parameter 1
1/60 sec., F5.0 and ISO 100 with Flash
First
impressions:
The
EOS Digital Rebel is definitely a worthy digital
version of the Rebel line. It is easy to use for
those coming over from the Rebel line. However,
for those who have never used a SLR before, the
EOS Digital Rebel (as any SLR, for that matter)
may seem a bit overwhelming at first. My recommendation
is to take the time to get to know the camera
(good advice for any new camera), and to take
test shots (seeing that digital 'film' is free)
until you are familiar with how to use the EOS
Digital Rebel.
The features or functions that you really need
to understand are:
-
Selecting an AF point; using manual focus;
-
When to use Evaluative metering and when to
switch to Partial metering;
- Exposure
compensation; exposure bracketing;
- When
to use Shutter-Priority AE, Aperture-Priority
AE; making the most of Program AE Shift;
- White
Balance;
- ISO
If
you think there are just too many things for you
to learn, don't despair. The good folks at Canon
seem to have anticipated that eventuality and
have set up a special EOS Digital Rebel Learning
Center on the Web just for that purpose:
Visit
the EOS
Digital Rebel Learning Center
The
Canon EOS Digital Rebel brings the power and image
quality of expensive dSLRs to amateur photographers
at an attractive and affordable price point. Currently,
no consumer or prosumer digital camera can compare
to it, especially in the image quality department.
You would simply have to upgrade to the professional
dSLRs to obtain virtually noise-free images at
high ISOs and long shutter speeds.
The two features that seem to keep some from embracing
the EOS Digital Rebel are the AI Focus AF and
the default Evaluative metering. As I explained
above, AI Focus AF is really single-focus with
an easy "select your own AF point" using
a dedicated button and the Main dial; only in
certain situations does the AI Servo AF kick in,
and this can be a good or bad thing, depending
on your style of photography.
As for the default Evaluative metering, unless
you prefer some other metering as default, Canon
has in fact provided an elegant way to switch
to Partial metering with a simple dedicated button
push instead of having to go into the MENU to
do so.
Without a LCD monitor to see the image before
you capture it, you have to use the viewfinder.
Fortunately, the latter is both large and clear.
The shutter release button is wonderful to use,
with just the right pressure needed.
The EOS Digital Rebel simply bests the best of
the prosumer digital cameras with its excellent
resolution, virtually noise-free images at high
ISOs, low-light capability, virtually no shutter
lag for fast response times, excellent AF, easy
to use dedicated buttons for less reliance of
the MENU, at an affordable price. It should appeal
to serious amateur photographers who are willing
to put forth the effort to learn and master its
capabilities, as well as to advanced amateur photographers
who appreciate its image quality and fast response
times.
Expect to see the competition heat up soon as
other major camera manufacturers rush out their
own models to compete with the EOS Digital Rebel
at its low price point. Until that happens, the
EOS Digital Rebel stands heads and shoulders unchallenged
and combines quality, affordability and ease of
use in a category it has carved up all its own.
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