Canon EOS 6.3MP Digital Rebel Camera (Body Only)

Canon Rebel Special Purchase! World's First 6.3-Megapixel Digital Full SLR! The finest 6.3 megapixel digital camera we've seen, with SLR operation and high-speed performance that's made it the choice of professionals---and weekend shooters. The digital Rebel is a smash hit. Equipped with Canon's exclusive "Digital Trinity"—6.3 Megapixel CMOS Sensor, DiG!C Imaging Processor and compatibility with over 50 of Canon’s superb EF lenses – the Digital Rebel breaks definitively through every remaining barrier to truly deliver photography without limits. Create memorable images no matter what your level of experience. Nurture your creativity with easy controls and a world of EOS accessories. Share and reproduce your images with state-of-the-art digital freedom. The world’s first affordable, premium-quality digital SLR makes it all possible. A Fun Companion, At Your Side Wherever The Day Takes You The Digital Rebel is compact and lightweight, with a secure rounded grip. In fact, it feels so good in your hand you’ll want to bring it everywhere. Operation feels familiar and intuitive, whether you’re new to digital, new to SLR cameras or even new to photography. The Mode Dial makes one-handed shooting comfortable, with digital and shooting controls easily accessed and Cross Keys located right under your thumb to handle the operations you’ll use most. The LCD screen is big and informative, and you can even adjust the brightness setting. Menus a

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel brings advanced digital performance and SLR controls to everyday photographers. Whether you're new to digital cameras, SLR cameras, or even photography itself, you'll find that the EOS Digital Rebel is powerful, yet fun and easy to use. It features a 6.3-megapixel sensor, automatic and manual controls, and compatibility with Canon's range of EF lenses. This model does not include a lens.

Optics and Resolution
A large-format, high-resolution CMOS sensor captures 6.3 million pixels to deliver up to 3027 x 2048 pixel images. Other resolution modes include 2048 x 1360 and 1536 x 1024. As it captures images, the sensor amplifies each pixel's electric charge, for ultra-fast image scanning. The large sensor also has a 3:2 aspect ratio, traditional to 35mm film, for a familiar compositional feel.

Canon's exclusive DIGIC image processor offers advanced signal processing algorithms that heighten precision and detail, smooth gradation in highlight areas, and create color reproduction that is as vivid as it is utterly natural. Additionally, the DIGIC's speedier processing improves the camera's battery performance, and adds to the camera's overall responsiveness and agility.

More Features
With the 1.8-inch LCD screen, you can zoom images from 1.5x all the way to 10x, moving up, down, left and right to see any area up close. You can even advance to the next shot in the enlarged view with no need to zoom again. The Digital Rebel also generates JPEG Small/Normal image files to make the image playback faster on the camera's LCD monitor.

Advanced controls will keep experienced photographers motivated and inspire beginners to flex their SLR skills. Creative Zone modes include A-DEP (automatic depth of field auto exposure) to set a "zone of sharpness," Manual, Aperture Priority AE to set the aperture, Shutter Priority AE to set shutter speed, and Program AE to let the camera select different shutter/aperture combinations while maintaining a constant exposure.

The camera's controls are intelligently arranged. A mode dial gives you easy access to shooting controls to make even one-handed shooting comfortable.

Other features include:

Built-in, pop-up flash with an approximate 3-second recycle time
Continuous shooting speed of approximately 2.5 frames per second with a maximum burst mode of 4 shots
ISO speed range of 100 to 1600
7-point autofocus with the following modes: One-Shot AF, Predictive AI Servo AF, AI Focus AF (Automatically selects One-Shot AF or AI Servo AF selected according to shooting mode), Manual Focusing (MF)

Printing
Canon has introduced a series of printers designed to work directly with its lineup of digital cameras, including the Digital Rebel. Using these printers, no computer is required--simply connect the camera to the printer and start printing. Printers include Canon's bubble jet direct printers i900D and i960, and card photo printer CP-200 and CP-300. New PictBridge compatibility allows you to connect the camera to any PictBridge-conforming printer and access a wide range of printing media, modes, and styles.

Storage and Transfer
Images are stored on CompactFlash Type I or II memory card; the Digital Rebel is MicroDrive compatible. The Digital Rebel does not include a memory card.

Images can be downloaded to either a Mac or PC via USB 1.1, which means the camera can be connected to any USB-based Windows Me/2000/XP and Mac OS 8.6 or later computer without installing any software.

Power and Size
The camera is powered by a rechargeable lithium-ion battery (BP-511, included). It measures 5.6 by 3.9 by 2.9 inches and weighs 19.7 ounces (excluding battery).

What's In The Box
This package includes the EOS Digital Rebel digital camera, rechargeable lithium-ion battery pack (BP-511) and battery charger (CB-5L), USB and AV cables, and wide neck strap. It also comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements and Digital Camera Solutions CD-ROMs with imaging software and USB drivers for Windows and Mac.

1 Best bang for the buck - all purpose and Astrophotography
I did quite some extensive research before commiting to the Digital Rebel. I wanted a digital SLR mostly for family photos but also for Astrophotography. I signed in a lot of forums were this camera was the most recommended in digital astrophotography (non-CCD) as well as the best cost-benefit as all purpose camera.

I have intentions to modify this camera to take best advantage in astrophography. This means that I will carefully remove the included IR-filter in order to get better astrophotos. This means I won't be able to take terrestrial (all purpose) pictures as the photos will result redish looking without the IR-filter. As a consequence, I will probably get the Digital Rebel XT for family pictures.

2 A great camera for its intended audience
This really is a great camera and to really appreciate it you have to understand its target audience. It seems clear that Canon has aimed this camera primarily at novices. Its point and shoot are as simple as you will find on any consumer compact digicam. Its creative setting should offer enough control and flexibility to keep most intermediate and advance photographers happy. First though lets go over some of the complaints people are writing about the camera.

1). I can't set up my photo through the LCD-----No you surely can't. SLR's are designed specifically to direct the light and image from the lens to the view finder. To the best of my knowledge, there is not a true digital SLR which allows you to do this. And there shouldn't be. You can keep the camera a lot more steady and get a much better view of what your image will look like through the view finder then you ever could looking at an LCD six to eight inches from your body.
2). Complaint number two is just as silly. Canon does not include a CF card with the camera. I've yet to see a digital SLR manufacturer that includes any media with the camera. Also when you consider that about the only card they could include without affecting the price much is a 128mb card with is next to useless in a camera like this.

Now to some more reasonable complaints

1). This camera is slow to start up (compared to many current DSLR's by Canon and Nikon). There really was not much that Canon could have done about that. It uses the same first generation DIGIC processing chip and same 6.3mp CMOS as the Canon D10. The D10 has similar short comings. If you can't live with this (about 3 seconds from power up till you can take a photo) you might want to consider the new Rebel XT or D20. You'll also have to decide if the extra responsiveness is worth an extra 200-300.00 bucks.
2). For continuous shooting you only get 2.5PFS and 4 frame bursts. Much of this is also do to the DIGIC. The D10 isn't much faster (though it does have a larger buffer (the images are stored in the buffer before they can be written to your media) which does allow it to continue shooting while the dRebel is catching its breath. I was very much aware of this "Shortcoming" before I bought the camera and understand it as a cost cutting method (larger buffers cost more money) and decided to accept this short coming rather then pay an extra 200-300. bucks.
3). Canon has crippled the camera by removing many manual control features(through software-The camera is physically able to carry out many of these functions but Canon removed the ability by programing the DIGIC chip (the firmware) to disallow these features. Clearly a business decision and one that make some sense. You really would not want to release a low cost camera with all the same features as your higher end camera. On the other hand, I really wished they would have kept some of the features they removed (like the ability for the user to adust the flash settings).
4). I can't shoot RAW images in the automatic settings. I can understand this. Most of the people using the fully automatic settings are probably novices. RAW images cannot be printed from the camera directly to a printer. RAW images require quite a bit of post shooting work before they're usable. If some one that really does not know much about photography were to shoot a couple of hundred RAW images they would be pretty upset when they found out they could not print their images and didn't know how to change that.
5). The Nikon D70 supports higher ISO's then the Canon. The ISO adjusts the camera's sensitivity to light (on film cameras it's the film speed). My answer to that is that the D70 does not support an ISO of 100 and the dRebel does. Personally, I would much rather have an ISO range of 100-1600 like the dRebel then an ISO range of 200-3200. The higher the ISO setting the more digital noise you're likely to get and an ISO of 3200 would seem to affect you're quality considerably. On the other hand, Canon's 100 ISO is perfect for bright sunny days.

I'm sure I missed some other complaints though I'm not sure what they are. To sum it up, this is a very easy camera to use even for a novice. The controls to adjust your camera settings and image quality are very easy to use and very intuitive. If you do understand photo editing are really want to shoot RAW images but don't want to have to manually set all the camera settings (aperture, shutter speed etc.), the P-AE mode only requires that you set the ISO which is very simple (keep it as low as light conditions allow while retaining a high shutter speed). My main complaint is lack of documentation for include software (particularly the File viewer App which is required for converting RAW images). Granted downloading the PDF's from Canon's web site is not a problem but it should not be necessary.

Overall, an excellent camera for its intended consumer. The camera has all the image quality that the pros have come to expect from Canon's digital SLR's. The auto focus is very fast and accurate (especially compare to compact point and shoot cameras). The shutter lag is virtually non existent so when you press the shutter release it pretty much instantly shoots so you won't miss the shot (again unlike the vast majority of compact P&S which seem to take forever from the time you depress the shutter from the time it actually goes. One quick piece of advise whether you get this camera or the Rebel XT. Get the 18-55mm lens. For the money this is an excellent wide a angle lens, and it is only available with the camera.

3 Canon Digital Rebel SLR
The Canon Digital Rebel SLR is no doubt, still the best digital SLR on the market for those who want both the combination of quality at an affordable cost. Since my purchase of the camera nearly a year ago I have found it to be quite a splendid camera, the 6.3 Mega pixel image sensor delivers great resolution with vivid, accurate colours. The lens which comes with most of the rebel packages (Canon EF 18-55mm lens) also delivers surprisingly good captures (don't be fooled just because of the cheap price of the lens sold separately) The Interface of the Rebel is very simple to use and has features for both the new photographers and semi-professionals. Highly recommended.

P.S. I believe that it is advantageous to purchase the Rebel along with the EF 18-55mm lens as well as the 75-300mm zoom lens, both made by Canon.

4 It's good, I'm not, make my pictures beautiful!
I've had this camera for about 2 months now, but from the day I got it, I was off and taking some stunning pictures! Even with all the features, I find this camera to be easier to use than most DC's I've played with and have owned (see below for list). The size and price might be a bit much for some, but I really don't mind either. I have HP R507 as my "pocket camera", but I always find excuses to take the canon with me every where I go!

Picture quality: EXCELLENT. I'm a novice photographer, but with the benefit of this being digital, it's helping me learn a lot about photography that I didn't have the patience to wait for developing the film. With the digital rebel, I don't have to wait to see how my "experimental" shots come out. I've taken some cool over exposure shots of traffic at night, and it was VERY easy to do! Other pictures I've taken come out as good as (if not better than) my Canon 35mm Rebel 2000. I don't foresee needing/wanting to enlarge my pictures more than 8x10, and with the canon 80-200mm zoom (which becomes 128-320mm on the digital rebel wich 1.6x factor), I should be able to accomplish pretty much any shots I'd ever want.

Features: EXCELLENT (still camera only). I don't believe in Video feature in DC's to be something useful, at least not until MPEG4 or other higher compression becomes more widely used. Right now, you can only cram 20 minutes of 320x240 video into 256MB card (less if you go 640x480), so to me, that's not useful. If you want to take videos, you really should get a video camera. I especially like that digital rebel goes to ISO 1600 which makes taking night shots much easier!

Battery life: EXCELLENT. As a test, I took enough pictures to fill a 512MB CF card, about 150 pictures, mostly with flash, some without. Battery was still barely 1/2 down. Included fast charger is a nice touch, it has an LED indicator to let you known that the battery is 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and fully charged. So in a pinch you could charge just till 1/2 charged (15-30 minutes charge time) and then keep shooting. But I don't think I'll be taking more than 150 pictures in a day, so I'm opting to not get the backup battery.

Cost: EXCELLENT (for me). "It's soooo choice! If you have the means, I'd highly recommend you get one of those" - Ferris Bueller. For some, the price maybe a bit of a shock. Personally, I don't believe in paying more than $200 for digital point and shoot cameras not when you can buy a nice 35mm SLR for $250. But for a digital SLR, $799 I paid after MIR was worth it!

Film cameras I've owned: Couple of 110's, late 70's Ricoh 35mm - which I've forgotten how to use, Canon 35mm Powershot Waterproof, Canon point and shoot 35mm, Kodak APS point and shoot, Canon Rebel 2000 35mm.

Digital cameras I own: HP 318, HP R507 - good backup for Digital Rebel!

Digital cameras I have experiences with: Kodak 3.1MP, HP 635

5 A Real Pleasure
I've had my Digital Rebel EOS for over a year now and I couldn't be happier with its performance. I've added a battery grip, which provides heft and vertical picture taking functions, and the camera feels like a pro. I've also added a Canon 100-400mm USM lense that provides great close ups.

I've used the camera on everything from weddings to wildlife to portraiture to product photos and am extremely happy with the results. Wonderfully clear pictures.

To get optimum color, brightness and contrast for prints, however, you will need to use photo-enhancing software to take the place of corrections normally done by development labs for film photos.

If I were to make a digital purchase today, however, I would probably opt for the Rebel Digital XT model which increases the resolution to 8MB and provides some updated light metering technology.

Highly recommended!

6 Excellent Camera - Buy it Now!
This is my third digital camera I have owned (previous cameras: Canon Powershot S100 and Canon Powershot G1). I have used the Digital Rebel for over a year now and have had excellent results. In addition, with the introduction of the Canon D20 and now the Rebel XT, the original Digital Rebel has fallen in price and thus making this camera even a better deal. I would recommend you buy the body only and get a good quality Canon lens (i.e. 17-40L or the 28-135 IS) as a starter.

Some people have said the Nikon D70 is a better camera to go with. My friend has one and I have used it on some occasions - and I do agree it is a good camera, but the Canon is superior in that fact that Canon offers a better range and quality of lenses than Nikon.

For a sample of photos taken with the Digital Rebel take a look at my site:

http://www.picturetrail.com/bircher

Scroll down to the Oahu, Hawaii 2004 and the Wild West Road Trip 2004 albums. All photos were taken with the Digital Rebel and with the 18-55 and 28-135 IS lens (I have upgraded and now have the 17-40L).

Buy the Digital Rebel and you will not be disappointed!

7 Superb Picture Quality
This camera contines to amaze me with its crytal clear photos - even when enlarged to 8 X 10.

8 Even beginners will enjoy
I consider myself an aggressive beginner digital photographer. Maybe I'm up to mid-level by now since this is my fourth digital camera, but since I don't use any of the manual controls and dont know a white balance from an f-stop, Im far from a pro user.

With that said, man I have taken some pretty good shots with this camera! I love it. I carry it with me just about everywhere I go. I look pretty nerdy carrying this camera bag around with me all the time, but you never know when you will need it and I am trying to make up for not taking very many pictures the first half of my life. Ive had this camera for about a year, and Ive taken at least 2,000 pictures with it. It's great, i enjoy it, thank you Sharlette for getting it for me!

If you have any kind of photo software on your computer, the Digital Rebel will work with it. If you have some advanced software like Photoshop and iPhoto, it will sing! Most of the photos, I simply import into iPhoto and from there, I can print to the Epson Stylus Photo 960 and get great results. The 6.3 MP Digital Rebel takes such GREAT BIG pictures, that you can blow them up a little and not lose any detail. You probably won't need to blow them up though because they are so big to start with. At 100%, they are bigger than the largest computer screens.

The difference in this and a smaller 4.0 MP camera (like my Canon S-40) is that you don't have to be so close to the subject to get a good picture. From across a room, you can take a good shot, then zoom in when you crop. It leaves a lot of room to zoom.

I use a 256MB Compact Flash card and the camera shows to hold 71 shots at full resolution, though you may be able to get a couple more than that out of it. So, if you get a 1GB card, it should easily hold a couple of hundred shots. I would recommend an additional battery, a bag, and if you are really industrious, a larger lens. I have a 30-200 (I think) and it only cost about $150.

About the only thing I had trouble with, is that you cannot hold it out in front of you at arms length and see your subject on the monitor before you take your shot like you do with smaller digital cameras. It is because this is an SLR camera and you have to hold it up close and look thru the lens. Dont buy this camera if this is a concern. It does have a color monitor, but that is for reviewing the pictures after you have taken them and configuring the camera only. Im used to it now and its not a big deal.

9 Underwhelmed-buy the Nikon D70 instead
I purchased the EOS 300 Digital "Rebel" mostly because of my positive experience with a Canon A80 digital. I absolutely love the A80 and Canon quality and customer service is first rate and wanted to upgrade resolution, FPS, and shooting flexibility. I was disappointed that even though I experienced a slight improvement in picture resolution, i found the EOS 300 Rebel just underwhelming in terms of design, function and ease of use. It felt heavy and awkward, and didn't seem a significant improvement over the A80. I also had a problem with the lens(an upgrade from the lens kit). The auto focus servo malfunctioned, only worked in one direction and the camera could not focus at all in low light. I returned the EOS camera and lens and bought the Nikon D70 and 18-70 lens kit, the other option for serious prosumer gear. WOW, what a difference and what a beautiful camera! Amazing image/color quality, fast auto focus, with low-light beam assist. The metering is dead-on precise, i can even get an accurate exposure with 30 second shutter speeds! Changing film speed, white balance, apeture, shutter speed is one touch controlled with dials at thumb and forefinger. The menu works like windows with very easy to access and use. The lens is a wider focal range and better quality than the Rebel kit. The D70 feels great in the hand: solid, lighweight with natural ergonomics. It was intelligently designed by people who use cameras, know digital photography, and not just an adaptation from an older model film camera. Spend the extra few $'s for the D70, and especially now with the $200 rebate on the camera and lens kit.

10 Amazing Digital Camera
Being a long time loyal Canan userI was happily on my third Canon digital point and shoot camera when my dear husband presented me with this Canon Digital Rebel for Christmas. I am absolutely in love with this camera. I have not picked up my old SLR film camera once since discovering that I can do so much more with this Canon. Perfect for the amateur photographer or mom and the kids, this camera allows the freedom to choose how much automation you want. Takes fabulous pictures and a snap to use. This really is the best of both worlds.

11 Improved my pictures 100%
Giving the number of stellar reviews this camera has received, I guess the Digital Rebel can do no wrong.

I switched from a Canon Powershot G2, a camera with which I took over 14,000 pictures. I loved my G2 but it had seen way too much action. Plus, I wanted the luxury of interchangable lenses. My wife had a normal film Rebel SLR, so for sake of compatibility, I figured I'd stick with Canon again.

One Digital Rebel and $2000 in lenses later, I'm happy to say that I'm very pleased. The quality over your average Point & Shoot cameras is significant. The Rebel opened a whole new door for me when it came to post-processing. I found myself encouranged to use Photoshop, putting some spin on otherwise poor photographs. Yes, the Rebel does have a significant learning curve, especially if you move away from the Point and Shoot settings. I had to learn nomenclature and settings, but figured it out eventually. The manual was fairly helpful in this regard.

If you are worried about moving from a PnS camera system to the Prosumer side, don't be. The Rebel does have those PnS settings. The only thing you'll be sacrificing is Movie Mode, as the mirror occludes the sensor. Well...you might be sacrificing some cash as you discover the multitude of EF and EF-S lenses that Canon has to offer.

If you do purchase the kit with the 18-55mm EF-S lens, be prepared to exchange it for something else. For the record, I purchased three lenses with this camera - a 17-40mm 4.0/L for outdoor photography, a 50mm 1.4f lens for indoor portrait work, and a 75-300mm USM IS for aircraft and wildlife photography. Just like the camera, each of those lenses has served me well.

12 Yup,...one more good review.
I haven't owned a camera since 1989 or 99. And it was a polaroid.
Hey... don't smirk.... it took instant pictures of.... "what-ever".

One day, I loaned it to a friend. (big mistake!)
Her "spoiled brat" kids broke it....and she never offered to replaced it.
(yea... I need more crappy friends like this in my life ).

The next day, as I was driving to a wedding... I stopped at a Store 24
and bought a disposible camera. Somehow....purchasing disposale camera's for special events became the "norm" for me.
(But, I still missed my Polaroid's instant gratification).

When I got married in 91, my husband brought his huge, heavy, Canon T70 SLR.
I was terrified to use it.
I thought for sure I would break it .... (just like my girlfriends rotten kids broke my camera).
When my new hubby saw my apprehension... he shrugged and said
to me......"just point and shoot".
So, I did.
I was amazed at the clarity of the lens and how easy it was to focus.
(i was instantly hooked).
I ran around the house and yard... and shot the entire roll of film.

When we got the film back (about a week later), I saw that I had taken several really lousy shots....but 70% of the pictures (I took) came out really good!!!! I was very impressed by the picture clarity and colors of an SLR.
(But, I still missed the instant gratification of my old polaroid).

Two years later....
My husband and I became "Master Gardeners".
(Some people call us...Tree hugging, bug kissing, nuts).

I heard about a contest that "Ortho" and "WalMart" were sponsoring.
It was called : "THE BEST GARDEN IN AMERICA".

I grabed my husbands Canon SLR (film) camera and his camera books .
and I studied them. Then I took about 200 pictures of our garden.
And after a couple of days, I picked up the pictures..... choose the best picture and entered it in the contest.
A lot of work....but it paid off.
Yup!.... We won best garden in the North East!!!

Since then, my husband and I have taken about a trillion pictures of our garden.
10% are awful !!!, 20% are lousy!! .... 30% good!....and 40% fantastic!

This January I sat down and looked at all our garden pictures.
I always do this in the dead of winter .....cause the beauty of the flowers always makes me smile.
But this winter.....I didn't smile!
All I thought about was:...
"Wow, I probably spent well over a thousand dollars in developing fee's for all the yucky pictures!"
I have a dual G5, over 10,000.00 in software and hardware ....and I just bought (in my opinion) One of the best small buisness printers anyone can own. (It's the Canon I9900 printer).
Then I asked myself....
"Why don't I own a digital camera"?!?!

After (literally) weeks of research on the web and reading consumer reports and going to large camera stores to ask a million questions......
I finally decided on the Canon Rebel.

All I can say is.....WOW !!!!!!!!
This camera combined with this printer ..... is nothing less than amazing!
(Not to mention the instant gratification I felt, after seeing pictures instantly appearing on the LCD screen)

I am astonished that a complete novice (me) can put this camera in AF mode and take 95% Fantastic pictures!
And it's great that I can simply delete lousy pictures.

I can't wait to read about how to use "manual focus"!
I bet my pictures will blow the cardboard off my album covers!
I Hope this (long winded) review helps all you other novice people out there.
[...]

13 Great Camera for the Price
If you are a photographer looking for a low priced SLR camera that takes quality pictures, this camera is for you. Its fast, easy to use, and an extremely long batterry life. I bought this camera 3 weeks ago and already shot about 500 pics with it. The quality is great!!! The best thing about the camera is the ability to take action shots. I had some of my friends jump and the camera was able to focus on them and shot pictures while they were in the air and the pictures came out great. Macro shots were perfect, with or with out the flash, I could not be happier, all the pictures were sharp and in focus. I wanted to edit some of the pictures I took with photoshop, but even the photoshop told me the pictures were perfect and did not need to be edited.

There are a few problems with the camera and most of them can be solved with a few accessories. One of the biggest problems is pictures shot indoor are underexposed, the built in flash is not powerfull enough. But all I had to do was buy a flash (420EX works great) and the problem is solved. Second problem is that the camera is very selective as far as lenses. I have a Rebel2000 with a Sigma 200mm lens and the lens did not work with my new camera. (I kept getting ERR99 on the screen) So I guess I have to buy a new lens for it. Camera is also have a plastic body, but i guess for the price its ok. (If you want a metal body get Canon 20D and pay $500 more)

Overall the camera has some minor problems with it, but for the price I am willing to live with it. (if want them fixed either buy Canon 20D or get some accessories) Personally changing from G5 to Rebel was great. This is my first digital SLR and I am very happy. Canon did a very good job with it.

14 Semi-Professional Camera at great price
I was lucky enough to score one of these of a friend. It was but two months old and was as new.

It is easy to use as a point and shoot, but also gives you all the capabilities to take your time over a shot and really take a truely beautiful picture.

Canon products seem to have an extra quality to them that makes them robust and intuitive to use.

15 Almost idiot proof
I had an Olympus digital camera for several years but it started to frustrate me. The two HUGE advantages the Canon has is that 1 -- there is NO shutter delay that makes you miss the shot: the shot is taken as soon as you press the button and 2 -- you can buy high quality lenses that make the camera even more amazing. Let me say I'm not a pro photographer or anything, but I figured out how to use all the features of this camera within a day or so. It's very intuitive and fun. Don't be afraid to step up from your non SLR camera. Besides, you can still "point and shoot" in automatic modes, but it's awesome to be able to control just the aperature or just the shutter speed. The pictures this camera takes are incredible!!! I have to admit I've gotten gadget fever. I'll make some recommendations based on my two weeks with the camera.
1 -- buy a 1GB or bigger compact flash card with fast download speed. At big megastores they are very much discounted. Also, don't forget to REFORMAT the card every time you put it back -- my old cards always got "corrupted" and the way to avoid that is to reformat every time (just takes 2 seconds -- use the "format card" option on the camera menu).
2 -- buy an external flash. You'll notice that the internal flash tends to overexpose yoru subjects -- I bought the Canon 420 (or something like that) and it's amazing. My pics are TWICE as good
3 -- I'd recommend NOT buying the kit lens and putting that money towards the exact Canon EF lens you'll need. I bought one zoom and one prime lens and the quality is 10 times better. Plus, a 1000 camera deserves high quality lenses.
4 -- don't forget the crop factor when you buy lenses! It's hard to find this out on your own, but because of where the sensor is on Digital SLRS, you have to multiply the focal length of the lens by 1.6. So, a 35 mm lens if you put it on this camera is equivalent to a 55mm lens, and so on. Plus, if you have other non-digital cameras, be sure to be EF lenses only, not EF S which only fit on digital cameras.

My only complaint (and this is nitpicking) on this camera is that I wish the finish were tougher looking and not quite so plasticky. I like the Nikon cameras and upper level canon camera materials, but I understand that this is how Canon can sell a camera which is optically as good as the 10D for a lot less. On the plus side, it's nice and light.
These are my thoughts after the first few weeks -- I LOVE the camera overall and now that I have two great lens, my pics look almost professional, not bad for a mom who doesn't know much about photography.

16 Lenses and download speed
The reviews below pretty much say it all. This is a high quality camera at a very reasonable price. A few points to note from my experience.

Lenses
I had a film EOS so I thought I did not need the kit lense and did not buy it. Lenses for film cameras do work with the digital kiss but there are two problems. Due to the size difference between the digital sensor and a 35mm film, the stated focal length of the film lens becomes about 1.4 longer when used with the digital camera. I.e. a 28 mm film lens becomes a 40mm lens when used on the digital Kiss. This means that I lack a wide angle lens for use with the digital. Secondly, while humans can accomodate for the fact that what it says on the lens is not the correct focal length, when using with a canon flash (I have a 380EX) the lens communicates its focal length to the flash gun based on the numbers on the lens not on the adjusted focal length. This means that the flash gun inturn adjusts its flash dispersion width to meet the incorrect focal length and so the exposures is out. One can adjust the exposure manually but the size of the adjustment does not seem to be consistent over the range for my "28" to "70" Canon zoom. So be wary when hoping to use your film EOS eqipment on your digital EOS camera. Buy the kit lens.

Download Speed
A lot of people point out that the camera is a little to download. However it only costs a about 30 dollars (or less?) for a USB 2.0 adapter for the compact flash. I never download directly from the camera. I just change the compact flash and download from that. Using this method, download times are as fast as any other camera, or as fast as the media will allow.

Pixels
While 6.3 is a lot for any amature use. If you want to sell your photos then it is about the minimum. If you plan to turn pro then get the next version up if you can afford it.

17 Great Camera-Buy Sigma Lens
As I wrote in my review of the Canon s60, I planned to purchase the digital rebel...Well, I did and the camera is all that other reviewers say it is....super easy to use, superb photos, decent price considering the competition...The fact that I am shooting through the lens and seeing what I am capturing is well worth the extra money for an SLR.
The main reason that I am posting this review (which really seems redundant to most of the other reviews of this camera) is to recommend two additional accessory purchases which I found invaluable:

(1) The Sigma 55-200 lens specifically made for digital SLR.s. I bought this lens at B&H for $139. It is very sharp, very light and compact and gives me a total shooting range (combined with the Canon included lens) of 18-200, taking me to over 300 in the 35mm format equivalent.

(2) The Pelican 1400 Case: also at B&H for about $61....The case protects the equipment far better than any case at anywhere near the price....It nicely holds the camera body with either the kit lens or the Sigma 55-200 attached...In addition it perfectly holds the lens that you are not using at the time, as well as the Canon external flash..I have the 420EX..This is about it...not a lot of wasted space..the case is now full and easy to toss in the compartment above my seat on the plane.. ..knowing my equipment is fully protected....The case also is easy to operate from when in my car.

18 Great SLR with only one feature I miss...
I have been using this camera for nearly a year now and have since purchased additional lens for it. It takes very sharp pictures and I don't feel like I am limited by the feature set in anyway except for lack of being able to shoot RAW in some of the user modes. The lens that it comes with is a good starter lens and takes good pictures but once you get addicted you might end up purchasing a Canon L and or Prime like I did. :) This camera is great for learning photography with because you get to see your results very quickly! This camera just takes great pictures and gives you all the control you need to get creative with exposure, focus, etc. The plastic body is relatively durable although I wouldn't want to drop it but then would you want to drop a metal body camera either?! Do not fear, even with a plastic body it has that solid SLR feel. All my hard copy prints from the online digital photo lab look very sharp. I even had a poster print done and it came out great. Many people claimed that 6 Megapixal camera is not enough to make a good poster print. After seeing the results I say hogwash. The poster print I got back from the online photolab(Ofoto in this case) was a better quality print than any poster print I have seen at the mall poster store. 8x10 prints are simply stunning. Take the time to go through the manual and learn all the features of the camera. I can not really comment on the software that comes with the camera because I never mess software that they bundle with cameras. I use a good card reader, Windows XP for my OS, Irfanview (which is free) for viewing and mild editing, and Photoshop(not so free) for any major editing. I found the Sandisk Ultra II Compact Flash cards work very well and are worth the extra dough for the faster performance. I wish I had RAW in all the user modes but I guess Canon had cripple something like this to convince people to shell out the extra dough for the higher end stuff. Happy picture taking!

19 Great DSLR with few drawbacks
This is a great camera. Before I purchased the Rebel, I had only used mid range point and shoot cameras, such as the PowerShot S410. I didn't know what I was missing until I used this camera.

My favorite thing about this camera is that you can quickly take shots with virtually no shutter lag. You push the shutter, and almost instantly you have your image.

I also love the ability to quickly and easily change lenses, as well add other accessories, such as external flash units.

The only thing that I don't like about this camera is the plastic body. Even though it is durable, I would prefer a metal body. However, in order for Canon to sell this camera at such a low price, they had to choose plastic. It is well made, nonetheless.

The included lens in the kit also feels very cheap. The included lens takes decent pictures, but I recommend that you upgrade. It provides decent results for a $100 dollar lens, however. You get what you pay for.

Aside from those minor flaws, this is a great camera that produces life like photos. I highly recommend this camera to anyone.

20 SLR Photography at its best
I have been using this camera for just about a month now and all i have is good comments on the camera. Every time i use it i learn something new, and come out with more interesting photos each time. I have been into my digital photography since the start. (Started with a Casio w/ no removable memory, no flash, or zoom) In the past i have prefered the Sony cameras, i went from the casio to the digital mavica with a floppy disk, then the cyber shot. Both of whiuch took wonderful photos, but were limited in their manual modes. I had been skeptical to the digital slr, but i got to use one and loved the control that was available. The 18-55mm lens that comes with it is ok, but if you want to do more sophisticated photos, then i would recomend stepping up to at least a 28-135mm lens. The write speed is fast with the Sandisk Ultra II 512 mb card (about 2 seconds) But the camera has a small internal memory and will allow you to take up to 5 shots sequentially before it writes to the card.

Overall very satisfied, and highly recommend

21 Great 35MM SLR upgrade
Pros:
Comes with battery and battery charger!
I was able to use an aftermarket Canon zoom lens on this camera that fit my old Canon 35MM SLR!
There is a popular BIOS upgrade on the net that will let you activate certian features found in the Canon 10D!

Cons:
Camera driver in Windows XP does not allow you to upload files.
After I made certain complicated shots in the advanced shot modes, the camera locked up with error codes. Turning it off and on fixed the problem though.
The lens that came with the camera has a cheap plastic mount. I am worried it will break with repeated lens switching.

22 Outstanding Camera!
Guys this is a great camera. My only suggestion is to buy the body only rather than the package with the lens. All Canon lens fit on it. So buy the one(s) you want rather than the less than top quality one they include in the package.

Great purchase that I use for work and play :-)
Amy

23 A no brainer !!! The perfect Camera
You have to get a $200 to $300 good quality digital camera, or buy this one!! We had 2 digital camera's (Sony, Canon), until I received this one as a gift. You don't understand the difference in quality until you compare the photos. The "idiot" mode is great. You do NOT have to be a photo hobbiest to use this camera. It came be used as point and click with great results. There are also manual mode if you want to start learning. The documentation is simple and makes using the other modes simple. I use the Auto "idiot" mode all the time.

The perfect Camera.

24 Great Value - Excellent rebates
As most reviews say, this is a great digital SLR. The 420EX flash makes a huge difference in photo quality. With the 28-135 and the 420ex flash unit the camera is very heavy and I cannot see lugging it to Disney, you would want a smalller digital camera for that.
[...]

25 An awesome camera!
I own a film rebel, so looking at the digital rebel was a natural choice to take advantage of my collection of lenses and accesories. I have used the camera for about a month now, and it's simply great!

It is similar to the film Rebel in many respects, as far as picture taking modes, and many creative adjustments. It just has more controls for the digital-specific aspects of photography. If you are comfortable using a film SLR, you will know how to use this camera right away.

Also, unlike cheaper digital cameras, you have virtually no shutter lag or waiting between shots. (Yes, the camera does need time to store the photos to the CF card, but it can buffer up four and wait for a pause to store them, and for my amatuer shooting, I never notice this delay.)

I have not seen any red-eye defects in pictures when using the pop up flash with this camera. I believe it pops up higher than my old film rebel, and higher than most cameras, so this is a big plus.

There is only one thing I can fault this camera on. Transfering the pictures to a computer is very slow because it only has a USB 1.1 port. So you might want to plan on getting a USB 2.0 CF card reader for your computer.

I'm having a lot of fun with this camera!

26 As all the others say, YOU WILL BE HAPPY WITH IT
well , i did not want to buy a digital SLR since ia m not a professional photoghrapher and use only automatic modes . Some sellers were pushing me towards the REBEL and i let them win. Adn i have it for 5 moths and i am very happy with it .

This is fast , and all the pics are simply good with it . I have Canon G5 and some othere cameras but whenever i take photos i take only this . Since i have it , i only use this one.

Not small but it worth it .I can catch the moments . I like to shoot faces , and i shoot when i shoot. No more closed eyes .

ANd to be honest i was hesitating to get an 8MP point and shoot digital , but i am more happy with this . I got an eytra longer lense to it with image stablizator and that is even more fun. I feel like i am professional photographer , though i am not .

I think if you wanna spend this much money this is the best choice. THough i also like my Vanon Powershot G5.

27 AWESOME!
Having stupidly broken my PowerShot G5, I decided I would take a step up to a digital SLR, just wasn't sure who I would buy from (Canon or Nikon). Decided on the Digital Rebel, with a Sigma zoom and telephoto lens. Even though I only received last night, I am very pleased with it already. I can only imagine the shots I will get and look forward to learning everything that this camera can do. Only one little minor thing I didn't like when I pulled it out of the box and that was a sound like something was loose, turned out to be the flash but this is not a big deal (other than trying to figure out how to turn the flash off LOL). Anyway, being an very limited digital user it seems a great camera for a beginner, but at the same time I can see that it can benefit an experienced photographer at the same time. Glad I decided to go with the Digital Rebel and getting some wonderful shots!!

28 NOT RECOMMENDED FOR WINDOWS 98 USERS
I bought this camera with great expectations, only to find out that downloading pictures is cumbersome and slow.

I have several other digital cameras. When I hook them up to my computer, camera's flash card appears as the E: drive in the windows explorer. This makes file manipulation easy, fast and transparent.

With Digital Rebel, one has to go through the TWAIN driver which is cumbersome and slow. I called 1-800-OK-CANON. Tech support person told me that this problem exists for Windows 98 SE, and earlier operating systems. Canon does not intend to develop a fix because most of their customers use Windows Millenium or XP.

Using the camera I also found out the lens that came with the camera allows only 3X zoom which is inadequate for a substantial number of applications. I have to buy another lens if I keep this camera. I wish I had spent the few extra bucks and had bought the Nikon D2.

29 for amateurs and pros alike!
I couldn't be more pleased with my Canon Digital Rebel. I purchased it along with the 28-135mm image stabilized USM lens and the 50mm 1.4 USM lens. I have found that the 28-135 is a real workhorse for Arizona scenics. Not especially fast, but it does the job in 95% of my applications. If you have ever used any of the Canon EOS or T90 SLR cameras, you will quickly figure out the controls on the Rebel. It shoots either JPG or uncompressed RAW images, and I have found that the RAW format is easy to utilize with the File Viewer Utility (FVU) software provided. I basically download to FVU, adjust exposure or white balance if necessary, create a TIFF file and do any final adjustments on the TIFF images with the Photoshop Elements 2.0 software that was also included in the package.

I recommend acquiring a cable release for longer exposures and also getting the reasonably priced 420EX E-TTL flash, which makes indoor shots a snap. In five minutes you are up and running. The camera is remarkably easy on the supplied battery, since I have run a couple hundred pictures and the associated downloads without it breaking a sweat on one charge. This camera is aimed at the reasonably skilled amateur who wants 16" x 20" blow-ups he can be proud to hang on his wall. Now, if I could only afford some of those "L" lenses....!

30 Great entry level digital SLR for the masses
I got this camera about a month ago. I have two other digitals that are great cameras but are so slowwwwwwww you just can't shoot action with them very effectively. This camera, for the price point, is a good deal. For those used to film SLRs you won't feel like a fish out of water and if you've already got canon EF lenses they should all work perfectly with this camera body (it can also take the newer EFS lenses). Because of the SLR like shutter system and TTL focusing this camera lacks some of the functions available on traditional point and shoot digitals--there is no preview mode, no movie mode, no digital zoom and no panorama/stitch mode; keep your old point and shoot (or buy one) for those functions. This camera is fast! The responsiveness is nearly up to a film camera (I should know I've shot with film cameras for years). This camera offers 2.5 fps (in full quality mode) or 4 fps (in lower quality mode) continuous shooting--no point and shoot that I know of can match that--this is truly a low end professional digital slr body. The 17-55mm lens that comes with it is great for nearby shots such as at parties or when your subject is no more than 20 feet away. I suggest two other lenses for this camera that you won't want to be without. The Canon 28-135 IS USM III zoom and the 75-300 USM zoom (also available with IS if you want to spend the extra money). IS is a wonderful invention and gives you clear handheld shots at some amazingly slow shutter speeds (IS is a gyroscopic system in the lens that accounts for camera shake during the shot--really amazing what it can do). The 28-135 lense is widely considered the best "walk around" lense for just about anything. The IS system does suck batteries so I'd suggest you get a couple of extra batteries right away (ebay has the best price for them). If you can't afford a 20D this is the next best thing. The Rebel is really a striped down 10D, so if you're waffling between this and the 10D--I've heard the differences aren't really worth the extra money. The other big purchase you want with this camera is a 550EX or 580EX speedlight. The Rebel lacks IR focus assist but if you have one of these speedlights the camera can use the IR assist on the flash unit!!!!! I use my rebel to shoot Karate demos, lots of fast action, usually indoors. I think the 20D would be a better choice for this (because of the bigger buffers while writing to the CF card) but the Rebel can hold its own fairly well if you think out your shots a bit more. I'm really happy with this camera and I'd recommend it to anyone that wants to move up to a digital slr but doesn't want to spend ten grand doing it. The camera has a few foibles and professionals might complain that some of the pre programmed modes are far too limited--but that's because it's cheap--the 20D will be more satifying if you've got the money for it. Canon's running a pretty fantastic rebate until mid January, if you buy a Rebel and two lenses you get about $300 back just on the camera and around 50 bucks for each lens. Yep I spent about $1600.00 on the camera and two lenses but that's quite a deal for all I got. I recommend this if you don't have the money for a 20D, if you do, or are close to having it, wait and get the 20D.

31 The competition is better
I returned the one I bought. The D70 takes better pictures and the new Pentax *IstDS blows it out of the water in size, build quality and mostly in superior photo quality. The 300D is faster and better than a point and shoot, but the photos have much more of a fake/processed look than the *IstDS.

32 Great deal: Good price, excellent features
The EOS Rebel digital gives very good features for a very low price comapared to other similar cameras.

If you're used to shoot with a traditional manual SLR you wont feel the difference.
But if you're used to shoot with a digital camera with an LCD viewfinder you may feel unconfortable with the tiny 3/4" viewfinder eyepice.

Pictures are very clean even in low light conditions.

The built in flash like in many digital cameras isn't really good.

Is possible to take pictures without compact flash card connecting directly to a PC with the USB cable (a little bit short)

The box comes with Adobe Elements 2.0 and another Canon useful software for managing images.

33 Superlative camera
I am a semi-pro photographer and have used high-end Canon film cameras for years. I bought the Digital Rebel about four months ago and have been absolutely delighted with it. One of the most amazing things about it is the number of shots on a battery charge (Li-ion) with the flash. I use two 512 MB Compact Flash cards and I can fill one of them up in a session on a single charge and can start on the second flash card.

One proviso: The 18-55mm lens that comes with the kit is excellent--it is light and versatile. However, most of my shooting is done with the Canon 28-70mm 'L' lens which is a professional, high quality, very fast lens with incredible resolution. This lens is also much heavier and the large lens barrel partially blocks the little pop-up flash.

I have set up my film cameras on a tripod and side by side, shot Velvia film using the same lenses and subject, along with the Digital Rebel. While the saturation of the digital images is not as pronounced as with Velvia film, the detail is quite similar. Very few editors could spot which image was Velvia, except for the color saturation. Otherwise quality is comparable.

For demanding pro work, photographers will probably want more than the 6.3 MP of the Rebel. For me, it is absolute heaven. My marketable shots are heavily composed and lit. Getting instant feedback, even on the small monitor is just heaven.

I see no drawbacks for the Digital Rebel. If you are a casual snap shooter, or more advanced, prepare to be wowed.

One additional note: I made a great shot--good enough for a poster--so I had Kinko's make a 2' x 3' poster from this shot. The poster was only 200% of the original and there was absolutely no discernable pixelation. Simply incredible!

I am a tough judge of photographic equipment, but Canon got nearly all of this camera right. The sensor, metering, auto white balance,bracketing,lack of shutter lag, auto power shut-off are so consumer friendly and common sense right out of the box, I was bowled over. The more sophisticated controls are available too, when I want them.

This is one tremendous product. My biggest complaint is the interface is USB 1.0 and downloading to a computer is slow. Zoom Browser Ex, a supplied software that comes with it is adequate, but there are better programs out there.

Ron Gollobin/New England

34 The best entry level DSLR? It could be better.
I just bought and used this camera for about three weeks (without the kit lens since I have several other Canon lenes already, which are better than the kit lens in terms of image quality). Canon recently throws a lot of rebates on this model (up to $300 rebate if you buy two other Canon lenses). This is an incredible deal. Is this the best entry level DSLR? My answer is "probably yes, but with some reservation on its features". Marketed as an entry level DSLR, it is reasonable to expect some tradeoff due to cost cutting. But some of Canon's design decisions are puzzling at best, which compromises its quality and functionality, without reducing overall cost (in other words, it could be done better without incurring additional cost). Here is my exprience.

On the up side:

The camera feels solid with the right weight. Originally I though it may feel flimsy and overly light since it is made of plastic (the feeling you get of Canon Rebel film camera), but as soon as I took that out of the package, I started to like its weight (not too heavy as you feel for metal-bodied SLR, not too light). Of course, it is still heavier (with lens attached) than consumer grade digital cameras.

The camera's operation is much like other Canon SLRs. It has same lens mount (EF mount) as all other modern Canon SLRs which also means you can use all your Canon EF lens (or other third party lenses which conform to EF standard, I use a Tamron lens on this camera without problem). It can also use new EF-S mount lens which is what the kit lens uses. But since EF-S lens is relatively new and can be only used on this camera (and D20 which newly comes out), be aware of Canon's commitment to this lens format in the long term and prepare to throw away EF-S lenses after several years. The controls on the back side of the camera is different than most Canon's consumer grade digital cameras and film SLRs. So if you come from these worlds, there is something to learn, but not too much though.

Image quality is superb. Not only it has 6Mpixel resolution, but the overall noise level of image is very low. At ISO 100, image is silk smooth. At ISO 800, noise is visible but pretty controlled. At ISO 1600, noise is much bigger, but still usable, especially you use some noise reduction tools to post processing such image. It surely beats ALL consumer and prosumer level digital cameras on the noise front. And the reason is it uses large CMOS sensor, much bigger than smaller CCD sensor used in consumer digital cameras. So if you are looking at low light performance, you have to use a DSLR like Canon digital rebel. Of course, the image quality of a DSLR also depends on what lens you use. Most of Canon's lenses should deliver better results than most consumer digital cameras.

The builtin flash pops up high, which is good. Unlike the flash on film rebel, which pops up low and its light may be obstructed by some large lenses, this flash should work well for most lenses. However, see my comments below, it does have some shortcomings.

Focusing is adequate as you can expect from a SLR. The seven point auto focus sometimes does the wrong focusing, and you can select focus point to overcome this. It is not superb, but not bad either.

Now comes the down side:

Compact flash write speed is quite slow. Even use a high speed CF card (I use Lexar 80X), it still appears slow and not utilizes the full potential of these fast CF cards. When you shoot 4 photos at once, you have to wait the camera buffer to be emptied to CF to continue. This takes somewhere from 10 seconds to 20 seconds depending on your CF card.

No LCD display of image you are trying to shoot. Almost all consumer digital cameras allow you view objects in the LCD screen. You have to look closely though the small viewfinder window to track objects. This is a very convenient feature to have so I am wondering why Canon does not do this if it is targeting non-professional photographers.

There is no flash compensation. Again you can find this feature on many Canon's consumer level digital cameras. Another disappointment.

Metering is odd. You have to use the standard evaluative mode most of the times without any other choices. I'd like to see different metering modes available under all shooting modes. Occasionally, I feel some images are underexposed.

Downloading images to your computer is absolutely painfully slow. It uses a USB 1.1 interface - why not USB 2.0 or firewire? The download speed feels slower than the old Canon G2 I have. If you shoot a full 2GB of images, expect several hours of downloading.

Why a seperate battery charger? Old Canon G2 has builtin battery charger so you don't need to pull out the bettary to charge. Moving battery in and out every time it runs out is a hassel.

So overall, I think it is a great camera, but if Canon can do more to fix/enhance these issues, that would make this camera an absolute hit. Also at this price range (I paid $750 before rebate) it is the lowest priced DSLR on the market.

35 Oustanding value
I purchased my Digital Rebel several months ago, and I am very pleased with the performance. Picture quality is the best I have seen from a digital camera. Colors are accurate, resolution is excellent.

The only real drawback is the camera (as equipped) does not work well in low light settings. I suggest purchasing the Canon 50mm f1.8 lens for approx $70 for indoor use without flash.

Also, I recommend a Canon telephoto with "image stabiliztion". As far as I can tell, only Canon has this technology available for the average user. It works exceptionally well - especially if taking pictures of moving subjects. I have used mine at several airshows, and can follow an object flying across the airfield at 300-500 MPH - yet still get perfect photos.

There are several good options in digital SLR cameras, but considering the lens technology, Canon is the best choice for me.

36 the best SLR digital
The Cannon rebel digital Slr is the best! I searched all over the net and found nothing that compared to the price of this camera.I have a Rebel film SLR and a Cannon digital Video mini DV Z65. So yes I am loyal to Cannon because they make great products.

37 An affordable entry level digital SLR for the masses
I've been "getting along" with a canon powershot G2 and a HP photosmart 850 digital cameras for several years. By and large those are both good digitals but they have the common problem of being "slooooowwwww" between shots, just not really fit for fast action. The Rebel can take 2.5 frames per second in full quality mode and 4 frames per second if you drop the quality down one notch (to about 4 megapixels instead of the full 6+).

I've been waiting for a digital SLR to come into the affordable range and Canon has finally done that with the Rebel. For about the same price as something like a G6, the Rebel offers quick performance and interchangeable lenses. The Rebel can use any genuine canon EF lens made in the last several years. (Non-canon EF compatible lenses are a gamble on newer bodies due to command set differences in the firmware of the camera and the lenses--no third party has licensed the Canon EF mount, they're all reverse-engineered.) (Yes it shares the same lens mount as the film version of the Rebel.) The digital Rebel can also use the newer Canon EFS lenses (I don't really understand the difference but they're somehow superior to the older EF lenses). The Rebel includes both a built-in flash and a hotshoe that accepts Canon EX speedlights or compatibles. I've shot about 250 pictures with my Rebel, it's fast (really fast compared to my other digitals)and so far competent although I have to comment that my 380EX flash doesn't seem to be exposing far shots properly in shutter priority mode--this may be one of those incompatibility things because it's an older flash unit (but it works perfectly on my G2). The Rebel offers a fair amount of exposure control and a full manual mode as well as manual focusing if you so desire. I like the viewfinder a lot, it's sharp enough for correct manual focusing--even in somewhat low light. I also like the way the AF points are mapped out and will briefly illuminate so you know where the camera is focusing (you can choose AF points with a button available under your right thumb). Also inside the viewfinder you get shutter and aperature info at the bottom.

There are several pre-programmed modes for portrait, landscape, depth of field mode, and sports mode. I haven't really had much chance to try these out yet. The only slight disappointment is that the Rebel doesn't have separate exposure controls for the flash (my G2 has this). I think this just might not be available on the Rebel as the firmware seems to have accounted for this setting (i.e. it might be available on the more expensive EOS bodies). Some common controls are set with buttons while others are on menus. There is a dual readout on the back. A black and white screen shows things like shooting mode, pictures remaining on the card, flash mode etc. While the generously sized LCD directly below it is used for accessing camera setup menus and playing back pictures. The Rebel does have a after-shot display mode but it's not really useful because you have your face up to the camera to use the optical viewfinder--just turn it off to save battery power. Interestingly, unlike my G2, the camera is not useless while your last shot is being displayed, it can do two things at once and pressing the shutter button cancels the aftershot image display.

The Rebel is not like point and shoot digitals in that it lacks a few functions that you may have become attached to: there is no panorama (stitch mode) function, no preview (because of the SLR like shutter system on the Rebel a preview mode is impossible), and no digital zoom (since you can't have a preview mode digital zoom just won't work because there is no electronic viewfinder either). The Rebel line uses a CMOS digital sensor as opposed to the CCD sensor used in most cameras. The Canon CMOS sensors are supposedly much superior to the CCD even at higher ISO (lower light) settings and there have been reports of acceptable prints even at iso 1600.

If you purchase a Rebel I would suggest that you also buy the 75-300mm EF to give yourself a good selection of focal lengths for a variety of shooting needs. Until January 2005, Canon is running a fairly good rebate. If you buy a Rebel body (no extra rebate if you get this kit) and a second EF lens the rebate will be over $200.00. I bought this kit and the 75-300MM EF and pre- registered the rebate online (using the UPC barcodes), my rebate will be $220.00 (even though the coupon seems to say $230.00 but it may be a slightly different model lens).

Overall, so far I like this camera. As someone used to a decent Pentax film SLR it is missing a few functions that I wish were there but for a Digital SLR with replaceable lenses at this price point it has it all over any point and shoot digital available at the same price.

38 don't forget the lenses
while the kit lens is great i highly recommend buying some higher quality lenses once you start to get used to using an SLR (Single Lens Reflex). don't forget that one of the biggest advantages of this moving to SLRs is being able to take the picture you want, even if it means taking 3 minutes to set it up. a point and shoot digital SLR can still take better pictures.

the images that come off of this camera are mind blowing, you can print up to 16x20, with careful post processing.

The photographer is more important then the equipment. But this camera can make you a much better photographer

39 A camera worthy of attention!
I bought this camera several months ago. I love the features and I love the pictures the camera takes. It has various settings and it is easy to use. However, the flash is lacking! The built in flash does not spread enough light on the subject matter.

40 All you should ever need
This is all the camera a high amatuer should ever need. 6.3 Megapixels allows for exremely large prints at photoshops. The functions of this camera allow you to adjust and manipulate pictures just as you can with film.

We all recognize that Digipics used to lack some quality but now we cannot say that. The effects, ease of use, and quality make it so much better of a bargain. Not to mention the cost savings of not needing to get film developed.

The fact that with this camera you can change lens' is a plus. There are more than 200 differing lens' that you can buy. I've purchased a dual battery pack that gives you all weekend of heavy shooting with no need to recharge. 870 bucks is about tops of what one should pay for one.

I would say I've taken about 1/2 of pictures in the last 6 months of digi photography than I have in my lifetime up to this point.

This is more of a higher class of camera. This takes brilliant pictures but if you are just going to use it to take snapshots, you're wasting time. Just go out and buy a $120 dollar camera.

Buy one and be happy.

41 Dont put one control on the camera when 8 will do.
This camera is worse than a VCR. I think the guys at Canon stayed awake at night trying to figure out where to add another control. Quite frankly, I don't like the camera, yet. Maybe it will grow on me. In automatic mode it takes good pictures occationally. About half of the shots are under exposed especially if the subject has light colored clothes on or against a light background. It does ok on panaramics. The flash pops up in bright sun light and goes off sometimes. Sometimes it pops up but does not go off. Figure that out. I have not yet figured out how to get the thing to use a fast shutter speed even at asa 1600. I guess the lens is just too slow. Some of the shutter speeds that it selects on automatic mode are as slow as 1/4 sec. I no longer even consider automatic mode except when taking shots of panaramics. Some of the inside shots are way under exposed even with the flash poping. That has got to be hard to do. I wonder how they managed that.

I sure wish Miranda was still in business.

42 Super fast AF
I upgraded from a G5 to the Drebel and am very happy. There is virtually no shutter lag as you would experience with a P&S camera and I love having a manual zoom on the lens. The camera is actually easier to use than my G5. The only reservation I had was the size compared to the smaller P&S and I am happy to say that after a week or so the larger size has not been problematic. In fact, it adds a good deal of shot stability when shooting at slower speeds. It is very nice to be able to change lenses for different situations. There is a great Dreb 300D forum site at D.P. preview.com where members posts pictures and give tips. Check out the quality of the photos taken by amateurs and judge for yourself.

43 I love this camera.
Great camera. Excellent picture quality, ability to use filters and lense from Canon and others. I am very happy with this camera.

44 An expensive point and shoot
My wife uses this camera as part of a photo class, and I must say I'm happy we didn't spend our own money on it. Lag time between shots can be a few seconds and you find yourself stabbing the shutter release desperately before the shot evaporates. It's also very loud, the mirror slaps up with a decidedly plastic "THUNK", so not the best for quiet situations. We have taken good shots with it, it's true, but we've missed many that we shouldn't have. Make sure to select your focus point manually, the automatic mode is absolutely horrible and will miss 8 out of ten shots.

Compared to my Nikon D100, this is an annoyance to use. If you already have a collection of Canon lenses, proceed only if you really can't afford a better Canon. If you don't intend to buy different lenses, I would recommend a good point and shoot over the Rebel. If you do anticipate using different focal lengths than the kit provides, I would go for the Nikon D70 or D100.

45 Rebel EOS, A GREAT digital camera, if just a bit expensive.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

For everyone from the novice point and shoot type photographer interested in getting a picture of their daughters first birthday, to the professional photographer working weddings; This camera can do it all, and does it all very very well.

GOOD USAGE POINTS:

-General Digital points-
First, if you're a true amateur and you never really know how your pictures are going to come out, the screen in back is large enough (and fast enough) that you can see (within reason) how your image came out. Thus you can decide if you need to retake your picture.

If you're an amateur artist, that is you are looking to get just the right shot of the water dripping off an icicle, then the screen helps you the same way, rather than waiting till you get images back from the lab, or develop them your self you can download them to your computer or laptop and check them out right away, and if you're not the purist, you can even edit them =)

-Rebel Specific Points-

I used a Rebel EOS before getting my hands on a digital Rebel EOS, and I'll tell you besides not needing to load film, the experience taking pictures is exactly the same. The only differences are bonus' (i.e. being able to see your image right away)

THE PIXLES are so high that you will have no problems getting large prints, and being digital images, you can sign up with a company like Ofoto.com and get your prints made into calendars, or even photo books (which I'm going to make full use of this Christmas)

MEMORY is entirely in your hands, unlike some cameras which contain their memory on board, this loads memory sticks in the side. I have a ? gig stick, and took 80 photos on there once, though I also took 50 photos on there once maxing it out. But if you have another stick... you can always pop that one in there and keep on shooting, and these sticks are much easier to carry around than real film.
-side note about memory sticks... they are very sturdy... a group at MIT I believe wanted to see how tough these things really were, tried things from the soft, like dropping one on the floor, to the rather morbid, like nailing one to a tree.... All but a few survived (including the one nailed to a tree.... No joke... they could hardly kill these things) So don't feel like you need to baby your memory sticks, they are pretty tough... (though I'm unsure how memory sticks react to metal detectors incase you're a photographer who travels a lot)

IT IS QUITE FAST! As I said before the experience taking a photo with this camera was the same as with my film loaded EOS. Unlike many digital cameras I've been photographed with where the user pushes a button and a good 3 seconds later it flashes and takes a picture, the Rebel snaps to attention and BAM! Takes your picture directly on command no delays.

CONTOLS, again just like the old EOS, and like poker, can be picked up by the complete novice but can take a lifetime to master. The automatic setting allows the user to simply point and shot, the camera will take the best most clear image possible. Even some of the extra settings could be fun for the novice. Yet the manual settings allow for the professional to experiment to the fullest extent of their talent.

COMPATIBILITY, it's fully compatible with rebel lenses, flashes and equipment of the Rebel EOS era. Just like all other Canon gear.

DRAWBACK POINTS:

I feel the viewfinder could be extended back a bit, you kind of press your face against the screen to take a picture which was fine when it was just the film door, but now if it's hot or your face is otherwise dirty you're always wiping the screen off... not a huge deal but it's something I can put up as a negative...

Then there is the expense, it is rather expensive.

It is also fairly big, it's a good 10-15% bigger and heavier than my film loaded EOS.

It's computer related.... Which means it's likely it will be outclassed in maybe 3 years... maybe video capability, sound capturing, size reduction.... Who knows what will come next.

CONCLUSION: It's a great camera for any type of user, and it produces quality images in a format you can do a lot more than just get prints with. It's compatible with EOS compatible equipment. It's fast, accurate, and just an all around excellent camera. The only issue is it's price, I do admit that at 1k this camera is a bit expensive for what is just an amazing camera after all...

Little side story, I took my Digital Rebel out with me for an early morning canoe ride trying to catch the sunrise... I came in with 8 keepers and a new background for my laptop. How many film loaded cameras can do that?? =)

46 Awesome Camera
Having played with numerous digital cameras in the work place I came to the conclusion I wanted a digital that would compare with my 35mm cameras. I've been using the digital rebel for aproximately 6 months and haven't touched the 35mm in the last 5 months. I would recommend though that you get an extra battery if you plan on using for a couple of days without the ability to recharge the battery. Also reveiwing the pictures taken uses up the battery faster than taking pictures.

This camera works well in both light and dark situations. I have not tried it in extreme cold yet, but it works get inside of burning buildings. The shuuter button is easy to find even with gloves on. With a 512mb card set to the highest resolution you still get approximately 77 pictures. For the serious amatuer I recommend at least a 512mb card and an extra battery.

47 Great performance...Great price...who cares about the cosmet
First of all this is a great performing camera. I got mine for a volleyball tournament and it was so fast. It capture action shots easily without that annoying delay time that happens with lower MP digital cameras. My photos came out SHARP...you really can see a difference between the superior quality taken with this camera compared to my film SLR (using the same lenses). I bought the Sandisk Ultra II 512Mb compact flash and use high resolution on the camera and had plenty of available shots to take. Plus with the option for deleting the pictures that you don't want, you can't go wrong. I also like the option of having the LCD screen off during shooting that way it saved on the battery...which lasted all day on a single charge!

My only complaint was that b/c I was using the camera in the sun for two days during the tournament the paint where you grip the camera blistered then peeled. It got everywhere. I'm also concerned about the plastic cover for the connection ports for downloading. It seems a bit flimsy. But for the price of the camera (and the amazing quality of photos it produced) I'm okay with these cuts on the cosmetics end.

Buy this camera. You'll be happy with its results.

48 Very Disappointed
I am a 35 mm Rebel user and thought that I was ready to make the jump to SLR digital. The price of the Rebel digital was also great incentive. I have also had a ton of fun with my mother's Nikon D100. I was hoping that the picture quality of the Rebel would be comparable to the Nikon without the cost.

I purchased the Rebel Digital a couple of weeks ago and it is already in the shop - re: back to back pictures of the same subject /same distance using on camera flash and also 420 EX flash resulted in very different exposures. First very light, next very dark, etc etc.

Made no sense to me at first or to the guy at the camera shop. I was first sent home with the directions to wait longer in between shots to allow the flash more time to 're-energize'. This didn't sit well with me but I tried it - still no cure. After taking it back the second time they sent it to the shop. The camera guy took 2 of his own photos back to back and WOW I am not an idiot after all and away the camera went to Canon. Haven't heard back yet.

After e-mailing Canon myself this is what they had to say:

Please remember that metering is linked to the active AF point. If you
focus (meter) on a very light area of the subject, the camera will
expose for that area. As a result, darker areas of the same subject may
appear underexposed. Using the camera's AE Lock (or FE Lock, for flash
images) function should improve your results. Alternatively, you can
meter on a more moderately toned area of the image.

Anyway, after kicking myself in the butt, I went back to the camera shop and requested a new camera body as I am not comfortable with having a camera less than a week and having it in the shop already. So they agreed and gave me another. Much to my surprise this one did the same thing (not as bad though). The guy told me that I needed the 10D his reasons were not quite clear. My guess is a combination of speed and exposure setting differences as well as autofocus ability? (If anyone cares check out the 9 point autofocus of the new 20D - Very Impressive!)

Bottom line if you are not a SLR user you may not even notice these slight but to me very irritating differences in exposure so spend the money and have fun. For me, I am going to save for the 20D and hope for much better luck!!!!!

Besides sometimes newbies, amateurs, even professionals just want to point and shoot and this camera just doesn't cut it. You decide if this is something that you want to deal with or not.

Thanks for the time and good luck.

49 Canon versus Nikon
I spent a lot of time debating between this camera and the Nikon D70, which cost slightly more, but had a lot more features, a faster user interface, and better manual controls. After weighing the pros and cons, I came down on the side of the Canon rebel for one major reason: image quality. Here are the things I liked and disliked about the Canon rebel:

WHAT I LIKED:

1. Color. Color is very important to me; it greatly affects how a photo "feels", and the Canon's photos almost always come out with a pleasant color, whereas the Nikon D70's photos occasionally had weird blue or yellow tints. Of course, both cameras let you adjust the white balance, but for $900-$1000, I want reasonably good automatic settings so I don't have to manually override them much. The Canon does a great job of this, and the Nikon is merely adequate.

2. JPEG quality. The Canon's JPEG highest compression setting preserves fine details very well, and is almost as good as a RAW file, at a fraction of the size. In contrast, the D70 photos have a "flat" look even at the best JPEG settings. This is only noticeable when enlarging and cropping, so for many purposes it won't matter. But I happen to like photographing birds and animals, and they are often too far away so I have to crop - then the flatness shows up. You can get around this problem by shooting RAW files, but these are gigantic (5-10MB) and are time-consuming to download and convert.

3. ISO 100. The Canon has a minimum ISO of 100, which produces silky-smooth images that approach noise-free photographic perfection. This contrasts with the slightly noisier (though still good) images from the Nikon D70, whose minimum ISO is 200.

4. Image stabilized lenses. Canon has tons of these, Nikon only a few. I can't afford them right now, but someday I will.

Because photographic quality was my top criteria, it was a no-brainer to choose the Canon, as all the advantages I listed above improve photo quality. But there are some downsides to this camera:

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THE DIGITAL REBEL:

1. Poor compatibility with Sigma lenses. Canon's autofocus system is complex and proprietary. When Canon "improves" their system, third-party lenses sometimes stop working. Sigma has many lenses that are optically great, and cheaper than Canon's, but need chip upgrades when newer Canon bodies come out. Without upgrades their lenses may not even focus or adjust aperture. If you buy a lot of third party lenses, you run the risk of them being crippled by Canon "improvements". This does not happen as much with Nikon, and is a compelling reason NOT to buy into the Canon SLR system.

2. Slow, awkward user interface. The Canon rebel feels much slower to use than the Nikon D70. The Nikon D70 turns on INSTANTLY, whereas the rebel takes 2-3 seconds. The Canon scrolls VERY slowly through pictures, even when using fast memroy cards, whereas the Nikon scrolls very rapidly. The Canon's 4-way buttons are recessed too far, making them hard to use by touch. By contrast, the Nikon's buttons are so ergonomic that you can use them "blind", i.e. without taking your eyes away from the viewfinder.

3. Battery life. For me, the Canon's battery lasts about one day of heavy shooting. By contrast, I can go for many days, without having to recharge the D70's battery.

So there you have it. The Canon rebel excels at producing great pictures with minimum hassle, whereas it falls short in ergonomic and user-interface issues. The Nikon was a joy when taking pictures, but more frustrating when viewing the final result. The Canon gave me the opposite feeling: it frustrated me while I was using it, but it was pure pleasure to see the final results.

50 deceptive cousin!
I remember some 30 years (+/- 1978) ago when I purchased The Canon AE-1 wich was the first quality SLR to reach the mass and it sold more than 6 millions units around the world! Soon after, the competition came. And now that I have this baby it really feels the same! My cousin bought the very good Nikon D70 the same day (he is a Nikon fan and I am a Canon's...). We compared the two models and we found these things:
1)The Nikon has a lot more options for the advanced photographer.
2) The Nikon feels a little bit more sturdy than the Canon even tough they both are made with plastic on a metal layer.
3) The Nikon is a little bit less noisy than the Canon.
4) The Canon fits well in the hands.
5) The Canon is +/- $500 less expansive than the Nikon.
6) and.... the canon has definitely a better image quality than the Nikon wich has a very annoying greenish tints.

What is a good camera about? The brand name or the image quality?

My cousin will bring back the camera to the store because he choosed the second option.....

51 It's all about image quality
As an engineer, I put my faith in controlled scientific experiments and objective data. In all the reviews that I've seen on the web with similar images from the Rebel and other cameras, in my eyes the Rebel wins. But you don't have to believe me, because numbers aren't subjective. On dpreview.com there is a comparison of SNR noise levels from the Rebel versus the Sony DSC-F828 at various ISO levels, and Rebel stomps the Sony. It makes sense: because of its larger sensor, the rebel gathers more light per pixel and thus has higher SNR. The noise level of the Rebel at ISO 1600 was less than that of the F828 at ISO 200. On DigitalCameraInfo.com there are very technical reviews of both cameras. They used an ISO resolution chart and Imatest software to measure the true effective resolution of the camera. The Rebel came up with 5.65 megapixels, while the F828 with it's higher resolution sensor could only muster 5.43 meapixels. Bottom line is that if you know what you are doing, you will be able to capture better images with the EOS-300D than with the DSC-F828. If you want to be able to grab excellent shots without a lot of fiddling and mental exercise, the Sony is for you.

52 could be better
Definitely it is an excellent camera but I sincerely recommend even more the Nikon's CCD than Canon's CMOS sensor. CCD It gives you better contrast, lower noise at long exposures (more than 20") but an important cost difference. This Digital Rebel is the ideal camera if you feel the need to begin into the digital reflex world. You should try to replace the lense (18-55) for a more generous MTF dotted one to get better results.

53 Consider 10d body, buy quality cf cards
Finally upgraded from the trusty EOS1000. Every cent is worth it. Instead of learning about your mistakes 2 weeks later, you see them straight away and correct them, all while using your trusted prime and zoom lenses.

Gripes:
Silver body scratches easily, 10D body (despite extra weight) is much better to hold / operate and should last longer. CANON - Why make this awesome camera Silver?? The black Asian version so much nicer!!!!

Bought a cheap 256mb card and it's cr@p. Takes ages to write, even effecting review times. Buy a Sandisk or similiar 512mb+ I recomend.

Last Gripe (often an advantage though) - 1.6x magnification. The supplied lense is fantastic, but wide angle lenses are expensive due to the conversion factor of 1.6x. Standard 18-55mm becomes a 28-90mm.

But apart from that, the Rebel (EOS 300d) is excellent. Battery life is excellent, photos great, ergonomics much better than any other digital camera under $1000.

54 Nothing But Headaches
I have owned my Rebel for less than a year (since October 2003) and it has given me nothing but headaches. The shutter failed within 6 months (which I had to send out for repair) and now the autofocus has failed as well. I use this camera for shooting weddings and I hate it. The low light focus stinks and anything higher than 400 ISO is noisier than sin. Never again will I buy another Canon camera. Once this thing is fixed, it goes up for autcion on EBay. Buyer beware!

55 Great Camera....High End Fun.
I purchased this camera about 6 months ago, it's a great camera and I haven't had 1 problem with it. I bought a few accessories..EX420 Flash, Canon 75-300 lens (there least expensive one, USM & IS wasn't an issue for me)
lt's fast in auto focus. Purchased the battery grip also. Camera looks good, the grip helps with vert. shots and you have a slot for a second battery. Bought after market battery for $9.99 instead of $49.99 for OEM (look @ EBAY for batteries). If you purchase this camera you'll be very satisfied!

56 C'mon, join the revolution... it'll feel real good!
I have been intrigued by this camera since its release. My old camera is a Canon PowerShot S30 (3.2MP). I wanted to buy an SLR to advance my photography skills and capabilities. When this beauty came along bearing a price tag under $1,000 and received prestigious acclaim I knew I wanted one. But I decided to delay for a few months, waiting to see what competition would arise, and how quickly the price would drop. That competition presented itself as the Nikon D70. Ultimately, I decided to get the D-Rebel because the price-to-quality ratio is exceptional; the ~$300+ more for the Nikon doesn't seem justifiable for what I think are negligible factors. Besides, my PowerShot has served me well and I'm used to the Canon system.

I've played with mine in the field for two days. Last weekend was my introduction day and I made a lot of mistakes -- camera shake, off-focus, underexposure. Today I went back to the same spots [in similar weather] and received much better results by using my tripod, setting the exposure compensation to +1/3 (most of the time) and sometimes forcing a longer shutter than 'auto' suggested. My photos went from dull to incredible with a few easy adjustments. If your photos come out poorly always exhaust the manual solutions before blaming faulty camera construction.

If you're moving up from a [Canon] SLR, many of the characteristics of the D-Rebel will be familiar. If, on the other hand, you're used to a P&S like myself some things will be awkward. For example, using the viewfinder instead of the LCD monitor to compose shots; using the Main Dial and LCD panel to implement settings; and manual focusing. My PowerShot allows manual tweaking, but it is usually easier to let the processor handle certain functions. The SLR is different -- it invites you to play.

I have read complaints about the camera's construction. Indeed, it is an all-plastic body, whereas the D-Rebel's big brother, the 10D, is magnesium alloy. But I think this will be an insignificant point for most people; the plastic body is sturdy enough to handle a day's work. It has a nice firm rubber grip on the right side. A friend has an EOS Elan 7 (n or ne) and the weight is approximately the same.

I also know some people don't like the fact that the D-Rebel uses the flash as an AF-assist lamp -- particularly because once the flash pops it will take a flash exposure. But the solution is simple enough: push the flash back down. The camera automatically re-evaluates the shutter speed, maintains focus and takes the shot. You will need to have it on a tripod for the shot to be successful, though.

After a lot of reading and searching for components to make up a great system, I ended up buying: Rebel with 18-55mm lens; EF 55-200mm II USM lens; 1 Gb Sandisk Ultra II CompactFlash; 420EX Speedlite flash; Sto-fen Omni-Bounce diffuser (for 420EX); Tiffen 58mm Deluxe Enhancing Filter Kit; Samsonite Worldproof 3.2 Download SLR bag; Tamrac Small Lens Case. (I wrote a review for the Samsonite bag. I think it's fantastic for carrying all my gear. I use the Tamrac bag when I want to travel light.)

Here's a stupid mistake I made that I'd like to enlighten others to, so that they may avoid doing the same. When I first tested the camera most of my shots were indoors and required the flash. In many of those shots I noticed a black blob. I thought maybe my flash was defective. The manual says there are certain conditions where the flash may be obstructed. My solution was simple enough: two of my fingers were in the way. With my PowerShot, I had become used to lifting my ring and pinky fingers away from the flash and lens so they would be out of the way... now doing it put them in the way of the flash. Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one.

Here are two things I feel quite fortunate to have learned (i.e., stumbled upon), as I did not read this in any review.
(1) When using a [Canon] digital SLR you need a "Type II" lens. Lenses have always induced aberrations of light, which would create 'ghosts' and other weird things. But 35mm film is produced with a coating that prevents them. When you use a D-SLR, however, that coating is not on your sensor, so those light artifacts appear again. So Canon created the "Type II" lens, where the aforementioned coating is on the glass. The only problem is that there are only a handful of these lenses at this point. Unfortunately, this dramatically weakens Canon's claim that you can use "over 50 lenses" on your D-Rebel. While technically true, you probably wouldn't like the results. (Popular Photography magazine ran an article about this, which is on their site.)
(2) Don't fall for tricky CompactFlash advertising. I bought several Viking Components CF cards for my PowerShot. They always worked well and I almost bought a big one for my D-Rebel. Then I considered the Lexar "40x" because they have a good reputation. "40x" sounds good, eh? The Sandisk Ultra II works at 60x! At the Large-Fine setting, this will save you one-third second of write-time. That is big when you think about action photography. The Sandisk card can write 3 images when the Lexar can only do 2. The Vikings are worse; they can't even write one image/second!

I am exceptionally pleased with my purchase -- not with just the D-Rebel, but the whole system. It pays to do your research and decide what's right for you. Personally, I think I put together an excellent 'amateur SLR' package that will allow me to grow and explore for a long time. Hopefully you will feel the same with a D-Rebel over your shoulder.

57 Absolutely Amazing!
I've owned 3 previous digital camera's, all of them EVF "Electronic View Finder" models. My previous camera, a Nikon 5000 took admirable pictures, but nothing and I mean nothing compared to what this little baby puts out!

The autofocus is superb, the 4 frame image buffer really comes in handy when taking those quick action shots, plus you just can't beat the feel of a SLR.

Printing from an old HP 952C an 8x10 shot comes out looking exactly like a studio portrait. You already know all the reasons to pic this up, sub $1000 price range, compatible with all of your EF lenses, the sheer joy of taking great photos. Pick this little baby up, you will not be disappointed with this camera.

58 Digital SLRs change how you think about photography
I have had this camera (with kit lens) for several months now, but within hours I realised it would totally change the way I think about photography.

This camera is my first Digital SLR, prior to which I interchanged between small digital cameras and 35mm film Canon SLRs.

The first time I used the Digital Rebele was at a swim meet and I took literally hundreds of shots over the weekend (including using the great 4fps continual shooting feature), whereas with a film camera I would ration my use due to the cost of film and development.

With a 256 or 512mb card in the camera and a USB (hi speed) card reader attached to my laptop, it was easy to dump off the shots for later sorting, deletion, editing, uploading to Ofoto to get prints etc.

Next up is the ease of changing film speed, brilliant but simple, as one minute I can be outdoors in bright sunlight, the next inside under dim fluorescent bulbs with flash photography banned, so changing ISO speed on the fly is amazing.

Finally, whilst the kits lens is well worthwhile, it is the 1.6x magnifier effect of a Digital SLR that is a positive for me, as my old 28-90 EF lens is now effectively a 45-145 lens, which is ideal for outdoor sporting events... and if I need real telephoto, the 80-210 works a charm :)

The camera and kit is about $900, but you will save that back in reduced film costs very quickly. Also buy a large memory card, USB card reader, and choose your long term storage method (I chose an extra 120gb hard drive in my desktop for backup).

Time to move to a Digital SLR, people !

59 Broken after 2 days of shooting
Camera would mysteriously stop working for periods of 15 minutes. Pictures taken were grainy when shot with green or sport. On review of the photos, I found the built in algorithms refused to shoot the camera faster than f5; instead the ISO was always shifted to 400 and 800.(don't they have confidence in their lens?) Also noted a powerful tendency to underexpose; even a balanced subject illumination did not seem to prevent this problem. Auto exposure button is hard to use. Best part is camera's simplicity, SLR, and light weight. But my canon A80 photos are better by every measure. Too bad; bottom line of a camera is output. A simple, cheaper rangefinder easily beats it.

60 Buggy software
In addition to the kit lens, I bought a Canon 50mm f/1.8 macro lens. The third or fourth time I attached it to my camera, it stopped working and displayed the message 'Err 99'. Checking my manual, Err 99 is described as "other error. Please contact tech support".

Doing so, they revealed to me that this error message is "usually a result of attaching a non-Canon lens." Nevermind the fact that my lens was a Canon lens. The error is debilitating; my camera is fully non-functional and I'm going to have to pay to send it in for repair. The maddening thing is that the error is in the software. The camera operates perfectly fine for the most part; auto-focusing, selecting the aperature and shutter speed are just fine, it's only after it takes a picture and it tries to process it that the error pops up.

Nominally a great camera at a great price, but it looks like they haven't developed very good software for it yet. Even when I get it fixed, do I dare attach my alternate lens again? Do I even want to own a camera where the mere act of attaching a lens can cripple it? Either my lens is junk or my camera is junk. wtf?

Even more fun is the fact that I bought this camera shortly before moving overseas, and Canon has informed me that my warranty is only good in the country I purchased the camera in. So I have to wait until I head home in 3 months to get my camera fixed, which will be just after I finish my travels to the many corners of the world I bought the camera to photograph. This fills me with an inchoate rage that I do not feel words can suitably express.

BOTTOM LINE

This error does not seem to be common, so you can weigh your chances.

Otherwise, this camera is beautiful. Part of my rage is due to the fact that I covet it so, and to have it torn from my grasp is like losing a lover!

61 Great Camera! Especially for those starting with Digital SLR
I purchased this camera back in april from amazon. So far, i love it. It takes extremely clear pictures and most of the time i don't even have to edit the levels or contrast in Photoshop. I am very satisfied with this camera!! I have a Sandisk 256mb Compact Flash card w/ it. It is a bit slow when veiwing the pictures, but it works just fine when shooting. I did order a 512 Ultra II Sandisk card back in april (from amazon,) but i recently had to cancel the order because it said i wasn't going to recieve it until July. I bought the 256 to hold me over until i recieved the 512 but i guess i have to look somewhere else for a 512 now, since i won't be getting one from amazon.

I highly recommened this camera, and a 256mb Flash Card works great (i think i get a little over 80 pics in reg mode,) but i am still planning on purchasing a 512, but not from amazon. That is my only negative advice, don't purchase your flash card from here, because they kept delying the delivery date until i finally had to cancel. Originally it said the item was in stock and then it said it wasn't, etc. It was just a pain. Otherwise, i don't think you will be dissapointed with this camera, especially if don't have much experience like myself!

62 Don't have one? What are you waiting for ?!?!
This is an excellent value, especially if you already have a set of EF lenses, in which case it's a "no-brainer." 6.3MP means that 8x10's taken with this camera are indistinguishable from film when printed. The 10D was already a bargain, this camera is $600 less with 99% of the features. Don't let the plastic exterior fool you, the interior frame is all metal, and just as durable as the 10D.

I've taken thousands of photos since getting this camera for Christmas, and it has done everything I've wanted it to do. As an old film SLR shooter, I'm happy to have an actual TTL viewfinder again.

This has been my biggest gripe with digital cameras with "Electronic View Finders"--having to deal with parallax, poor viewfinder image (manual focus becomes a guessing game), slow shutter response, etc. Have all kept me away from digital cameras. All of these are non-issues with the D. Rebel, it's just like using a film SLR, and at under $1000, what's not to like?

A camera is no better than its lens, so we come to the one "down side" of buying this camera: to make proper use of it, you must spend even more money on good optics. This is something to keep in mind when making a purchasing decision: you'll probably spend at least as much on optics as you did on the camera body.

I suspect many of the poor reviews from this camera are the result of using the kit EF-S 18-55 lens (or some other cheap, similarly poor-performing lens). There are probably worse lenses out there, but you'd have to search far and wide to find one. The camera performs way better than this lens does.

Still, The EF-S 18-55 that comes with the kit is worth holding on to. I would recommend keeping the kit lens in your bag for those occasions where you need a wide-angle lens, like group shots. Otherwise, keep it off your camera!

If you find yourself taking lots of wide-angle shots, you should seriously consider investing in a good wide-angle lens like the EF 17-40 f/4 L USM. Sell the kit 18-55 lens on Ebay--you'll get about $75-$100 for it--to help defray the cost.

An EF 50 f/1.8 USM is a must-have. For $70-$80, you get an excellent lens for portraits and indoor shooting. Don't let the cheap plastic construction fool you, this is one of the better 50mm lenses out there.

Remember that the camera has 1.6x cropping, so the 50mm lens produces the same image size as an 80mm lens on a 35mm film camera, which is a good focal length for portraits.

A good every-day lens is the EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, for about $450. A good second choice would be the EF 28-105 /f3.5-4.5 (NOT the f/4-5.6, which is junk, in my opinion), for about $250. You'll find yourself taking 60% to 80% of your pictures with this mid-range zoom lens, so don't skimp. You should really get the better quality 28-135 if you can manage it.

If you'll be taking lots of telephoto shots, the EF 70-200 f/4L USM is a bargain at about $550-one of the lowest-priced "L" lenses. If that's out of your price range, go with the EF 100-300 f/4.5-5.6 USM, for about $275, which is superior to any of the EF 75-300 f/4-5.6 offerings, unless you really need IS, which is not offered on the 100-300. Stay away from the EF 55-200 f/4.5-5.6 USM, it's no better than the kit lens, in my opinion.

Getting good images requires good optics, making the camera more expensive than the initial $999 purchase price. But the results are worth every penny spent.

63 Great Camera and Great Price
When looking at a camera like this, it can be unfair to compare it to a film SLR and say "hey, for this much money I can get a great film SLR camera". While that may be true, you will end up spending a considerable amount of money on film for a camera ($500+ per year easily if you take a lot of pictures), you won't know if a shot didn't come out correctly until you develop the film (a bit late for those once-in-a-lifetime moments), and there's no simple/free way of getting your film shots onto your computer to do touch-up or post processing work. So with a camera full of such great features like the Canon Digital Rebel, the ability to take more shots quicker, the ability to transfer images to your computer, and the ability to preview/review your shots right when you take them, you're really in full control. The camera is expensive (at least it is for me), but it was well worth the price. This camera is relatively beginner friendly (with some help from Canon documentation), but its real strength is the ability to let users grow in their photography skills and provide the level of creative freedom to take some great shots at any level of experience.

64 Highly Responsive and Easy to Use
After owning a Canon G1 and G2, and thinking about moving up to the G5 or new Powershot Pro1, I decided to switch gears and go with the SLR route and get this new Canon Rebel with lens kit.

My main gripe with the G1 & G2 was the slow startup time coupled with slow and poor autofocus, both of which are solved in this camera. Turn it on and start shooting - no more waiting for the little lens to extend and slow autofocus with this camera!

It actually looks bulkier than it feels in your hands, it feels very natual and comfortable to take pictures with.

And the picture quality from what I saw so far has been fantastic - very close to film quality, without the "video camera" look that happens sometimes with the G1 & G2.

I also really like the wide 28mm equivelent lens that comes with the kit, it seems like a very good starter lens. And the fact that I can mount my Speedlight 420EX flash on it to help out the built-in flash is really a plus.

From somebody who owns 3 other digital cameras (Canon A50, G1, G2), this is my favorite one by far - very highly recommended.

(Only thing I really miss is the lack of sound recording in movie mode - the camera has no microphone so you get video only)

65 A real Camera
After owning 6 different digital cameras including the Sony F717
It seems that this finally takes the place of my existing Eos 35mm.
Very impressive.

66 Fun Fun Fun
After a lengthy mental debate, I finally purchased this camera instead of the Canon 10D. What a great a choice. This camera is light, focuses really fast and the picture quality is supurb. I take most of my pics with a Canon 50mm 1.4 lense using one of manual-shoot settings in RAW format. I have not experienced any underexposures shooting indoor (even at night with only a few lights on). Highly recommended.

67 Unimaginably Good
This is an amazing camera. The quality of the pictures and the performance cannot be beat at this price or even for hundreds of dollars more. Other reviewers have gone to great length describing the many features and benefits of this camera, so I won't do so here. I just want to add my voice to the many saying that you *must* consider this camera if you are a serious, digital photographer.

68 Excellent Camera...not much RAW support
First off, I love this camera. Many reviewers have said all the stuff they like about it and I whole-heartedly agree with most of them. One thing I'd like to add is to note Canon's online digital learning center (photoworkshop) is a great resource for amateur photgraphers like me who are new to the digital world. There are over 20 great lessons to go through. You can access the site from Canon's main EOS webpage.

I have had a 35mm Canon Rebel SLR for several years now and have been very happy with it. I bought this camera primarily because I can use the EF lenses I purchased over the years for my 35mm Rebel with this camera as well. And I'm glad I did. This camera works well with my other lenses. The only thing that's kinda a bummer is there is a 1.6 multiplying factor on the lens's focal length, so my 35-80 functions like a 56-128 on the Digial Rebel. It's nice to have the extra zoom, but it can be difficult to get all the subjects into a shot that is composed a couple feet away. The standard lens that comes with this camera was designed to compensate for this, but given our cash flow I'm perfectly content without it...maybe someday we'll get a wide-angle lens. In the meanwhile I'm excited about the fact that my old telephoto lense now functions with a maximum focal length of 480!!

My only real complaint is that the only RAW support that comes with this camera is Canon's File Viewer Utility. The Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 cannot work with RAW files taken with this camera. Instead you would need the full Photoshop CS version to have that functionality and in order to buy Photoshop CS with this camera you would have to multiply your final cost by about a factor of 1.6. That's a bit pricey.

To further frustrate me, Adobe's Photoshop Album, which is a great little program, also doesn't recognize the Digital Rebel's RAW files. So either I have to take pictures in JPG mode or I have to individually convert all my RAW photos using Canon's utility, which is powerful, but clunky and slow.

But, if that's the only thing I really have to complain about, I must have a great camera...which I do. I highly recommend this camera. Maybe Elements 3.0 will work with the Digital Rebel's RAW files and then I'll have nothing to complain about.

69 Excellent - but wait a bit if you can
Yes, Canon was the first to make a digital SLR which is bordering on affordable, and yes, the product is very good (there are already plenty of good reviews as to what it can do; yes, it does a lot).

But good value for money? PLEASE. You gotta be joking. Take that thousand bucks and see what it will buy you in film SLR department. Exactly: for thousand dollars, you will be the King of the Hill, you will have something awesome - like Nikon N100.

The point I am trying to make that by buying this Canon today you are shelling out half of your money for its novelty value. Digital SLRs of the same class will be half the price in a year or 18 months, and you know it.

I am not campaigning against digital - yes, it is the technology to which we will all move one day, but now it is simply too expensive for the quality that it offers. Rememember how the first DVD players used to cost like a second-hand car? And how they're now - only a few years later - retailing for the price of, like, lunch for three at a pizza joint?

If you agree to pay a lot of money for novelty, this camera will not disappoint you. I will try to wait a little bit.

70 awesome.
Best camera ever. Battery life is superb. Macro shots are just beyond heaven. The lens are seem cheap, but they're actually quite worth the extra $100 because it's so wide (buying an additional lens with similar focal length would cost over 400 bucks).

The canon EF 28-135MM f/3.5-5.6 IS USM is a great overall lens for this camera.

Since I'm not allowed to post URL's go to google and search for "digital rebel tricks" hosted on www.bahneman.com for it has many tips.

71 Awsome Camera
I am sold on this camera! It is by far the best digital camera on the market for the price! Canon has put together a profesional quality digital camera for under 1000 dollars and this includes a great lense! Many of the complaints I have read about this camera are simply because the user doesn't know how to read his operating manuel. Gary stated he wanted more flexibility with this camera and that it took out of focus indoor photos. This is not true at all! The Rebel was designe to be very flexible and very automatic. It has a scroll bar that is at finger tip that allows you to adjust the apeture or shutter speed. It is fully manual or fully automatic. It allows you to swap lenses from other EOS cameras giving it even more flexability. Indoor shots are great if you know how to use the 7 focus points in the viewfinder. It is hard for me to shoot a bad shot. The download time from the camera to computer is slow, but I solved this with a 10 dollar memory card reader from Best Buy. It's great. Plug the memory card into the reader and attach it to any Windows XP USB port and it transfers even the large photos at a much faster speed. Then you don't have to worry about carrying around a cable. If your looking at spending around $1000 on a camera this is the one you need. Like all cameras you have to take time to get to know the camera, and understand some basic photographic principles.

72 An OK camera
If you are looking for a point and shoot camera this isn't it! If you are looking for a camera for outdoors this takes great pictures in good lighting. If you are taking pictures indoors expect a good number of your pictures to be blurred and out of focus. I even purchased the most powerful flash Canon sells and I still do not get good results. It appears the camera often sets exposure incorrectly by metering incorrectly but this is just a guess... In compairison a $200 point and shoot digital camera beat the pictures I took with the digital rebel. Perhaps if I could customize some of the settings more that would help but then if I have to set everything all the time then it sure isn't a point and shoot as the automatic mode, I found, doesn't do very well figuring out lighting.

73 It's the best for less than $1,000!!!
As with any digital camera on the market, there is no "perfect" price/perfomance ratio. The DRebel however at the time it was released was arguably a excellent camera for the cost! The pictures (if taken correctly) can be amazing. And the manual control of the camera gives you a lot of artistic freedom I have yet to see in other cameras. Even though all my friends are dissapointed that one cannot look at the LCD there's assurance in the viewfinder because what you see is really what you get. Oh, and that wide angle lens... wow! You have no clue what a difference that makes in a small room! This camera is a great value! The only problem I had is that after 18,000 shots in 90 days the auto-focus went out, something that could be easily repaired by Canon but since the store I bought it from has a 90-day return policy I opted to return the camera and buy a Canon 10D.

Some small annoyances I wish Canon will fix since Nikon is hot on their tail
- The slap of the mirror is in excess. Really. Trying to take pictures in a quiet room can be very unnerving.
- The Compact-Flash Read/Write borders on pitiful sometimes. Yeah I know the files are large but it really takes just too long.
- You learn easily that the 4 image buffer isn't enough if you photograph action.
- Uh, why on earth are the Aperature and LCD Light buttons about an inch away from my thumb? They need to be moved closer.
- When ISO or WB are adjusted it would be nice to have that information in the viewfinder- it's annoying having to hold the camera down to adjust these two paramaters (no real excuse about the ISO!)

I think that's about it. If you have NO investment in lenses I may suggest a Nikon D70 if you can afford it, should you think you will become a serious photographer. If you have any Canon EF lenses the D-Rebel is a great choice, especially if you cannot afford a 10D or a new investment in Nikon and the D70. If you barely have the cash for a D-Rebel buy the D-Rebel. Or if you want to be a casual user.

I would buy a D70, however bought an extra 28-200mm Tamron Canon Lens so I will end up purchasing a Canon 10D. :)

Hope any of this helps!

74 Great camera, but difficult to use pc interface
I would have given the camera 5 stars but for the fact that I have found it difficult to extract the photos from the camera. I have a $150 digital Olympus that is So Easy to get the photos onto my pc from.
Both of my PCs (one Win2k, the other WinXP) gave me different problems with the Rebel. With the latter, I cannot thus far get the photos off. The PC recognises the camera (after all software installed, rebooted etc) but show nothing when I dbl-click into it.

75 If You're A Canon 35mm Fan, Time To Make The Move To Digital
I bought a Canon 35mm Rebel SLR 8 years ago and loved it so much, I eventually bought two more Canon film cameras over the years, including lots of lenses and goodies. But a couple of years ago, I wanted to make the switch to digital. The Canon digital SLRs were out of my price range ($3K to start), so I purchased a Powershot G2 digital point and shoot, which I loved, but my lenses sat unused in my closet.

Well, I fret no more as Canon came out with the much more affordable Digital Rebel for under $1,000 and I finally took the plunge. A great decision. Now I can use my lenses. I have a 50mm 1.8 (word of advice - if you don't have it yet, get this lens - the best $80 you'll spend on your hobby), 28-135mm Image stabilizer and a 75-300mm zoom along with the 18-55mm kit lens that came with the Digital Rebel. This along with the 380EX flash that I have had for 5+ years give me the arsenal to take good shots in most conditions. You can set ISO to 800 or 1600 to get clear indoor shots or sports action, and the noise associated with these settings is much more acceptable to me than the 400 ISO setting provided on my G2. And as far as portraits go, combine the 50mm lens with the flash and I've taken some of the best face shots in my life.

Also making me happy is that Rebel takes the same battery as the G2, so I use my G2 battery plus the Rebel battery along with the two extras I bought), meaning I should never run out of power (what helps with battery life is that unlike the G2, you can't use the display monitor to frame the picture, you must use the viewfinder). Plus the camera takes Compact Flash cards, again like the G2, so I don't have to spend on new memory.

If I have a gripe, is that some pictures come out a tad underexposed even with the flash, but this is generally remedied in image software. And I miss the movie mode in the G2, but certainly can live with it.

After 4 months, all is well with the Rebel and I can't wait to upgrade in the future.

76 Canon Digital Rebel_Excellent Camera
I've owned two different Digital Rebel bodies, both the 18-55 and the 55-200mm lenses. In my view, the D300 is the camera for anyone's entry into DSLR based photography. The images generated by this camera and either of the afore mentioned lenses are simply amazing. When proper effort is put into learning the functionality and capability of this piece of equipment, you can expect images that are the equal of any 6 megapixtel camera on the market. The lenses are not the equal of the top of the line canon glass, nor are they intended to be. They are entry level lenses that will allow you to get a feel for DSLR photography without investing thousands of dollars. A top of the line Canon lens on the D300 and on the higher end D10 generates images that are indistinguishable from one other. I know this because I have both cameras, some of canon's finer lenses, and I've tested. The D300 is an exceptional value and the addition of the $100 18-55mm lens is unbeatable by any manufacturer.

77 Fantastic pictures that equal or exceed film
This is our second digital camera. We shot about 10,000 pictures with a Nikon CoolPix 950 in the couple of years before getting the Digital Rebel.

This camera does several things for you.

The noise is extremely low. If you have sufficient light to shoot ISO-100 then the results are marvelous. Even at ISO-400 the results are better than that of our previous camera.

Because the noise is so low in dim light you can push the ISO too 400 or 800 and still take really good pictures. Even at ISO-1600 the results are very acceptable. My biggest gripe with the Nikon was the low sensitivity. I would line up a good shot but the camera wanted to set the shutter to something like 1/2 second making it impossible to get a good picture without a tripod.

The camera operates very quickly. The total time for sensing light, auto-focus and shutter operation is a fraction of a second. Combined with the low noise of the sensor this means you can take pictures that would have been missed otherwise.

Battery life is very good. You can take something like 400 pictures (without flash) on one charge. You'll run out of storage before running out of battery life.

The auto white balance is sometimes not perfect in various indoor lighting situations. However, the manual white balance works beautifully. Just shoot a pure white piece of paper as a reference then all subsequent pictures come out perfect.

My one complaint is that the interface is only USB. It should have been Firewire. It is a shame they released this camera without Firewire.

78 A great value and excellent technology. Film is dead!
The Digital Rebel is an excellent digital camera that proves, to me at least, that 35mm film is rapidly dying as the medium of choice even for rather casual amateurs. At under $1000, the Digital Rebel allows the amateur photographer to use the fine Canon autofocus lenses on a 6.3 Megapixel camera that can take superb pictures that are indistinguishable from film. As of Spring 2004 six megapixels is more or less the standard for the best digital SLR cameras.

The advantages of digital images are many. First of all, the digital camera allows the user to check the images as they are being taken, and even delete the "dogs" on the fly, freein