Category: (Photography)
11 new, starting at Too low to display
11 used, starting at $523.99
Excellent Entry level DSLR - Superb image qualityReviewed by Harry W, 2010-03-04
I bought the Rebel Xsi after I was extremely disappointed by the
indoor image quality from my Nikon D60 with f>8.0. Where Nikon
D60 failed miserably, the Rebel Xsi has been superb. I routinely
take indoor group photographs with it with f8 or f11 at iso 400
(flash on) and they come out excellent!!! They are very sharp and
have very good details, I don't even need to up the iso. I would
have to give 5 starts to the sensor in this thing, it is just
amazing!!!
The best camera's are the ones which shine in low light (indoor)
and the rebel xsi's sensor gives it the ability to outperform
anything else in this price range...
The other gr8 thing about the Xsi is that for another 90$ I was
able to buy a gr8 portrait lens, the 50mm f1.8 prime lens. That
thing is so fast that I do not need flash at all for taking potrait
images of my kids. I love that lens!!!!
ing.
Overall I am very happy with this camera. The only annoying this it
has is the flash strobe based AF assist vs Nikon's AF assist lamp.
The flash based AF assist gives the subject's the wrong impression
about when the picture is taken and is very annoying. Thankfully I
have enough light in my house (where I take most of my indoor
shots) that the flash AF assist is needed only about 10% of the
time. I wanted to buy a speedlite to solve this issue + give me
bounce flash etc., but the opteka speedlite turned out to be a
waste of money (1 star) and the canon one (430 exII) is too much
$$$ for me.
So for now I am just happy with the regular flash.... It gives good
exposure most of the time (For potraits I focus on the faces and
for groups pics I focus on darker clothes to get good exposure with
the built in flash).
Also I only using center focus point 90% of the time as it is the
fastest and most accurate.
Again overall the camera is 5 star.
Best camera value for under $1500 new.Reviewed by N. D. Slater, 2010-03-02
There really isn't a better deal out there under $1500, or at least
under $1,000... under the canon/nikon lineup. After 7 months of
use, I can say that this is one amazing camera. It has many of the
functions that you get with the 50D. Unless you care about HD video
or care about being able to do some major cropping to your photos,
your best best for the $ is the XSi.
One thing to take note is that the noise levels are amazing. One
step down from this camera and you get way too much noise. The 50D
has very comparable noise levels. I shoot in a club at iso 1600,
exposures without flash run into 1/2 second... noise reduced, they
are still excellent quality.. even at 1:1 crops.
Also a note on buttons: If you care about using your camera quickly
and usefully (unlike a point and shoot) DON'T buy any lower than
this! Any step down is missing the shortcut hardware buttons. Why
buy an slr, only to change settings in menus?? Sure it is still
missing a few buttons, but you can set your own custom menu to help
negate that drawback.
Metering is decent, you need to make sure to point at a more
neutral object to get a good reading. With using the in-camera spot
metering on a lastolite ezybalance gray card to get an exposure
reading (then switching the camera from Aperture Priority, to
Manual and inputing those settings read), the exposure is quite
good.
No IR assist lamp, so you will have to use an external flash with
flash firing turned off (assuming you don't want to use flash) to
use its IR assist lamp to focus in the dark. The feature to turn
flash firing off, while using the focus assist lamp, is missing on
a lot of cameras - so watch out if this is something you are
interested in.
Quality is great, noise levels are great, auto focus is pretty
good, metering is ok, LCD is amazing (!), no IR assist lamp
=(
Well I'd recommend you stop reading user reviews and go read some
professional reviews from somewhere like dpreview,
the-digital-picture, and steve's digicams. These are more opinion
article-esk than factual professional comparisons.
Some points to consider when looking at DSLRs in this price rangeReviewed by Stephen Lerch, 2010-03-01
If you're looking at the cameras in this price range, that means
you're likely also looking at the Pentax K-x, Nikon D5000, Sony
A500, Olympus E-620 and even, potentially, the Canon T1i.
If you're looking at DSLRs and you think video on your DSLR is
something you actually want or will ever use, you best stop looking
at the XSi and instead focus on the K-x, D5000 and T1i. The XSi
offers NO video functionality.
If your hope is to not need to spend extra money on image
stabilizing lenses, then buy the K-x or the E-620. All the above
listed cameras besides these 2 require you purchase lenses with
image stabilization which is an extra cost on the lens as it
requires more glass. Of course, the way around the need for image
stabilizing lenses is to use a tripod or a monopod.
If you don't want to buy lenses, well, then you had better stop
looking at DSLR/SLR cameras all together and jump into point and
shoot. There are a lot of nice models with really good quality
pictures out there.
REMEMBER, WHEN BUYING A DSLR CAMERA, you aren't REALLY buying a
camera; you're buying a lens system. What do I mean? Well think
about it this way. You are spending money on a camera body, yes.
But you're also spending money on lenses. Lenses that are NOT
interchangeable (except the Olympus method that not many
manufacturers jumped on and then you still have to buy lenses to
their spec and you would need a replacement camera with the same
capability). If you buy this body today and begin to purchase Canon
lenses, you are investing in Canon for, most likely, the rest of
your picture taking "career." The camera body is the inexpensive
part in this whole endeavor and if you purchase a 55-250mm lens
today, along with many others, you most certainly won't want to
re-purchase these lenses when you inevitably have to upgrade the
camera. And that's where DSLR/SLR camera manufacturers get you.
It's like Gillette and their disposable razor heads.
So why then, given all the above, would one purchase the XSi over
all the competition? Price is one factor. Image quality is another
(the pictures this camera can take are nothing short of
breathtaking, but that's all a matter of opinion, so this is just
my opinion and not a statement of fact I can quantify). One more is
lens quality. Canon (well, really all the above) have been making
lenses for YEARS. And in the lens department Canon and Nikon stand
above the rest.
Why did I purchase this camera? Well Canon has been around a long
time and actually started the DSLR revolution with the original
Rebel camera. Their cameras always stand well on their own. While
they may not stand head and shoulders above every camera out there,
they do a tremendous job of holding their own in the market. My
father owns a Rebel XT and it's an amazing piece of kit for when it
was made. I bought this one because the T1i supposedly has some
photo aberrations usually attributed to the sensor size that
actually captures the image being too small to really utilize the
15 MP picture it is taking.
The price is good, I bought a brand I know and I can share lenses
with my father. That's why I bought this camera.
I realize this review is pretty jumbled. Instead of writing a full
review, as there are many other reviews here that do a much better
job than I describing technical and non-technical details, I
decided to just put down things I was thinking about as I purchased
my first DSLR.
Good Camera for its priceReviewed by Abhinav Sinha, 2010-02-28
I already own a D90 and just purchased it as a gift item. The camera performs very well in all preset modes . Its a very nice camera if you are just stepping into the SLR photography realm. I specially liked the High ISO performance of the camera. One thing that i was concerned about though was the Av mode which had problems calculating the Shutter speed at low light and the images were blurred. Not sure if the kit lens was the issue or if the issue is with the Av mode itself. Hence i had to use either Tv or M mode. Preset modes are great . Good camera for all starters...
A fantastic cameraReviewed by Justamom, 2010-02-28
I'm not a photographer;I am just a mom who loves to take pictures of her kids in all that they do. This camera does an amazing job. The color is beautiful, the features are easy to use, and it fits my small hands so well. I love how clear my photos can be when I get the lighting just right. I have added a 70-300mm lens to my collection as well, and it is great for little league baseball. I also took it to a concert, put it on the right setting, and I got the best concert photos I have ever taken in my life. I highly recommend this camera to people who are beyond the point and shoot but who aren't quite the professional.
