Custom Search
Buy Cheap Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera
Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera
For stunning photography with point and shoot ease, look no further than Canon’s EOS Rebel XSi. The EOS Rebel XSi brings staggering technological innovation to the masses. It features Canon’s EOS Integrated Cleaning System, Live View, a powerful DIGIC III image processor, plus a new 12.2-megapixel CMOS and is available in a kit with the new EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5 -5.6 IS with optical image stabilizer. The EOS Rebel XSi‘s refined, ergonomic design includes a new 3.0 LCD monitor, compatibility with SD and SDHC memory cards and new accessories that enhance every aspect of photography.
Read More Detail Or Buy Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera @ Amazon.com
Price: USD 598.41
73 used & new available from USD 500.00
Customer Reviews
By Hyun Yu
My journey with DSLRs began in 2003 with the original Digital Rebel. DSLRs changed my photography for the better like nothing else. Five years and some 25,000 shots later, is still strong. Along the way I upgraded to the Canon 30D, which is a fantastic camera as well. When the 40D was announced, I decided to wait until the 50D sometimes in 2009 but wanted a newer backup / second body for my photographic needs. So when the XSi/450D was announced, it sounded like a perfect fit for my needs.
I got it from Amazon.com three days ago, and have made a pretty good workout since then, they fired about 650 shots under a variety of shooting conditions and with a different number of Canon lenses and third parties. The following are my impressions.
The build feels very good. The camera feels wonderfully light yet well built. ‘m 6 feet high with average size hands, and the camera feels good in my hand. Taking the battery for me defeats the purpose of having a small, light DSLR, so I opted for a Hakuba / Opteka grip (it’s a plate that screws into the tripod socket that allows you to use the excellent Canon E1 strap it) and I could not be happier. I’m not a fan of neck straps, so it works well for me (see the uploaded photo for the configuration).
Most of the menu buttons on the back feel different from that on the original Digital Rebel and 30D, the XSi buttons feel more tactile and have a precise “click” for when you press them. The exception are the Exposure Lock (*) and AF selector buttons, which have maintained the feeling deeper, softer cameras larger. Just different, not better or worse, for me.
The LCD is now 3 “with 230K pixels. Playback images look great, and probably because of the higher resolution of the sensor, there is a very slight delay when you zoom to 10x while the image loads and displays correctly. People from other cameras or brands might not even notice it – I did only because the difference between this and my other two Canon cameras (which are low-resolution sensors). The viewing angle LCD screen (as can be clearly see the screen from side and up and down) is excellent, you can still see the screen holding the camera almost up for a shot in the head (more later).’d estimate the viewing angle is about 160-170 degrees both horizontally and vertically.
The Digital Rebel has a separate status screen above the main LCD screen, and the 30D had one on top of the camera, so I was not sure if I was going to like the large LCD screen that acts as a state and not the screen top. I am happy to say that this system works well, at least for me. The rear screen makes it really easy to take all the settings at a glance. The viewfinder is much bigger and brighter than the Digital Rebel. A feature humongously welcome for me is always displayed ISO value in the viewfinder.
The camera is only 1 / 2 the equation of image quality, the other is the lens in use. Coupled with my favorite target, the Canon EF 70-200mm f / 4 L telephoto lens, the XSi is fantastic images. The supplied kit lens is very light and compact for an image stabilized lens, and reveals good performance. The IS is certainly very useful.
Two features that used to miss the Digital Rebels and found in more expensive DSLRs are now present in the XSi: spot-metering and flash exposure compensation (which may have been available in previous model, the Digital Rebel, the XTi as well) . The inclusion of these two features make the camera a much more complete and compelling photographic tool. The timer function now has a custom mode, where it will count down 10 seconds and then take a number of shots (specified by you) in succession. No more running back and forth to reset the timer after each shot! There is also the traditional 2 second timer.
Let’s talk for a minute of sensors and ISO values. XSi/450D has five ISO values you can choose: 100 (best image quality), 200, 400, 800 and 1600. Higher ISO increases the sensitivity of the camera sensor to light, so you can get faster shutter speeeds for a given lighting condition. However, the trade-off is that the sensor “noise” (think grain for film photography) increases with higher ISO, so you get a degraded image quality in exchange for less image blur from hand shakes ( through the shutter speed). This can be useful in situations where flash use is not permitted, such as a museum or a concert or a theater. However, compared to point-and-shoot digital cameras, the larger sensors of digital SLRs, including XSI, it means that even at ISO 800 and 1600 you get very usable images right out of the camera. Performs the images turn those ISO settings through any number of third noise reduction third party software will improve even more.
This links to another useful feature of XSi/450D that makes life easier for the photographer: The Auto ISO function. By default, Auto ISO sets the ISO (the sensor sensitivity to light) between 100 and 800 (using custom functions, this can be changed to 200-1600). If you are, for example, target shooting, the Kid’s indoor basketball court and you know that you need a shutter speed of at least 1 / 200 sec to “freeze” the action, then you can set the camera to your TV (mode shutter priority) and set the value to 1 / 200, and set the camera to Auto ISO. Then the camera will match the aperture and ISO to get proper exposure to the shutter speed. With my other DSLRs, setting the camera to shutter priority only allowed the camera to adjust the aperture value, ISO setting had to be adjusted manually. With XSi/450D, the possibility for the camera to adjust the ISO value automatically makes one less thing for you to worry about the photographer.
I just tried the Live View function to see how it works, but I can already see how useful it will be in studio and macro photography. Just a note, you can press the shutter button halfway to autofocus while in Live View mode. You’ll focus or manual, or use one of two methods of auto focus, fast (the mirror stage, the LCD goes dark for a short period, and flips it down with focus locked) or live ( the camera uses the LCD monitor’s contrast detection to achieve the focus – this method is slower than the fast method) or by pressing the exposure lock button (*), while in Live View mode. Using the RS-60E3 wired remote or RC-1 wireless remote in Live View mode only fire the shutter, and has no bearing on focusing.
Some people seem to be under the impression that the inclusion of Live View function allows them to use the XSi/450D as do point-and-shoot digital cameras, to compose their shots. That is not the case. You can not really do use the Live View function works unless the camera firmly mounted on a tripod or on a flat surface. Both the Live View focusing modes, while precise, are too slow to be used for hand firing.
That said, there is a use of Live View in hand the times that I have come to value. During the aerial or an obstacle, I can not, with the same hand holding the camera, shooting Live View, compose the scene through the LCD monitor (even if it is out of focus, it’s easy to get the general framing right), disable Live View, and take the photo normally. With a little ‘practice, this can be achieved very quickly. Very useful when you’re only holding the head camera and hoping for the best.
The Direct Print button that has been much ridiculed and maligned in most Canon cameras now Double button white balance menu. The button located in the center of the four directional arrow keys can be programmed for a variety of different functions: Change image quality, exposure compensation, flash, LCD monitor on / off (same as Display button, but can be activated by the same hand holding the camera), and the menu (again, can be activated by the same hand holding the camera).
There is a dedicated ISO button, which is also much appreciated. Can be easily accessed during shooting with the right thumb, so as to minimize the interruption to shooting.
Battery life seems very good. I shot about 500 shots on a single charge and control of the state is still showing a full load.
I’m using Transcend 8GB Class 6 SDHC card with it. At ISO 100, the camera reports that it can fit 396 RAW + JPG (highest quality) on it, but it is probably fit about 420-450 (the camera always in the conservative estimate). With RAW only, you can fit 507. JPG higher quality, which can accommodate 1822. Note that as ISO increases, so do the file sizes and then you can store less images per card. For example, ISO 1600, the same card can hold only 323 images, compared to 396 at ISO 100.
My only gripe, and this is more about me that the camera is the RAW + JPG buffer. I always shoot RAW + JPG, and the buffer only hold four images at that speed (this is a limitation that is integrated into the camera’s memory buffer, and then using a fast memory card does not help – see page. 64 of the manual). When the buffer is full, you can take two additional images at about one frame per second, then had to wait until the buffer empties (finishes writing to the memory card). When shooting RAW only, it’s 6 images. When shooting JPG only, so there is a problem in more than 50 frames. I found switching the mode dial to Sports mode when I’m shooting fast-moving subjects, and the buffer can not keep up with it. Well, that’s why Canon produces different types and ranges of digital SLR cameras.
By J. Lane “Dash2481″ (Salt Lake City, UT)
I had the XSi for about 3 months and are Thouroughly impressed with it. This is my first DSLR and I was a bit ‘skeptical of going with a brand new camera new and untested, but I always like Canon (I used an ELAN II in High School and I bought a SD600 about 2 years ago to take snapshots of my son). Overall, I was not disappointed with the quality of the photos that the XSi produces. The IS works great and I took some photos rather surprising (at least for me). I only have a couple of problems, good and bad, that I think all those who seek to buy this would want to know.
Battery life – Great battery life. I must say, AMAZING battery life. I took over 5000 pictures and I only had to charge the battery twice.
Live View – LiveView is not for beginners. Is not a substitute for your Point-and-Shoot. You can not use it in AUTO mode (Green Square). This is not that great of a deal for me, I prefer full manual myself, but the whole point of this feature, I thought, was to make it easier to use for point-and-shoot photographer. My wife can not use Live View in its current form (in particular, I bought a digital SLR camera with Live View function so that it could continue to use the camera.) So, if Live View is a big selling point for you, you look at some others (if it is not that big of a deal for you, then this is still an amazing camera – added 4-23 — 2008). If you do the work in the studio, however, you can connect the camera to your PC and use it as a remote viewer. But it is a point-and-shoot camera in Live View. In my previous review, I said that it would be nice if Canon fixed some of the Live View, with a firmware upgrade, I was wrong. Live View is a nice feature, once you understand that it is not for beginners. Studio and landscape photographers will find Live View a great tool.
Image Quality – I had a very successful shooting in a studio setting as well as some shots of the great outdoors. In the studio, I used tungsten “hot” lights with subjuect against a white background. The pictures turned out great. Skin tones are perfect and there is very little, if appropriate, chromatic abberation at the edges. Shoots great outdoor shots. We just got into beekeeping and I was able to get some AMAZING shots of our bees up-close outdoors. The bees looked dirty and not very interesting from a distance, but the macro photos I got up close they are beautiful and full of details perfectly sharp. The lens is a bit ‘short, the image quality you get from it is pretty good considering it costs only $ 100. I plan to purchase more than one target in the near future.
Overall, the camera is solid and feels nice in hand. It is not too heavy, but still feels sturdy. If you can afford the higher price, I do not think you will be disappointed. If it is not possible, the XTi is still a great camera. And if we can afford to wait some months for price to drop a bit ‘(LIKE IT already!) I would. I managed to work a few extra weekends so I could afford to do this, and I can tell you, I do not mind a bit ‘, because the quality of the photos I’m was totally worth it.
— Update —
I was incorrect when I said I could not use the 9-point autofocus in Live View. You can use the 9-point autofocus while in Live View, but the mirror flips down and focuses so that he can not see what you’re trying to focus on until the camera is actually passed through the process autofocus.
— Update # 2 —
Now I had this camera for almost two months and I am happy to report that most use it, the more I like it. Once you learn the layout of the camera and you load the MyMenu with the tools you use most often, the camera becomes an absolute pleasure to use. I took over 5000 pictures with it until today and now I need an extra hard drive to put them all on.
I was able to rent a Canon EF 24-105 L IS and a 580 EX II Speedlite for my sister’s wedding. WOW! What great pictures. The camera is interfaced with the flash without any problems and are increasingly convinced that much of the quality of the photos is the glass you use and not so much from the camera itself (I think it is about 65% of the camera body to 35% give or pick up some points – I know there will be those who disagree, but this is my take on it, and I’m sure if I had a 1Ds MkIII I would think that there was a piece of glass quite well to my camera).
This is a great beginner DSLR camera and a great all around. I am very happy with my purchase and I did not regret spending $ 900 to buy a great tool. Amazon sells now at $ 799, you can not go wrong at that price!
Comments are closed