Canon EOS 6.3MP Digital Rebel Camera (Body Only)

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.

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.

From the Manufacturer
In 1990, Canon's first EOS Rebel revolutionized photography by making SLR excitement available to everyone. In the decade that followed, the Rebel grew and evolved to give its legions of fans even more photographic freedom. Now the Rebel achieves its ultimate evolution. Equipped with Canon's exclusive "Digital Trinity" -- 6.3 Megapixel CMOS Sensor, Digic 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.

Capture Any Shot the Way You See It--Brilliantly
The 7-point Wide-Area AF System makes focus quick and accurate, even when your subject is off center. 7 focusing points are laid out in a cross pattern that's visible on the clear, uncluttered Viewfinder. You can let the camera detect your subject and choose the proper focusing point; the chosen point will be illuminated for no-surprise focus. The Digital Rebel supports your own creative vision as well by letting you choose your own focusing point. Dioptric Adjustment lets you shoot comfortably with or without your glasses.

Dazzling Resolution: 6.3-Megapixel CMOS Sensor
The camera's large-format, high resolution 6.3 Megapixel CMOS Sensor delivers images that will astonish you with their depth and detail. Every image is remarkably detailed throughout the full dynamic range, from highlights to shadows. The large sensor has a 3:2aspect ratio to give you the familiar compositional feel and classic image proportions of a 35mm camera.

Canon's more than 60 years of photographic experience went into the CMOS Sensor's invention and refinements, and the way it works in perfect tandem with the Digic Imaging Processor. Together, they virtually eliminate stray light and off colors. Even long exposure images, like city lights against a night sky, are clear and virtually noise-free.

The sensor supports an extensive range of ISO speeds. This allows you to quickly compensate for shifting light conditions, as if you had films of various speeds actually built into the camera. In short, the CMOS Sensor allows the Digital Rebel to achieve images with the quality of film, while offering all the advantages of digital technology.

RAW and JPEG
In RAW mode, every shot is captured as both a RAW and Middle/Fine JPEG file. RAW files render the most detailed printed images, while less-detailed JPEGs are smaller, making them perfect for sending and viewing on computer screens. Having both kinds of files recorded automatically means that whatever you decide to do with your final images, you're covered.

The Speed to Capture The Shots That Won't Wait
Highly responsive autofocus makes for shooting excitement. The camera automatically employs one of 3 AF systems to deliver fast, spot-on focus in any situation. One-Shot AF is the best choice for still subjects, locking in focus as you press the shutter button halfway. AI Servo AF tracks active subjects, predicting their movement. AI Focus AF switches between One-Shot AF and AI Servo AF when subjects start and stop, perfect for children, pets, and other unpredictable subjects. High-speed 2.5 frames-per-second motor-drive powers the Continuous Shooting mode, letting you capture split-second action sequences with a burst of up to 4 shots.

The Digic Imaging Processor
Canon's exclusive Digic chip gives the Digital Rebel spectacular image quality, natural color reproduction, and fast, responsive handling. The general purpose imaging processors used by most digital cameras perform pixel operations one at a time. Digic, however, operates in parallel mode for exceptionally fast processing. Fast processing combines with high-capacity buffering to eliminate waiting time between shots, so when the great shots are ready, you are too. Newly developed anti-noise/high-resolution algorithms make stray light and off-color pixels minimal to non-existent. Feel free to enlarge and crop with exceptional results.

ISO Flexibility
Digital Rebel's digital component performance is impressive, offering you many advantages. ISO speed can be set from 100 to 1600 so when lighting conditions change, the camera can change with them. A conventional SLR would have to hold multiple rolls of film at various speeds to match this flexibility!

Works Smart on Its Own; Hands Over Control When You Want It
The Digital Rebel's 35-zone, AF point-linked Evaluative Metering Sensor and 3 metering modes make the art of controlling exposure as easy or advanced as you want. 35-zone Evaluative Metering ensures accurate, consistent exposure, taking into account lighting extremes and subject position through the active focusing point. Whether the light is bright and sunny or darkly atmospheric, whether it comes from the front or the back, exposure is detailed, natural and flattering.

Control is there when you want it, with Partial Metering to bring extra sensitivity to high-contrast situations, or Center-weighted Average Metering in manual exposure mode. Creative exposure options go even further with illumination from the built-in flash or an optional EX-series Speedlite: you can use Canon's most advanced flash metering system, E-TTL, plus FE Lock, High-speed Sync and Wireless E-TTL Autoflash.

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 handle the operations you'll use most. The LCD screen is big and informative, and you can even adjust the brightness setting. Menus are written in plain language and tabbed on a single screen -- no scrolling necessary. The highly intelligent Built-in Flash pops up and fires automatically in appropriate modes for point-and-shoot convenience.

The Versatility of SLR Photography with Point-and-Shoot Simplicity
The right side mounted Mode Dial makes one-handed shooting comfortable, and 12 versatile shooting modes let you make the call: shoot fully automatic, master a given situation with a Programmed Image Control mode, experience the excitement of manipulating shutter and aperture combinations, or go fully manual. Additional advanced exposure controls include AE Lock, FE Lock and AutoExposure Bracketing, which records 3 consecutive exposures with one shot to make sure you get the effect you want. And with a touch of the Depth-of-Field Preview Button, you can check the front-to-back sharpness of an image just before shooting. Illumination is always flattering thanks to Automatic Flash Output Reduction in backlit daytime conditions, and built-in Red-Eye Reduction.

Product Description
The EOS DIGITAL REBEL is a high-performance, digital AF SLR camera with an ultra-fine CMOS sensor with 6.30 million effective pixels. It is full-featured for all types of shooting, from fully automatic snapshooting to highly creative work. You can use all Canon EF and EF-S lenses and start shooting quickly at any time in any mode. Images can also be printed directly from the camera. CompactFlash cards serve as the camera's recording medium.

Canon 8861A003 reviews (149)

Digital SLR at a consumer price
Bottom line: THIS IS A GREAT CAMERA. It is a 6.3 megapixel CMOS digital single lens reflex. Canon's Rebel line of affordable SLRs is well known and very popular. This is an extension of that line. The camera is available with a new EF-S 18-55 zoom lens and also accepts any of the dozens of Canon EF lenses. It also accepts nearly all Canon EOS accessories, so the Digital Rebel can grow with your skills and become as versatile as you would like. As with Canon's higher end Powershot digitals, you can let the camera choose all the settings or you can make some or all of those adjustments yourselves. The Digital Rebel does not allow the fullest measure of creative freedom available in more expensive digital SLR's, but it doesn't need to. This camera is aimed at digital camera owners wanting the flexibility of an SLR and consumer level SLR owners wanting to move to digital. The camera is well made, light weight and well equipped with a battery and battery charger (Canon's great BP-511 lithium ion, which should last for hundreds of shots), neck strap, eyecup, lens and body caps, driver software and a full version of Adobe's Photoshop Elements 2.0.

Great value for a great camera
This is my first "Pro-Sumer" digital camera and I couldn't be happier. I'd made a decision to step up to this level of camera earlier this summer. After researching what was available, I was 99% sold on the Canon EOS 10-D. While searching for the best deal on a 10-D, I found out that Canon would be releasing the Digital Rebel in a little over a month. I read all the technical specs and the estimated price and was sold. This camera has the same sensor and most of the features of the 10-D but is over $500 cheaper. Yes, the body is made of "plastic" and not the spiffy Magnesium Alloy body the 10-D has. I for one am thankful for the lighter weight plastic body. If you are like me and this is your first Digital SLR camera, it will take some time getting used to the weight of these cameras. The Digital Rebel, while not as rugged as the 10-D, is built very sturdy. Now, onto my favorite part... the pictures. I could not believe the quality of the pictures I was taking. The color and textures that I was able to capture blew me away. And the ability to shoot fully auto all the way to fully manual and several "creative zones" in between made exploring this camera's abilities fun and easy. If you had been considering jumping up to the Digital SLR family, the Digital Rebel has made it much more affordable to do so with results that will leave you very happy.

A Pioneer Digital SLR
Pros: great pictures outdoors, great price, real SLR power and flexiblity
Cons: 2 stops underexposure indoors; 24 bit color depth;soft body

It can be fairly said that Canon is in a pioneer position in the digital SLR space. Not to mention that the Canon 1Ds is the real revolutionary Pioneer camera. Then six months later, the Canon 10D came out, almost shocked the professionals and the amatuers alike with the quality, power and price. Now comes the Digital Rebel, with the same 6.3 megapixel as the 10D, but mounted on a Rebel body. In terms of the specifications, the Digital Rebel is only different from the 10D in two aspects, one is the 24 bit color depth vs. 36 bit in 10D, the other is the 2.5 frame per second of continous shooting for 4 frames, vs. 3 fps of 9 shoots in total in 10D. All other functions are all the same, including 30 to 1/4000 second shutter speed, 7 sensor focus screen and the same Canon new DIGIC image processor. But to my surprise, the Digital Rebel is at least two stops underexposure when shooting indoors. Espeicially, when shooting dark colored subjects, the exposure is extremely difficult to set right. I tried to use a 550EX external flash, and set the flash compensation to 1 2/3 overexposure when shooting my mahogany piano made by Hallet Davis Inc of Boston, and the exposure compensation is 1 stop overexposure, shutter speed was 1/60, aperture F 3.5. The result is still quite dark.
Other than this, when shooting outdoors the pictures are truely great.

amazing camera, incredible price! canon has outdone itself.
canon's competitors must be scratching their collective heads wondering how canon has managed to deliver a true interchangeable-lens digital SLR for less than a thousand bucks. this is nothing short of a revolution in the d-SLRs world and it's hard not to get excited!

pros:
- can't stress this enough: value, value, value - a formidable d-SLR has landed south of the thousand dollar barrier.
- 6MP CMOS sensor.
- excellent resolution matches canon's own EOS 10D.
- seven manually selectable AF points - fast and reliable.
- 2.5fps continuous shooting speed up to four images regardless of resolution.
- accurate color reproduction.
- images virtually noise free at ISO 800 and below.
- very little redeye occurrence.
- good metering, although no direct control of metering mode.
- good manual preset white balance.
- shooting priority play mode - simply half-press the shutter during playback and you're ready to shoot.
- supports RAW format.
- excellent AF speeds, with virtually no shutter lag.
- impressive shot to shot times - basically you can shoot as fast as you can compose your shot.
- good selection of exposure modes.
- orientation sensor for automatic image rotation.
- playback magnification up to 10x.
- allows computer controlled shooting with included software.
- feels solidly built despite the plastic body.
- easy to use, integrated controls and displays.
- bright, high resolution LCD.
- fully compatible with canon extensive lens line.
- excellent battery life (but i still recommend getting a spare).
- excellent printed manual and supplied software bundle.

cons:
- to minimize cannibalization of 10D sales, the 300D has been pre-programmed to have less flexibility (forced AI focus, forced evaluative metering, etc).
- no spot metering.
- low noise levels at ISO 1600.
- no flash exposure compensation.
- cannot fine-tune white balance.
- make sure you don't open the memory door while the camera is writing into the flash memory or else you will lose everything that's left in the internal memory buffer.
- plastic body with compartment doors that should be meatier.
- LCD has no anti-reflective coating.
- reduced continuous shooting rate and buffer size (2.5 fps for max 4 images) vs the 10D.
- ISO sensitivity not displayed on viewfinder status bar while being changed.
- no flash memory provided so add a few $$ to your budget to get at least 128MB.
- proprietary battery - again, a few more bucks for a spare.

there's nothing in the market that can touch this camera today. if you're shopping for a camera in the thousand dollar range, make sure you take a close look at the 300D.

i hope this helps you with your buying decision. peace.

Photos as good as my 35mm Rebel!
We chose this camera due to the price point at 6.3 megapixel, and because we owned the 35mm Rebel - and love it. The 35mm lenses can be used on the digital, making the two a powerful combination. What I didn't expect is the incredible quality of the photos. I had a Sony 3.3 megapixel digital prior to this -so the jump in quality is substantial. However, comparing prints side by side from the digital (with my HP Photosmart 230 printer) and prints from my 35mm developed by a lab - the quality is substantially similar.

I thought it would be a while before I could afford a digital camera with sufficient clarity to replace my 35 mm for most uses. This camera is changing my mind. The flexibility of digital (print only what you like, for example) and the quality of the images, makes this camera an excellent value for the price!

breakthru in digital camera technology
After all the press hype & the tech reviews, I bought one. AND yes it is really true. This IS an SLR but it is digital. It combines just about all the advantages of both, with very few of the disadvantages of either. It is hard to believe (after owning 2 digitals and 3 chemical slrs!), that this is really true. I will not go into details - ... What is soo great compared to the usual digital cams: enormous low noise sensitivity - even to ISO 800; enormous exposure flexibility and composure accuracy; fantastic lens choice; and a BRIGHT non digital SLR exposure composition screen- works in sunlight - its an SLR! There is NOTHING on the market that compares for the price. Buy one!

16/10/03: Just did a comparison between poster size enlargements of images from my Canon EOS 500 (chemical SLR) and my new EOS 300d. Very similar quality at poster size!! There is a difference between graininess (chemical) and pixellation (digital). Overall the subjective quality of fine details at hi res is amazing similar. But all the digital advantages rest with the 300d!! The chemical SLR (35mm) is now dead!

1/12/04: There is a serious issue with all DSLRs: dust! You WILL have to manage dust on the sensor of this DSLR - same for (almost) all other DSLRs!! Damm!!! Once every 6 months you WILL need a sensor clean. Until Canon et al find a technical solution.

EOS Digital Rebel - Worth Every Penny!
I have been an amateur photographer for over 25 years and started out with a Pentax K1000 SLR. Things have changed a lot in that time and the Digital Rebel (300D) was a welcome addition to my photography arsenal. My last film camera was a EOS Rebel XS and I have two lenses (35-80 and 75-300). I was seriously considering the 10D, but at $...without a lens, it was a little more than I was willing to spend. I must say I was elated when I saw the Digital Rebel had been released and for $1000 with a lens. I did quite a bit of comparing between the 10D and the Rebel and there just wasn't enough difference to warrant the extra $...for me. If you are a professional, I would go with the 10D for the added control, but for the rest of us, the Rebel can do everything the former does it just requires a little more work to get there. The image quality is outstanding. I also have an Olympus C-2020 point and shoot and I would say in the Full Auto mode, the Rebel is just as easy to use as the 2020. Getting the desired results in the Program and Manual modes has a little learning curve to get the desired result but it's in there and after playing with it I have been able to get what I want.

Excellent choice for novice or advanced photographers
I've had the camera for two weeks and it has taken fantastic shots indoors and outdoors in various lighting conditions. Novices should consider this camera. It is easy to use with settings for auto, portrait, landscape, macro, sport and more. When you gain knowledge, you have full manual control. Unless you already have Canon EF lenses, buy the camera with the 18-55mm lens. It is a good choice and will get you started at a fantastic price. The portrait mode is great. It will focus on your subject with a wide appature that will blur the background. The lanscape mode does just the opposite. My foliage shots this year taken with this camera are the best I have ever captured. I have shot over 200 images without needing to change batteries, but I keep a spare with me. There is no compact flash card provided with the camera. You will want to get a large one, 512mb or more. If you take a few pictures while on vacation, this is not the camera for you. If photography is your hobby, then get this camera now. You will not regret it.

Awesome camera -- very few "cons"
I've had the Rebel for about a month now, and it's been an amazing blast up the photography learning curve for me. It is my first SLR, though fortunately my third digicam, and ... well, wow, what a great camera to learn on.

I'd like to just run down the "cons" listed by a different reviewer below (or above? how do they order these things? ;-):

- "to minimize cannibalization of 10D sales, the 300D has been pre-programmed to have less flexibility (forced AI focus, forced evaluative metering, etc)"
* This general point is true, but it is rarely an issue for me, at least. You can override evaluative metering, you can fool it into Servo AF mode (and the "sports mode" pushes it into Servo AF mode as well), etc. The only thing I miss is mirror lock-up, for long-exposure dusk shots ... but hey, that just isn't worth the $600 and .75 pound tax I'd pay for the 10D.

- no spot metering.
* Not true. Locking exposure (holding the '*' button) yields spot metering in most modes, though the "spot" is about 9% of the FoV.

- low noise levels at ISO 1600.
* The Rebel has the same sensor and image processing goo as the 10D, and the 10D reputatedly has some of the lowest noise at any given ISO. ISO 1600 is pretty darn fast, some noise is inevitable.

- no flash exposure compensation.
* Yeah, this stinks a bit -- but at least you can get it with one of the EX flashes.

- cannot fine-tune white balance.
* Not sure what "fine tune" means here -- you can set it to "Custom white balance" and read off of a white source (e.g. white card, paper), and it retains that custom setting (even through on/off cycles of the camera).

- make sure you don't open the memory door while the camera is writing into the flash memory or else you will lose everything that's left in the internal memory buffer.
* Never have run into this being an issue -- opening the memory door is quite an unnatural action, I can't really see it ever happening accidentally, and the big red flashing light would be a reminder not to do it intentionally.

- plastic body with compartment doors that should be meatier.
* Metal (zinc) would be heavier, and the Rebel is plenty durable -- I crashed my mountain bike at 20mph with this sucker on my hip. I rolled onto it and cracked the filter, bent the lens, but the body was only scratched a little, and continues to work perfectly.

- LCD has no anti-reflective coating.
* My theory has always been that you can't see diddly on the LCD anyway. The real benefit on the 300D is that you can set the pic review mode to show the "info" screen, which includes the histogram -- this is VERY useful for checking to see if you have the exposure right without having to squint at a tiny LCD screen and guessing.

- reduced continuous shooting rate and buffer size (2.5 fps for max 4 images) vs the 10D.
* Again, another thing you get with the additional $600 ... but compared to the other digicams I've owned, this one feels like a rocket!

- ISO sensitivity not displayed on viewfinder status bar while being changed.
* It is displayed on the external LCD, however. I do wish that it was always visible on the LCD (not just when changing), as it's a little too easy to set it to, say, 400 in some low light situation, and then forget it's there and only remember when you note, several days later, that "wow, that shutter speed sure is short ..."

- no flash memory provided so add a few $$ to your budget to get at least 128MB.
* Included flash cards are virtually always too small and basically get tossed.

- proprietary battery - again, a few more bucks for a spare.
* Are there any "large" cameras that take, say, AA's? Not many ... the BP-512 that the Rebel uses is a SWEET battery, too, in terms of life.

absolutely sweet prosumer digital camera
I just got my digital rebel and I don't want to put it down.

First, of all the camera is pretty hefty. I actually like heft to my camera as the weight helps reduce camera shake.

Second, the thing is so quiet it's scary. The noisiest thing is the flash popping up - followed by the mirror moving for the shutter.

Third - image quality is a killer, and I love the ability to change white balance, iso speed etc.

And like other EOS models this camera lets me have as much or as little control over the exposure as I want. I can go all point and shoot automatic if I just want to pop off a few shots of friends at a party, or I can go fully manual to give Ansel Adams a run for his money.

6.3 megapixels - holy crap dude! There isn't much I currently do where I woudl ever need more than that, and if I do, I'll go rent a Hassie with a digital back or something.

Auto-Focus is fast and sharp, and of course you can go manual as well. Transferring the image onto the card is a sub-second operation - nice auto drive feature.

This camera has set a new bar for the digital camera market!

The Best DSLR Value Around!
You can't beat this camera for the money. it accepts all Canon EF lenses and lenses from other manufacturers like Sigma and Tamron. it uses the same battery pack as the Canon G3 and also the same Compact Flash memory cards.

It is very easy to use but will take some time to master if you are just used to shooting with your average digicam. but you will be very satisfied with your results once you get on to how to use it and the Adobe Photoshop Elements program that comes with it.

the best part of this camera is the very fast autofocus. you will be shocked by how fast it is compared to regular digicams!

you do all of your shooting using the optical viewfinder where you will find most of the important info like exposure, shutter speed, and aperture. the LCD screen is only used after a picture is taken for review. the LCD is not used for picture taking like with a standard digicam.

another one of the high points of this camera is that you can use high ISO values without sacrificing image quality. this is very handy when you need to up the shutter speed for action shots or when shooting in low light.

the camera has all the basic modes you need so you can start shooting right away and also the experimental modes so once you get the hang of it you can take more control of your shots.

and with a DSLR you are never limited by a standard lens like you are with all other digicams. if you want to go out and buy very high quality Canon "L" glass then you can do it and use it! or if you can only afford "standard" lenses then you can just buy what you need. the bottom line is that you can build the camera system that meets YOUR needs! there are no limitations.

and one last thing!!

BUY THE KIT LENS!!!

for one hundred dollars it is the cheapest and best option for a wide angle zoom you will find! so make sure you buy the camera with the kit lens.

WOW Great Digital SLR
I upgraded from a Canon G2, which was a great camera, but too slow. I am used to quick snaps like a normal SLR. Well this baby gives me the best of both worlds, Digital and Quick like an SLR. The built in flash is incredible since it pops up high above the lens. Being as high as it is, I haven't seen red eye in any of my photos. I also have a 420ex Speedlight, but don't really need it. I tried it out and it makes the picture look even better.

This camera is light, is comfortable in the hand, quick, great focus, and really clear shots. It does an incredible job at focusing close up and in general. I can't complain about this camera yet. I only had it for 5 days, but so far I am not dissapointed. It is everything I have wanted especially the speed so you don't miss those great shots.

The file size is about 1.3 megs when used on Large so get a big card. I ordered a 1GB SanDisk Ultra II that has the fastest write speeds. That should take care of space and give me some extra speed.

Bottom line - if you take a few pics here and there, don't spend the moeny. If you like to take photos and dont want to miss shots spend the money on this and you wont be dissapointed.

totally outstanding digital camera
I went digital 5 years ago. My first was one of the very old Olypus digitals; no removable storage, just a cable to the computer, 120 low resolution or 30 medium resolution shots and then the memory was full. The colors were always off, there was no zoom, and it was amazing that it worked at all. No wonder I also bought a pocket 35mm camera to take "real" pictures since the Olympus' were so small, grainy, and colorless. At least the 35mm had a datestamp option. 3 years later I bought the Canon PowerShot S30, then when I lost it (or had it stolen?) I replaced it with the S40. The PowerShot S50 sold today is the same body style with more pixels and a couple of annoyances fixed.

This camera is NOTHING like those cameras. I had plenty of complaints about the S30 & S40. My biggest gripe was missing the shot. I take pictures of children, especially at school functions. I would line up a wonderful shot, push the button... and they would move! They'd get up and walk away, they'd turn around, they'd crowd into the subject, I was missing 80% of my shots. About a year later, the shutter would finally click. So my hard drive is filled with so-so shots that would have been winners if that annoying delay hadn't gotten me... again!

No problem with the Digital Rebel. Press the button, focus is lightning-fast, then click goes the shutter. You look through the viewfinder to frame your shot, not at the back on those hard-to-read LCD screens. Several modes allow multiple pictures, just in case, such as in Sports mode. I am seeing such an improvement in my pictures since I got this camera a few weeks ago. First of all, they are always framed properly, because I'm not dealing with sudden motion after shutter release, nor am I dealing with an LCD for a viewfinder, or a "viewfinder" that makes me correct for parallax. Next, the colors are amazing. Third, 6.3 megapixels... when would I ever want that much? When I want to crop 80% of the picture and still print what's left!

It is great to have a camera with some heft that still doesn't feel like a brick. As everyone else says, get the kit lens. It is 18 to 55mm, so a nice wide-angle lens for group shots, etc. I find 55mm not close enough for shooting children; the S30/S40 I mention above has an 11-55mm range which I already knew to be insufficient for shooting kids. Thus I bought the Canon 28-200mm zoom lens and keep that one on the camera, only switching to the kit lens when I do big groups or a lot of similar portraits (that big zoom lens weighs four times as much as the body!)

Yes, it is an amazing camera for "under" $1000. Truth be told, I spent more than that on accessories; the 28-200mm lens was almost $500, with 6.3 megapixels you might as well buy the biggest flashcard you can, and that's 2 GB these days; you'll need a case, you really ought to buy skylight filters to protect those lenses from getting scratched, an extra battery is a really good idea... well, you see what I mean.

Still an amazing camera, especially after dealing with those tiny toys for all these years.

Excellent
Highly recommend this camera. The Sony DSC828 inspired me to take a fresh look at digicams. I'm glad I didn't wait for it to become available.

What makes the quality of the D100 shots so much better than digicams? I believe the #1 reason is the size of the sensor (the digital "film").

For example, the sensor in the Digital Rebel is 22.7mm by 15.1 mm. The sensor in the up and coming Sony is only 8.8mm by 6.6mm. That means that they have to pack all of the sensors in that much smaller of an area. The result of the much smaller sensors is noise- random colored dots in darker areas of the picture.

I've owned the camera for two weeks and on top of the nice lens that comes with it I purchased the Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 Macro Super II lens (Sigma # 507101). This is one heck of a combination and I am so happy I've spent the extra money for this camera and lens.

My wife even loves the pictures. She suggested we skip going to that portrait studio at the mall for Christmas cards this year and do it ourselves. Taking the $60 out of those people's hands was worth the purchase price alone! :)

Some people claim the plastic body feels cheap. I think it does feel plastic, but does not feel cheap. I've never owned a metal bodied camera so I guess I can't claim I like one or the other better. But the body is certainly light.

If I had one negative, I don't much care for the built in flash. It tends to be on the dark side and cause red-eye since it's too close to the lens. I bought a cheap Vivitar 2000 flash from wal-mart for $20 and I have to say it does a very good job. In the future I'll get a canon TTL flash.

A great DigiCam at a great price.
I immediately put my Rebel through it's paces when I got it. I have to say, it's a dang good camera that takes dang good pictures. I work for a newspaper and submit photos to other papers, so I take alot of images. I have been surprised at the clarity and quality of the images I get out of this camera. I was photographing a swimmer today, which takes a certain amount of quickness to get a good image. I was blown away by a couple of the images I got. The autofocus hunts a bit sometimes, but you can turn it to manual so no problem. The exposure control is the only thing I would recommend they work on, even though I haven't had a problem with it. The EFS lens you get with the camera is not to shabby. I paired mine up with 420ex flash with a wireless transmitter and the vertical battery grip for more shooting time. The transmitter worked well for spooky shots at Halloween. I also recommend at least a couple 256mb flash cards. They will hold around 130 large normal images, which is decent. Anyhow I highly recommend this camera. I love shooting with it. It's a great main or backup camera.

Good quality, easy to use, decent features
I'm enjoying this camera. It certainly offers great value for the dollar. It probably offers the right number of features and full user controllability. I've never used a camera in which ISO and exposure are so easily and quickly modified for each shot.

Considerably smaller cameras do have larger LCD displays, though you don't need the LCD to view your subject. I wonder why, since many camcorders offer a "night shot" option, Canon could not also include that on this camera. I also miss the high speed connection that is standard on many camcorders. (Firewire, and now new Firewire 800, are faster than USB 1/2.) I recommend buying one of Canon's better accessory flash units.

You can purchase many Canon EF lenses very inexpensively that work fine with this camera, especially the telephotos since they don't suffer from the edge clarity drop off that older lenses can produce on digital cameras. Perhaps it is better to wait for the newer wide angles. The lens that comes with the Rebel is fine.

For years Consumers Reports has surveyed readers and found that Canon camcorders are among the worst in reliability. Since technology has moved both cameras and camcorders to digital, one hopes that the same problem doesn't afflict Canon cameras like this one.

Beginners only my ...!
The one dissenting opinion in these reviews was obviously written by an "uninformed person". This is far from a "Just for beginners" camera. I've been shooting 35MM SLRs for over 30 years and digital for over 5 years. This is the first affordable digital SLR... ever!... While it certainly lacks features compared to it's brothers the 1D and 1Ds and 10D, it is a worthy SLR digicam which is light years beyond anything in it's price class. Buy this camera with confidence. It will be a classic. Ignore the reviewer who gives no supporting evidence for his assertions. Sure you can pay 2 to 10 times as much and get a DSLR that is better, but do you really need it? This camera is perfect for 90% of DSLR users. Many of us are NOT beginners by a long shot!! There are plenty of professional photographers using older and less feature packed film cameras and probably shooting better pics than that reviewer!

Excellent Digital SLR for Canon Lens owners
This is the first affordable (i.e. <$1000) slr digital camera and although there are some compromises, it produces excellent pictures. Some care is needed to familiarise yourself with exposure modes and focusing. The default settings tend to produce slightly underexposed pcitures, but this is easily corrected.

The lack of spot metering in Program and Auto mode is irritating and can cause issues. Also note that the so called spot metering mode used in the "creative" settings is not as a good as that in, say, the Elan.

Indoor photography is tricky due to the lack of true wide angle lenses. Your 35mm lenses end up with an equivalent focal length x 1.6 which effectively means the resolution (after cropping and enlargement) is reduced. Not too bad for smaller prints but a compromise nevertheless.

The camera is very fast and shutter lag is minimal, a major issue with point and shoot cameras (from my point of view this is a primary reason - along with the interchangeable lenses -for buying a SLR digital)

Despite its slightly "cheesy" appearance, it is well built and operates with a good quality feel.

If you are Canon lens user/owner this is a no brainer at the price. If you do not have any lenses, look at the Nikon 100D and new Pentax before you make your choice.

Awesome Camera!
I have been shooting with a Nikon F100 for a couple of years and have always owned Nikon equipment. So far I have shot about 700 pictures with the Digital Rebel and I am loving this camera! I am using the $100.00 lens and the pop-up flash so far. I have been printing to a Canon 9000 printer and people are flipping over the quality of my pictures. On an 8 x 10 glossy, I can see the tiny hairs on my 3 month old little girls face and her blue eyes jump off the print! I went back to the camera store where I bought the camera and shot several indoor test shots with my standard $100.00 zoom lens and the new $800.00 Canon 17-40mm Zoom Lens. I was pretty darn surprised by the quality of the "cheapy" lens. The pictures were Very, Very similar. About the only place I could see any difference was black type on a white backgroud or white type on a black background. In these situations, the standand lens had slight glowing edges and was not quite as sharp as the expensive lens. For me and most people, I cannot see where the $800.00 lens is really worth it unless your loaded with money. The $100.00 lens really is quite good. I have not had quite as good exposer with the pop-up as I did with my SB-28 on my Nikon, but that is really apples and oranges. I would like some input from users that wave used a larger Canon Flash on the hot shoe. The battery life on this camera is AWESOME! Overall, I am very happy.

WOW!
I read every available review before purchasing this camera. I knew it was good, but didn't know how good until I got it in my hands. All I can say is wow!! I've been using Olympus digitals for about 5 years and have been very happy with their cameras. My most recent was the C-50.

I did own a Rebel GII, which took great pictures using film. This Digital Rebel goes beyond that. I was amazed at the colors & the sharpness of the pictures. I'm not the best photographer in the world, but this camera makes me feel like one. I haven't taken a bad shot yet.

The camera does have some weight to it, but it works to your advantage because there is less shaking when taking pictures. Also, you HAVE to look through the viewfinder to compose your shot-not the LCD screen. You can take 4 consecutive pictures w/o any delay, love that for action shots. The first time the flash popped up scared me, but you get used to it.

I have yet to find anything wrong with this camera. The controls are easy to navigate, menu is easy to see. It even rotates your pictures for you.

I Love the Rebel!
I had purchased the EOS Rebel Ti film camera one year ago and LOVED it. Everyone asked if it was digital and I said, "no, digital isn't up to my standards yet." Well, now it is! When I saw the Rebel Digital 6.3 megapixel I just *knew* the time had come to go digital. I am so happy with it! I bought it while on vacation this past week so I got to use it for vacation pictures. I bought a 128 MB memory card to go with it (it doesn't come with any memory card at all) and at the "Large/Fine" setting was able to take about 48 pictures before running out of room. At smaller settings I'd have gotten many more pictures out of the 128. But the camera comes with a cable and software to connect seamlessly with your computer, so since I brought my laptop along I was able to download my pictures and re-use the card. By trip's end I did buy a 512 MB card, but only in preparation for my trip to London next month, because I don't want to have to lug my laptop on my walks around the city.

I also experimented with switching the lens from my Rebel Film camera to my new Rebel Digital. The digital Rebel comes with an 18-55mm, while the film Rebel comes with a 28-90mm lens.The lens from the film Rebel fit just fine on the digital Rebel, but I was unable to switch the other way and put the 18-55 on my film Rebel. Both lenses worked great on the digital. The battery that the Rebel Digital uses is the same battery I use on my Canon ZR45 MC mini Digital Video Camcorder. I would say it lasted 3-4 days of moderate use on my Rebel, which is much better than the 3 hours I get from it on the camcorder.

Many of the controls on the digital Rebel are the same as on the film Rebel, which is to say, EASY and intuitive. What I like best about the Rebel is that it grows with you: you can use the auto controls to basically "point and shoot", or you can use the manual controls when you know what you're doing. The auto controls cover most circumstances you'll ever need: action, night, closeup, landscape, portrait, no flash, or fully automatic. The manual side gives you auto depth of field, aperture control, shutter speed control, exposure control, or fully manual. I've been extremely happy with the auto controls. Some day I'll graduate over to the manual side and try to dredge up from my memory what I learned 20 years ago in school.

What I love about digital is that you can instantly critique your photos and delete the ones that don't turn out as well as you'd thought. But what sold me on going digital at this point is that with the 6.3MP the quality is such that I can enlarge my photos to poster size without losing quality. You just don't have that in a 35 mm camera except under the most optimum conditions. I wanted the flexibility to be able to take pictures under all lighting conditions and be able to use the ones that turn out great in any way I want. I love taking night shots and these cameras handle them BEAUTIFULLY. I'm expecting to be able to make posters and frame and sell them.

I haven't yet printed out my pictures but they look absolutely fantastic on screen. I'm excited again about my photographic skills. This camera is everything I'd hoped a digital camera would be. It's also a very hot item right now so get yours when you can!

If you purchase, I recommend getting a UV lens right away, as well as a memory stick.

Simply an Amazing Camera
If you've been using a digital point-and-shoot for a while and you want to upgrade, you couldn't do any better than this camera. If you can operate a high-end P&S camera, you can operate the Digital Rebel. Simply choose your shooting mode (i.e. closeup, landscape, portrait, sports, etc.), press the shutter button halfway down to autofocus, then press the button all the way down. First you'll notice how fast the autofocus function is: you won't have to worry about missing shots. Then you'll see the photos, and you'll be amazed. If you use the "Large/Fine" setting, you'll have files which easily be printed at 16"x20" without any discernible loss of quality ... try doing THAT with the photos from your 3MP point compact.

But wait, there's more.

You CAN use this camera as a fancy point-and-shoot... or, if you invest a little time and study, you can get creative. The Digital Rebel allows you to control aperature, shutter speed, ISO settings, white balance, autofocus points, etc. It also allows you to use any Canon EF (autofocus) lens -- over sixty at last count. Telephoto lenses, wide-angle lenses, macro lenses which allow extreme closeups ... you're limited only by your imagination, and your accessory budget.

If you already own a film SLR and want to go digital, you're going to love this baby... especially if you own a Canon autofocus SLR. You'll be able to use your old lenses, flashes, and filters, and you'll be saving money on film and developing. Professionals may want to spend the extra $600 or so for the Canon 60D; it allows a bit more flexibility with light metering and has a more sturdy magnesium body which will better withstand the rigors of photojournalism ... but this is more than enough camera for anybody who isn't going to be using it to earn their daily bread.

One last bit of advice: get this one fast. Based on the buzz it's generated in various photo magazines, I'm guessing that the Digital Rebel will be flying off the shelves. Buy now before you get stuck in backorder purgatory.

Thinking about a move from 35mm EOS? Buy This!!
I've owned three digital cameras before this (a very small Sony, a Canon G1, and an older Kodak), and have been impressed with instant feedback received by viewing your photo 2 seconds after you took it, but was always left with the feeling that I needed to be able to change lenses and have more control over the process.

What I really wanted was my old Canon EOS 650 (35mm) camera to work with a digital camara back so that I could make use of my existing investment in lenses. Well guess what, that is exactly what the Digital Rebel provides!

Much to my surprise, all of my old EOS EF lenses work very well with this camera and I am getting much better results than I expected. This is a huge improvement over my other digicams - better resolution, color, overall quality, and I am in awe of what I get with my long telephoto lens.

A few notes. First, buy the kit lens (18-55mm EF-S); for $100 you'll use the lense and it is an incredible value (certinaly worth 2 to 3 times the cost). Second, if you take many indoor photos you'll want an external flash; I went with Canon's 420EX unti as it provides E-TTL exposure (essentially, the amount of flash is controlled by what the camera meters through the lens - a pretty amazing capability). Third, get a good amount of memory, like 2 512K card; its relatively inexpensive and by taking lots of photos you'll learn more about the camera's abilities sooner.

I am getting very long battery life (well into many hundreds of photos per charge), so unless you are headed off into the woods you may be able to hold off on purchasing a spare battery.

In summary, if you are an old 35mm EOS photographer, this is a complete no brainer since you get to use your lens investment. If you aren't, I'd highly recommend this camera anyway (and look into the Canon 70-200mm/f4 telephoto lense - its extremely high quality and a reasonable price). Now smile and say "Canon".

New Years Resolution #135 ~ Take better pictures
Let me just tell you.. this is one Christmas present that will get more use than anything else that I've ever received! The Drebel takes fantastic pictures. If you want to see for yourself? Go to http://www.pbase.com/cameras/canon/eos_300d and see for yourself. It's not my site, it's a compliation of differnet sites that specifically used the Drebel. What better way is there to judge for yourself.. as to what this camera can do?

Even though this camera is a bit pricy for the "normal" person, I believe it's well worth it.. especially if you want to take better pictures. The battery life is excellent, and can last you an entire day shooting. Be sure to pick yourself up a high capacity CF card though.. because with 6.5 MP, this camera takes some large pictures. But the pictures are rich with color and life!

You get the one lens, with this particular 'kit', but you can pick up a variety of lenses that can go with it... so you can shoot closeup shots.. to telephoto. You're not stuck using the EF lenses, strictly from Canon, you can use any lense, from any manufacturer, as long as they will fit the Canon EOS body. When in doubt, be sure to ask from wherever you're buying the lense from! If you buy online, call and ask! (only deal with reputable online retailers or make sure you do your research first).. and if you're buying locally.. you can always bring your camera into the store with you to make sure. Because of this versitility in who's lenses you can use, you don't have to spend high $$$$ on a lense.

It's ability to take either type I or type II CF card is very good, and because it's not limited to the size of the card, you can even go with higher capacity things, such as a microdrive, if you want to. (that saves some $ there .. as microdrives are a bit less expensive than CF cards).

The weight of the camera, itself, is very comfortable. It's not too heavy and Canon provides a good strap for around your neck. Of course, you start adding on telephoto lenses, and the weight is going to increase.. but it's doable.. besides.. that's what tripods are for ;) It fits well into my hand and the buttons are in an easy reach position.

The only thing really "lacking" on this camera.. is .. well.. if anything I would have a better instruction booklet. Not that theirs is bad.. but for the average consumer, who wants to learn photography ... what is aperature, etc....... the instruction booklet is a bit lacking. Maybe it's suppose to be that way, but IMO, it'd be nice if it covered a little bit about that sort of stuff........... or maybe an additional insert. Of course, that's why there's otherphotography books available too.

All in all, I love this camera. I've had a variety of digital cameras over the years, and this, by far, is my favorite. So my New Years Resolution for 2004 is to learn this camera a bit better (not so hard to do), and take better pictures.

I think I'm well on my way!

Excelent camera... with a microdrive!
This is my third digital camera after an Olympus C5050 and a Canon G3, and with some editing limitations, this Canon EOS digital Rebel is the best.

C5050 is richer in features like b&w pictures, sepia finish, two pics in one, different settings for flash, etc., but Canons goes further in aspects like writing speed. I can shoot 10 continuous pictures using the same Micro drive card with the Canon EOS Digital, and none of my other cameras could do that.

Also the exchangeable lenses are excellent!, no more 3X and 4X limitations!.

I got a 70-300 mm ultrasonic zoom lens at retailer in San Antonio Texas for only 234 dollars.

Battery life is more than good, the best on the three cameras I have.

CONS: Weight and volume. Yes, forget about the light camera for your day walk at the park for shooting the mountains or anything you can get on the way, this canon is bulkier and heavier, so we're traveling with at least two cameras, the canon and one of the smaller.

Buy a Micro drive card and get no less than 240 pictures on the highest resolution per card.

I'm positive on this purchase and hope with this my cravings for mega pixels will rest for at least 1.5 to 2 years

Terrific camera to learn photography with
I was doing very heavy research for a ~$400 digital camera last Summer when Canon announced this baby out of the blue. The prospect of getting a 6.3MP digital SLR for a little more than double what I was prepared to spend on a camera was a no-brainer for me. I received my Digital Rebel w/ kit lens at the end of September, so I've been using it for almost 4 months. I'm no photographer; I'm still learning even the basics of photography.

First of all, I recommend the kit lens. It's great for wide-angle interior shots, especially parties and get-togethers. I was wanting for something with zoom, so I picked up a 28-200mm zoom lens, but I consider the kit lens to be my "interior" lens and use it as such.

Adjusting to shooting through only the viewfinder was more of an adjustment than I expected, having used a point-and-shoot digital for 3 years prior. I'm getting used to it more quickly than I expected, though. I expect that, eventually, I'll consider it unprofessional to shoot with an LCD. On the other hand, there are situations where shooting from the LCD would be advantageous and helpful.

Recommendations: 1) learn to use exposure lock to get proper exposure, especially in scenes with light and dark. 2) Always shoot in RAW mode for special shots, such as family portraits. Nothing is worst than assembling the troops, shooting what seems to be a good pic, getting it on the computer, realizing that it'll need a lot of touching up and noticing that your JPEG image loses detail and quality with every touch-up.

Most sub-$1000 cameras teach you simply how to snap photos. The Digital Rebel teaches you *photography*. If you're a novice like me and this sounds intimidating, then sticking with a cheaper point-and-shoot sounds up you're alley; however, if you welcome the challenge, then this is the camera for you.

This camera is god.
This camera has one flaw and one flaw only. The auto white balance tends to make some image yellowish with the flash off. Everything else about the camera is amazingly good.

The white balance with flash on is perfect. The batteries don't seem to die at all. The auto focus is extremely fast. I tried (forgetting I had manual focus) to get something out of focus by moving the camera rapidly. Didn't work.

The lens is high quality had has a pretty good zoom (3x BTW- took me a while to find that info) It has a switch on the side to go between manual and auto focus.

The modes work as they say they do. All 12 are useful for different shots. Go into the auto mode and the camera becomes a point-and-shoot. Go into full manual and it becomes the camera that takes photos you find in magazines. Remarkably, it even takes perfect photos of people who always say they aren't photogenic (and aren't with any other camera). People who blink when the flash goes off don't with this camera.

It took me a few weeks to learn how to use the manual modes. The manual is extremely good, considering I used it. (I usually hate using manuals) The macro mode is so good, pictures often come out badly because the camera shows dust and dirt on the objects that you can't even see with the naked eye. I consider this good.

The camera seems to be designed for right handed people, but I am left handed, and it doesn't feel awkward at all. I also wear glasses, and find taking pictures comfortable with or without them. (The adjustment just barely corrects for my poor vision, however)

The controls are well laid out and make sense. The menus are easy to navigate, and deleting pictures is fast. The design of the camera is also great. Even though the body is plastic, it looks and feels more like metal. Not cheap at all. It looks great.

And its pictures are just amazing. Amazing.

If you are looking for a camera in this price range, get this camera.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at dzweben@mac.com, and I will try to answer them.

It;s time to make the jump to digital
I've been looking at digital cameras for over a year now and I have been holding off. When this camera came out it got my attention. I finally bought one three weeks ago when I was on a trip and I forgot my film point and shoot.

Had I known what this camera could do I would have bought it three months ago when I could have. The camera functions great in fully automatic mode. The automatic "creative" settings and the "manual" modes also work very well. The only thing you have to watch for are the focus points which will vary so keeping clicking half way until they are on the important points. The camera with the stock lens is plenty sharp - and this is coming from a long time Nikkor lens guy shooting on F2's and F3's.

Get a 1gig flash card and you will not believe how many large files you can get on a card. Battery life is good for around 350 large photos with alot of flash shots, but you need a spare battery. The 512 battery is less expensive and works as well if not better than the 511. Do not bother to get a card reader - you do not need it.

It took this camera to get a dedicated 35mm shooter to make the jump. The only problem is that now I have a whole different series of lens to buy. I got a great deal on the 75-300 USM III lens and I have been happy with it. You can and will shoot more photos than you ever did with a 35mm - and I generally shoot with a motor drive - and you will be amazed with the results. Do not rely on the LCD to decide if you want to keep the shot - wait unitl you get home. You get a video out cord to show the photos on a television. My only question about the camera is its long term durability as it is not heavily built - but then again I'm used to shooting with a camera that is known to be a real tank. I looked at the Sony 828 but it is not a SLR and the feature set is harder to access - aside from the numerous problems that we have heard about that camera.

Did I say that I was very happy with this camera?

What an Awesome Camera
I purchased this camera after studying several similar cameras and reading every review. After comparing all the pros and cons of the many cameras that I was reviewing, I decided on this one. I am extremely happy with the decision.

This camera is a full size SLR camera, which is exactly what I was looking for. I have big hands and the compact cameras just didn't fit well. I wanted a digital camera that does everything the SLR cameras do. This camera is the ticket. I can practice all day long using all the different settings to get used to the camera, and I don't have to worry about wasting film.

It has six settings for file size of the .jpg photos. The highest quality (6.3) mega pixel is about 3 megs. The smallest is about a 4/10 to 3/10s of a meg, which is a very good quality picture, even at the smallest setting. I recommend getting the high-speed compact flash card for the camera, it's only about ten dollars more and you can take high-speed photos with it. I take about 2-3 a second (1-2 a second using the flash), which is outstanding for a digital camera.

I haven't experienced some of the problems I have read in other reviews, such as under exposed photos indoors; in fact I've experienced great indoor shots. I had a few unfocused shots, but that was me, not the camera.

I could go on and on about this camera, the most important thing, it's easy to learn, even for a beginner and is just about everything you will want in a camera (except for being tiny). It's a great buy.

Best Buy
I have just received my rebel (got it on Friday) and already took more than 800 pictures with it. I have been using Digital Cameras for 4 years and can't believe the difference from my previous ones. It is as if you were shooting with a film SLR, but being able to see the results faster. In fact I am enjoying this one a lot more than the film SLRs.

About the plastic body, if you are not a professional journalistic photografer struggling in the crowd to find a good spot to take pictures and risking damaging it, you'll be happy that you are carrying a lighter camera.

I recommend this camera for all amateur phtographers as you can take high quality pics in full auto and wonderful pics with manual or creative modes when you learn how to use them, as it is not rocket science. Once you learn how to manually set the parameters, I recommend getting better lenses. The kit lenses are perfect for beginners. the only con I see is the 1.6X factor that makes you lose some pics where you need wide angles. I hope they come with a solution for this problem in the future as zooming is good but sometimes we need wide angle as well.

Excellent Pro-sumer camera but...
When I saw a digital SLR below $1k for the body I knew I was going to buy one. A friend of mine has the 10D and loves it (he's a pro) so I bought the Rebel. I'm very happy with the camera. It works exactly as advertised, but most of the time I use it as a point and shoot type camera. That being said it's not the best point in shoot camera. I always seem to be adjusting something to get the picture the way I want it. Maybe that's the way SLR's are? My Kodak DC265 is a much better point in shoot type camera (remember back when the DC265 use to be a pro-sumer camera?). However, the ease of use and speed of the camera I believe makes up for it's short comings as a point and shoot camera (which it's not intended to be anyway).

BTW I have the Canon 28-105mm II USM lens on mine. I find myself wanting a wide angle lens and occasionally a macro lens.

Fast and Fun
My wife and I recently decided to take the plunge into the "digital" photography world, but we were really concerned with losing the functionality for special shots that we had with our old Canon AE. The Digital Rebel was exactly what we were looking for! Talk about functionality. This camera does more than we could have ever hoped for in a digital unit. It's easy to manipulate, and is lightning fast. No waiting for the shutter and missing that important candid shot. The images are clear and crisp and download to the PC (or straight to the printer) in seconds. The ability to cary one camera that does it all from close ups, to portraits, to landscapes and sports shots is wonderful. With a 512MB CF card, you can hold over 150 high quality photos at once (over 200 at reduced levels). No worries with having to sort the good from the bad now. Just snap away and sort them out later.
Now we are simply waiting for a telephoto zoom lens and we will have all the still photo capablility we need in one handy little bag. Yes, it's a bit pricey, but well worth every penny!

Canon EOS Digital Rebel is tres fantastique!
I had been drooling over this camera for months, and recently I was able to purchase it. In the area that I live the camera hadn't come in, and I was going to have to special order it. Luckily Best Buy saved the day and thus...this review. I have a great Pentax ZX-60 SLR that I have been using for quite some time (I love this camera as well) and had had a cheapo digital camera, so I was a little skeptical at how the digital rebel would perform. This camera has given me some awesome pictures in the few weeks that I have had it. Prior to owning this camera, I was considering becoming a professional photographer, and now I am truly hoping to become that. The only thing that bother's me about the camera, is that it didn't come with ANY internal memory. But, I talked my husband into getting the 1 gigabite compact flash card, so I am set. It would be disappointing to recieve and then have to go and buy a compactflash card just to see if the camera works. Another great feature of the camera is the rechargable ion battery. My prior digital camera took 2 AA batteries and sucked the juice out of them as quick as I put them in. I took 92 pictures the other day with the rebel, and the battery hasn't run down at all. One thing that I would recommend a buyer do would be to buy the camera bag that Canon has made to fit the digital rebel. It's sixty dollars, but it comes with a UV filter (which is great to protect the lens) and an extra rechargable battery! I could take a gazillion pictures with both of these batteries! Anyhow, I completely recommend this camera to anyone who has some knowledge of how to use a 35mm SLR camera. If you don't have the knowledge, the camera does have a point and shoot type mode, but why waste your money if you aren't going to use any of the super cool features that you are going to pay for??? J'adore le Canon Digital Rebel!!!

Pretty darn good camera
Previous digital camera is a Olympus Camedia 4.1 - it takes some very good pix and is quite rugged.

Before purchasing the Canon Rebel-D I read over a dozen editorial reviews, many dozen(s) customer reviews and hundreds of newsgroup postings related to it. I read the manual, cover to cover, three times and reviewed specific pages many times. I visited three different retail outlets and handled the camera many times.

I've now shot a few hundred test pix of a myriad of subjects using every camera setting available. Most were shot using the Canon EF 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens.

A lot of the 'con' comments about the camera - white balance problems, dark flash problems, focus issues, etc - I have found to be user user specific. Don't blame the camera.

I've printed differing sizes of prints on two different HP photo printers and have taken the files to four different retail print sources. With one exception the printed photos have been quite acceptable. (Kit's Camera at our local mall had a focus problem with their Dye-Sub printer. They assured me the tech would be called)

If I could add just two missing features they would be the LCD preview and the flash exposure adjustment.

The camera gets a thumbs-up here!

Prosumer or P&S - it does it..
After reading the couple poor/inexperienced reviews of the camera, I had to write. The Dreb is an EXCELLENT camera for both indoors and outdoor photography from the beginner all the way to even the pro ranks. The Dreb has one of the cleanest images in the high ISO ranges (extremely low noise) of all the cameras. ANY digital image should be post processed, and canon intentionally uses softer raw image processing (which you can change the parameters and even a free third party program called FEC set) than the rest. Their software does a nice job of post processing for being a bundled software. Almost ALL of the other manufacturers oversharpen the images and Canon gives you room to adjust the images. Basically, the Dreb is a Canon 10D except for a lack of a few advanced features and has a tough composite body compared to the 10D's magnesium body (I have both the Dreb and the 10D - so take it from someone who knows first hand). The Dreb does do much better with a 420EX shoemount Flash ($180)and with a Sto-Fen Omni-bounce ($20)on it. You get photos rivaling the pros. Again, I know, I take portraits to high speed motorsports with it. The kit lens 18-55s is an excellent lens and if you complement it with a sigma 70-300 DL super macro ($150+/-) lens, you've got a decent priced setup. I also have the both IS USM lenses and can tell you the cheaper SIGMA focuses faster than the 70-300 IS USM lens (compared them following a RC controlled car!) and even full length focal in macro is better than the $600 IS lens; which by the way, doesn't have macro feature. Overall the camera is worth more than what you pay. If you get a defective camera, then exchange it, don't bash one of the best cameras/price out there.. Don't shy away from this camera, as you grow/learn, it'll do whatever you point it at.... want examples? go to Pbase or any other photo review site and you'll see that the Dreb is more than respectable.

Absolutely the best digital camera for the price
Had this camera now almost 2 months, took over 1200 pictures. I had some enlarged to 12"x18" and there is no graininess in the pictures. I showed them to people and they thought they were absolutely beautiful. In order to get a "crystal clear" picture (like regular 35mm SLRs), you should always use a tripod, even if the shutter speed seems fast as I can tell the difference between using the tripod and not using it. Only that way will the pics look very sharp. I'm sure lots of these reviews say you see a soft look but if you use the tripod you will see sharp lines, etc. My 3 second waterfall pics look as good as any I've ever seen. I'm sure that the graininess will start to show larger than 12"x18". By the way, use the timer to get pics so you don't wiggle the camera when you push the button or buy the corded remote which works great as a timed "bulb" timer.

As for the flash, well its not the best but for everyday snapshots it works fine. I suggest the 420EX by canon for a great flash.

Plastic body isn't as good as the more expensive cameras but it is very hard plastic and feels extremely solid.

The camera's lens that comes with it is good, not great but very capable for the extra cost of the camera.

One of the drawbacks is the mirror instead of a prism in the more expensive cameras and also the mirror 'slap' seems louder and may cause more vibration, which could lead to less sharp pics. But I would say that is it. The camera is very formidible and I seriously recommend it to anyone.

Best entry-level digital SLR
This camera is my fourth digital. The single most annoying artifact of many digital cameras is shutter latency. Press the button, wait... Wait...snip! A second can be an eternity for many shots and sometimes the moment will never return, especially if you have children. You can't put a price tag on shots lost due to shutter latency.

The Canon Digital Rebel has no perceptible shutter latency. Plus, the shutter is an electromagnetic release so something tangible, physical happens when you press the shutter button. This would be true for any SLR. The camera makes a satisfying 'kerchunk' sound when you take a picture, and that sound is real, not a sample or beep coming out of a speaker. With some digital cameras, there is little or no feedback indicating you took a picture at all.

There are other aspects to this camera that make it ideal for capturing shots that may not last:

1) a real power switch - not a soft switch that you have to hold down for several seconds before the unit powers on. Some cameras you also have to wait for the lens to pop out. Gah!

2) EF lens zoom - quick, direct hand-held zoom adjustment - not a small lever that drives a motor that changes the zoom - almost worthless under many situations.

...and of course the shutter. All of this means you can reach for the camera, flick it on and snap a photo in seconds.

Obviously, this is not a pocket camera. There are many good models that provide this functionality, I own one myself, but the features inherent to the 300D are mutually exclusive to that of a pocket camera. It is pretty hefty, too - it weighs more than my 35mm Rebel SLR.

I've read some people bring the durability of the plastic body into question. Modern composites offer durability at a fraction of the weight of metal. And, there has to be something about this camera that feels less pro than Canon's high end offerings or else it would seriously cannibalize their sales.

PDF manuals of Canon products are available at their web site. Go check it out before you buy.

A 512MB CF card provides well over 120 pictures at large/fine mode (the top level before RAW) The battery pack provides hundreds of flash pictures before recharging.

Stay With the Sony
Purchased a 300D to be able to change lenses and add a pro strobe. I haven't as of yet been able to get the manual mode to expose correctly (always underexposed) Even using the 550EX flash. To date I have yet to get a lens that compares to the sharpness of the zeiss on my sony 707. I wish I would have bought the Sony 838. Spent a bundle on lenses and what I've ended up with is basicly a range of 28 - 300 (35mm equivelant)with none giving comparable sharpness to my 707.
You get that range stock on the sony for the same $1000 bucks or so you get the cannon and its 18-55 (29-88 35mm equivelant) cheap plastic lens for. I like to use aperature priority with a bounce flash for portraits. Nixed on the cannon by its metering background lighting in A mode with flash. This would be Ok if the manual mode flash metering was acceptable but its not. I feel I've been trapped in a money pit buying lenses and strobes tyrying to get this camera to peform to my expectations. I probabally would have been perfectly satisfied if I had not owned the 707 and known what a sharp lens was capable of producing. I see that most of the lower reviews are from former sony owners. I guess we have been spoiled.

Owned for three months
This is an excellent D-SLR but it's not a point-and-shoot. If that's what you're expecting, you'll be disappointed. Although I saw immediately that this camera was capable of taking great pictures my initial results were admittedly inconsistent. Some of the problems others had complained of (underexposures, focusing on the wrong object, etc) were happening to me. However, I now get very consistent results. The camera didn't change of course; I've just learned to use it properly. It lacks a few features found on some more expensive models but the picture quality can't be bettered at twice the price. Read the manual, use it, read the manual again, use it some more, etc. If you're willing to learn it's idiosyncrasies it will reward you with beautifully sharp and detailed photos. By the way, if you don't like to post-process your photos (I don't mind) you can turn up the sharpness, contrast, etc quite a bit above the default settings right in the camera. The built-in flash works as well as any (and better than many) with little red-eye. Several external flash units will also work very nicely with this camera. The kit lens feels cheap but produces good pictures. Even so, I've added a few more lenses to my arsenal. The one I use most is a Canon 28-135mm, image stabilized. Image stabilization (IS) is a great feature for low light photography at telephoto focal lengths. To sum up, if image quality is your top priority and your budget is in the thousand-dollar range you cannot do better than this camera.

Great Camera for the Price, but could stand some improvement
Ok, first off I have to say that I bought my camera about 3 days ago. I have used it for several personal events, but I have not used it yet to do the main thing I bought it for, which is sports and action photos.

I have read some great reviews about this camera, and overall I am very pleased with it. But I do think that there are 2-3 items that I should address that annoy me about this camera, which I did not realize before buying.

First, I came from a Canon EOS A2, which had most features that I ever needed. About my only complaint on this camera was that the flash-synche wasn't quite fast enough for me. But that was minimal.

Now, with the Digital Rebel, I realize I am taking a step down in the EOS "family line" but I was hoping the Rebel would be upgraded as such with the features that it's predecessors lacked. Some were, and some weren't.

The first lacking feature is the inability to change metering modes. The camera has preset metering modes in the different "creative" and "preset" settings. I cannot change from center-weighted metering to full-frame metering in Tv (shutter priority) Av (aperature priority) or full program (P) The camera presets the metering for each of these modes and does not give me the option to change.

The same is true for Single Shot and AI Servo focussing. I cannot tell the camera to focus on a moving subject, unless in the "Sports" mode, and then in this mode, I cannot set the shutter speed manually. In Tv, the camera "senses" whether you are following a subjext or not, and focuses either single-shot or AI Servo, depending on the movement of the subject. But I have noticed that it takes a small amount of time to detect the subject moving. After this, the lightning-fast EOS focussing system kicks in and all is well.

These may be minor features to most, but they are features I became accustomed to with the EOS A2, and that camera is several years old. I was hoping this new and improved rebel would be more munipulative, but it is not.

Overall I would still rate this camera at 4 stars. The photo quality is outstanding and the ease of use is great. The focusing still screams and I can use my former lenses. I just wish I would have known about these other features before-hand.

Can't say enough good things
When I first read the reports about this camera, I was a little bit dismayed that Canon left off features like user-selectable auto-focus modes, flash exposure compensation, and selectable metering modes. After some due reflection though, I can only remember a handful of times when I've used those features on my film cameras. In the end, a six-megapixel digital SLR that can use the same lenses as my beloved Elan II, for under $1000 was an irresistable combination.

I haven't been disappointed. I picked up my Digital Rebel at the end of February. Since then, I've shot nearly 1000 frames, and I don't think I can be happier. The pictures are crisp, with excellent color representation, and the camera is responsive and acts exactly the way I expect an EOS to act. I've used it so far for landscapes, portrait, casual snapshots, and sports, and all of the pictures have been excellent. I've had a number of them printed, including one at 20"x30". Battery life is good, and I've yet to lose power during an outing. Ergonomics are excellent and the camera is light and easy to carry all day.

My suggestions for anyone buying this camera is to get a large memory card, (The pictures will take up about 3MB a-piece.) a USB 2.0 reader for downloads, and lots of ink and paper for your printer.

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, freeing up storage space for another try. No more suspense, as was the case with film, about how, or whether, the pictures turned out. The CF cards that the camera uses will hold several hundred images depending on the type of file format that the user selects. After a shooting session, the user can examine the shots in detail on a personal computer and determine which ones are worthy of printing. Then we can either print out professional-quality photos on a PC printer (photo-quality printers are not at all expensive these days, although the ink is not cheap) or email the image files to any of several printing companies that will mail back prints in a day or two. The convenience is incomparably better than film.

The results are better than film as well. Using any of several inexpensive computer programs, even a casual amateur can modify, crop, and make other changes to the digital images that surpass what could once only be done in a $20,000 chemical darkroom. The "digital darkroom" has arrived!

The Digital Rebel is positioned well below Canon's excellent flagship camera, the Canon 10D. It lacks certain features of the 10D including certain metering options. It is not built as sturdily as the all-metal 10D. But build quality is not at all bad on the Digital Rebel, and I liked the ergonomics of the camera and the layout of the menus. And the price is truly competitive, around $500 less than the 10D--a significant difference.

For a 35mm photographer looking to make the jump to digital, the Rebel is definitely one to consider. If one has an investment in Canon autofocus lenses, the Rebel may very well be the way to go. Users who do not have an investment in lenses will also want to compare the Rebel to the Nikon D70. The two cameras are priced roughly the same, and the feature set is somewhat different--the D70 provides for different metering options that may (or may not) make a difference to the buyer.

Overall, the Digital Rebel is a hot seller for good reason--it can take stunning digital images, it uses the same lenses as Canon's more expensive 10D, and is priced for the serious amateur market rather than the semi-pro market.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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