Canon EOS Digital Rebel / 300D Digital SLRs
Canon EOS Digital Rebel / 300D Digital SLRs
[Nov 03, 2004]
ystasino
Casual
Strength:
Best Value for beginners Good build for the price Accepts all Canon lenses Noise free compared to digicams. Noiseless ISO 100, very acceptable ISO 200 and 400, and somewhat useable ISO 800. 3rd party firmware that enables Mirror lock-up, selectable one shot focus, RAW-embedded JPG selectable size. Thousands sold so there is an abundance of knowledge about this camera, even instructions of how to salvage it if you drop it in water and examples of the angles at which dropping the camera doesnt break it !
Weakness:
6.3 MP will not quite cut it for landscapes. AF system and shutter lag are worse than in every other dSLR (but better than digicams). Unable to select AI Servo. AI Focus, where the camera chooses whether to track or lock a subject is the Digital Rebel's mostly criticised weakness. Exposure and light metering is usable but may be tricky to get used to I believe that after 4500 shots I can now tell the good and the bad of this best seller with relation to my needs. This camera is very good value and very good for those who start learning about (digital) photography. Coming from any of these angles this camera is a great learning experience for those who wish to learn about optics. The image quality is very good and 6.3 clean MP are always better than overprocessed, oversharpened 8 MP from any digicam. And you ll learn not to need live preview either. Customer Service Not needed Similar Products Used: FUJI FINEPIX 4900Z |
[Sep 11, 2004]
Christiano
Professional
Strength:
many many..its so much a CULT camera so if they make a RED version and call it the HOT cake..it will be sold for years to come! its seems that the little brother (rebel) will kill the D10 !
Weakness:
its silver..it should be black This Digital Rebel is a real true winner!! we(my assistent)and i have just went back home from Athens Olympic Games and we have used this besides my beloved D 10 and D1,and have found out that this is a remarkable good camera with more than very good characteristics.! It even focus proberly!! (better than its big brother D10!) and my assistent used this with a 70-200 L lens with very good results.No probs with blur or alike.Canon what have you done right? is it the same chip?= or have you simply become better to make the chip?the files we get seems to be better too!! as a user i dont know,its a little mystery. As a consequence,we have know sold the D10 as a result and waiting for the D20 and pray its better than the D10. Meanwhile we have kept the DIGI REB and work with it every day,with very good succes-we also use the little 18-55 lens and our newspaper customers are very satiesfied with the pics this combo gets! we think its best buy a combo only costing .1000 EUR ! wauw. Time passes and the Digital DSLR gets better and better,i still remember the D30 this Rebel is much much better ! well,you can even make it better ! right now somebody download improvements(alternative software) on the Rebel that makes it almost as 92 % close to the D10,and it works they say!i mean time will show if these guys out there outperforms even new products on the market by making different kits and software to the existing cameras! who knows? in the meantime i use this Rebel with more and more pleasure! ITS fantastic! Canon= thank you for this product! Customer Service Nope Similar Products Used: D30 D60(good too),D1 (wau) D1 mk 2(No 1) |
[Jun 25, 2004]
dw9262
Professional
Strength:
Easy to use (read manual carefully) Fast Focus Great Pictures
Weakness:
A bit heavy, that's usually the case for a SLR body. Focus in low light is a little tricky. Built in flash is not powerful enough when subject is more than 10 feet away. Before buying this camera, I was using a compact digital camera, Fujifilm A260. Because of its size, it was convenient and easy to use. Canon EOS rebel is a lot bigger and heavier, it does take great pictures and fast. Multi-continuous shot feature is great when I'm taking my 7-months' pictures. Point-and-shoot camera has no comparison for this feature. Preset modes are great when you want to compose picture fast. Review screen let you know if you need to retake another pictures. Great value for the price you pay for. Highly recommend it. Customer Service Didn't use Similar Products Used: Canon EOS5 FujiFilm A260 Digital |
[Jan 31, 2004]
IDIGPHOTOS
Intermediate
Strength:
Fast focus.(i must confess I am using the 28-135mm lens) Life like color reprodution.Real camara feel.Easy menu navigation. Love the ease of the play back mode.No more multi button pushing.The list could go on forever.
Weakness:
If I had to find one fault it would be the little rubber door where the video connections are. Just looks like it will not last with excessive use. Bought a card reader to get around that problem. Thats it. I had to write a review after getting this camara. Read a lot of reviews some postive some negative. Most of the negative things listed by people dealing with focus issues and white balance issues ,flash exposure indoors can all be corrected by a few things. First read your instruction manual they sent it with the camara for a reason. Second develop your photography skills before you complain. Photography is an art. The Rebel is a joy to use and absoultely a fantastic camara. Buy it and you will love it. Customer Service never used. Similar Products Used: Olympus C- 4000 zoom. ( A great point and shoot camara. |
[Jan 04, 2004]
caterpillar
Expert
Strength:
-small size & light weight even w/kit lens -sturdy build even if polycarbonate body -does not feel flimsy & solid to hold -fast AF and on the spot -cmos sensor is tested and creamy smooth -clean images even high ISOs (800 is fixable, 1600 is usable) -long battery life with many shots -kit lens performs above board in sharpness/contrast in all focal lengths. -kit lens has 18mm and covers up to 88mm portraiture. -first affordable dslr. best bang 4 buck -opens access to Canon top lenses -RAW file supported well by 3rd party -Creative Modes offsets weakness of creative modes and allows one to take great shots. -has bulb -built in flash all right and right on exposure (mine is OK). -auto rotate of images -battery charger is very handy & fast too. -Adobe Elements is a good software as a starter. But will need full blown PS for more control and better RAW handling.
Weakness:
-ISO, WB info not displayed in viewfinder. you get to shoot with wrong ISO or WB. -circuituous route to set custom WB - battery indicator does not really tell you if you are near empty. -cannot adjust display timer -no PC sync -88mm f5.6 of the kit lens is a bit slow -Canon flash system basically not as good as Nikon. Need to work to get exposure right. -BASIC modes virtually useless. Causes more problems than solves them. -metering is too unpredictable and requires lots of practice to master -way to protect img is also circuituous to use. -7 point AF pts too quirky that center point is the preferred choice. -lcd display can mislead user his exposure is already correct. -pre-flash firing can be distracting -No FEC -tungsten WB is virtually useless. Need to define your own. -parameter 1 is ok for some settings, but tends to be too harsh, sharp, saturated or contrasty in some shotting situations. -bundled software except Elements not that poewerful, especially the raw converter. -4 frame buffer can be limiting in sports shooting -does not save 2 CF if shutter is 1/2 pressed. -USB transfer too slow from camera. Needs a card reader This is my 1st DSLR and 1st Canon camera. The build is solid. Not plasticky. If people did not see the silver and know it is plastic they would not think it is flimsy. The polycarbonate used here is the same used for airplane windshields and helmets. The size is also small, though my right hand little finger needs something to rest on (BG-E1?) due to its smaller size. Not a problem though. One of the 1st things I noticed is the images are very smooth and clean. ISO 800 can still be very good. And ISO 1600 is usable and can pass easily if cleaned with neat image or similar software. Of course these are not candidates for 20x30, but for smaller prints they will pass. You also have bulb and remote trigger/time laspse option if you have a PC or notebook. The kit lens is also a revelation. Though it looks flimsy and weak, it takes very sharp pictures all around. It has 28-88mm equiv w/c is a good range. A good all around lens though I favor long ends more so I got other long zoom lenses. But the wide side is good so get this camera with the kit lens, if only for the wide. Does not suffer AF problems of 10D. And the AF is fast & on the spot. No front/backfocusing on my camera and lenses. The red dots can be hard to see though in certain lightings. Have had no problems with flash, internal or external. No underexposed pix. All are spot on even if checked with PS using face level. But there is always that FEC software to adjust it with. Need to sharpen image more to get pop out of it. This is not a p&s camera. It can be for some situations (about 70%) but not all. The BASIC modes are virtually useles and cause undereposed shots especially with the built-in flash. The imgs also tend too be too contrasty especially with already contrasty scenes. Better to operate in the Creative options. P is the easiest. Better start w/ parameter 1 then go to parameter 2 or set your own settings. If you want to get sharp but not to contrasty shots, I have a setting of sharpness +1 and contrast -1. Works well for me 80-85% of the time. Needs less sharpening but you can recover the shadows if you have to. Mix your own once you have learned it. Two important tips. 1. Always check you AWB setting. 2. Always check your ISO settings. Because these 2 are not in the viewfinder, if you change them, you can forget that you left it there and find that your very bright outdoor shot was taken with ISO 800 and is on tungsten or custom WB. I have often encountered this situation and Canon must really put these info on the viewfinder as with constant shooting you do not remove your eyes off the viewfinder and can miss this. Pre-flash can make people think the camera has fired. Also not good for candid shots if flash pre-fires. Summary A lot of people can claim that the 300d is crippled. And may well be. If you really look at it, it is a 10D minus some features. If you really look at your own shooting needs, ask yourself if you can do without these 10d features. If not, then you have a camera that can basically do what the 10D except for some situations. And this is the 1st camera that broke the U$1,000. It will go int the annals of photography as the 1st to do that. And it will be the benchmark other manufacturers will try to beat. 6 months from now, the 300D will be a relic with Nikon, Olympus, and maybe Minolta coming up with less "crippled" dslrs in the same price range. The DRebel will look like an old soldier by then. I have lived and used all manual Nikons and with only Av as the "automatic" feature in my life. I didn't have AF, no spot metering, no matrix or Evaluative metering, etc. Yet I was able to take great pictures. Now that I have all these things, why would I complain about not having FEC (didn't have that before either), or no custom settings, etc? If one masters the dRebel, or any other camera, learn to live with its limitations and work around them, one cannot but take great pictures. Customer Service None yet. Similar Products Used: Nikon F3, FM, FM2, FE2 wiht lenses. flashes and accessories. Now using Canon ef lenses (28-105 f3.5-4.5 usm mk1, 75-300mm IS, 50mm f1.8mkII, ef-s 18-55. |
[Nov 28, 2003]
Indridcold70
Intermediate
Strength:
just about everything, it's simple to use, metering works well, focusing system is good too
Weakness:
plastic body, i already have a few scuff on it can't use TTL flashes, have to use E-TTL I read many of the reviews on this website before I decided to plunk down 800+ dollars for a new camera, and boy am I glad I did! I have had it for a week now, and I have shot over 600 pictures already. The instant feedback from digital is extremely useful, but with the zoom feature, you can really tell if the picture is acceptably sharp. Some of the reviews I have read here and other places have pictures taken with flash come out underexposed and since there is no FEC to adjust, your stuck with it. I came across a bulletin board that had a link to a site to download a program to adjust the FEC. The site is http://revolution.cx/rcx/fecset.htm and it does work. You can adjust it up to +2 to -2. That was the only concern I had, everything else on this camera works great. The only gripe I have is you can't use regular TTL flashes with it, so I got the 420ex and it works great. But no 2nd curtain sync is available :-( The plastic body kind of scratches easily. Customer Service not needed, and hope it never sill be! Similar Products Used: my first digital SLR |
[Nov 22, 2003]
Professional
Strength:
ALL i think the best buy at the moment in the photo businees. ESPECIALLY with the PHASE ONE software its light easy to use with PHASE ONE you have pro results in no time many accessories an amateur camera with pro almost pro feat
Weakness:
silver,(why not dark grey !?)scratches ..looks cheap This is a very good product indeed ;you cant go wrong investing in this EOS camera from Canon. Yes It is easy to work with light and still strong,it takes stunning sharp pictures please use L series Lens or at least a the Ef 24-85 or 50 mm 1,4 usm if you cant afford the L series. Otherwise the 18-55 is very very good and you wil find it more than okay. Its a hit easy to use and it can get much better!! how? Buy the new soft ware from Phase One(see www.phase one.com) for only usd 49 and it gets better in almost every area!! speed colours and all general functions! you wont believe it,but it certainly put the camera in a new grade,worth 6 stars! Customer Service none Similar Products Used: d30 d60 d10 and d1 from nikon and others |
[Nov 20, 2003]
merlin1503
Intermediate
Strength:
Good Image quality Easy to use Ok Price
Weakness:
No Custom function - but ya can't have it all! This is a very good Camera at a very good price that produces very good images. Ok so it has a cheaper build than the top SLR's but its' still better than some cheaper consumer SLR's and most compacts. I think people are forgeting that this is a Digital camera and most buyers will have a PC with imaging software (Photoshop), which will easily deal with 99% of things the camera hasn't got! A good buy. Customer Service Canon are Ok in the UK Similar Products Used: EOS 30, EOS 300 and Olympus 4040 |
[Oct 26, 2003]
photographermp
Professional
Strength:
This camera uses compact flash cards and comes with a lens to start of with. Best camera to start of with.
Weakness:
All digital cameras meter a little differnt with candids. Can use old flashes in TTL I went ot go purchase the D100. I did not get it because it will be off the shelves soon. I mainly shoot film. I used this camera in the studio and was shocked. I have photographered over 100 models with this camera.Excellent for studio and land scape. 16x20 no problem. |
[Oct 25, 2003]
noreckito
Professional
Strength:
It's a real SLR type camera for less than 1.000.
Weakness:
Not so good in full auto programing, after playing and tweakin' it; I got nice "not so digital looking" prints. Don't expect as many features as its Big Sister 10D, but it's worth for the money. "Digital Rebel", comes wih the longest life battery I've ever seen. Customer Service not at all |