Review on 📷 Canon Rebel XTi DSLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens (Previous Edition) by Jeremy Black

Canon Digital Rebel XTi 10.1MP DSLR Camera Review with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens (Black) and More! 1800 photos with 1 battery charge without flash! Who even comes close? 839 photos on 1 battery charge with built-in flash for 60 shots. Fast, precise focusing in low light, even with a telephoto lens. High image quality even with the kit lens when mounted on F8/28mm. The sunlight measurement is slightly biased toward darkness, which I like (it's easy to overdo it). Total reliability so far, even after having ridden the bike for thousands of miles! I like the rear exposure adjustment screen. small small. Maybe a plus for small hands, but I have really big hands. The built-in flash recovers very slowly after a few shots (buy a speedlite if you use your flash indoors a lot). Kit lens, more on that below) Soft photos at default settings (a lot of this was from a kit lens, you can rerun it, see comments below from 9/3/2007) Kit lens is very bad: it's very soft in general Settings, has a high level of chromatic aberration, especially when using the indoor flash, constant 1/3 stop underexposure in sunlight, uneven flash exposure, poor vignetting at 18mm, perspective distortion at 18mm. Do you want to get rid of most of these problems? I just borrowed an awesome lens that sweeps this and the L lens into the weeds. If you can get a good copy, it's much sharper and has very little chromatic aberration. This is a Sigma AF 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC macro lens. Sigma seems to have some quality control issues. Thoughts: I can't tell you how many shots I missed at weddings with my old Konica Minolta Maxuum 5D camera because the autofocus will rub, especially with a zoom lens indoors. I have borrowed 70-200 Canons from friends and was amazed at how fast this camera is responsive and able to focus from close to infinity in less than 1 second! My Rebel XTi consistently captures 30 fast frames in 10 seconds in high-quality JPEG in Sport mode, then slows down to conserve buffer. Conclusion: A great camera for the price. If you value fast focusing and take lots of photos without charging the battery, this camera is for you! I was at the zoo this weekend and kept thinking the battery was going to die, it wasn't dead until I had taken 1800 photos! With my old camera I would have to have 3 batteries with me. ---------------------------- Update: 7-8-2007 I have over 5000 photos (5934 to be exact) with this camera Made Now and can tell you the following: Pros: Amazing battery life with up to 1800 unverified JPEG photos at ISO 100 Amazing outdoor photos in daylight, even with a kit lens at F8 or higher. Cons: Terrible flash photography: (In the 929-2007 update most of it was caused by the kit lens) Flash exposure is consistently poor. It varies from shot to shot, even when the same subject is shot with the same lens and under the same lighting. This can happen from frame to frame of the same object, it doesn't seem to know if the object is too light or too dark. Even when using the Canon Speedlite 430EX flash! To top it off, when I look at images on the camera screen the exposure usually looks good, and when I go back to my computer it looks underexposed. The best flash settings I've found are either full program mode or manual mode at 1/200 F8 with a third stop + flash compensation. If you try to use the built-in flash, the camera will freeze and display an active light to allow the flash to recharge. This leads to even worse results than using the Speedlite. No Auto ISO: I love this feature, but the Canon Rebel XTi only has it in full auto mode. Conclusion: if you are an outdoor photographer you can't go wrong, this camera is amazing. However, if you want indoor flash photography, you should look elsewhere. For this reason I would change my rating to 4 stars if I could. ---------------------------------- ------------------------------ -------Updated 9-7-2007 I called Canon Technical Support about the settings for flash photography and they were very helpful. After some trial and error we came up with the following settings which seem to be consistent and work well with the Speedlite 430EX and the included lens. 1/3 stop + flash compensation ISO 400 H Flash sync 24mm zoom set manually. -24-2007 Flash photography fixed: Well at least it works better, it's not perfect but it helps.1. Set the Canon Speedlite 430EX to High Speed Sync.2. Switch to manual mode and set the shutter speed to 1/250 or faster at F8.3. Try different shutter speeds to get the effect you want and keep an eye on the count when using fill flash in daylight as you will need to compensate manually. I've found that a shutter speed of 1/500 at F8 or higher is very good for close-up and macro shots at ISO 100. Just watch your distance as this setting uses up a lot of flash power. 9-1-2007 I still love this camera. m for 10,867 shots. I found this camera to be great for travel as it's so small you can place it in the center console of your car and take quick shots on the go. Also, my wife likes the small size which she thinks is perfect for her hands. This gives me sharp and colour-intensive JPEG photos straight from the camera. the first place. This worked for me, your results may vary. Check these settings before recording anything important. If in doubt, set the camera to both large JPEGs and Raws, as the following settings only affect JPEGs and not Raw files. Through trial and error I found that the following steps actually work to create rich, super clear photos. Enter Picture Styles and select the style you want to use.2. Change Sharpness to Maximum.3. Change the color saturation to +2.4. Set up your camera to create large JPEG files.5. Wear a lens known for its sharpness. Through trial and error I have found many Canon L lenses and aftermarket lenses. The sharpest lens I've ever used is the Sigma Zoom Super Wide Angle AF 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro Autofocus Lens. My Canon 50mm F1.8 at 5.6 is also sharp, but not as sharp as the Sigma.6. Put your camera in programming mode and set your ISO from 100 to 400, go outside and have fun. For indoor shots with flash1. Set the settings as above.2. Put on a quality lens like Sigma Zoom Super Wide Angle AF 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro Autofocus Lens or Canon 17-40L etc.3. Plug in your Canon 430EX Speedlite.4 and turn it on. If that's not sharp enough, set the camera to high-speed flash sync and set the camera to manual mode with a shutter speed of 1/320 second and F5.6.9-29-2007. 11,900 photos were taken. I just bought a new lens for my Rebel as the lens that came with it is so bad (see the recent comments above in the cons section). It is much sharper and has very little chromatic aberration. And as a bonus, it opens up a little wider at 17mm versus 18mm and zooms out a further 70mm versus 55. This is a Sigma AF 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC macro shot. This is my new travel lens which now stays on my camera at least 60% of the time. One thing I've noticed is that some of my lenses don't focus accurately when the battery level drops to 2 bars or less (i.e. not full power). The worst lens in this regard is my Canon 135mm F/2 and the second worst is my Canon 70-200 F/2.8L zoom. 135 will miss focus and 70-200 will yaw more often. This problem is always solved by simply replacing the battery with a new one. 03/28/2008 I recently bought a new Canon 40D. I haven't touched my Canon Rebel XTi since then. 40D is MUCH better. I keep Rebel as a backup now. Rebel has now taken just over 20,000 photos. 4-7-2008 Focus test update. As a test of AF performance, I tried the Canon 85mm F/1.2 L II lens (this lens will push your AF to the limit even with USM) with a Canon Rebel XTi and a Canon 40D back to back. Talk about the overload of the system! I thought this lens would focus slowly at 40D. With this lens, the 40D focuses from minimum distance to infinity in about a second (all other USM lenses are faster than I can even measure or think). Rebel takes what feels like an eternity to focus with an 85mm f/1.2 L II lens, or over 2 seconds. It's funny how unbalanced this combination seems to be on the Rebel XTi, with the small camera body dangling from the back of the lens. In the end, however, the Rebel is sharp and you can use it even if you have fewer images in focus than you can with the 40D. So I think most people who can afford this lens will buy at least a 40D or higher, but you can go for it if you have the opportunity.