An Online Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT camera Guide

I’ve had this camera for over a year now and it is still pretty great, in my opinion. Great functions, great controls and a great starter-camera for those learning about photography. However, after learning so much from this “little wonder,” I want to upgrade to a pro or pro-sumer level Canon body. But for the price, you can’t beat it. The pics turn out great (given the right settings). I would suggest buying an external flash and another lens, though. I wish I had just bought the camera body and then purchased a different lens a year ago. The kit lens is okay, but not the best. Still, a wonderful camera. You can’t go wrong.

I have only had this camera for a few days but I feel compelled to warn users who are looking for their first dslr camera. I read many, many reviews and comparisons and yet did not realize that this camera does not shoot video, while the Nikon D5000 does shoot video and does not cost a lot more money and gets very similar marks on all other aspects. (I found the Nikon d5000 to be less than $100 more than the Canon rebel xsi).
I also was very disappointed to realize, upon reading the manual, that the “live view” is no where near what I was expecting. It is only “recommended” for use with a tripod because camera shake will cause the images to be blurred. (that is directly from the manual). Being optimistic, I tried it without a tripod anyway, and it is true; all shots I took while using the “live view” are blurry to some degree, even when using the flash. I guess it’s true that you have to use the view finder in “grown up cameras” (aka: dslr cameras).
I have owned a Canon Powershot (not dslr, it’s a great point and shoot) for a few years and it has video (which is superb even in low light, not dark, but low like indoors in the evening) and it is always a “live view”, but that’s a given because nearly all point and shoot cameras are. my friends who own dslr cameras warned me that when I was ready to move up in the world of cameras, I was going to have to get used to using the view finder instead of the view-screen to set up my shots. Well, I thought I could stay in my comfort zone using the view-screen by buying the Canon rebel xsi because of the “live view” feature. I believe now that is it more of a gimmick. But I do realize that this is spoken like a true point and shoot user, not a pro photographer.
Every dslr owner I know insists that once you get used to it, using the viewfinder is much better, so I can adjust to using the viewfinder. (even though my baby thinks I’ve turned into an alien when I put the camera up to my face. so much for making her smile while holding the camera out to the side like I did with my powershot.) however, at this point, it’s mostly the ability to shoot video that I am really missing. I feel pretty dumb about not seeing that little fact when researching, but even when I went back today looking at more comparisons, I still don’t find many reviews/comparisons that really point out that difference between the nikon d5000 and the canon xsi. The comparisons mainly focus on the image quality. Which, by the way, I am truly thrilled with. The Canon seems to be holding strong on it’s reputation of having the best image color and quality in the business. (to my knowledge)
I just think that for that price range ($550-$650) the fact that one can shoot video and the other can’t is a very big difference that new-to-dslr folks should know.

This was my first SLR purchase. It’s a big step up from the standard point-and-shoot cameras, which were starting to seem underpowered and short on features to me. I knew going in that the SLRs had a bit of a learning curve, and that was certainly the case here. But…if you want complete control over how you take pictures, you’re going to need to put in the time to learn how to use the equipment.

I bought the Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens at the same time as the camera, and have been very satisfied. It takes great pictures, and most of the functions are easy to see and use. There are two buttons on the front of the camera that I keep forgetting about during use, but I’m sure that will change as I get more comfortable with it.

The only problem I’ve had so far is taking indoor sports pictures; they either come out blurry or dark. It’s not unexpected (action shots require a faster shutter speed and don’t let as much light in; but letting in more light requires a slower shutter speed, making moving objects look blurry.) I’m sure more experience (or additional lenses/flashes…?) will sort this out.

I also decided to get an additional battery (Canon LP-E5) because it takes about 3 hours to fully charge a battery; and the fastest SDHC card I could find (SanDisk 4GB Extreme – SDHC Class 10 High Performance memory card SDSDX3-004G-P31) so that I wouldn’t be waiting for the camera to finish saving the last picture before being able to take the next one.

Overall, it’s a solid camera with great features and performance.