Canon EOS Digital Rebel

“I ordered my new camera last night!!!

Digital Rebel Review

Can't wait! Come on big brown truck!!!”

“It's much bigger then mine....



I'm ok with that.

Thats some camera, I expect lots of great pictures from you...even better then the ones you now have in your albums.

No pressure though.......”

“woo hoo!!

(and hey mt. steve, thanks for the odd quotes. LOL)”

“I'm jealous! I'm saving up for one of those, and hoping that my acient canon 650 lives for another year so I'm not left without a camera.”

“Wind Walker...

You'll love the camera. With good glass it beats 35mm film in many things.

Are you starting with the kit lens, or have you ordered an additional lens too? The 28-135 IS is a pretty good all-around lens for the money.

And if anyone asks how big you can print, I've done a 16x20" print from my EOS 10D which is nothing short of fantastic.”

“I thought you were holding out for a Nikon D70? They're out on the market now and I think hte price was held at the stated $999.00
what made you change your mind and go with the Canon?”

“Damn that's a Sexy Beast. A friend of mine just bought one. Can't wait to play with it :o)”

“That is da bomb!!!”

“Found it with the 18-55 lens for $844 (69.99 shipping charge and a 4 week wait plus shipping time if you don't accessorize)that's what started the gears turning although I ended up paying $999 with no shipping or sales tax at Ritz Camera.

The D70 with the 18-70 lens is $1299.

deeddawg...yes, I got the kit lens.
The review says...

"Canon's new compact EF-S 18–55mm f/3.5–5.6 zoom lens – created exclusively for the Digital Rebel and available only in the Digital Rebel Kit – approximates a 28–90mm zoom lens (in 35mm format). By reducing the distance from the rear of the lens to the imaging sensor and reducing the size of the image circle to accommodate the camera's imaging sensor size, the lens produces high image quality with superb resolution at all focal lengths. The new lens is also smaller and lighter than conventional lenses because of the shorter backfocus distance. Similarly, the newly developed Canon Zoom Lens EF 55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM covers a 35mm equivalent zoom range of approximately 90–320mm when used with the Digital Rebel. Together, these two lenses provide 35mm-equivalent zoom coverage from 28mm to 320mm.


Is there a problem with this Canon glass? Because I plan on purchasing the 55-200 lens also based on the above review.

The 35mm equivalent 28-320 is just about all I would ever need ;)”

“Check out this guys stuff. He contends Canon's "L" series lens are the key to great shots.

http://www.arizonahikers.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=1223”

“I've got one in my future too. I was hoping to get it before this weekend to take to Death Valley but won't be able to. I believe Ritz also offers a free class when you buy from them. Has anyone used the EF lenses with them?”

“"L" series glass = Pro Glass?”

“How do other canon auto focus lenses stack up wiht the new digital format? If I take the plunge and get a digital, will my other lenses still work OK?”

“Nice purchase! We were discussing this camera on the Baxter Snowball trip. I want one! Congrats, and let us know how you like it after you play around with it.”

“Wow!! I'm jealous”

“Most excellent.

Can't wait to see more of what you'll do with it.

Lexar Media has 4GB CompactFlash cards now for $1,500.00 smackers, BTW. Does Canon take CF?”

“LOL....That CF card is more $$$ than the camera! Yes Canon takes CF.

Zen...the 300D (Digital Rebel) has an EF mount so any Canon EF series lenses should work.”

“It is just amazing you can get 4 billion bytes on that little card!

In the world of digital electronics, a word-length is considered two bytes. So that's about 2 billion words on one 4GB CF.

With 4GB, that's probably in the neighborhood of 950 high res jpg images on one CF. Quite risky to say the least.”

“So a picture is worth how many words? LOL!”

“Wind Walker:
I don't have personal experience with the lenses mentioned, though I hear they're decent. Remember that all is relative; I have over time acquired a couple of L lenses, and they're fantastic. But you'll also talking lenses which are worth the price of the camera.

I recommend buying the best glass you can afford -- chances are very high that whatever lenses you buy in the next few months you will still have in three years unless you either replace them with better glass or switch systems. I regularly still use on my 10D lenses I bought with my D30 three years ago.

Camera bodies are transitory, lenses stick around.

L glass vs. other stuff? Yes, L glass has better optics generally, but part of the allure is also the constant f/2.8 aperture which allows for more ambient-light shots.

When you get the camera, remember that Digital SLR's are a completely different beast from compact digicams. The manufacturers operate on the assumption that users will likely want to tweak their images, so the default settings don't punch up the saturation or apply a bunch of sharpness -- both of which are best done as one of the last steps before print. Expect to do some post-processing to make your images the best.

Also (and forgive me if you know this) remember that DSLR's have a LOT less depth of field than the compact digicams. Expect a relatively shallow depth of field on wide-aperture images, and pay attention to where you're focusing.

And for anyone new to digital cameras, when you zoom in to 100% on a monitor it's roughly equivalent to something like examinging a 20x30 inch print from 18 inches away. It isn't going to be sharp-as-a-tack, and under those conditions you'll really see the difference between a $200 lens and a $900 lens. But in real world usage, printing at 4x6 up to 8x12, everything will look great.

Also, before investing in much compact-flash, check the CF speed database over at www.robgalbraith.com Not all cards are made the same.

Zen As WW notes, any EOS series (EF-mount) lens will work on a Canon DSLR. Also, any EX-series Canon flash will work too, although the older EZ-series won't work in TTL mode since the DSLR's support only ETTL or manual-flash modes.”

“Deedawg & others,

I figured that the lenses were compatable, just throwing it out if anybody knew of any problems. As far as a flash... Mine died at the Redwood Nat'l & State Parks this fall. DOn't have to worry about that one being compatable, just getting a new one. I have taught myself a few thing to bypass the flash though. I've got a 50mm lens that the aperature goes down to 1.8. I can almost hand hold evening photography with 100 speed film (ALMOST, got a great pic of my borhter and his new dog that is a tad fuzzy)”

“Zen
Come to think of it, there is an issue with certain older Sigma lenses. With the release of the Elan 7 and later, some Sigma lenses don't work right, a slight interface change or somesuch. Good news is that I believe Sigma will rechip the affected lenses for free. See Sigma Lens FAQ for info.”

“Thanks for the info Deeddawg.
I'm a fan of the big# f stops for shooting landscape photos the Canon goes to f22 my Olympus only went to f8. So I'm confused....you think the DSLR will have a more shallow DOF?”

“Just scored a 100-300mm Canon zoom lens on e-bay!!! With the 1.6x difference between 35mm and the digital sensor it equates to a 160-480mm lens! Should be able to bring the wildlife up nice and close :)”

“Sweet!”

“Wind Walker, right arm! That's awesome! That's a fantastic camera!

I must comment on one misperception of the 1.6x digital factor with lenses. The 1.6x isn't a "magnifying" factor, but merely a "crop" factor. The field of view is what's different, not the closeness of the subject.

For example, if you use your 100-300 zoom lens on a 35mm and point it at a deer, and then put the same lens on your Digital Rebel, your 100-300 won't bring the deer closer as if you were now using a 160-480mm, it merely crops the field of view as if you were shooting with a 160-480. The deer won't look any closer, there will be just less stuff in the frame. I once thought the 1.6x factor was actually a multiplying factor, like getting extra magnification out of the same zoom lens, but that's not the case.

I'm eager to see results from the Rebel! Congrats!”

“Thanks Buck! The DRebel is scheduled to arrive tomorrow! The 300mm will get me close enough to most wildlife anyway. I also purchased the EF-S 18-55mm that was made for the camera...it has a short back focus or some mumbo jumbo the also make a EF-S 55-200
I wouldn't mind having :)”

“WindWalker
Actual "Depth of field" is dependent on the real aperture size; remember that f/8, f/16, f/22, etc. all is a way of expressing aperture as a function of focal length. Most compact digicams have a VERY short actual focal length; on the order of 7 to 20mm or so, which the manufacturers express as a "35mm equivalent" so folks know roughly what the field of view will be since they're more used to the focal lengths used in 35mm cameras. For example, the Olympus 8080 is advertised as having a "35mm equivalent" focal length range of 28mm to 140mm -- but the REAL focal length ranges from 7.1 to 35.6mm. As such the depth of field on the camera at any given f/stop is pretty deep.

With a DSLR, the Depth of Field is much closer to what you see on a regular 35mm because the real focal length is whatever the lens you use has. Roughly speaking, and trying to explain it further would get rather complicated, I find the Depth of Field on my EOS 10D is approximately one stop deeper than what I would see on a 35mm film camera given the same framing.

To get an idea of the Depth of Field for different Canon lenses, see the DOF Charts for the different lenses at the Canon Camera Museum

You shouldn't have any trouble getting enough DOF for landscapes at f/8 and above. My point was more to caution against expecting lots of DOF at wide apertures. For example, with the 18-55mm EFS lens, at 55mm f/5.6 and 1 meter subject distance, DOF is about 8cm. With the 28-70L f/2.8 lens at 70mm, f/2.8 and 1 meter subject distance, DOF is whopping 4cm; tough to get an entire face sharp under those conditions since it is deeper than the DOF.”

“Putting a charge on the battery as I type this! :)”

“I just got the Nikon D70 SLR a couple of weeks ago...I got it a a kit with the 18-70mm DX lens, and it's an amazing camera. My firend got the Rebel, and he also seems happy. I can't wait for the first DX long-range zoom lenses to come out.”

“That's a badass picture...I might have to go digital.”

“ LOL!”

“


”

“Looks like you're having fun with your new toy!

Nice shots.”

“very nice picts. question?.. does the color look a bit saturated? or is it just me. I used my hasselblad for 10 years and loved it. however i have a canon elan II. and its pretty nice.. no digital yet, its a little beyond me. I shot and developed professionally for about 15years the old fuddy duddy way. Some day i will graduate.”

“Yeah, it looks a little punchy -- but I believe the EOS 300D is set that way out of the box. The sensor is capable of very neutral colors if the user chooses to set it that way.

One thing the DSLRs do which (most) of the compact digicams do not is they allow shooting in RAW mode. Instead of a JPEG or TIFF, you get a proprietary format file containing the raw sensor data (12-bits deep in the case of the EOS 300D and 10D). When the user then converts the RAW files to TIFF's or JPEG's or whatever, he or she can AT THAT POINT choose white balance, sharpening, contrast, and other settings. And despite it being a proprietary format, there are at least two independant companies with RAW-conversion software in addition to the camera manufacturer's product -- Adobe includes it in Photoshop CS and PhaseOne sells a product called CaptureOne DSLR.

Using RAW mode on a DSLR with the appropriate software tools for post-production is a completely different experience from shooting in JPEG mode. Although RAW doesn't provide a discernable improvement in photo quality as compared to JPEG when everything is right it does make a huge difference if something isn't right. The danger, of course, is that the photographer might get tempted to be lazy in getting the shot right in the first place, thinking they can just fix it in post-processing.”

“Wow too much information for such a small brain.. what ever happened to cyan magenta and yellow.. and density. and grain. But i do thank you for the info. sounds like your a pro.at it.”

“LOL! Yeah, probably -- but I sometimes just get to typing and out it flows. Perhaps you can just nibble along at it little by little. :)

Cyan, magenta and yellow found their niche in the printer market and their evil counterparts Red, Green and Blue took over the digital sensor field. Density got shoved aside by Histograms, and grain sort of changed into a different costume and now calls itself Noise.

There are a LOT of parallels between the film and digital worlds -- but they are different technologies and digital has a bit of a learning curve to it.

I'm at most semi-pro; I do take the occasional paid shoot for the fun of it, I'd hate to ruin a perfectly enjoyable hobby by trying to make a living at it. :)”

“Mouse...I pushed the saturation to +5 in photoshop....It's what I call "digital Velvia" I try not to over use it but I love the Velvia color palette. The colors do and will vary from monitor to monitor unless you have a claibrated monitor.”

“I have had mine since last october and LOVE it.

some other stuff to save up for..

canon 50mm f1.8 prime, portrait lense at under $100

Canon 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 USM IS it is a Jack of all trades "if you had to choose only one lens to take it would be this one" lense.

IR remote

As for flashes, the canon flashes are very expensive.
I suggest the sigma 500 DG super, it is equivalent to the canon 550ex at half the price and gets great reviews.

this photo was with the kit lense and an external flash at night.
”

“Hey ...is this Phil's Son ???
The Phil of Trail Talk legend? LOL!

That's a great list! I told my wife that I already know what I want for my birthday and Christmas for the next 5 years LOL!

I went back up to the hills today after work to play with the Aperture Priority setting....too kewl!

”

“Phil's_son...That is a really cool photo,very sharp,love the dew drops and the color is awesome!”

“Yes, I am Phil's son.

Wind Walker,
You just struck a nerve!
I absolutly love running water photos with mossy rocks in the woods. They are one of my favorite types of nature photos and yours are phenominal, especially the second one where you can really see the pillowy look from the longer exposure time! And in your back yard.. lucky!”

“Looking great!!

I monkied with your photo for a minute. Hope you don't mind.

”

“None of that monkey butt thing, though. 8)”

“I don't mind...looks cool isolated like that!

But you can keep all of that monkey butt stuff for yourself...LOL!”