Gadget Quake

With its long-running Rebel series of consumer DSLRs, Canon has earned a reputation for cranking out new models on a consistent timetable that are rarely revolutionary, and yet often set the pace for the entry-level market nonetheless. There is some heavily hyped technology – including live view and a newly developed 12.2 megapixel CMOS sensor – in the new Canon Rebel XSi, but for the most part, the new Rebel looks to be yet again an incremental upgrade to the XTi platform it supplants.

FEATURES OVERVIEW

The Canon Rebel XSi (a.k.a. the Canon EOS 450D) is Canon’s latest mass-consumer DSLR, moving into the company’s lineup one step above the current Rebel XTi. Continuing in the tradition of the Digital Rebel cameras, the XSi features a proprietary CMOS sensor with an effective 12.2 megapixels of resolution, making it Canon’s most high-res entry-level offering to date. The XTi’s nine-point auto focus system returns with some slight tweaks, and the new Rebel gets an enormous 3-inch LCD.

LCD size is a particularly significant stat for the XSi insofar as the new camera is also the first entry-level Canon to sport a live view system, allowing the screen to be used for shot composition. The XSi’s live view implementation moves beyond the basic with the addition of a contrast-detection AF mode that allows the camera to auto focus without interrupting the on-screen preview to do so – a feat not possible in the first generation of live view DSLRs.

The XSi is also the first Rebel to forgo CF memory in favor of the more compact SD/SDHC format. Other upgrades and niceties include a fairly advanced “Picture Style” menu that allows shooters to fine-tune image processing (and includes space for several user-defined custom settings), an impressively fast advertised continuous shooting speed, and the inclusion of Canon’s well-regarded DIGIC III processor. The XSi supports Canon’s current EF/EF-S lens mount, and comes packaged in kit form with an optically stabilized version of the manufacturer’s 18-55mm kit lens.

As with previous Rebel DSLRs, the XSi’s shooting modes are divided into two basic groups, which Canon terms the “Basic Zone” and the “Creative Zone.” The Basic Zone is made up of the XSi’s auto exposure and scene preset options. Basic Zone presets are as follows:

• Auto Exposure: Camera selects all exposure values
• Portrait: Settings are optimized for portraiture, with adjustments to image tone and flash mode
• Landscape: Increased contrast mode that favors narrower apertures
• Macro: Moderate aperture settings are preferred in this mode
• Sports: Continuous drive and AF options are enabled; higher shutter speeds are preferenced
• Night Scene: Enables slow flash sync to capture both subject and background
• Flash Suppressed: Flash is disabled

Note that in the Basic Zone, many exposure control and general shooting options (including AF drive mode, metering options, and flash modes) are locked out or limited.

Canon’s Creative Zone modes encompass the full range of expected user-controlled exposure options, with a few interesting additions:

• Program: Auto exposure mode with user control for flash settings, metering mode, etc.
• Shutter Priority: User selects shutter speed, and camera calculates aperture for correct exposure
• Aperture Priority: User selects aperture, and camera calculates shutter speed for correct exposure
• Manual: User selects both aperture and shutter speed
• Auto Depth of Field: Camera automatically calculates aperture to ensure that depth of field covers all focus points

Like most DSLRs, playback options are fairly basic with the XSi. The camera does incorporate an orientation sensor that automatically rotates portrait-orientation images during playback. As with Canon’s point-and-shoots, it’s also easy to scroll through images either 10 or 100 at a time using the control dial.

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