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Prosumer: A New Word for a New Camera
Date of Review: Oct 9, 2003
The Bottom Line: A camera that fits a specific audience and price range. If it fits, wear it.
IN THE BEGINNING…
(I consider this to be a fairly in-depth and lengthy review. You can find specific information by skipping to the appropriate subhead below).
Tired editors and jaded product reviewers are sitting up and paying attention in the world of digital photography. Why? For quite a while there has been a gap between what has been termed "consumer" and "professional" equipment. Now, with the announcement of the Rebel Digital, (or A300 in Europe) there may very well be something to fill that gap. What has surfaced in-between has been usually disappointing, and almost never laudable. What do we, consumers, hunger for? An affordable (read sub-$1000) camera with the same flexibility we'd expect from an SLR, with interchangeable lenses, and image quality commensurate with film.
Surely bigger and better (and more affordable) cameras will come along, but for the moment the Rebel Digital has found a sweet spot. Released just weeks ago, many dealers and editors are finding it difficult to even get their hands on demo models. I purchased mine (with the lens kit) from the online Apple store for $999. Besides the body and the lens (18-55mm EFS to compensate for the sub-35mm sensor), also packaged were a video cable for TV viewing (terminating in an RCA type connector), Canon's proprietary BP-511 Lion battery, a charging cradle with AC power cable, a mini to standard type USB cable, Adobe Photoshop's Elements, and Canon's TWAIN driver software for image capture, direct printing, organizing and storing photos. Also present were warranty and registration paperwork, instruction manual for the camera, software instruction manual, and a QuickStart card. Things not included: a Compact Flash (CF) memory card.
BODY
There is no doubt it's a sleek, well-designed tool (I dare not try to label it anything more than attractive; members of the opposite sex tend to have problems when we use words like "beauty" on inanimate objects, much less tools, and not on them). There are quite a few rounded edges and curves—ostensibly because designers didn't want to leave an obvious open gap where there could have set a secondary control dial on the non-grip side of the body (more on that later). A standard hot shoe plate sits atop the camera (which is compatible with all EX Speedlite flashes), and the built-in flash extends higher than on the 10D, 1DS, or previous SLRs. The two-tone body is light, weighing a little more than a pound (19.7 ozs), and fits comfortably in the hand. It is made of plastic, and looks as though it could scratch easily, but is more durable in the hand than it appears in print. I noticed right away that with the placement of the rear LCD screen, I was constantly having to clean it off after pressing my nose and face to it to take a picture, and then looking at the preview image after. Such is the small price to pay for the instant feedback in digital photography, though.
There is no doubt that this is a fully functional SLR. The flat bottom with a removable battery bay door can take Canon's battery grip (BG-E1). As previously mentioned, any EX Speedlite will mount on the hotshoe, and all EF lenses, as well as the new EFS series will attach to the lens mount—sans couplers or adapters. A jack on the left-hand side allows for a cable release, and three different models of infrared remotes are also compatible (RC-5, RC-1, RS-60E3).
The battery bay holds both the operational battery and the memory battery. As a nice touch, engineers added a battery lock so that if the door inadvertently slides open, you're not out the $60 it costs to replace the battery.
CONTROLS AND MENU
Trying to describe all the buttons on the camera would be an exercise in futility. A picture is much better suited to educating you on the orientation of the controls, so refer to Canon's web site for photos. Suffice to say that the buttons seem to be divided into three main "groups". The first group includes the mode dial, which sits on the right hand side. This dial selects from the various modes of shooting: programmed control modes, and creative modes. A.k.a. if you're bright enough to figure out that you're about to take a portrait shot and can manage to turn the knob to portrait, you'll probably have a pretty decent shot. If you want to get creative, and control aperture, shutter speed, and depth of field, you can venture to the other side of the dial. Fully automatic shooting is still the beloved little green square. Grouped along with this main knob is the main control dial that lets you cycle through various aperture and shutter settings in creative mode, as well as the shutter release and two thumb buttons.
The remaining two "groups" of controls sit on either side of the LCD display. On the left is a column of five buttons that are used to operate the menu through the LCD monitor. On the right is a four-way keypad with a central "set" button. This layout works well for navigating the menu, viewing pictures and changing camera settings, but has some definite disadvantages. One being that the four individual arrow keys on the right are small, recessed and difficult to manipulate. A far better solution would be a single rocker keypad, or even better, the jog dial found on the 10D and older SLRs.
The 1.8" LCD monitor is bright and easy to see from any angle. Picture color hue is close to what would be displayed on a computer monitor. Brightness levels can also be adjusted in the menu. The monitor view is approximately 100% of the image with respect to the effective pixels. Above the LDC monitor is a smaller backlit LCD display that provides the same information that is visible on the bottom of the viewfinder like exposure, aperture, shutter speed, number of shots remaining, and number of shots available for continuous shooting.
I was prepared to be dazed and confused as I tackled the menu options, but happily, after maybe 10 minutes of playing around, menu operations came to me quite easily. They have divided the menu into only four sections which they name "Shooting Menu", "Playback Menu", "Setup Menu 1", and "Setup Menu 2". Here in a brief list of some of the things each controls:
Shooting Menu:
-image quality selection
-red eye reduction
-white balance and exposure bracketing
Playback Menu:
-review time
-print order
-image orientation
Setup Menu 1
-auto power off timer
-LCD brightness
-card format settings
Setup Menu 2
-video system settings
-cleaning settings
-language (12 in all)
I might mention that the menus are arranged in a logical order, beginning with those that you would most frequently access. Another feature lamented by some, but I believe to be underestimated, is the ability to return to shooting mode as soon as the shutter button is depressed half way, no matter what menu you are in. This saves time, and also automatically shuts of the LCD monitor in preparation to shoot; definitely a boon to quick shots. Returning to the menu after a shot to readjust something like white balancing bracketing is easy because the camera anticipates your move and resumes at the menu you left.
SHOOTING
EFS lenses have the ring type motor, just like their EF uncles, so focusing is quick and quiet. The digital Rebel uses the contrast method of focusing, so close up shots will always be more difficult to obtain proper focus on. Most of my test shots were made with the lens included in the kit, the 18-55mm EFS, though my 28-80, and 75-300 EF lenses both fit snugly to the mount without problems. (*Note: EFS lenses are not backward compatible).
Perhaps the biggest challenge to those new to digital cameras will be capturing true colors and battling white balance issues. To answer that, the Rebel has white balance bracketing, which allows for three continuous shots, up to one-step apart (in 1/3 step increments), available for single shot or multi-shot shooting. In the entire range of test shots I've performed (WARNING: no scientific method was used here), the white balance bracketing did an admirable job of producing true colors in at least one shot. Additional digital color correction can always help, but I was happy with the results straight from the camera. Also, you can create a custom white balance by matching it to a previously taken shot to serve as the standard for following shots. In addition to bracketing, there are six preprogrammed white balance modes to help render better hues (under florescent light for example).
Detail on macro shots with the 18-55 lens is exceedingly sharp. It becomes much more difficult to maintain focus, so obviously a tripod is recommended, but if Canon's sample shots on their web site are any indication, a true close-up or macro lens would render incredible detail. To further investigate this, I took a series of shots of objects on my desk, like a pen on a piece of paper with text, paper clips, and a coffee mug, and then printed them on a Canon Color 2400 laser copier without any additional image correction. There tended to be red overtones, probably because of the fluorescent lighting, but overall image quality was sharp and detailed.
Next I visited my local Canon retailer and looked at photos they had taken with the 18-55 lens and developed on silver-based paper via traditional chemical processing techniques (not the dye-set printers that Kodak offers as a one-stop solution in many such stores). On 9x11 Fuji paper a portrait revealed astounding clarity, including pores on the person's skin and individual hairs.
Unlike some of Canon's older SLRs (like the Elan II E) the depth of field control is somewhat confusing. Instead of setting the minimum and maximum depths of field by two distinct half-shutter depressions, the camera evaluates depth of field by what falls into the 7 point focusing system, resulting in unpredictable compositions. I imagine it would take a bit of effort to master this system, but I can't say that I like it.
Beware! Not every adjustment to shooting settings returns to default after you turn the camera off or change modes. If you change something like exposure setting in Program mode, and then change mode, or even power down, it will remain the same after powering back on or returning to the original mode. This doesn't hold true for every setting, but is worth keeping an eye on to avoid wacky shots.
Though I didn't take 600 consecutive shots to test Canon's battery life claims, based upon my use of the camera which included extensive menu browsing, photo viewing, and rapid shooting, in addition to slow compositions, it is safe to say that the battery probably operates to within 90% of their published performance values (see their web site for details).
IMAGE PLAYBACK
The most satisfying result of owning a digital camera is the ability to immediately view photos you've taken, whether to see and correct mistakes on previous shots, and compose them again, or to share a moment in time with friends who are eager to see how photogenic they are. So, how easy is it to view images on the Rebel?
Again, the preemptive menu comes into play here. No matter what menu or shooting mode you're in, by pressing the play button on the left of the LCD monitor you are immediately transferred to the image playback mode. Default mode will show a full screen image, with image number, F-stop, and shutter speed indicated in an overlay. By using the directional arrow keys, you can scroll through images, and surprisingly, it only takes 1-2 seconds to display each image, even at the highest resolution. Smaller resolutions display more quickly.
If you've just taken a selection of bracketed shots and want to see them side by side, you can press the zoom out button and the camera will show up to 9 images, in a 3x3 configuration. There is no steps in-between though. It's either one image, or nine. You can zoom in and view details on each image with the zoom button. (Zooming out fully changes the image view from one single image, to the contact sheet type view mentioned above). If you have a large memory card in the area of 512 MB, or 1 GB, scrolling through image after image could be tiresome. I thought it was intuitive on their part to include a "Jump" button which skips approximately 20 images at a time and makes searching for a particular image a snap.
Another useful feature is the ability to view an image with its histogram and further detailed settings info like the ISO, shooting mode, exposure compensation, and time and date (also helpful for not confusing different shots).
OTHER TIDBITS
A small red LED on the back of the camera near the four way key pad lights when the computer is writing images to the CF card, or when it is reading the card to retrieve images for viewing. Very useful.
One annoying feature is the lack of a secondary control dial. Things like changing exposure settings are difficult because it requires pressing an exposure key while manipulating the main dial, something akin to pressing the Shift key on a keyboard to type a capital letter. It requires extra dexterity, and usually a repositioning of the right hand to an unnatural position. Not useful.
As much as one can learn from playing with a tool, there is something to be said for a good instruction manual. The 139 page hand-sized manual is easy to read, explains features and operations clearly, and gives good examples of how certain settings will yield or improve compositions. Though it's not meant to be a guide to photography, it is helpful in many ways.
Canon also includes a video cable that lets you attach your camera to a TV with an RCA type connection, a nice touch allowing you to see your images while on the road if you don't have a computer with you.
THE FINAL WORD
It's hard to find a significantly negative reason to dissuade you from buying this camera if it's in your price range. Creativity is virtually unlimited with a full body SLR and interchangeable lenses, and image print quality is not an issue.
One thought that had crossed my mind before purchasing this camera had to do with its size. Canon has a line of Elf digital cameras that are capable of up to 4.0 Megapixils and literally fit in the palm of your hand. They are unobtrusive, can be used with one hand, and will still render excellent quality images. But your modus operandi for purchasing one in lieu of the Rebel would totally negate the creative aspects available in a larger body.
It's safe to say that the digital Rebel finally bridges the gap as one of the first "prosumer" digital SLRs. It definitely receives my recommendation, though enthusiastic acceptance by the public remains to be seen.
(*Note: at the moment I am experiencing difficulty with a defective hot shoe that can't communicate with my flash. Trouble-shooting by Canon technical reps has yielded multiple responses to my situation, and I've been told that even though the unit is three days old, Canon will not provide a new replacement unit, only a repair. Beware that Canon's warranty policies on returns and repairs takes effect as soon as the product is registered. Thoroughly test your unit before you fill out the warranty card. This will allow you to change it at the dealer if necessary before falling prey to Canon's rather inflexible customer service.)
