Canon EOS 1000D entrly level DSLR

Author's Rating:

Pros: easy to use, lightweight,affordable, good value, overall good starter camera

Cons: lacks some of the features ou might expect/want from an entry level DSLR

The Bottom Line: 

If you're tight on budget, don't really need video mode then this is a decent buy.

Otherwise, fork out the extra hundred quid and get the 550D or the 600D.

Author's Review
The canon eos 1000d - I know what your're thinking. Its a beginners camera. Its cheap (well, as cheap as an SLR can be) and doesn't pack the punch of some of the models higher up in the food chain like the 600D. But that doesn't mean it isn't a great beginners camera, and a fantastic value piece of kit.
Okay, so the 10.1 mega pixel CMOS sensor is less than impressive, and the somewhat plasticky feel of the camera body may reflect the price fairly accurately, but lets face it. It takes pictures. That's what a camera is supposed to do. Right? But considering the devastatingly fast advances of modern technology, the simple fact that the camera was originally designed just to take pictures has seemingly been lost under an owerwhelming wave of megapixels and geotagged 1080p HD videos..
So should you get it?
Well, it depends on who you are. If you are, like i was, a teenager wo is keen on photography and wants to get started with their first Digital SLR, then maybe. But my honest opinion, even if you are tight on budget, would be to fork out the extra hundred or so quid and get a 550d or 600d,as they offer quite allot more bang for your buck.
Video:
First of all, i found it a shame that the 1000d lacks a video mode. This may not seem like a huge disadvantage, and to be honest it really isn't, but it is a very handy feature to have, and seeing as the 550 and 600D both sport an impressive full HD video mode, they manage to gain the upper hand on that front.
Megapixels:
Most people think that image quality is all about the mega pixels. It isn't. Mega pixels do make up one factor of the overall quality, but the main factors would be more down to the sensor and the lens. I'm not saying the megapixels doesn't matter, because it does. A higher number of megapixels means that you can blow the image up to a bigger size in printing because there is more pixels in the image. So the 10.1 megapixel sensor may not be as impressive as the 600 or 550D's 18 megapixels, but its not such a problem as you might think, as you can print pretty much any size you'll need with it.
Image Quality:
Even though the camera is cheaper than allot of other DSLRs, it still delivers a powerful punch when it comes to image quality. As long as you have a decnt piece of glass on it (by that i mean a good lens) then it will yield surprisingly good results...
Overview:
If you're tight on budget, don't really need video mode then this is a decent buy.
If you want a good entry level DSLR, fork out the extra hundred quid and get the 550D or the 600D.