Great for entry into SLR photography

Author's Rating:

Pros: Competitively priced, fully featured, uses Canon lenses.

Cons: More expensive cameras exist with better features... but this is a great entry level SLR.

The Bottom Line: 
Great entry level SLR - easy to use on auto mode, but has variety of options for those that want them.

Author's Review
** Update** January, 2012

I wrote this review a few years ago, when the rebel XS was fairly new.  Since then, much has changed in the digital SLR arena, and even non-mirrored cameras with interchangeable lenses are starting to pop up and fit in-between the digital SLR and point and shoot market.  That said, I still have and use this camera.  I am up to around 30,000 pictures in roughly 3.25 years, and have now added a couple more lenses to my collection.  The new lenses are the Canon 70-300 USM IS and the 50mm 1.8.  Both are excellent lenses, and show some of the shortcomings in the 18-55 kit lens that came with the camera.  That said, the kit lens has served me very well, and I have learned to use it effectively. 

Shortly after I bought the Canon Rebel XS, the Rebel T1i came out.  This new camera was the first Rebel to include the ability to shoot video, though its implementation was rudimentary at best.  A couple years later, digital SLRs are getting pretty good at shooting video, capable of doing 1080P at 30+ FPS.  However, due to the mechanical limitations of an SLR camera, autofocus is a problem in video mode.  (there's always manual focus, though!) 

I am about to upgrade (or update, if you want to think about it that way) my SLR body from the rebel XS to a new Canon Rebel T3i.  This new camera will give me greater resolution (18mp vs 10.1), slighly faster burst mode, higher ISO capability (for low light photography) and the ability to start shooting video from the SLR.  It also includes a larger, brighter LCD screen that rotates and flips out, like a camcorder's. 

It is worth noting that I plan to hang on to my trusty Rebel XS, to use when I know I won't be shooting video, or where I don't want to risk damage to my new camera (hikes, nature walks with my kids, etc).  As a still photo camera, it is capable of taking wonderful pictures, still a step above point & shoot cameras.

Recently Canon came out with an update to the Rebel XS, called the Rebel T3 (or 1100D).  It is an entry level camera, with a 12MP sensor, 3 frames / sec drive mode and the ability to shoot video in 720p.  There should be some great deals available on the XS as Canon phases it out. 




What follows is my original review:

Let me begin this by telling you that I am not even remotely a pro or even avid photographer. I have had point and shoot cameras dating back to the 35mm automatic days, and including a couple point & shoot digital cameras, and lately I have been using the digital camera in my phone for most of my photographic needs (I know, gasp!). It never even crossed my mind to get a SLR camera until just recently, when I noticed I was missing a lot of good pictures because my 5 yr old digital camera was either recharging the flash or writing data to the card. My wife complained about it a few times, and from then on I noticed it much more.

So, I began by searching for cameras that are capable of taking a lot of pictures in rapid succession. This search criterion soon led me to SLRs, and I then realized the price point of an entry level SLR was way above that of a typical point & shoot camera. I knew the “Canon Rebel” name from those old TV ads with Andre Agassi, and thought I would check that out, and compare to the other SLRs out there. As it turned out, the Rebel line was widely known for being solid entry-level SLRs. Above that, there are a multitude of SLR cameras, ranging from $600 to well over $3,000. Plus, lenses are typically on top of that.

So, I made the decision that if I could find an entry level SLR that did what I needed, I would go that direction.  I checked reviews on this camera, the Sony equivalent and the Nikon competitor.  All were priced competitively, and most had very similar features, but this camera had a slightly faster fps rate in drive mode, and we have a good friend that swears by their Rebel XTi (the 3 year older version of this camera). 

With that as a quick background, let’s get into the review of this camera. This is the “little brother” of the Rebel XSi, the current top of the line in the Rebel line. That said, most of the major features are holdovers from the XSi, but we’ll get into that later. The Rebel XS was released in the late summer, 2008, and is a 10.1 MP Digital SLR. It includes a 2.5” screen (which can be set up to act as a viewfinder, much like point & shoot digital cameras - Canon calls this “live view”), Canon’s Digic III image processor and 7-point auto focus. It features 3 frames per second shooting, and can record in either jpeg or RAW onto SD or SDHC cards.  Roughly 1000 jpeg photos fit on a 4GB card.  It also features Canon’s a dust cleaning system to make sure dust does not show up in your pictures after a lens change (from what I understand, it basically shakes the CMOS sensor very quickly upon camera shutdown).

The XS varies from its older brother (the XSi) in that the XSi is 12.4 MP, has a larger screen and a 9-point AutoFocus. The XSi also shoots at 3.5 fps in jpeg mode (vs 3 for the XS). An interesting note here – since the XSi shoots with 12.4 MP, there is a time where shooting slows down, while the buffer clears onto the memory card. Theoretically, with the XS’s lower 10MP rating, it could shoot at 3fps until the card is full. Further, the XS is actually lighter than the XSi and the XT / XTi (the models before the XSi and XS came out this year). There may be a few more differences, but these are the majors I found when comparison shopping. For my money, I saved the $150 and got the XS online for around $500.

The XS comes with Canon’s 18-55 image stabilizing lens set, which reduces blurs associated with the photographer’s hands shaking. The lens set also allows for manual focus, if I get ambitious and want to handle that myself. The camera allows for any adjustment that you can think of in fully manual mode, or, for those not so inclined, it includes a “for dummies” fully automatic mode. There are other modes, specifically designed for special situations, including Program AE (P), Shutter priority AE (Tv), Aperture priority AE (Av), Auto depth-of-field, Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night portrait and Flash off.

As a practical matter, considering my limited photography experience, I use either fully automatic or Program AE. The major difference is that fully automatic mode takes care of everything, including popping up the built-in flash if it is needed. Program AE lets you select whether you want the flash to fire, and if not, it adjusts the camera’s ISO and exposure settings to adjust accordingly. Program AE also allows you to set the camera to take multiple pictures (drive mode) with a single press on the shutter release. Auto does not allow this, though auto will allow you to take up to the 3fps max, just with multiple presses on the shutter release. Also note the flash takes a little while to recharge, though I bet approx 1-1.5 fps is available using the built-in flash.

As far as photo quality – it is quite literally night & day compared to the point & shoot cameras that I have used in the past. I am sure part of that is the switch from a built-in lens set on the point & shoot cameras to a high quality zoom lens set. The 10.1 MP pictures are crisp and sharp. In about a month, I have taken over 3,000 pictures (it helps that I have a 1 yr old, so there are picture opportunities every day!) 

Battery life is great - it is rated at 500 photos per charge, I believe.  In my experience, I have been able to take over 2000 pictures before running out of juice, but only probably 1/4 of them were with flash.  Excellent battery life in my opinion.

All told, I’m very happy with my decision, and regard my entry into the world of digital SLR photography a success.