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Manual Control Options
The XS offers a strong array of manual controls, as is befitting an SLR. The control is not quite on par with what you would see with a higher level, more expensive SLR, but is in line with expectations for an entry-level camera.
Focus
Auto Focus (5.75)
The auto focus on the XS works well, especially in proper light. It focuses quickly and accurately with a nine-point AF system arranged as a cross. In darker situations the camera fires off a stutter of light from the flash, providing enough illumination to let the autofocus do its magic. While this is an effective solution, it is also extremely bright and distracting for your subjects, and makes candid photography almost impossible.
While shooting in Live View mode, the Rebel XS can auto focus, though Canon recommends against it. Quick AF Mode lowers the mirror to focus as it would when shooting using the viewfinder. While this method is quick to focus, it interrupts the image on the LCD screen. The alternative is Live Mode auto focus, which uses information from the sensor to attempt to focus. Using Live Mode is slow, and it often doesn’t focus correctly.
The XS, as with the XSi and Nikon’s entry-level SLRs, houses the auto focus motor in the lens. While this means that the body of the camera is slightly cheaper, it also makes lenses more expensive and means you can’t use auto focus with older lenses.
Manual Focus (5.50)
Manual focus is activated via a switch on the lens. The kit lens included with the XS feels cheap and a little loose when manually focusing. When using Live View mode, you can zoom in to check the focus, which helps with achieving precise results.
ISO (7.00)
The ISO range is about what you’d expect from an SLR at this price point. It offers ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and Auto. While ISO 3200 is desirable and increasingly available in inexpensive SLRs, and even some point-and-shoots, the range provided here will function well enough for most situations.
The camera also offers High ISO noise reduction, which helps to offset some of the static produced when shooting in low light. Unfortunately, this option is buried in the Custom Functions menu, which makes it an out-of-the-way feature to activate.
To see the noise levels produced at each ISO, go to out performance section.
White Balance (6.75)
The Rebel XS has six levels of preset White Balance, as well as automatic and manual modes. Presets include Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, White Fluorescent and Flash. In white balance testing the camera scored relatively well, though it struggled in Auto mode in the shade and under tungsten light.
Custom white balance works in a roundabout fashion compared to many other SLRs. With most cameras, you aim at a white or gray sheet and sample directly from that to create an appropriate custom white balance setting. With the XS, you have to manually focus on the white object, take a photo, go into the menu system, select Custom White Balance and then select the image you just took. It’s an overly slow procedure, and one that would prove infuriating if in a situation with changing lighting conditions. It is handy if you will be returning to an identical lighting scenario later, though, since you can use the stored white image at a later time to make sure you have an identical white balance setting.
The XS scored above average in our tests assessing white balance.
Exposure (8.50)
There are four manual exposure modes on the XS: Manual (M), Shutter Priority (Tv, or Time Value), Aperture Priority (Av, or Aperture Value) and Aperture Depth of Field (A-DEP). This last mode attempts to set the aperture to maintain sharpness for as many the focal points as possible.
The XS, as with most entry-level SLRs, has only one control dial, which is used to adjust shutter speed and aperture size in Tv and Av modes respectively. When shooting in manual mode, the dial defaults to controlling the shutter speed, and the Exposure Compensation button needs to be held down to adjust the aperture. Other brands of camera allow you to switch between controlling the two by pressing the button once, rather than holding it down, which is decidedly less awkward.
Metering (5.00)
One of the notable losses from the XSi to the XS is Spot Metering. It’s one of the few significant features to fall by the wayside with the cheaper camera, leaving only Evaluative Metering, Partial Metering and Center Weighted Average. Evaluative Metering measures brightness from the entire scene, and works best in evenly lit situations. Partial is the closest you will find to Spot Metering, but it meters for approximately the center 1/3 of the image, making it a poor substitute. Center Weighted Average meters for the entire scene, but weights the metering towards the middle of the image.
Shutter Speed (10.00)
The XS has an impressive range of shutter speeds, from 1/4000th of a second to 30 seconds and is adjustable in 51 steps. There is also Bulb mode, which will keep the shutter open as long as the shutter control button is depressed. Bulb is only usable while shooting in Manual Mode, and has the nice added feature of showing an on-screen timer so you know exactly how long your exposure lasts. A remote control can be plugged into the appropriate port on the left side of the camera to help stability.
Aperture
The XSi can adjust aperture in 1/2 or 1/3 stops, as supported by the lens. The bundled lens can handle f/3.5-f/22 wide and f/5.6 to f/36 tele.
The camera has a dedicated Depth of Field (DOF) Preview button near the lens attachment. DOF Preview stops down the lens to the actual setting that will be used to take the photo, providing a better indication of the areas that will be in focus at the cost of brightness through the viewfinder.
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Image Parameters