Canon EOS Rebel XSi

Viewfinder (6.5)
The viewfinder of the XSi is rather small and provides 95-percent coverage of the captured image. That’s adequate for most users, but it does mean there is a small strip around the edge of the image that is captured, but doesn’t appear in the viewfinder. We also found the viewfinder is a little uncomfortable to use while wearing glasses; you have to put your eye close to the viewfinder, which can lead to smudges on the glasses from the rubber cup around it. This can be removed, but you still have to move the eye around a bit to view the full image; other SLRs (such as the Nikon D300) have larger, more comfortable viewfinders.

One interesting thing to note is the eye detector below the viewfinder; this turns the LCD screen off when it detects your face looming near it to use the viewfinder. This is good, as otherwise the bright LCD screen can be blinding.



LCD Screen (6.5)
The LCD screen is one of the big improvements of the XSi: it’s a big, bright 3-inch screen with 230,000 pixels that is much bigger than the 1.8-inch screen of the previous Rebel (the XTi). While this is bigger than the 2.5-inch LCD screen on the Nikon D60, it has the same number of pixels, and both screens are equally bright. So, while the XSi has the bigger screen, the images aren’t any sharper.

But a big improvement over the XTi is the way the screen presents shooting data; the bigger screen means shooting data is easier to see, and the XSi uses every inch of this, showing the shutter speed, aperture, exposure compensation, ISO setting, white balance setting, program mode, drive mode, picture mode, metering, autofocus mode, battery, image quality and size, and the number of shots remaining. That’s the same amount of info as the XTi screen, but it’s a lot easier to see and understand. In Scene modes, the settings that can’t be changed are grayed out. Four different sets of screen colors are available; black text on gray, white text on black, white text on blue, and dark brown text on a cream background.



Live View
The XSi is the first Digital Rebel to include a live view feature; previous models did not provide a preview of the subject on the LCD screen. The XSi follows the industry trend of adding live view to SLRs as a way of making the camera easier to use for those familiar with point and shoot cameras. But it feels like an afterthought. For one thing, it's disabled by default: you have to go into a custom setting to enable it. And when you do enable it, it is awkward to use and is only suitable for shooting when on a tripod.

This is because of the way it works; like all SLRs, the XSi uses a mirror to direct the image into the viewfinder. The live view mode works by flipping up this mirror, then using the image sensor to capture a preview and displaying this on the LCD screen. But the  camera can't meter the scene in the live view mode as the metering mechanism is next to the viewfinder. So, this means that when you take the picture, the mirror has to drop down, the camera measures the exposure for the scene and then the mirror flips back up to take the photo.  The entire process takes between half a second and a second, so it really isn't suitable for shooting anything other than stationary objects. The live view mode also disables the auto focus by default; Canon's manual recommends that you use manual focus instead. The XSi does provide a neat magnified view of the scene at 5x or 10x magnification by pressing the magnify button, but it's no substitute for the real auto focus. You can partially re-enable the auto focus through another custom function setting, but it's nowhere near as good as the normal auto focus shooting mode; with the live view AF mode enabled, you have to hold down the exposure lock button to focus.

Basically, the live view mode feels like an afterthought that's been bolted onto the camera, not built in as a fundamental feature. It might be useful if you do a lot of studio or tripod shots, but it's completely useless for hand-held and candid shots.

UPDATE: Since this review was published, it has come to our attention that the Rebel XSi does, in fact, have an auto focus in Live View mode, although Canon says that "focusing manually is recommended for precise focusing". It can be enabled from the Custom Function menu, and uses contrast detection on the image sensor to focus. However, it is significantly slower and less accurate than the normal method described above, which uses the dedicated focusing sensor.

Flash (6.25)
The pop-up flash is a small unit, but it seems to have a decent amount of power; Canon claims that it has a guide number of 43 feet. That’s perhaps a bit ambitious, but we found that it could illuminate out to about 15 feet at wide angle and about 13 feet at telephoto. The lighting was also fairly even, although there was some definite fall-off at the corners, as you can see in this sample image of a shot taken of a blank wall from a distance of about 6 feet in total darkness at the widest angle setting of the kit lens.







Lens Mount (8.5)
Like all Canon digital SLRs, the XSi uses the standard EF lens mount, which means it's compatible with a wide range of Canon and other manufacturer's lenses. It can also be used with some older EF mount lenses with a 1.6x mutiplier to the focal length. While this is a plus for telephoto lenses, it is a minus for wide angle lenses, which aren’t as wide.
 
The kit lens that comes with the XSi is an EF-S 18-55mm zoom, with an aperture range of f/3.5 to f/22 at the wide end of the zoom range and f/5.6 to f/36 at the telephoto end. That's the same as the kit lens for previous Rebels, but the XSi lens adds optical image stabilization to the mix; an element within the lens moves under the camera's control to compensate for camera shake.

This lens is adequate for basic shooting, but not much else; we noticed a lot of barrel distortion and some color fringing at the wide angle setting. And while the focal range of 18 to 55 mm is a good range, the aperture isn’t so good; the widest setting of f/5.6 at the telephoto end would mean you’ll need to use a very long shutter speed in low light, so we recommend you spend the extra on a better lens, especially if you are shooting in low light. Fortunately, as this is an SLR, you can easily swap the lens out, and there are plenty to choose from.

The lens is also a little awkward to use; the manual focus ring is at the front end rotates several elements of the lens. This feels loosely connected to the rest of the lens; you can move it up and down, which changes the framing and could throw parts of the image out of focus. If you are using the lens in manual focus mode, make sure you aren't inadvertently applying pressure here, as the framing of the image will change when you let go of the manual focus ring.

Testing/Performance	Page 4 of 13		Design / Layout
Canon Digital Rebel XSi Digital Camera Review Navigation
Intro	Physical Tour	Testing/Performance	Components
Design / Layout	Modes	Control Options	Image Parameters
Connectivity / Extras	Overall Impressions	Conclusion	Sample Photos
Specs / Ratings