Canon EOS Rebel XT Digital Camera Review

Canon EOS Rebel XT

Digital Camera Review

3.6 At the Photo Marketing Association Trade Show in February 2005, Canon announced the highly-speculated 8 megapixel successor to the Digital Rebel. 18 months after the release of the original EOS Canon Digital Rebel, the Rebel XT improves upon its predecessor with 20 percent more resolution in a 15 percent smaller casing. The trimmed body of the XT packs in a DIGIC II image processor, which translates to faster processing speeds and advanced image control. The start-up time from the original Rebel is dramatically improved upon in the XT, from almost 2 seconds to 0.2 seconds, and it offers an increased burst mode which now captures consecutive images at 3 fps for 14 consecutive shots. Canon’s XT offers a feature set similar to the pricier Canon EOS 20D, but it is aimed at entry-level DSLR users looking for a camera that blends advanced control with a simplified interface.  
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Canon EOS Rebel XT

Picture Quality / Size Options (8.0)
The Rebel XT offers three different size options, as well as two different compression settings for each image size. The following image sizes are available:

- 3456 x 2304: Large-Fine (3.3 MB); Large-Normal (1.7 MB)
       - 2496 x 1664: Medium-Fine (2.0 MB); Medium-Normal (1.0 MB)
- 1728 x 1152: Small-Fine (1.2 MB); Small-Normal (0.6 MB)

In the largest 3456 x 2304-pixel resolution, photographers can shoot in RAW format; this equates to 8.3MB files. Other image sizes are only available in JPEG format. Like most digital cameras, the XT is EXIF 2.21 and DPOF compliant. Images are continuously numbered automatically or can be reset within the setup menu.  

Picture Effects Mode (8.0)
For the more advanced users of the Rebel XT, the picture effects may never be used, as most will likely prefer to add effects in Photoshop or another software application. However, for entry-level DSLR users and those who enjoy playing around with the settings, there is a black and white mode. While a significant amount of people seem to regard the XT’s black and white mode as superior to most current digital cameras on the market, I don’t feel the camera comes close to competing with black and white film – after all, that’s the goal, isn’t it? Monochromatic images captured with the XT appeared flat and lacked any sort of strong emotive element. Even after heavily tweaking the images in Photoshop, I could not get the feeling I wanted to come across. If digital black and white images are a draw, I would recommend shooting in color and then converting the images in Photoshop afterwards. There is no quality sacrifice I noticed and then if you don’t like the final image, you’re not stuck with it, and you can always revert back to the color copy.

The Rebel XT also includes four image parameters to alter color and tonal values. Users can adjust sharpness, contrast, saturation, and color value in four steps (+/- 2) within the main menu. 

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