3.7Entering an increasingly crowded market for consumer digital SLRs comes the entry-level Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi, which premieres at PMA 2008 in Las Vegas. The XSi is the third in Canon’s budget DSLR series. Like previous Rebels, this camera is marketed toward the photo enthusiast who might turn in his or her point-and-shoot for a consumer DSLR. Canon promises the XSi is its best Rebel yet, borrowing features from its flagship professional line, including faster processing, improved autofocus, Live View, and an expanded spot metering, in addition to higher resolution, larger LCD screen, and updated menu system. The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi has a MSRP of $899.99 for the kit with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5 – f/5.6 IS zoom lens, or $799.99 for the body alone when it ships in April 2008.
UPDATE: Our full review of the XSi is now available here.
UPDATE: Our full review of the XSi is now available here.
We couldn’t exactly steal the new Canon model from the PMA show floor and put it through our rigorous testing labs back home. But we can make predictions on performance. With upgraded features pulled from its flagship professional line, Canon claims the EOS Digital Rebel XSi will be its best consumer SLR yet, with better autofocus and faster processing.
The predecessor model, the EOS Digital Rebel XTi, tested with near-perfect color accuracy. Although the newer XSi borrows some point-and-shoot features, we hope the Canon XSi maintains that faithful color rendering from the earlier model. Many cameras today tend to oversaturate colors in favor of extremely brilliant (dare we say, unnatural) color. The XTi batted a saturation score of 100.3 percent. We expect the XSi to do the same and not fall victim to the recent trend to oversaturate.
We look forward to testing Canon’s claims about the XSi. Keep an eye out on DigitalCameraInfo.com in the coming months for a full tested review of the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi.
