Canon EOS Digital Rebel

Viewfinder (8.0)
The Canon EOS Digital Rebel has an eye-level TTL (Through The Lens) optical viewfinder. Canon boasts 95% coverage, which is pretty good compared to many other digital cameras on the market. It also has a dioptric adjustment dial for clearer viewing. The Canon EOS Digital Rebel and the Nikon D70 both have Pentamirror viewfinders, as opposed to the Pentaprism on the Canon EOS 10D and the Nikon D100. The Pentamirror viewfinder uses a set of mirrors to reflect light from the shutter mirror to the digital camera’s eyepiece. This system is cheaper and more lightweight than the glass prism used in previous Canon digital SLRs. The only difference between the two is that the pentamirror viewfinder appears a bit darker due to some light loss.

LCD screen (5.0)
The LCD screen on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel is a TFT liquid crystal monitor with five levels of brightness (adjustable through the Menu). The screen is a standard 1.8 inches and has approximately 118,000 pixels (this is an okay resolution, but looks pretty shabby next to the 130,000 pixels on the Nikon D70’s LCD screen). If you’re not used to digital SLRs, you might be surprised that you cannot use the LCD screen to compose your image. It is only used for menus and playing back images. If you’re coming from a point-and-shoot digital camera, getting used to a viewfinder again might take a while.

Flash (8.0)
The Canon EOS Digital Rebel has a built-in retractable flash unit, as well as a hot shoe for external E-TTL compatible flashes. Although the built-in flash on the EOS Digital Rebel is similar to the one on Canon’s EOS 10D, it extends a bit farther to allow the flash to clear all lenses. In Basic Zone, the flash automatically pops up in dim lighting situations, though not in the Flash Off, Landscape, or Sports settings. In Creative Zone, one needs to press the Flash Button on the front of the camera to engage the flash. The flash range on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel Kit varies according to ISO level and lens focal length.

Zoom Lens (8.0)
The 18-35mm f/3.5-5.6 EF-S lens that comes with the Canon EOS Digital Rebel is the first Canon lens made exclusively for digital cameras. Its lightweight plastic body is another place where Canon tried to appeal to users wanting a cheaper, more portable SLR. Although these demands are valid, you can’t bend to them too much without getting a cheaper-looking digital camera. The rear of the lens extends farther than most lenses to fit snuggly into the shutter box close to the sensor. Since this lens is made exclusively for the smaller sized sensor of a digital camera, they won’t work on film cameras. However, any Canon lens can be used on the EOS Digital Rebel. The one catch is the so-called "field of view" crop of 1.6x. Since the sensor on a digital camera is smaller than a 35mm camera, the field of view is 1.6 times larger than on a regular SLR. For example, an 18mm reported lens would actually have a 28.8mm field of view. Despite the scrimping done by Canon to produce a lighter, cheaper lens, the 18-35mm f/3.5-5.6 EF-S lens produces nice, clear results and accomplishes the goals Canon was trying to meet.

The zoom on a digital SLR is no different from any other SLR, demonstrated clearly by the fact that lenses are interchangeable between digital and film. The Canon EOS Digital Rebel kit lens ranges from 18mm to 55mm. By adjusting the zoom ring, you can choose between 18mm, 24mm, 35mm, and 55mm. If you think you will be shooting in situations where you need to get tight, but you can’t get close to your subject, I would suggest getting a lens with a longer zoom range. 55mm is sufficient for a variety of situations, but is limiting for many photographers.