Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

The 300D Digital Rebel is the newest in a long line of Canon SLR cameras. As with their other models, the user can expect a quality product when they get a Canon. The major difference between the Digital Rebel and its predecessors (Canon’s 10D and D60) is the budget-saving effort to be the first digital SLR kit to fall below the $1000 mark. Canon certainly accomplished this goal. Even with the recent arrival of its biggest competitor, the Nikon D70, the Rebel is still the cheapest Digital SLR on the market today. The camera has received some criticism for appearing or feeling cheap, but in terms of quality it has kept up the reputation of the Canon name and has surprised many skeptics. The 6.3 megapixel CMOS sensor is identical to that of the 10D, producing quality results that have been tested and proven to do a first-rate job. The Canon 300D Rebel Kit comes with a specialized 18-35mm f/3.5-5.6 EF-S lens which is only compatible with this model. Although the Rebel will happily accept other Canon lenses, the focal and aperture ranges may vary.
Advertisement

Picture Quality / Size Options (8.0)
The Canon EOS Digital Rebel offers the following options for image size: Large (3,072 x 2,048), Medium (2,048 x 1,360) and Small (1,536 x 1,024) each giving the option of Fine (low compression) and Normal (high compression). The Canon EOS Digital Rebel also gives a RAW format recording option, which records exactly what the sensor sees. This file is compressed to a smaller size, but does not lose any data in the compression process. The Canon EOS Digital Rebel also includes an embedded JPEG format that can be extracted using the included software.

Picture Effects Mode (8.0)
Within the Camera section of the Menu, the Canon EOS Digital Rebel gives you six different options for processing parameters: Parameter 1 & 2, Adobe RGB, and Set 1, 2, & 3. These settings allow you to process your images to be more vivid or subdued. Images in the Basic Zone are all taken in Parameter 1, which creates bold and vivid colors. Parameter 2 and Adobe RGB generate more subdued colors than 1. Adobe RGB is used mainly for commercial printing, allowing the photographer or printer to tweak the image to obtain ideal results. This mode is mainly useful to those who are familiar with advanced image processing techniques. The Set 1, 2, and 3 options allow to you set and save your own parameters by adjusting contrast, sharpness, saturation, and color tone within the Menu Mode.

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel does not offer Black-and-White or Sepia tone options that many point-and-shoot cameras offer, though you have the option of changing images in the included software. I prefer to shoot this way because you can always go back to the original image if you do not like how it looks with a different effect.

Advertisement