Canon EOS Digital Rebel

Auto Mode (8.0)
The fully automatic mode on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel takes care of ISO speed, White balance, Focusing, Metering, Drive mode, and Flash. The only options that are available for adjustment are picture quality/size, and the option to turn the Red-eye reduction On or Off. These options (or lack thereof) gives users a break from responsibility and allows them to shoot with ease. It’s nice that Canon gives you this option to balance out the multitude of settings available to tweak in other modes.

Movie Mode (0.0)
There is no Movie mode available on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel. This is a feature common to point-and-shoot digital cameras, but not on SLR digital cameras.

Drive / Burst Mode (6.5)
The Drive Mode can be set to Single shot (standard/default), Continuous Shooting, or Self-timer, adjustable by the Drive Mode Selection button on the top of the camera. Continuous shooting mode captures 2.5 frames per second first onto the camera’s internal memory (buffer memory) and then transfers them to the CF card. This allows for shooting to continue while images are being stored, in an effort to increase the shooter’s speed. If the internal memory becomes full, a busy signal will appear on the LCD screen, causing the user to wait a moment before shooting can resume. A common complaint about the Canon EOS Digital Rebel is that its continuous shooting mode is abnormally slow in storing images, which is a real disadvantage when shooting a fleeting moment where time is of the essence.

The self-timer on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel can be used in both Basic and Creative Zones and operates in full automatic. It is set to give you 10 seconds between pressing the shutter button and taking the image. I am definitely surprised that the Digital Rebel doesn’t give the user different time settings to choose from. Most point-and-shoot cameras give at least two options to choose from. The Nikon D70 gives four (2, 5, 10, and 20 seconds)! Although ten seconds is sufficient for most purposes, Canon again limits the user by not offering multiple options.

Playback Mode (8.5)
Most digital SLRs, unlike many point-and-shoot cameras, don’t feature a mode on the main dial called Playback Mode. The digital camera’s Playback mode functions like others, but the camera remains in shooting mode at all times, poised and ready for the next shot. To view images on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel, you simply press the Playback button on the back of the camera. From there, you can click through your images by pressing the forward/backward arrow keys and magnify or view thumbnails (nine images at a time) by using the "enlarge" and "reduce" buttons. If you press the trash button while viewing an image, you have the option of erasing the image you’re on, erasing all the images on the card, or just canceling.

If you push the Info button while in Playback, the image’s information will be displayed. This includes a histogram, exposure and flash exposure compensation amount, aperture value, shutter speed, number of images recorded, recording quality, file number, metering mode, shooting modes, ISO speed, shooting time and time, and white balance.

Another cool function on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel is the Jump button. When clicking through your images, you can press the Jump button (located directly under the Playback button) and it will jump backward or ahead nine images to quicken your search for the desired image.

The Playback section in the Menu button holds more options for you to play around with. The Protect option allows you to protect images you’ve taken from accidental erasure when you’re doing fast editing. Next on the Menu is the Rotate option, designed to let you change the orientation of your image by clicking on the arrow keys on the back of the camera. In the Print Order section, you can tell the digital camera which images you want to print (if connected to a printer), what type of image you want (index, standard, or both), and whether to include the date and file number. Next is Auto Play, which allows you to view images in a continuous slide show. If you hook your camera up to a TV (using the included video cable and the Auto Play function), you can view your images in a show on a larger scale. The one feature that I felt was lacking on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel was the ability to crop images while in Playback. This feature is present on many other digital cameras and its absence will be disappointing for those who are used to it. However, you do have the option of trimming your image while in printing mode.

Custom Image Presets (7.5)
The Canon EOS Digital Rebel has seven different automatic functioning modes within the Basic Zone. These modes are pretty standard and appear on most other digital SLR cameras. The Portrait mode assumes there will be one subject in the foreground and automatically blurs the background of the image to make the subject stand out. The Landscape mode is intended for wide expansive scenes, and the Close-up mode is designed for macro shots of flowers, insects, et cetera. Sports mode is designed to capture fast-moving subjects or objects, using focus tracking to make sure the subject is in focus. The Night Portrait is designed for twilight scenes. In this mode the subject is illuminated with the flash, while the slow shutter synch captures detail in the background as well. The Flash Off mode allows you to disable the built-in flash and gives you a chance to use other light sources within the scene. I like how Canon divided it up into different levels of control. I think this system is more user friendly to non-SLR users, who might be afraid of getting lost in manual control settings and not know how to get themselves out. The Basic Zone still gives them the flexibility to be creative without having to know everything about manual photography. This mode system on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel is very similar to the Digi-Vari automatic mode in the Nikon D70, offering various modes to accommodate for different levels of knowledge.

Compared to many point-and-shoot cameras these options are wimpy, but one has to keep in mind that the Canon EOS Digital Rebel is not aimed at the point-and-shoot audience. Canon put more emphasis on providing manual controls on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel and assumes their users will not need too many preset options.