Hey Everyone,

I’ve had the Canon EOS 400D for three weeks now, and I want to implement the first section of a review that will conclude over a period of time, (I don’t want to rush out a review too quickly, and I know I wouldn’t want to read one that was). So, I think I’ll cover in this first one, what I think of the physical camera, (and the kit lens, EF-S 18-55mm), to get you down on the physical properties of this wonderful camera.

Features

First of all, if you are familiar with either the 300D/Rebel, or more so, the 350D/Rebel XT, then you will be familiar with the 400D/Rebel XTi, they are very similar cameras, with progressive growth through the generations. The latest installment, although widely viewed as a kind of ‘Facelift’ is significantly more than that, there are many physical changes, new features, improved features etc. The major ones of these are as follows:

• 2.5” Wide Viewing Angle Screen
• All Black Body design, (unless you get silver), i.e. buttons now black
• 9 Point AF
• 10 MegaPixel count, (up from 8)
• Canon DUST removal system

These are the prominent differences that you will notice between this and the 350D, and they are the major ones that Canon makes an effort to point out. I can say though, that there are other, slightly less important, and less publicised differences, such as a better thumb grip and hook, different mode dial, different material, (similar solidity, but different feel, nicer in my opinion).

I think I must make it clear, that unless you detest the screen on your 350D, (if that is your camera of choice), I don’t think it is really worth upgrading to this, I mean, it’s wonderful, but the increased pixel count and other little things really aren’t that amazing when you consider the hassle and cost of switching cameras.

Body and Design

Wow, what a truly lovely camera the Canon Rebel series is, many people complain of the small hand grip, and I have big hands, and I have to say that there really isn’t a problem there, you just change the way you hold the camera, nothing too complex as moving your fingers..!? The feel of the grip is simply fabulous, it has an almost, well, carpet-esque feel, although, it is rubbery really, but it is wonderful. The rest of the body is a very solid plastic, slightly shinier than the 350D which I wasn’t fond of in pictures, but in real life it looks great.

There are no creaks when handling the camera, in fact, I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt it creak, and which is a lovely feeling. Overall, I have to say that the body is amazing, considering the cost of course. I have to make this comment, as I read a lot of reviews before I got the camera, and I mean a LOT, I make sure that when I buy a product it is the best I can get for the money, (because I’m not the one to have lots of money to just throw around, and a lot of other reviews are too used to their D200s and the 5Ds and think that that is standard quality, and so by their standards, of course the 400D is going to feel like less of a camera, because it is, but in value to money, it is so much more.

Kit Lens

I would just like to make a quick section on the kit lens. A lot of people that buy this camera will be first time SLR users, and will almost certainly get it with the Kit lens, as I did, because that is the logical thing to do when you are getting an SLR for the first time, therefore I would like to state my comments on this surprising lens.

Once again I will reflect against other reviews and say that they are too used to their L lenses of superior quality, (optically and physically), but with me upgrading from a Fuji Film S7000 Prosumer camera, the lens is great. One of the main points of a DSLR over a Prosumer is the fact that you can get specific lenses, and the Kit lens is a specific lens. When it was being designed, it was designed as a lens, and more time would have gone into this side of things. When Fuji were making the lens for the S7000, of course they would have been considering the optics, but as much as that they would have been concentrating on making it fit in with the camera, and be small and retractable etc, the Kit lens is born as a lens, not as a part of the camera, which I think is a critical difference that no one concentrates on, so whatever your previous camera, (non SLR), the lens would have been designed to fit, and the Kit lens is FAR superior to built in lenses in almost all cases, of course, the range can be less, (28-88mm compared to my Fuji’s 35-210), but I don’t feel that important when the optics are so much better, and the extra wide angle is so amazingly useful!

This is a lesson I have learnt by having the camera, and that I haven’t read anywhere, so I feel it my responsibility to make this point to anyone looking at DSLRs, purpose built lenses are always going to be better than the ones stuck on a compact, period. The kit lens is a 28-88mm, (equiv. don’t understand? Read THIS), with a maximum aperture range of f/3.5 – 5.6, so a bit slow, but nothing critical.

Image Quality or, IQ

Obviously a critical point of any camera, and somewhere where the 400D can sit very comfortably, of course it varies with lenses used, but I only have the kit lens, so I will be doing all description of image quality with the kit lens. I’ll start by saying, amazing! A nice start it is indeed, and one that can be built upon, the 10 MegaPixel CMOS sensor in the 400D is amazingly good, I have been very impressed with it so far.

One of the major things I notice when in comparison with my S7000 is noise, at ISO100-400 there is nothing, well, unless of course you blew it up stupidly large, but realistically, nothing, and it is something that really impresses me, I mean, the lowest setting on my S7000 was ISO 200 which was annoying to start with, and at that level, it became apparent when viewing the images full screen, the true amount of detail present in the images, with the 400D I most certainly don’t have that problem, even blowing up an ISO 1600 image to full screen, the ISO doesn’t bother me, (although I’m not ludicrously scrutinizing like some people may be, I feel myself to be more of a realistic reviewer, I look at a product and decide what I think the buyers of the product are really going to consider, and in this case, it is whether the noise truly intrudes on the images, and I think, well, I know, the answer is no.

Sharpness is something that should always be discussed, and unfortunately once again is heavily dependent on the lens attached to the camera. I have found that I wanted the camera’s default setting to be a bit sharper, so in the menus I put the sharpness up a notch, which I feel, with the kit lens gives very detailed and comfortable results, and is most certainly on par with some very good cameras. Overall, on the image quality front, there is definitely nothing to worry about, and the quality is VERY impressive.

My General Views

After the first three weeks with my first SLR I can only say that I am amazed, it is incredible the difference between using a Prosumer camera and the SLR, there is such difference, so when I see adverts on the back of my Photography Monthly magazine, saying things like: “Compact or SLR?” “Have the Best of Both Worlds” etc, I think, well, I’m holding this 400D, and I look at this ad and think, I don’t want only the best of each, I want it all SLR, I want no shutter lag, real, ‘through the lens’ viewfinder, I want to be able to change my lenses!

There is no substitute for an SLR, none. And I urge anyone considering getting one, to get one, namely the 400D, but if something else takes your fancy, maybe you’ve got a little extra to spend, then go ahead, as I cannot believe the difference it is already making to my photography, it’s amazing!

I think I will update this ‘Long-Term-Review’ sometime within the next three weeks, and we’ll see how I’m doing with it then, will I have another lens? Will there be something detracting from the experience? We shall see, but right now, there most certainly isn’t.

If you’d like to see some example images from the Canon EOS 400D, then I’d like to point you in the direction of this group on Flickr, all to do with the 400D, there is also a discussion of the camera if you join the group! HERE

Hope you’re all well,

Charlie -