Canon Digital Rebel XSi 12.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend For photography with point-and-shoot ease, look no further than Canon's EOS Rebel XSi. The EOS Rebel XSi brings staggering technological innovation to the masses. It features Canon's EOS Integrated Cleaning System, Live View Function, a powerful DIGIC III Image Processor, and a 12.2-megapixel CMOS Sensor with Optical Image Stabilizer. The EOS Rebel XSi's refined, ergonomic design includes a 3.0" LCD monitor, compatibility with SD and SDHC Memory… Product details and pricing info |
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225 Customer Reviews Posted
- Honestly, I hate it
- I hate this camera because it exposes what a crappy photographer I am. Many of my pictures come out "so-so" right now and marginally better than my point and shoot. Spending a little time to get off the autofocus and use manual controls yielded pictures that far surpassed my old 7MP Nikon when dealing with moving objects, which was my primary challenge. I am concerned with the 50,000 picture rating for the shutter since I've already shot 800 pictures in just the first 20 days of owning this camera (you can shoot a lot at a sporting event) but, for the price, it was unbeatable with a decent, versatile stock lens. I'm now realizing the limitations of the lens and what separates the low from the high but this camera is a learning experience for anyone who doesn't really shoot at a high level. It will require you to invest the time to get excellent pictures out. You'll be disappointed like myself in the same way getting a great HDTV brings out the limtiations of standard cable. But look at it this way - once you start learning about the basics, e.g. the relationship of ISO to aperture to shutter speed and setting the priority mode, etc. you're on your way to pictures that are far superior to your point and shoot and difficult to go back. Apparently it doesn't have all the fine settings of the 40D nor the 100K shutter rating but I'm not sure it matters at this price. If you want a sub-$800 SLR with a decent stock lens, there is no better camera, and I was hoping the Nikon D60 would be my choice. Not so. Learning all the detailed options that are still remaining made me realize now that this camera has far more important features than the competition, all which requires an investment in photography to get great pictures. It's a crime with this camera to even think of using the auto-settings.
- 2008-07-30, 6 of 6 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- This DSLR Is Great
- I'm barely an amateur photographer, so I'm not going to get technical because I can't.
I own a film SLR, but haven't used it in about 5 years--ever since "quality" digital point-and-shoots flooded the market. I left the film and all of the manual tinkering behind for the ease of use. Now having this camera for a few days, I'm sorry I did that. My latest P&S is a Canon S3 IS, which has a nice zoom and takes good pics. It may never be used again.
The first thing I immediately noticed is the depth of field that the XSi produced. I forgot how good an SLR could be. Upload the pics to your computer and the clarity and color of the photos are just unbelievable. Night or indoor shooting is equally amazing. I never got good results when I disabled the flash on my P&S cameras, but I am shocked at how well the photos turn out in a low-light situation when not using the flash on this one.
The camera and lens does feel a bit cheap with all of the plastic. But, I plan on taking care of it, so I'm ok with that. The battery seems to have a lot of juice in it for hundreds of pics before recharging (2 hour charge). I don't see myself using the "live view" function too much. It doesn't really work like a P&S like it may seem. There is no memory card in the kit, which is fine with me since the cards included in most cameras are very low capacity and essentially useless.
I love this camera and wish I would've jumped on a DSLR sooner. Then again, maybe it was well worth the wait... - 2008-07-28, 1 of 1 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Great Camera
- This is my first dive into the DSLR realm. I really like this camera, it has plenty of options for more advanced users, but is simple enough that I can hand it to a novice and they can take nice pics right away (with the right settings). The optical image stabilization is very cool, really helps on indoors shots and etc (turn it off if u use a tripod tho b/c it will soften long exposure shots). I could be wrong about this but it seems as though there is no way to Auto focus while using the camera in "Live view" mode. But I don't really use that ever so it doesn't really bother me. 12 mp is very large, I've found the real limiting factor to clarity shifts from being how many pixels to how clear your focus is your lighting and what ISO / exposure / etc you have set. I compared this camera to the Sony Alpha 16mp and decided to go with this one because of the optical image stabilization and after reading reviews, the menu system on the Sony didn't seem as nice. Having never used the Alpha I can't really say the XSI is definitely better but I'm happy with my decision. The kit lens works well for many situations but can't really zoom in very far, so you will probably find yourself wanting something like the 50-250mm IS lens soon after you buy the camera if you are into things like nature photography etc where u can't get very close to the subject. I've taken about a thousand pics so far, the battery life is really good if u don't use flash constantly or leave the window on for extended periods it will last for many hundreds of pictures.
Overall I would recommend this camera, it is nicely priced takes large very nice pics and the kit lens comes with IS so thumbs up from me. - 2008-07-28, 1 of 1 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Great SLR starter camera
- I spent a lot of time researching SLR cameras and trying to find one that would fit my needs the best, and the Canon Rebel XSi succeeded in more ways than one. Even if you don't know much about SLR cameras this one does almost everything for you when set on the auto setting. It will make you an awesome photographer with little effort. The quality of the pictures is amazing! I would highly recommend this camera to anyone!
- 2008-07-28, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- poor focus quality
- I've had this camera for 3 months now and would send it back if I could. This is my first SLR so I thought the focus problem was user error; that I just didn't know how to use it. I've used manual focus on a tripod with a 2 sec delay to make sure the issues wasn't shake. Now I see other's with the same problem so I believe it's a camera problem. I'm going to send it in for repair, so hopefully they have a fix for the problem. It's pretty sad when my little point and shoot has superior photo quality.
On the positive side, I love the ergonomics of the camera. It's easy to use and the battery life is awesome. Over a 2 day trip and 300 photos, the battery held up great.
I actually love the camera except for the focus issue which when resolved will improve the rating significantly. - 2008-07-28, 5 of 7 people found this review helpful, Rated:
