Hands-on with the Canon Rebel XTi/400D/Kiss Digital X

[cyclohexane]

Not a formal, scientific, etc. test.* Just me doing grab shots during a lunch.* =)

A friend of mine sold his Canon Rebel XT/350D/Kiss Digital N, and bought a Canon Rebel XTi/400D/Kiss Digital X.* Yesterday, I got to give it a spin; the lens used was the first generation 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 EF-S (non-USM) that came with the first Digital Rebel.* Picture Style for JPEGs was "Standard"; I don't have anything to process the CR2 files.* All shots edited in Adobe Photoshop CS; 100% crops were not sharpened. Edits below:

1. Cropping if needed.
2. Curves if needed.* I made the mistake of reading the meter backwards when trying to compensate, so most shots needed some lightening.
3. Convert to LAB Color, Unsharp Mask (58%, 2.8, 4) in Lightness Channel.
4. Reconvert to sRGB, resize to 600 pixels wide, save as JPEG (quality 5).



f/6.3, ISO 400, mixed lighting (fluorescent and daylight).* WB fluorescent.* Used the top left AF sensor which had no problems locking focus. 100% crop follows:





f/5.6, ISO 400, Auto WB.



f/5.6, ISO 400, WB fluorescent.



f/5.6, ISO 400, WB fluorescent.



f/11, ISO 1600, WB fluorescent.* It wasn't anywhere near dark enough for a good 1600 test.* 100% crop where I actually found a bit of noise (took a while):



This is way, way, way color noise less than would show up objectionably while printing.* Quick processing can definitely get rid of this.

Overall, these files, despite being large, were great to work with.* Shadow noise takes forever to show up when lightening, so I wouldn't worry about slight underexposure with this camera if it happens. Even with the ol' kit lens, I can see dandruff at 100%.

The XTi/400D body is more or less the XT/350D, with the addition of the the rubber bit for one's thumb on the back.* The Av and Drive mode buttons are spaced better, so that's a plus.* The big LCD is a noseprint magnet, but some of my friends with XT/350D's have already complained about their noses hitting the LCD, so this isn't really new.* As before, if the body was about an inch taller, it'd be a better fit in my hands.* The shutter release needs an awful hard squeeze to fire, but I'm used to soft-touch shutter releases.

The pulsing flash AF-assist is still there... ugh, this is an awful feature.* Nikon's AF Assist Lamp that doubles as a red-eye lamp is not any better, but at least it doesn't pulse.* I don't see why the red-eye lamp on the Rebel bodies can't be used as an AF assist, as it seems almost as bright as Nikon's AF assist lamp anyhow.

My friend said he was unimpressed with the addition of the 20D/30D AF system, but I felt that the cross sensor was slightly faster than the XT; of course, I didn't get a chance to put the system under any sort of stress.

The buttons are arranged similarly, but I like how the direct print button was moved out of the way to give us more space for the Av and Drive buttons.* I still don't like how you have to remember to push "Set" for the Custom Function changes, and how you can't see the Custom Function until you highlight it's number, but I could definitely learn the numbers if this was my own camera.* At least setting ISO, WB, etc. doesn't need the Set buton to be pressed.

No idea on how well the EOS Cleaning System works. "Sensor Cleaning" shows up on the LCD when I turn the camera off.

Overall, a nice camera, and a great entry-level DSLR in the Canon realm. I've always liked the entry-level Canons, and this is no exception.

[M. Worthington]

Wow, excellent of you to post your detailed view of the camera. I see quite a bit of noise in the latter shot. At what ISO does that show up?

The pulsing AF: Yes, I have always hated this on the prosumer cameras. Why do they have that there? Worst of all, it doesn't seem to improve autofocus in the least.

Can you turn it off?

[Carol Chan]

What are you seeing in terms of color rendition from this camera? The skin tone on your pic of the gentleman seems to exhibit the typical magenta bias.

[AlbertP]

The sensor cleaning thing is a big deal. I"ll be interested to hear how well it actualy works.

[Heika Werner]

Thanks for the preview. Can you tell us about the RAW files from this? I assume you have to work with Canon's software to view them/edit them now, right?

Which color space did you use when you took these shots?

[Rebecca West]

That ISO 1600 shot is not bad noise-wise. I bet it cleans up well in Neat Image, too.

[cyclohexane]

M. Worthington, the pulsing AF can be turned off. *I don't know which Custom Function is though, but I saw it. *The last shot is ISO 1600, and that's really clean, in my opinion for something I've lightened a bit. *Honestly, it looks like 200 film. *Check this thread out, and scroll to the first 100% crop. *After working with that, just about anything is cleaner. *=)

Carol, I probably didn't help the magenta by accidentally underexposing ~1/2 stop (I read the meter backwards, d'oh) instead of overexposing to compensate for the bright background, and I was using "fluorescent" for WB under a mixed lighting solution as the custom WB setting on the Rebels escapes me; I'm used to my two-touch custom setting on my own cameras, which are not Canon. *Overall, color seems pretty good, though slightly sterile compared to what I'm used to working with.* When Capture One updates to support the XTi, I'll give the RAW files a go to see if I can get that out..

Heika, I don't own any Canon DSLRs, so I don't have any Canon software to work with the RAW files, and Capture One doesn't support the XTi yet.* Color space is sRGB as per the "Standard" picture style.

[JDArt]

Great work, cyclohexane. What is this camera retailing for? That link you provided does show a lot of noise by comparison.

[cyclohexane]

I believe my friend paid $799, body only.* I keep telling him he needs to get a better lens first, but he quit shooting professionally before digital came around and just likes to have the latest Canon to play with.

As for the noise in that shot, it was practically deliberate, though I'm not sure I would have underexposed 1 stop if I had been paying attention.

[Paul Shields]

Useful hands-on report cyclohexane. The last does show some noise, but no more than I've seen from the 5D. Looks like it would clean up very nicely.

[Paul Shields]

also, in addition to my first post - I agree about the pulsing flash. I've always hated that approach. Even if it helps with AF, the effect it has on the subject (if they're sentient) is worse than the 'solution'...

[cyclohexane]

I just updated Capture One to 3.7.5, which supports the XTi/400D CR2 files, so I will be playing with the files I have in a short while. If anyone wants to know anything specific, ask away.

[Max@Home]

Hi CH,

Originally Posted by cyclohexane

My friend said he was unimpressed with the addition of the 20D/30D AF system, but I felt that the cross sensor was slightly faster than the XT.

...sorry, but what cross sensor?

...in the 400D/20D/30D/5D the cross sensor only kicks in when the lens has a Max Aperture of F2.8 or better

...as you know, the kitlens is F3.5-F5.6...

The faster response you got was the whole AFsystem and the camera being faster, but has nothing to do with the cross sensor

...but apart from this, a very nice hands-on, thanks for sharing!

...*my* €0.02...

Kindest regards!

Max@Home

[cyclohexane]

Oh shoot, terminology here. "Center sensor". =)

On my Nikons, cross-type sensors work all the time, in all light, while non-cross-types don't really work well until f/2.8. Oops... LOL

[dvdowns]

I had a look at the 400D today in New Zealand , NZ$1799 with kit lens , NZ$2199 with tamron 18-200Di lens and like the way it handles .

[cyclohexane]

Desmond, I won't discourage you from switching if you like it.* It's a real nice camera, though you have a pretty nice Nikon kit already, and the Nikon 18-200mm is quite a bit better than the other superzooms available.* Still, if the EOS cleaning system works well, it'd be a good idea for you, as I know you've been attacked by dust.* =)

So far, playing with the CR2 RAW files (of the JPEGs above, as that's all I've got) in Capture One, I'm seeing a green bias, especially when lightening the underexposed ones.* My workflow is color managed correctly, so I guess I'm just not used to working with Canon's RAW files- I haven't been able to duplicate those JPEGs through RAW processing.* Hopefully, when I have some more free time, I can take a longer look at the CR2 files and figure out what's up with that.

<edit> Forgot to add, Capture One LE's noise suppression seems to take care of the noise pretty well, but I wasn't looking closely.

[John Roberts]

Is the 400D a better camera than the 30D for a newbie?

[dvdowns]

Not necessarily a total switch but think of the lens prospects of having Nikon and Canon cameras !

[Max@Home]

Originally Posted by John Roberts

Is the 400D a better camera than the 30D for a newbie?

Hi John Roberts,

IMHO no, not a better camera, but a different camera with different specifications/priorities designed for a different target-group.

For a newbie the learning curve on both can be as steep as you like, both have the same 'modes' to choose from, from fully automatic AUTO-ALL to fully manual, and everything in between

...in the end... at their respective range/design limits the 30D will hold it's ground just a little longer than the 400D.

...*my* €0.02...

Kindest regards,

Max@Home