Canon Digital Rebel XSi review

Canon Digital Rebel XSi

Basic Specs

12 Megapixels

ISO 100-1600

Canon Lens Mount
(1.6X Factor)

Shutter 1/4000s-30s

53 Images @ 3.5 FPS Shooting

Full manual controls

3 " LCD 230K Pixels

Custom white balance

Dust Reduction System

Hot shoe

Secure Digital High-Capacity

Lithium-Ion Battery

Pros

Cons

Excellent rendition of details

Poor white-balance under artificial lighting

Low image noise at all ISO sensitivities

Occasional over-exposure problems

Exposure-priority live-view with 100% coverage

Very slow autofocus in live-view

Fast and responsive

Above average number of focus misses

Great LCD visibility

Small hand-grip

Eye-start sensor

LCD flush with side

Good battery-life

Strange controls and interface in live-view

Canon Digital Rebel XSi
Overall Score: Excellent

Assessment

The Canon Rebel XSi is finally a more complete camera than any Rebel before it. Despite being part of the entry-level Rebel series, the XSi features spot-metering, a 3.5 FPS continuous drive with a deep buffer, depth-of-field preview and finally exposure-priority live-view with 100% frame coverage. Autofocus is slow in live-view and the controls are just bizarre, but this is the most accurate live-view we have seen so far, making it the first camera to receive our Live-View icon.

Performance is great but not perfect. Image noise is low and dynamic range is better than average. Exposure and focus system are just a little less reliable than most, but still mostly accurate. The ergonomics of the Rebel XSi are all right given its size but things are crowded and the grip is rather small. Definitely it is worth trying it in a store to find out if it is comfortable.

While it's hard to go wrong with the Canon Rebel XSi, it does face several tough competitors including the Nikon D60 and the Pentax K200D. Image quality is too close among these three digital SLRs to make it a deciding factor. The standout model here is the K200D which has builtin image stabilization and a weather-sealed body. It is also powered by convenient AA batteries and can get 1100 shots on a single set of those. On the other hand, the XSi is faster and has a much deeper buffer during continuous shooting. Aside from these features of the K200D, the largest difference between different brands of DSLR cameras is the selection of lenses available.

Need help choosing one or more lenses for a DSLR? See our short lens selection feature article.

Hands On

The Canon Rebel XSi feels very compact and light-weight for a DSLR. This can be good or bad, depending on purpose and preferences. No doubt about it though, the XSi is quite portable. The light weight may not inspire durability but it makes it relatively discreet. Ergonomically, such a small DSLR has to make compromises - and indeed - the XSi feels cramped. There is a good number of buttons including ones to control ISO, metering, self-timer and autofocus mode. The large 3" LCD display is a bit too big for the camera and ands up flush with the side of the camera. This means it gets more nose-marks and holding the camera with two hands to change settings or review images does not feel secure.

In use, the Rebel XSi is normally straight forward. Certain things are not intuitive but can be learned easily. This is the first DSLR with a complete - but not ideal - implementation of live-view. Live-view being still an emerging feature tends to be implemented to various levels of uselessness. With this digital camera, we finally have an exposure-priority live-view with 100% coverage and autofocus. The exposure-simulation is very well done and any under-or-over exposure can be seen on the display, even when the metering limit of the camera and lens is exceeded. This is critically important to give an advantage to live-view over the standard optical viewfinder (OVF). The main problem with the XSi's live-view is a very slow autofocus system. An unfortunate problem is that the live-view interface is not only different but also bizarre. Many buttons no longer work the way they do when live-view is Off and a number of features become inaccessible.