Cameras SLR
Thursday, June 25th, 2009Cameras SLR : Canon EOS 450D Digital SLR Review ( also called the Canon Digital Rebel XSi )
Executive Summary about : Cameras SLR By www.dpreview.com | Lori Grunin | Mark Goldstein
Slr Camera
It doesn’t stand out for its feature set or design, but the Canon EOS 450D delivers on performance and photo quality. Featuring a 12.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor, EOS Integrated Cleaning System, 3.0″ LCD with Live View mode and a new 9-point AF system, the model presents consumers with an unprecedented level of image quality and versatility at this end of the market.
The EOS 450D employs features already proven in Canon’s professional EOS-1 series cameras, including the DIGIC III image processor and a redesigned menu system that enables features such as direct control of Speedlite flash units from the camera LCD.
The EOS 450D features:
- 12.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor
- Canon’s EOS Integrated Cleaning System
- 3.5 frames per second
- 3.0″ LCD with Live View shooting
- 9-point wide-area AF system with f/2.8 cross-type centre point
- Picture Style image processing parameters
- DIGIC III image processor
- Digital Photo Professional RAW processing software
- Compact and Lightweight body
- Fully compatible with all Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites
Built for better photos
The menu system inherited from professional EOS cameras uses a simplified tab structure that does away with scrolling. Highlight Tone Priority boosts the dynamic range at the highlight end, providing better tonal detail from wedding dresses, cloudy skies and other bright objects. The new Auto Lighting Optimiser corrects brightness and contrast during image processing, while improving skin tones in portraits by ensuring correct exposure for faces. Photographers can also enable additional noise reduction for shots captured at high ISO speeds.
Features
The biggest operational advantage the 450D offers over competitors is My Menu, which it inherits from older models. With My Menu you can build a go-to list of the most frequently accessed menu settings — in our case, for instance, Format and Live View settings.
For instance, you can change ISO sensitivity with either the dial or the navigation buttons, but can only navigate metering choices via the nav. On some counts, the 450D offers some pretty nice specs, highlighted by the 12-megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor (for Canon’s traditional 1.6x focal-length multiplier) and 9-point user-selectable autofocus system.
We also mark the switch from CompactFlash to SDHC in the plus column. Also, the 450D includes Canon’s Auto Lighting Optimizer, which automatically adjusts contrast and brightness in case the image you captured isn’t quite perfect. For example, shutter speeds range from 30 seconds to 1/4,000 second with a flash sync speed of 1/200 second and the camera employs a 35-zone TTL metering system. Canon also offers the BG-E5 battery grip.
The inclusion of an image-stabilising kit lens doesn’t quite compensate, since additional optically stabilised lenses tend to cost more in the long run. Though it offers a Live View shooting mode with contrast-detection AF, Live View’s usefulness is limited without support from an articulating LCD.
Furthermore, all the manufacturers seem to incorrectly think the equivalent of Canon’s Picture Styles, custom contrast, sharpness saturation, and colour tone, are more important in this market segment than the ability to save groups of custom exposure, white balance, metering, drive mode settings, and so on.
Live View
Available for the first time on a Canon consumer D-SLR, Live View mode makes it easier to shoot from awkward angles, such as ground-level macro shots or when shooting from a tripod. Live View is a great addition on paper, but don’t expect a point-and-shoot experience as the contrast AF mode is infuriatingly slow, and the Quick AF mode is of most interest to macro and studio photographers.
The new EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS kit lens is actually more beneficial than Live View, providing much needed image stabilisation, although obviously Canon’s system is still lens-dependent and therefore more restrictive than that of Sony, Pentax or Olympus (which instantly work with any lens).
Image quality is on a par with the EOS 400D, with noise-free images up to ISO 800 and a very usable fastest speed of 1600, so usable that I don’t understand why the EOS 450D doesn’t also offer ISO 3200. Performance is also excellent, with no shutter-lag to speak of and fast processing times even when shooting in RAW mode. The 3.5fps continuous shooting mode is a little faster than the EOS 450D’s predecessor, although in RAW mode the total number of possible consecutive shots has dropped from 10 to 6.
As for the Canon EOS 450D, it is an excellent camera, especially with the image stabilised 18-55mm lens, and it still offers a fantastic introduction to DSLR photography, just like its more illustrious predecessors.
