Use your browser's "Back" button to return to the previous page, or the links at the top and bottom of this page to navigate to related information. If you have difficulty fitting the text on this page onto your printer output, simply resize your browser window to a narrower width and print again.

Dave here: Have our reviews been helpful to you? (Is this article you're reading right now useful?) Preparing this level of information on as many products as we do is incredibly hard work, not to mention expensive. Things on the Internet may look like they're free, but they're not. (As a lot of big dot.com companies are finding out these days.) Somewhere, somebody has to pay to produce worthwhile content. YOU can help us though, by remembering us when it comes time to make your purchase. Would you consider coming back to our site and clicking-through to one of our advertisers to make your purchase? Every dollar you spend with one of our advertisers helps us directly (in affiliate fees) or indirectly (the advertiser will keep renewing their ad contract with us). To make it easy for you to support us, here's a URL you can visit, to see all our current advertisers, with links to click on that will register your visit to them as having come from our site. It's up to you where you buy, but Mike, Mike, Kim, Yazmin, Marti and I would be really grateful if you'd help us out by choosing one of our advertisers to purchase from.

Back to Full Canon EOS 350D Digital Rebel Review
Go to Canon EOS 350D Digital Rebel Data Sheet
Go to Canon EOS 350D Digital Rebel Pictures Page
Up to Imaging Resource Cameras Page

	*	Canon Digital SLR designed ground-up to be digital
	*	8.0-megapixel CMOS sensor, 3,456 x 2,304 pixel images
	*	ISO of 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
	*	Impressive image quality, color accuracy, low image noise, resolution
	*	Compatible with all Canon EOS system lenses and accessories, focal length multiplier of 1.6, plus the new EF-S digital-only design.

Overview

The Canon Digital Rebel XT builds on the huge success of the original Digital Rebel, a camera that literally turned the digital camera world on its ear when it was first introduced. A six-megapixel digital SLR that sold with a lens for less than $1,000, the Digital Rebel not only challenged Nikon, Olympus, and Fuji in the D-SLR business, but promised to cut drastically into the all-in-one "prosumer" market. Borrowing its name from their highly popular "Rebel" line of entry-level film SLRs, the Digital Rebel offered many of the same exposure features and improvements as the 10D, but slightly scaled back to keep costs under control and to provide some differentiation between the Rebel and its higher-priced sibling.

Where the original Digital Rebel left off, the Digital Rebel XT now carries on and improves. The Rebel XT boasts an 8.2-megapixel CMOS sensor (yielding 8.0 megapixel images) for even higher resolution images, better manual control over AF and metering modes, an adjustable EV step size, flash exposure compensation, and a Custom Function menu for customizing the camera even further. It's a vast improvement over the preceding model, even though the original Digital Rebel was an excellent camera in its own right. Read on for all of the details!

Highlights

• 8.2-megapixel, 22.2 x 14.8mm, 12-bit RGB CMOS sensor delivering 3,456 x 2,304-pixel images. Effective count of 8.0-megapixels and 3:2 aspect ratio.
• Single-lens reflex digital camera with interchangeable lenses (supports all Canon EOS series lenses). Focal length multiplier of 1.6x as compared to a 35mm camera.
• Variable ISO (100, 200, 400, 800, and 1,600 settings).
• TTL optical viewfinder with detailed information display, diopter adjustment, and depth-of-field preview.
• 1.8-inch, low-temperature TFT LCD with 115,000 pixels.
• Automatic, Program AE, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Depth-of-Field AE, and Manual exposure modes, plus Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait, and Flash Off programmed modes.
• Operates in "shooting priority mode," meaning there's no separate "playback" mode to view pictures. Pictures can be viewed between shots, and even if camera is showing a picture or in a menu, pressing the Shutter button causes the camera to take a photo immediately.
• Continuous Shooting mode capturing as many as 14 images as fast as 3 frames per second (with shutter speeds of 1/250 second or faster.)
• Variable white balance with Auto, six manual presets, and a Custom setting (reads from a neutral gray or white card), as well as a color correction tool.
• TTL autofocus with seven focusing points, manually or automatically selectable. One shot AF, AI Servo AF , AI Focus AF, and manual focus with AF assist beam, depending on exposure mode selected. Working range of EV 0.5 to 18 at ISO 100.
• Built-in E-TTL retractable-type flash with red-eye reduction. Guide Number is 13/43 at ISO 100, m/ft, flash angle covers the field of an 17mm lens. Topside hot shoe for external flash connection of EX Speedlite flashes.
• Flash exposure lock function. (FEL)
• External hot shoe supports E-TTL II metering, FEL, and FP (high speed sync) flash with Canon EX Series Speedlight.
• Redeye Reduction via built-in illuminator.
• TTL maximum-aperture metering with a 35-zone silicon photocell. 35-zone Evaluative metering linked to all focusing points, Center weighted average metering, or nine percent central-area spot metering. Metering range of EV 1 to 20 (at normal temperatures, EF 50mm f/1.4 USM, ISO 100).
• Adjustable exposure compensation from -2 to +2 EV in 1/3 or 1/2 EV increments in all exposure modes.
• Auto exposure bracketing (AEB) from -2 to +2 EV in 1/3 or 1/2 EV increments in all autoexposure modes.
• White balance bracketing. (JPEG file format only)
• Shutter speeds from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds, and a Bulb setting for longer exposures.
• Electronic self-timer with a fixed duration of 10 seconds.
• Optional external hand grip/battery pack adds secondary shutter release and control wheel, as well as AE lock and focus point buttons for vertical-format shooting.
• Image storage on CompactFlash Type I or II, compatible with IBM MicroDrives
• USB 2.0 connectivity with TWAIN driver for PC and Adobe Photoshop plugin for Macintosh. NTSC/PAL selectable video out connectivity. E3 remote control socket and IR remote control window.
• 24-bit JPEG and 36-bit RAW data file formats. Available resolution settings are: 3,456 x 2,304; 2,496 x 1,664; and 1,728 x 1,152.
• Backlit LCD data readout, for easier operation in the dark.
• DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) and DCF (Design Rule for Camera File System) compliant.
• Direct Print capability to selected Canon photo printers.
• Camera body available separately, or as part of a kit with lens and accessories.

Comparison Table

Many of our readers will be familiar with Canon's earlier Digital Rebel and the very popular EOS 20D and Nikon D70 (now the D70s). The table below highlights similarities and differences between these four hot cameras, as well as a range of competing models from other manufacturers. The colored highlights in the Rebel XT's column call attention to differences between the XT and the original Digital Rebel. (Green means the XT surpasses the original model, pink means it's less capable, and yellow means it's different, not necessarily better or worse.(

User Report

Retrospective
The launch of the Canon EOS Digital Rebel in 2003 brought the digital SLR within range of consumers. The camera was so popular, Canon had to quickly ramp up production to keep up with demand. It wasn't a perfect camera, but the price was right, at $999.99, and the Digital Rebel hit the target much as did the Canon AE-1 in the late 1970's, offering ease of use in an attractive package. The Digital Rebel met most amateur photographers needs, and many pros were also seen shooting the camera on occasion, as well as scads of intermediate photographers and weekend warriors trying to make a buck with their favorite hobby. Though the camera's case wasn't as professional looking as its predecessor, the EOS 10D, its sensor was actually better than the 10D, and tuned for consumer tastes with its Parameter 1 setting (this setting boosts saturation, sharpening, and contrast to more closely match what amateur photographers expect from digicam and film output).

But there were some important features missing from the Canon Digital Rebel. Many enthusiasts complained that there was no flash compensation possible with the Digital Rebel; and though I pooh-poohed this complaint myself at first, I soon came to agree. Some didn't like the silver painted case, others thought it felt somewhat cheap in its build. The camera rattles slightly when shaken, due to some loose brackets in the pop-up flash mechanism. By far my biggest complaint with the Digital Rebel was its buffer depth. Capturing only four frames before filling the buffer, regardless of resolution or compression settings, this was an impediment that often hampered my portrait and event photography.

Still, there was no disputing the great value of the Canon Digital Rebel. Its image quality was superb, besting even very fine competitors like the Nikon D70 in some aspects. Its high-ISO performance was impressive, and its lens was surprisingly sharp and useful for all manner of photography. The combo was light, easy to use, focused quickly, and kicked out great shot after great shot.

Every great performance demands an encore, and Canon was happy to oblige. The new Canon Digital Rebel XT improves on the original in almost every way. It's smaller, lighter, faster, more versatile, more capable, and takes on nearly every trait of the benchmark EOS 20D. Its 8 megapixel sensor is slightly lower resolution than the 20D, but features like the White Balance correction table, and E-TTL II have been brought over intact. Nothing's perfect, however, and there's a bit of a dust-up here at Imaging Resource about the camera's overall size; and in particular the grip.

Surprising size
You notice it immediately: the Rebel XT is a very small camera. Not compared to most consumer-level digital cameras, mind you, but for an SLR, it easily rivals the Pentax *istD, and comes close to many of the 35mm film-based Rebel SLRs in overall size. They've taken what they claim is the basic guts of the 20D and fit it into a smaller package. The result is an SLR that can be easily concealed in a jacket or sweatshirt pocket. Okay, maybe not "concealed," given the significant bulge, but it nonetheless fits and could ride there for some time without a problem if necessary. Many buyers are going to love the Canon Digital Rebel XT for this reason alone.

But Dave's hackles have been raised by the Rebel XT's design. This doesn't usually happen, especially with cameras that he's seen deliver excellent quality images. All he has to do is pick up the XT, and he's immediately incensed. (And I mean incensed -- I'm filtering his comments on the subject quite a bit here.) The grip is way too small for his hands, and the control arrangement is too confining. My init