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Canon Rebel XS

$523.45

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Test Images (click to enlarge) Still Life Multi Target

Test Summary (Mouse over items for explanations)
Power-on Time	0.3 sec
Shutter Lag, Full Autofocus	0.164 sec
Shutter Lag, Prefocused	0.087 sec
Shot to Shot time	0.42 sec
Continuous Speed	2.93 fps (7 shots)
Best Macro	2.48x1.65 in 63x42mm
Viewfinder accuracy (Optical)	95%
Viewfinder accuracy (LCD)	100%
Distortion (Wide Angle)	0.9%
Distortion (Telephoto)	-0.1%
Battery Life (CIPA standard)	500 shots

	10.10 Megapixels
	Canon EF / EF-S mount
	2.5 inch LCD

Canon Rebel XS / 1000D
Overview

by Shawn Barnett

Canon's new EOS Rebel XS creates a new budget digital SLR designed to compete with Nikon's D60 and other sub-$700 digital SLR cameras by Pentax, Olympus, and Sony. To meet the lower price point, the Canon XS includes fewer of the features of the Rebel XSi, but the XS is still a quality offering in its own right.

The Canon Rebel XS shares some features with the XTi announced in 2006, with a 10.1-megapixel image sensor and a 2.5-inch LCD, compared to the Rebel XSi's 12.1 and 3-inch LCD. The XS also returns to the 7-point AF sensor from the Rebel XT, compared to the 9-point AF sensor in the XTi and XSi). The XS also returns to 12-bit processing compared to the XSi's 14-bit system, and the infrared remote control on the front and proximity sensors on the back are also removed in the XS.

Though Canon says that the Rebel XS is capable of shooting JPEGs at a steady three frames per second up to the available flash card capacity, RAW shooters may be disappointed to find that the Canon Rebel XS can only manage 1.5 frames per second when shooting in RAW mode. Even though the pace is much slower, the XS also manages to capture just 6 RAW frames before the buffer fills.

The Canon XS maintains some very important features that could make it a worthwhile upgrade for XT and XTi owners. Most notably, Canon Rebel XS has a live view mode with contrast-detection autofocusing. There's also Canon's DIGIC III image processor, while the XTi was based on the older DIGIC II processor. The newer processor offers better performance and image quality. Battery life should be increased by around 50% as compared to the XTi, with the Rebel XS using the same LP-E5 battery from the XSi.

The Canon XS kit includes an excellent image-stabilized 18-55mm lens, rounding out the package, improving the camera's ability to compete in this increasingly image-stabilized market.

Canon Rebel XS Pricing and Availability

Shipping as of August 2008, the Canon Rebel XS is available in a kit version which includes the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS zoom lens, at an estimated retail price of US$699.99. Two versions are available, one in black and one in silver.

Lab Test Summary

Lens. The Canon Rebel XS comes with an image-stabilized 18-55mm kit lens, covering a 3x zoom range equivalent to 28.8-88mm. Build quality is good, and the lens is light, balancing the camera nicely. Overall this lens is a significant improvement over the XTi's kit lens. Naturally, the Rebel XS can be fitted with dozens of Canon EF and EF-S lenses, as well as third-party lenses, so keep that in mind when reading the four categories below.

• Sharpness: Across the zoom range, sharpness is improved over its predecessor, and most shooters will be happy with this lens. The lens is a little softer at wide-angle than at most other settings, but it's still quite good. Corners are only slightly softer than the center, such that we'd not call it a flaw at all.
• Distortion: Moderate barrel distortion at wide-angle is common at 28mm, minimal pincushion at telephoto that is hardly detectable.
• Chromatic aberration: Moderate chromatic aberration at wide-angle, but quite low and dull CA at telephoto.
• Macro: Kit lens produces good macro images with high detail and the usual corner softening, common at close range.

Image Quality

• Color: The Rebel XS's color is pretty accurate, save for some minor pumping of reds, which is common for all consumer cameras. Skin tones look good, if a little warm, leaning toward a healthy glow rather than a cold appearance.
• Noise and Detail: Overall, the Rebel XS shows good detail and low noise in most lighting and at all ISOs. However, there are strange errors that only come to light in certain situations, as in the red hair of our Incandescent light model, where we see pronounced chroma noise patterns across the ISO range. More disturbing are the moiré and aliasing errors in the hair and fine-line patterns. Printed up to 11x14 these patterns are negligible; cropping or enlarging will reveal these errors more clearly, however. There is also evidence of oversharpening in many of the photographs, which amplifies the errors.
• Incandescent light: Auto white balance leaves incandescent light quite warm, and even the incandescent setting keeps it warm. We had to switch to manual white balance to get incandescent light right. This is oddly quite common among digital SLRs.
• Flash: Flash coverage is uneven at wide angle and more even at telephoto, though still with some vignetting. The Canon XS's flash had good intensity all the way to about 15 feet at ISO 100 at 18mm. At full telephoto, flash intensity didn't fall until about 9 feet at 55mm.
• Printed: For the layman, the Canon XS's printed results are quite good up to 13x19 inches. Prints have good color, and even ISO 1,600 shots look good at 8x10. Most buyers of the Rebel XS will be quite happy with the camera's output. However, enthusiasts should note the strong moiré patterns and aliasing errors present in the Canon XS's images, as these artifacts are more prominent in the XS than in other cameras of this type (note, however, that these artifacts are more common among modern digital SLRs, including the Canon 50D and Nikon D300).

Performance

• Shutter lag: Full autofocus shutter response is quite fast for a consumer SLR, at 0.164 second. The pre-flashes emitted to perform flash metering did not add as much delay as some, only raising full shutter lag with the flash slightly, to 0.174 second. "Prefocus" time was also quite fast, at 0.087 second (pre-focusing means half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure). Continuous mode was a bit slower than full AF, at 0.130 second. Manual focus was almost as fast as pre-focused at 0.104 second. Autofocus in Live View is a lot slower, depending on which mode you use.
• Cycle time: Shot-to-shot cycle times are also very good, at about 0.42 second per frame for large/fine JPEGs in single-shot mode, and the camera was able to capture 15 frames at this rate before slowing down. RAW mode was a little slower at 0.69 seconds per shot, and the Canon XS had to slow down after 5 frames to flush to the card. Continuous speed is about average for an entry-level SLR, at 2.93 frames per second for 7 large/fine JPEGs. RAW mode is quite a bit slower at 1.5 frames-per-second for 4 frames.
• Flash Recycle: The flash takes 3.26 seconds to recharge after a full-power shot, which is quite good considering its power.

Summary. Overall, the Canon Rebel XS is a good quality digital SLR camera, well-suited to the consumer photographer. Canon sought to compete with Nikon and Pentax at the extreme low price level, and they had to cut a few corners. The body isn't quite as nice as the Canon Rebel XSi, and the image quality suffers from a few more hitches, worst of which are the moiré patterns we find in fine detail and the chroma noise we find especially in red hair. Most consumers won't notice, however, unless they zoom to 100 percent onscreen and search around like we do. The Canon Rebel XS's image stabilized lens and impressive high ISO performance should mitigate most of the other problems, and the Rebel XS's fast autofocus should make this year's holiday pictures better than ever. While we really like the Canon Rebel XS for consumer photographers, we think most enthusiast shooters will be better served with the Canon Rebel XSi kit, which is available for about $200 more.