Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Canon Eos 400D / Digital Rebel XTi News, Reviews, Comparisons, Prices and Specs
Canon’s new ten megapixel EOS 400D / Digital Rebel XTi is the latest addition to their budget digital SLR line of products.
Key features/specs include a ten megapixel, ISO1600 capable CMOS sensor.
Also new is a dust reduction system, nine area auto focus and shooting information on the 2.5” LCD. The small monochrome LCD above the 2.5” LCD in the EOS 300D/350D is now gone.
Cnet gives the Canon EOS 400D Digital Rebel XTi mixed results, largely faulting it for jumping to a higher resolution on the same physical sensor size as the EOS 350D but lowering sensitivity sensor to compensate. Inexplicably spot metering is not featured on this camera.
Canon 400D-Digital Rebel XTi Specs |
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| Format: | DSLR | Manual Focus: | Y |
| Megapixels: | 10mp | Focal Length: | 18-55mm |
| Optical Zoom: | use external lenses | Image Stabilization: | N |
| LCD: | 2.5" | Connectivity: | USB, AV |
| Digital Camera Memory: | Compact Flash | Movie Mode: | N |
| Aperture: | f1-f91 | Battery Type: | NB-2LH |
| RAW: | Y | Hot Shoe: | Y |
| Shutter Speed: | 1/4000-30sec | Dust Removal: | Y |
| Exposure: | ISO100-1600 | ||
| 400D-Digital Rebel XTi Dimensions (WxHxD) | 5 x 3.7 x 2.5 in (127 x 94 x 65mm) | ||
| 400D-Digital Rebel XTi Weight (inc. batt.) | 1.2 lb (556g) | ||
| 400D-Digital Rebel XTi Intro. price (US): | $899.99 (with 18-55mm lens) | ||
Canon 400D-Digital Rebel XTi Reviews, Previews, Ratings, Comparisons, Specs
Cnet Asia has just released a review of Canon EOS 400D-Digital Rebel XTi and gave it a lower rating (7.8) than usual for a Canon camera. It seems Canon sacrificed a few features and lowered specifications to compete with the likes of the 10 megapixel Nikon D80.
Canon upped the resolution but kept the sensor size the same thereby reducing the ISO rating by a full stop to ISO 1600 instead of 3200 for the EOS 350D. While Canon has enlarged the LCD to 2.5” they have removed the monochrome LCD above the color one, incorporating the functional readout to the main display.
The Canon EOS 400D-Digital Rebel XTi incorporates a dust removal system that engages at startup.
Some quotes from the review.
To keep up with the camera Joneses, the CMOS chip in the 400D is now self-cleaning. Similarly to many other dSLRs, the low-pass filter layer vibrates when the camera powers off or on in order to shake dust away from the sensor; plus, there’s an antistatic coating on the filter that repels dust. Furthermore, a bit of adhesive surrounding the sensor is designed to grab the dust, keeping it from flying around inside the camera chassis. In addition to dust control, Canon has split the low-pass filter into two parts, effectively placing whatever dust does settle beyond the range of focus.
Unfortunately, like the EOS 350D, the 400D lacks a spot meter; it supplies only evaluative, center-weighted average, and partial center-weighted metering. There is simply no substitute for a spot in tricky lighting situations. In fact, I couldn’t avoid severe underexposures of a backlit subject with the available metering tools, which is inexcusable for a camera of this class.
Continuous-shooting performance has been tweaked a bit. Though the speed remains the same as in the 350D, Canon rates the 400D to shoot as many as 27 frames of JPEG or 10 frames of RAW before the camera hits a bottleneck and slows. It fared slightly better in our testing, though the 7-second lag before you can continue shooting can be a bit frustrating. The 400D uses Canon’s Digic II chipset rather than the newer Digic III, and I wonder if the company might have been able to eke out better performance and noise suppression with the latter.
DPreview’s new review on the EOS400D/XTi
Thanks to its blood line and low price the EOS 400D will no doubt be a huge success for Canon. However unlike the EOS 350D, for me it’s no longer the first or obvious choice, so before jumping on the bandwagon make sure you’ve weighed up the competition.
Cameralabs.com has a review of the EOS 400D/Rebel XTi.
Their Verdict?
“Ultimately the Canon EOS 400D / Rebel XTi is a great entry-level digital SLR which improves on its predecessor in many respects. It has higher resolution without compromising noise levels, a wide variety of anti-dust features, a bigger screen which doubles-up for detailed shooting information, the AF system of its bigger brother and fast overall handling.
The only thing that’s missing is a cheap lens bundle with Image Stabilisation. This will undoubtedly have potential buyers carefully weighing it up against the Sony Alpha A100 which costs much the same, while those with a little more to spend may be tempted by the superior traditional performance of the Nikon D80.
But this aside, it’s hard to fault the EOS 400D / Rebel XTi. Canon already had a great product with the 350D / XT, but rather than resting on its laurels has upped the ante and delivered a worthy successor. The new 400D / Rebel XTi is a great camera to use, produces excellent image quality and is one of the best budget digital SLRs to date. It may have very tough rivals, but still comes Highly Recommended.”
Also check out their EOS 400D/Rebel XTi video review.
Canon 400D-Digital Rebel XTi Press Release
The EOS 400D features:
- 10.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor
- Canon’s EOS Integrated Cleaning System
- 2.5” LCD screen with 230K pixels and 160º viewing angle
- High-precision 9 point AF system
- Picture Style image processing parameters
- DIGIC II image processor with 0.2 sec start up
- Digital Photo Professional RAW processing software
- Compact and Lightweight body
- Fully compatible with all Canon EF and EF-S lenses and EX-series Speedlites
Canon EOS 400D/Digital Rebel XTi Improved Performance
As well as the EOS Integrated Cleaning System, the EOS 400D incorporates a number of developments over the EOS 350D. Resolution increases from 8.0 to 10.1 Megapixels, using the superior hi-sensitivity, hi-speed, low-noise CMOS technology now found in all six EOS Digital models. At nearly twice the size of the EOS 350D display, the 2.5” hi-resolution LCD is the brightest in the EOS range and now displays all of key shooting and user interface information along with image playback. The AF system expands from 7 to 9-point, with a highly sensitive f/2.8 center point for exceptional performance in low light. Even with the image resolution increase, maximum frame burst almost doubles from 14 to 27 large JPEGs and from 5 to 10 RAW.
EOS 400D/Digital Rebel XTi Dust reduction
The EOS 400D is the first camera to incorporate the EOS Integrated Cleaning System. Based on significant research into the causes of dust in D-SLR cameras, the system combats dust in three important ways: Reduce, Repel and Remove.
1. Reduce - Internal camera mechanisms are designed to minimise dust generation. The body cap is redesigned to prevent dust generation through wear on the cap itself.
2. Repel - Anti-static technologies are applied to the low-pass filter covering the front of the sensor so as not to attract dust.
3. Remove - A Self-Cleaning Sensor Unit uses hi-frequency vibrations to shake dust from the low pass filter for a period of approximately one second after each start up. For instant shooting after power up, this feature is disabled immediately the shutter release is depressed.
Canon has also developed an internal Dust Delete Data system, which can map the position of any visible dust on the sensor. This can then be deleted automatically after the shoot with the latest Digital Photo Professional software.
The EOS 400D Advantage
The EOS 400D inherits a number of advanced features proven in higher-end EOS models, such as the EOS 30D and 5D. These include its 9-point AF system, Picture Style (see Appendix: Technologies Explained), 9,999 image capacity folders and expanded Pictbridge functionality.
The EOS 400D also incorporates the same DIGIC II processor found across the EOS range right through to EOS‑1 professional models (see Appendix ‘Technologies Explained’). As well as providing superior image quality through advanced rendering algorithms and almost instant 0.2 second start up time, DIGIC II’s accelerated processing prioritises the photographer’s ability to keep shooting by clearing the buffer quickly between frame bursts.
Eos 400D Digital Rebel XTi Upgrading
The upgrade path to the EOS 400D from earlier EOS models is made easy by maintaining the same intuitive user interface and basic layout of key features and functions. Photographers are also able to use the same battery and Battery Grip BG-E3 as used on the EOS 350D, as well as continued support for all EF and EF-S lenses, EX Speedlites and EOS accessories.
EOS 400D-Digital Rebel XTi Software
Consistent with the entire EOS Digital range, the EOS 400D is supplied with a comprehensive software suite to help the photographer’s workflow. This includes Digital Photo Professional (DPP), a powerful RAW converter that provides complete RAW image processing control. DPP also integrates with camera features such as the Dust Delete Data and Picture Style. The camera also comes with EOS Capture, Image/Zoom Browser and Photostitch, plus 100MB of personal online space on CANON iMAGE GATEWAY, Canon’s online photo sharing service.
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