A Closer Look

	6.3 Megapixel CMOS Sensor A large-format, high-resolution CMOS sensor captures 6.3 million pixels to deliver images that will astonish you with their depth and detail. As it captures images, the sensor amplifies each pixel's electric charge, for ultra-fast image scanning that's simply unmatched. A superior sensor design raises the maximum ISO speed while lowering image degradation during long exposures.
	Wide-Area 7-Point AF The 7-point Wide-Area AF System makes focusing quick and accurate, even when your subject is off-center. 7 focusing points are laid out in a cross pattern that's visible on the uncluttered Viewfinder, using a Super Imposed optical system for utmost clarity. You can opt to let the camera detect your subject and select the proper focusing point, or choose a focusing point yourself.
	35-Zone Metering The EOS Digital Rebel's 35-zone, AF point-linked Evaluative Metering Sensor and 3 metering modes make the art of controlling exposure as easy or advanced as you want. 35-zone Evaluative Metering ensures accurate, consistent exposure, taking into account lighting extremes and subject position through the active focusing point.
	Optimal Settings for Common Shots Simply turn the command dial and the camera's settings are automatically optimized for stunning portraits, sweeping landscapes, highly-detailed close-up shots, dynamic sports images and properly exposed night portraits. A handy Flash-off mode is also available, plus Auto for carefree shooting.
	Legendary Canon EF Lenses Canon offers the world's largest selection of autofocus lenses. Canon EF lenses are favorites of professional photographers, and world-renowned for their optical quality and endless versatility. The EOS Digital Rebel accepts over 50 of these lenses, from ultra wide-angle to super telephoto, plus fish-eye, macro and tilt-shift lenses.
	Sharing Your Images is Exciting New PictBridge compatibility allows you to connect the camera to any PictBridge-conforming printer and access a wide range of printing media, modes and styles. Canon-to-Canon direct printing, however,will produce the speediest,most reliable quality printing,with extra options for printing effects and a handy display when it’s time to replace ink cartridges.
	Play it Back Big Time Seeing your images right away is a major advantage of digital cameras. Any image that doesn’t match your intention can simply be erased to make room for another. Choosing whether to save or erase a shot is especially easy with Digital Rebel because you can zoom the image from 1.5x all the way to 10x, then scroll up, down, left, and right to see any area up close.
	Point-and Shoot Simplicity The right side mounted Mode Dial makes one-handed shooting comfortable, and 12 versatile shooting modes let you make the call: shoot fully automatic, master a given situation with a Programmed Image Control mode, experience the excitement of manipulating shutter and aperture combinations, or go fully manual. Additional advanced exposure controls include AE Lock, FE Lock and Auto Exposure Bracketing.
	The DiG!C Imaging Processor Canon's exclusive DiG!C chip gives the Digital Rebel spectacular image quality, natural color reproduction, and fast, responsive handling. The general purpose imaging processors used by most digital cameras perform pixel operations one at a time. DiG!C, however, operates in parallel mode for exceptionally fast processing.

Through the lens...

By Don Cohen
Digital Imaging Editor

When I first reviewed the Canon EOS Digital Rebel last fall, it's main claim-to-fame was that it was the first SLR-style digital under $1,000. For that, you get Canon quality and reliability. Today, the digital Rebel has earned the reputation as an easy to use digital SLR that takes outstanding photos; it's become an enormous seller. I've used the Rebel for several months and I love its sleek design and virtually effortless operation. The 35mm feel that I love with a slew of advanced, pro-style features. Its success harks back to the Canon optics; the EOS Digital Rebel comes to you with 6.3-megapixel CMOS sensor and Canon's hot EF-S 3.5-5.6 18-55mm lens (more about this in a moment). And it can utilize legendary Canon lenses as well; the new EF-S mount used on this Canon Digital Rebel is compatible with a range of over 50 presently available Canon EF lenses. One note however, Canon's new 18-55mm lens is specifically designed for the Rebel and will not fit any other Canon cameras.

The Basics: The Rebel Rebel Body and Soul
Like the Canon Rebel film version I used years ago, the Rebel is solid and well constructed, with its inimitable slopes and indentations. The controls are logically placed (the layout is almost identical to the original EOS models), and the camera fits well in my hands. While I was at first very skeptical of the body's plastic construction, I now appreciate the light weight of the material design. The non-metallic construction has never been an issue.

Beginning from the ground up, Canon Rebel has ingeniously combined "beginner" features with surprisingly "high-end" amenities to create a system that can please everyone. For example, the Rebel features a 1/200 second flash sync speed and a 1/4000 second top shutter speed. It has auto-exposure bracketing and exposure can be adjusted in 1/3 EV increments. The viewfinder has a built in diopter adjustment for eyeglass wearers---just to name a few. And make no mistake, the Rebel's auto-focus system will shame anything else in its price range.

The Rebel has amazing autofocus capability. The camera automatically employs 1 of 3 AF systems to determine accurate focus. One-Shot AF ensures precise, carefree focus in all-around shooting. AI Servo AF tracks active subjects to predict their movement, making continuous focusing calculations right up to the last possible moment for dynamic stop-action shots. AI Focus AF switches between One-Shot AF and AI Servo AF when it senses that subjects are starting and stopping. It's perfect for children, pets, wildlife and other unpredictable subjects. Rapid image processing and a generous buffer memory maintain sharp, accurate focus with speedy subject tracking even in the Continuous Shooting Mode, allowing you to capture split-second action sequences at 2.5 fps with a 4-shot burst.

A couple of other items: The Rebel's large hand grip creates a balanced support and makes holding and using the camera very comfortable. The program mode dial on the top lets you choose between scene modes such as Landscape, Portrait and Close-up among others; Full Auto (green mode); and the more creative modes that offer Program AE, Shutter-priority AE, Aperture-priority AE and Manual. There is a main input wheel conveniently located just behind the shutter button to adjust some of the camera's settings or adjust aperture and shutter speed while in certain program modes. When pressing a control button, turning the input dial adjusts the selected setting. Really well designed. Real handy to use.

Finally, Canon Digital Rebel uses a DIGIC Image Processor specifically tuned for digital EOS cameras which smoothes gradation in highlight areas, normally a problem in digital photography. As an added benefit, I've found the DIGIC's speedier processing improves the camera's battery performance, and adds to the camera's overall responsiveness and agility.

EF-S 18-55/3.5-5.6 USM Lens
Canon Rebel Rebel was the first with a versatile 18-55mm zoom lens. EF-S 18-55mm zoom is exceptional. The lens has amazing optical performance for the price. Its minimum focus distance is about 4 inches. Stopped down to F8, it is as sharp as my 50mm F1.4 USM lens. Plus the Rebel and lens together weighs less than the Canon 10D body alone! The impressive optical performance of the lens is made possible by the fact that it is only designed to cover the Rebel's sensor rather than a 35mm frame. Note that due to the small sensor in the Rebel, at 18mm this lens gives a field of view the same as you would get with a 29mm lens on a full frame 35mm camera.

The camera offers an extensive range of ISO speeds, allowing you to quickly compensate for shifting light conditions. A conventional camera would have to hold several types of film at various speeds to accomplish this. When shooting in Full Auto, Landscape, Close-up, Night Portrait or Flash Off modes, ISO speed is automatically set between 100 and 400 in 1/3-stop increments to suit the shooting conditions. In Portrait, ISO speed is set to 100, in Sports, 400, and in Creative Zone modes, ISO speed may be set manually through the LCD screen menu to 100, 200, 400, 800 or 1600. When utilizing the built-in flash, ISO speed is automatically set to 400 in Full Auto, Close-up and Night Portrait modes, and 100 in Portrait mode.

Feeling creative? Advanced controls will keep experienced photographers motivated and inspire beginners to flex their SLR skills. Creative Zone modes include A-DEP to set a "zone of sharpness," Manual, Aperture Priority AE to set the aperture, Shutter Priority AE to set shutter speed, and Program AE to let the camera select different shutter/aperture combinations while maintaining a constant exposure.

Last Word On The Rebel
One thing that took some getting use to with the Rebel is how quickly the camera goes into "sleep" mode by default. The camera turns back on when you touch any button on the camera, but the operation is definitely different from operating a film camera. Another word of caution is to be careful about judging correct exposure from the image playback screen alone. The LCD can't display as many colors as a computer monitor, so use the histogram option instead. A particularly nice feature is that the Rebel is always ready to take a picture when the power is on. Even when you are reviewing pictures on the LCD screen, you can pressing the shutter release and take a picture. In contrast, most consumer digital camera can not take pictures when they are in "Review" mode. The camera also can automatically rotate images right-side up.

It's easy to compare the Rebel vs. SLRs that cost 3 or 4 times more. It's got the advanced features for complex subjects and lighting conditions---or it can handle everything automatically. But it's the feel of the Rebel that makes it fast and fun to use. A Canon champion.