When Canon introduced the original Digital Rebel (aka EOS-300D), I was pleased to see the price of DSLRs marching downward, but I wasn't in a position to buy one. Furthermore, I was really holding out for 8 megapixels, having once been asked by a magazine art director for 8x10 at 300dpi,
not "rezzed up." My father got a Digital Rebel, and I used it, as well as ones belonging to a friend or two.
The EOS-1D Mark II came out, and I grimaced at the thought of spending that kind of money to get my longed-for 8 megapixels. Then the EOS-20D came out, and I figured I could afford one in a few more years. Then at last the Digital Rebel XT (aka EOS-350D) was announced, shortly before income tax refund season... and I don't need to tell you what happened.
I already have an Elan 7 film body and a 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom, so I didn't opt for the kit lens. I knew I'd be needing something faster in the way of a lens (I wound up getting, and have reviewed, Canon's
50mm f/1.8 II) for indoor photography without a flash.
I picked up a Rebel XT body, along with a 5-year Mack warranty, at B&H Photo in New York. I traveled down to the Philadelphia suburbs to visit family, shot happily with it for about three days, and then on the fourth day, it refused to write images from the internal buffer to the compact flash card. I tried several different cards, but none worked. A quick call to B&H got me an RMA, and a quick
visit to B&H got me a new body, which I put through its paces by shooting some 2500 exposures over the next three weeks with no problems at all. While I was swapping bodies, I picked up some SanDisk Extreme II compact flash, which worked well with the camera. A helpful staffer mentioned that Canon's production pace of 70,000 Digital Rebel XT bodies per month was about to be doubled to 140,000 a month!
I've extensively used Nikon's D1 and D2H professional DSLRs, and was delighted to encounter a camera half the size, half the weight and half the
price of the D2H, with twice the resolution and lower noise at high ISO speeds. The Nikons don't belong to me, but I've informed the people they do belong to that I have no intention of using them in the future. I still have to pick up a couple more lenses - most likely the 85mm and 28mm f/1.8 models - but this camera should keep me happy for quite a while to come.
Nitpicks are few. I'm all thumbs and keep bumping the continuous drive mode button by mistake, then wondering why the shutter doesn't click until I discover that I've put the camera into timer mode! Other than that, there are the usual comments to be made about plastic bodies - having busted a battery compartment door on one of Canon's consumer point-and-shoot digitals, I'm being extra careful with the Rebel XT's battery door, which just doesn't feel all that sturdy to me.
Other than those two minor points, this strikes me as a great camera at a great price.
