Canon EOS 400D / Rebel XTi Digital Camera with 18-55mm Lens

Full Review

I love this camera. I am just starting out in the digital SLR world and I wanted a camera that gave me a range of features. The Digital Rebel XTi did just that. I choose this camera because it came with the ability to shoot pictures in manual mode as well providing automatic settings so when I don't want to take the time to set up my picture I can choose on of these settings. I am relatively new to using manual settings, all I learned was in a photography class in high school over 4 years ago. Thus this camera has been great because I can either do full manually or I can set it to automatically choose the aperture while I choose the shutter speed and vice versa. I can also use the camera as a simple point and shoot if I wanted.

So far the camera has been very durable, the LCD screen is large and easy to read, and the settings are relatively simply to figure out. With the exception of the manual settings, all of the automatic settings are the same as the Canon point and shoot cameras. I had a Canon SD Powershot 550 before getting this camera and the transition has been relatively smooth. So if you are looking to trade up from a Canon point and shoot to the digital SLR it will be a very easy transition, and even if you are not familiar with the Canon products it will be fairly easy to figure out. Another great feature is you can choose to shoot your pictures in jpeg compressed format or in RAW. With the jpeg compressed format it processes your pictures in the camera and no additional processing is needed. However if you want to be able to process your photos your self you can shoot in RAW and then edit your photos using programs such as Adobe Photoshop. This is a great option especially if you are using the camera for multiple purposes and don't always want to have to worry about processing the photos after you take them.

The lens that the camera comes with is decent, as it is relatively inexpensive. However if you really want to get better quality pictures I would recommend upgrading to the Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM. This lens is overall a better quality and includes image stabilization and full time manual focusing. But until you can afford a better lens the EF-S 18-55mm Lens does the trick and you will definitely notice the improved picture quality over those point and shoot cameras.

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