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The XSi makes composing images easier on two fronts: an upgraded optical finder, and the addition of live view. Canon says the magnification of the pentamirror finder has been increased to 0.87X, from 0.80X of the XTi. Our actual Lab measurement, though, comes out even better, to 0.95X. No more tunnel vision for the Rebel.
Moreover, the readouts below the finder screen can be seen along with the entire frame image, in contrast to the XTi's now-you-see-them-now-you-don't readouts that were a particular pain for eyeglass wearers. And, the finder has been brightened by use of better mirror coatings and a more transmissive focusing screen.
Live view works similarly to that of the EOS 40D. Once you enable it in the menu, a press of the Set button flips up the mirror and sends the image from the sensor to the big 3-inch, 230,000-dot LCD (a hand-me-down from the top-of-the-line EOS-1Ds Mark III).
Two flavors of autofocus can be used in live view: by contrast detection nearly anywhere on the screen, or by a momentary flip down of the mirror to allow the conventional phase-detection AF sensors, which can employ face detection, to focus the image. Contrast detection is slow and may hunt back and forth, so this method should be reserved for methodical work such as macro or still life.
Choosing between the two live AF methods requires yet another foray into the menus -- this time a multi-poke adventure in the custom functions. Surely this could have been made simpler!
Want a still bigger screen image? Tether the XSi to a computer with a USB cable, then view the image from the sensor and operate the camera remotely with the supplied CameraWindow software -- yet another no-cost goodie.
4. Improved controls and handling
We've criticized past Rebels on the user interface -- too many settings hidden in menus, too few external controls, smallish LCDs -- but the XSi takes a big step forward here. While there is still no second command dial as on all other EOS cameras, the XSi's arrangement of control buttons is less cluttered, despite the bigger LCD screen. The ISO button was moved to a more convenient spot atop the camera, near the shutter release. As on the XTi, the Set button can be programmed for a single function of your choice, and we promptly chose flash-exposure compensation. (We still think there should be a dedicated external control for this.)
While many controls are still menu-based, the appearance and organization of the menus has been greatly improved over the XTi's. An increase in LCD size to 3 inches from 2.5 may not sound like a lot, but the actual increase in area is about 50 percent. Fonts on the control panel are outright gigantic -- you can read the display at arm's length. Menus are also very readable, and are tabbed in such a way that every menu item in each tab is visible -- no scrolling to hidden items is necessary.
Overall, the camera feels more solid and more ergonomic, even though its construction is the same as the XTi's. Textured, matte plastic inserts in grip areas feel much less, well, plasticky.
As for metering, this Rebel also gets a true (4 percent of frame area) spotmeter, in addition to fat-spot, centerweighted, and evaluative metering.
5. Helpful image adjustments
As has become typical of DSLRs, the Rebel XSi provides a smorgasbord of in-camera image tweaks. A menu of Picture Styles lets you apply various profiles of sharpness, contrast, saturation, and what Canon calls color tone (i.e., skin tone). Individual settings within each profile can be adjusted, and you can create up to three custom profiles to be retained in the memory. But the XSi cannot process edited RAW files into JPEGs in-camera, a capability a number of competing cameras have.
Highlight Tone Priority, an image control first seen in the latest EOS-1D cameras, can be set to expand the tonal range between a scene highlight and midtone. In practice we found the effect fairly mild, and, unlike Nikon's D-Lighting or Sony's Dynamic Range Optimizer, it offers no levels of adjustment.
Another on-the-fly adjustment, Auto Lighting Optimizer, will boost brightness and contrast levels as needed. Again, we found the effect very subtle. Auto Lighting Optimizer cannot be applied in RAW or RAW + JPEG capture.
Once you upload your images to a computer, more extensive adjustments can be applied with Digital Photo Professional, including processing and conversion of RAW files, tone curve adjustment, correction of lens aberrations, and software dust-erasure using dust-mapping recorded by the camera. Picture Style Editor lets you apply any preset or customized profile to a RAW file with a click.
Canon is notably generous with in-the-box software. Besides the applications already mentioned, the XSi comes with the well-regarded ImageBrowser for sorting, viewing, and editing pictures, and PhotoStitch for making multi-frame panoramics.
The verdict
On top of all this, the XSi comes with an Optical Image Stabilizer kit lens at no extra cost over the non-IS lens.
This brings us to the $340 question (the difference in price between the XSi and Canon's 40D): What does the higher-priced camera give you? A much tougher metal body with excellent weathersealing, beefier innards including a 150,000-cycle shutter, a smoking burst rate of 6.5 fps, user-changeable focusing screens, and ISO 3200. Shooters who are tough on their stuff will want the 40D, no question.
But, given the capabilities of the Rebel XSi, as well as its price, it's one very sweet deal.
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