Canon Rebel XTi - 400D

I had the oportunity to test, for a full month, the latest Canon Rebel XTi (400D)- a DSLR class camera. I did with this camera around 2500 pictures in all conditions: indoor, outdoor, museum (no flash allowed), sunny, cloudy day. Results = very good.

Canon XTi 10.1 Megapixels with a Canon EF 17-85 mm IS USM lens (NOT the standard lens 18-55mm). It is a real good camera !

What I recommand, from hardware point of view:
- Canon XTi (main body only).
- LENS: Canon EF 17-85mm IS USM = 5x optical zoom, IS=image stabilizer, USM = fast focus.
- CF memory 2 Gb 120x = you need a fast CF and big enough to store lots of photos.
- UV filter (Kenko) - to protect the lens.
- Circular polarizer filter (Kenko) - reducing glare and increase the saturation in landscape photos
- DSLR bag (Roots) - I got one special designed for DSLRs = triangle shape with space for filters, extra battery, cleaning kit.
- extra battery !!
- cap retainer cord self adhesiv - (Optex).
- tripod.
- USB 2 card reader/writer = I DONT like to use the camera's USB port.
- picasa2 (free from google: http://picasa.google.com ) as photo organizer and minimal post processing as well. The software provided by Canon is a joke.


Pro (what I like):
- easy to use (if my mother like to use this camera means is really easy to use)! To change ISO is just one-click. Only one dial (front wheel).
- the whole camera is very well balanced (even with that not from the kit lens - EF 17-85 mm is much longer and heavy than standard).
- ISO 1600 with very little noise - good for low light indoors - think about museum where you are allowed to do photos but without flash. So with ISO 1600 was ok.
- not so heavy as you think for an DSLR.
- the AI mode for AF - kind of smart automatic continuous focus.
- the battery charger is compact and good from 110V - 240 V, 50-60Hz = good for North America, Europe as well.
- sensor self cleaning system = good ideea from Canon !!!!


Cons (what I dont like):
- tendency to underexpose !! - you must double check the automatic exposure.
- the lens cap has no cord - you can loose the cap so I added a sticky cap retainer cord from Optex.
- no histogram in real time. You can check the histogram after you doing the photo.
- the software provided by Canon just sucks !!! picasa2 from google is much better !!

Overall: - Good DSLR camera. NOT excellent because of that tendency to underexpose!!! Results printed in 8x10 (8x12) with no post processing was great !