Peter's Photo Blog

I picked up my Digital Rebel (300D) In September of 2003. At the time, it was the first affordable (sub $1000) digital SLR camera ever - bringing instant responsiveness, full manual control, professional image quality, and access to the full line of EOS lenses to the masses. At first I thought I couldn't afford one, but I managed to get some coupons on Dell.com that let me buy it at a significant discount.

Coming from a Canon S30 (compact camera with full manual controls), The first thing I noticed about the digital Rebel was the instant shutter release and the relatively fast focus speed even with the kit lens. Also, it was great to be able to look through the mirrored viewfinder instead of a laggy LCD screen. Seeing the image in real time improved the timing of my shots greatly. Being able to take a burst of three photos in about one second was also a huge improvement. The amount of practice I got and the number of photos I took went up drastically.

When I purchased my Rebel, I was still a beginner but I had a good grasp of the relationship between shutter speed, apeture, and ISO speed. Getting my hands on a digital SLR really ramped up the learning curve though because there was so much more manual control that can affect the final image - especially with depth of field. Also throw in high quality even at higher ISOs, the option for external flash, and the ability to change lenses and you are dealing with a whole new monster.

There was kind of a downside to upgrading though - while you will gain a lot more control and the ability to take a "great" photo... it's harder to get a snapshot on full auto than it is on a point and shoot. You really have to learn how to use the manual controls and it's more complicated than most casual users will want to put up with. Also, I've also noticed a slight green cast to the photos compared to most point and shoots, which have an orange cast. For skin tones, I would take the orange any day. Add in relatively huge camera size and I wouldn't necessarily recommend a DLSR to the casual photo taker unless they are willing to put in the time to learn about camera technique.

Over the years my digital Rebel has been very reliable and sturdy. I figure most consumer electronics will last for a year or 2 before they are either obsolete or stop functioning so well. Not so with the Digital Rebel. The super clean 6mp images are still very usable by today's standards - even for some commercial uses. Also, it's been rugged -still working almost like it was new aside from some paint rubbing off. I've never had any big problems with my DSLR, apart from some failures of my Microdrive Compact Flash card (made by Hitachi not Canon). I've had some failures of batteries too, but they are the 3rd party ebay ones that I picked up for cheap (around $7).

I heard a rumor that the Digital Rebel shutter mechanism is only rated for 30,000 photos, but I have to give it to Japanese engineering - I think i'm at the 70,000 mark and still going strong. In the last month I've noticed that sometimes the camera shutter double taps when I'm only taking a single image but it doesn't affect photo quality I think i've only had 1 image ever get messed up due to shutter issues, which tend to be one of the main problems with film cameras as they get on in age.

Pros:
First affordable DLSR
AWESOME image quality
GREAT first camera for the budding photographer- a HUGE step up from point and shoot cameras
It's very cheap now on Ebay - you can get one for 400 with extras
Bang for the buck - Has lasted me 3.5 years and 70,000+ photos.
Smooth images between ISO 100-400. Very Usable 800. 1600 isn't bad.
Full manual control
Batteries last a long time

Cons:
write times can be slow, especially with RAW
continuous shooting limited to 2.5 fps
small buffer, performance lags after 4 continuous shots.
No variable flash control for onboard flash
1.6x crop factor makes it harder to take wide angle photos
Battery door sometimes not tight (causing camera to shut off)

Conclusion:
The Digital Rebel is a classic. While it is a bit limited in that it's probably not the best sports camera ever (continuous shooting not that great) or indoor\architecture camera (1.6x crop factor makes it difficult to zoom out far enough) - for general use it is awesome and definately worth the money I paid for it. I have more than paid for that initial investment just by doing side jobs on the weekends - plus I have learned so much and enjoyed the camera very much. In today's world of 12mp DSLRs becoming the norm, the rebel still holds its own and I haven't seen the need to upgrade for 3.5 years.

External Links:
300D review on PhotographyReview.com
Digital Rebel Sample Photos on Pbase
DPReview.com full review
DPReview.com user comments