Canon gets official with their 400D / Rebel XTi DSLR for Photokina

The actual show is still nearly a month away, but a few trigger-happy camera manufacturers are unveiling their wares a bit early. Canon's EOS 400D / Rebel XTi DSLR -- a followup to their uber-successful Rebel XT -- was already pretty well outed by their Chinese arm, so there aren't really a lot of surprises here, but it's looking good all the same. The highlights are just like before: a 10.1 megapixel CMOS sensor, 2.5-inch LCD (a sizable improvement to the 1.8-incher on the XT), and speedy 9-point autofocus -- the same as that of the EOS 30D. The 22.2 x 14.8mm CMOS sticks with the 1.6x conversion ratio common to EOS cams -- not sure how we were getting that full frame vibe before -- and ISO sensitivity ranges from 100-1600. Canon is introducing a new Self Cleaning Sensor Unit that shakes off dust through ultrasonic vibration, along with a Dust Delete Data feature that embeds dust location in metadata, helping the included Digital Photo Professional software delete dust spots automatically. Of course, it wouldn't be a "Rebel" if Canon wasn't doing their darndest to undercut the competition on price, and the new $899 pricetag, which includes Canon's EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lense, does a pretty good job of said undercutting. You can also nab just the camera body for $799, and Canon has dropped the similar configurations of the XT to $799 and $699 respectively. The XTi is due for release in September, and seems destined for at least a little bit of success in its own right.

[Via LetsGoDigital]

[jeroen @ Aug 24th 2006 10:42AM]

aahhh.... and yesterday you made me so happy with the full frame story. I guess those translationbots just can't be trusted. It was too good to be true

[ryantv @ Aug 24th 2006 10:43AM]

I'll take the D80 over this anyday.

[Jeff @ Aug 24th 2006 10:45AM]

Nice entry-level offering. Not enough to get me to trade in my XT, but a reasonable upgrade to keep up with the competition. Maybe the next refresh will be enough to get me to trade up. (Or maybe I'll just go up a model in the line at some point.)

Can we ditch the Euro nomenclature, though? Canon doesn't call this the 400D in either the US, where this site is based, or Japan, Canon's home country. In fact, I'm curious what they're calling it in Japan - the Rebel XT was the Kiss Digital N, so what is this, the Kiss Digital Ni?

[killrbeez @ Aug 24th 2006 10:59AM]

Looks like it will be named the EOS Kiss Digital X

[dan @ Aug 24th 2006 11:06AM]

Great specs for a great price! But won't this cannibalize sales of the 30D?

[dalton @ Aug 24th 2006 11:15AM]

Now I'm in a pickle. I had my heart set on the Nikon D70s kit with lens until they announced the D80. Now this one is announced. The D80 is the best of the lot, but the kit with lens is $1300. The D70s has a great lens, and can be found for about $899. (I assume that's going to drop once the D80 is released). But now the XTi is coming and it looks to be a great deal. Which to choose?

[scott @ Aug 24th 2006 11:41AM]

get which one feels the best in your hand. if you have large hands, you might dislike the d50/d80 and xt. maybe you can get by if you add the battery pack. for me, i like how the 20d/30d, d70s and d200 feel in my hand. you really can't go wrong with any of them.

[photo enthusiast @ Aug 24th 2006 11:47AM]

no one knows where you got the full frame vibe with a 400D designation or it means you don't know anything about the actual line up of cameras.

dalton, the D70 is a great camera, especially when you consider the prices that it is being offered at now. there's places like fredmiranda.com

[Type-E @ Aug 24th 2006 11:58AM]

I think Canon priced it very well. I hope this will give Sony a push to lower the price of Alpha10.

[Type-E @ Aug 24th 2006 12:00PM]

I mean alpha100

[Rod @ Aug 24th 2006 12:00PM]

The more important factor should be your future lenses.
Most people will say things like it won't make a difference, it's more about ergonomics, etc.

However, you will be faced with more tough decisions when it's time to buy new lenses, which will undoubtedly come quickly.

[scott @ Aug 24th 2006 12:09PM]

i think lenses are important, rod. however, i think you can get solid lenses from both nikon and canon. while i think nikon offers a better kit lens, that does not mean that canon's lens offerings are crap (ex. l-glass).

[EatingPie @ Aug 24th 2006 12:09PM]

To me, the most important factor is clarity (sharpness) of image. Back when I bought my Powershot G3, Nikon's offerings produced a soft image -- even their ultra high end had professionals in a tiff (not the image format!). I was a Nikon fan but went with Canon.

I don't know if this is still an issue for Nikon since it's been like 3-4 years (anyone?). But that's where my cards fall.

This looks like a new sensor on Canon's part, though. I consider that a bit of a red flag until real images make it to the web ala dpreview.com.

-Pie

[EatingPie @ Aug 24th 2006 12:11PM]

A question.

Previous announcements had this at "EFFECTIVE" 10 Megapixels. That "effective" generally means something bad like interpolation or whatnot (not an actual 10 MP sensor). Anybody have the deets on that and can explain it?

-Pie

[David @ Aug 24th 2006 12:23PM]

"Previous announcements had this at "EFFECTIVE" 10 Megapixels. That "effective" generally means something bad like interpolation or whatnot (not an actual 10 MP sensor). Anybody have the deets on that and can explain it?"

The sensor provides a full 10.08Mpixels worth of data, without any interpolated resizing. The reason 'effective' is used is because the sensor physically contains more pixels than this, but those around the edge are used for other tasks (related to calibration primarily) and are not included in the final image.

David

[Scott @ Aug 24th 2006 12:27PM]

Effective pixels are the pixels after Bayer interpolation. Which every camera but faveon uses. All manufactures report pixels and effective pixels. The pixels along the edge do not have neighbors to interpolate their values therefore they go by the wayside and lower total resolution.

[Don O'Shea @ Aug 24th 2006 1:44PM]

Singular: lens; plural: lenses

[yuppicide @ Aug 24th 2006 2:19PM]

I want this and I will get it soon after it's released

[Allen @ Aug 24th 2006 3:21PM]

I feel the same as Dalton. Which to choose? The one thing that is swaying me towards the Canon is the fact that I have some Canon AF lenses from my EOS10 film camera that will fit the XTi (I think). Any help from some camera experts in that area?

[yuppicide @ Aug 24th 2006 3:42PM]

From what I understand you don't use lenses from film cameras on digital cameras at all.

[ome @ Aug 24th 2006 7:16PM]

Crap that's cheap! Pentax, where are you?

[Michael @ Aug 24th 2006 7:24PM]

Cool I've got a silver 300D and so this would be a cool upgrade to get a black 400D. 4 more megapixels of resoluton, bigger LCD and better noise reduction. And the antidust feature is nice.

I could't justify the slight upgrade to the 350D but the 400 I could.

To Jeff above, alot of people on the net refer to these cameras by their numbers because their names are different everywhere. So even here in the states you'll hear people talking about their 350D's or their 300D's. It's faster and easier then typing Digital Rebel XT.

[PixelNurse @ Aug 24th 2006 9:24PM]

OK this is great news for me. The last few weeks I've decided that I really want to get my first digital SLR. I'm no professional photographer, part of the reason I've never explored SLR photography in a big way is that the learning process can get pretty expensive with film. So, I've been eyeing up the 350D, aware that it was probably reaching the end of it's life, and voila the 400D arrives.

So I'm needing to call on Engadget readers' advice. From what I can make out my choice is really between the Canon 350D & 400D, Sony A100, and Nikon D70?

I'm not a rich man by any means so cheap is good. I've always liked Canon as I've found their products to be very good quality and highly reliable. My 4 year old IXUS 400 still pleases me with how robust it is. I won't be able to afford anything other than the bundled lens for a good while, so my question is really which would you guys recommend and why? I've got small hands so that's not a negative for the 350D/400D.

Any help is really appreciated as like I say all of these models represent a big purchase for me.

[dalton @ Aug 24th 2006 10:31PM]

Pixelnurse: for what it's worth, I've made the decision to go with the Nikon D70s. It's a little more expensive than the lowest end Cannons, but I expect the price to drop soon with the release of the Nikon D80. The lens that comes with the D70s is supposed to be spectacular - if I want to upgrade the camera in a couple of years, I can, but I can, of course, take the lens with me when I upgrade.

The Canons just seem to have a lower build quality and cheaper lenses. I think the Nikon is a better deal.

[dalton @ Aug 26th 2006 9:38PM]

Yes, you can use old lenses with the new digital cameras. You just need to remember that the focal length changes with the new sensor sizes as compared to 35 mm film, and some features may be disabled in the camera if you're using much older lenses that don't support them (like autofocus)

[ScottM @ Aug 27th 2006 6:56PM]

Any info about an image stabilizer? It seems like the competition is including this feature in their newer models.

[Akuba @ Aug 28th 2006 10:55PM]

I thought you could use old,slr lens with digital cameras? I have so many nikon lens because they used to make the best. It would be a darn shame for them to become useless. Does anyone know the answer?

[Scott @ Dec 18th 2007 11:07AM]

I just got the 20D and am thinkin about bringing it back to get this... what do you guys think? really the only difference is the casing, the megapixels and screen size. no live preview, what battery does it take? the XT battery? If so then I got 2 batteries without a home... maybe I should stick with my 20D... depends on pricing...