Canon Rebel XTi DSLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Lens (Silver) (OLD MODEL)

I have owned 3 Canons and have always been very impressed with the features and usability. This camera is no different. I've upgraded from the ELPH S500 series (a point-and-shoot) because I felt that I'd learned all I needed to with simpler cameras. I purchased this camera because of the positive reviews (like this one) talking about the wonders of the features. While I love this camera, i'll give you the negative bits that I'm always looking for to give a truly balanced opinion on the features of a product; "I love it, I love it, I love it" doesn't convince me of whether I want to purchase it or not. In no particular order: Pros: -physically: it's small, lightweight and while plastic, still feels solid enough to put into my bag. -coming down in price, the cost of these DSLRs are really moving down. -wide assortment of lenses from many manufacturers available -the pictures are, as everyone says, amazing. the colors are rich, the default settings are pretty good in itself. I've toyed with some of the color and sharpness settings and have had good results. -easy to use, intuitive, the center "set" button is reprogrammable also for easy use of certain features. -great for beginners, it's designed for the consumer, not pros, and I really have learned a lot from its simplicity. Menus, instruction books, and others are simple to understand. -Great for beginning and moving up. This is my plan, as I'm finding that photography is a strong passion of mine now. I had noticed that the higher end cameras, the 5D, etc. all use the same lenses, so eventually I'd like to move up. For right now, this camera is awesome. Cons: -the size makes it difficult for my hands, I bought an extended battery grip and it fits much better. However, this makes it a bit heavier. -rear screen is not recessed. this makes me nervous that it's going to get scratched or cracked somehow. wish they'd spent a little more on plastic and pushed the screen a little deeper into the body. -the camera shows the settings on the LCD on the back. While I think this is ok, I do feel as though it shortens the battery life. You can change the settings to turn it off, but the shortest is goes is 30 seconds. I wish it had the old digital readout on the older and higher-end cameras. then you could see the settings all the time. -I do have a dead pixel on my LCD, that bummed me out, but it's not bad. -This is a wish more than a complaint, but I would like to be able to fold up the mirror and be able to see the LiveView that's available on the Olympus SLR's and the Mark III. I would think that it wouldn't be that hard to do. -I have worries about APS-C sensors being discontinued, which could mean no future lenses. But since Canon seems to have made a solid consumer-based camera line, I don't think it'll be anytime soon. Overall, it's a great camera. I recommend you get this or a Nikon over the other brands. Between this and the Nikon, get this. As a consumer-grade, this really is top of the line.

This is an excellent camera for those who want to pursue photgraphy seriously. [SLR stands for single lens reflex]. If u r just planning to use it as a point and shoot camera [in AUTO mode] plz dont waste ur money. Like all SLR cameras its bulky if u compare with slim-trim point-n-shoot cameras in the market which slide-in easily in ur pocket. There is no real time preview in the LCD at the back so u have to see through the eyepiece for framing the photo. Its actually gives u the image as seen through the lens. Since, all light that enters the camera through the lens gets diverted to the eyepiece via a mirror infront of the sensor, we have no real time preview as no light falls on the sensors. Moreover there is a curtain [shutter] infront of the sensors [CCD type for canon]. Shutter controls the amount of light falling on the sensors. u can reach extremely fast sensor speeds like 1/4000 secs which gives u freezing image of moving objects. For night or astro photography one can keep the shutter open for as long as 30 secs. ISO range for the EOS 400D [rebel xti] is 100-1000, where 100 is the native sensitivity. For night mode one can increase the ISO but the picture is grainier or use flash [which fills the image with light n destroys the whole effect in the photo] or can decrease the sutter speed. At lower shutter speeds camera shake can blur the photo very badly, so one must use a tripod or use an IS [image stabilized] lens. The lens that comes with the camera [18-55 mm lens] is not very good and u cant expect more from a $50-75 lens. The canon has a vertical tilt sensor which rotates the image if u shoot it vertically. The re is a sensor which turns off the LCD in the front when u move ur eyes close to the eye-piece and this is really helpful. Imagine shooting in the night mode with something bright below ur eyes....it would be terrible. The kit aslo includes a battery n a charger esp made for the EOS 400D camera. With fully charged it's sufficient for a full day of active photgraphy. The camera uses a CF [compact flash] card [normal cameras use SD or SDpro card]. Writing image to the card is fast. The camera takes a while if the card is full, to get ready to trasfer the image. I have used canon A630 and it gets ready very fast to trasfer the images to the computer. With this camera in continuous shooting mode one can shoot approx 3 images per second which u wont achieve with a normal digital camera. It has a maximum burst [total no. of photos one can shoot in the above mode] of approx 20 when there is no flash and image is small/fine jpeg. With RAW images it would be smaller. If I compare it with Sony Alpha series, Canon EOS 400D is clearly a winner. Sonys camera doest even look good. Compared to Nikon it has a body that is cheaper [$200-$250]. Nikon has more features that are more subtle and u might not use them. Nikon has one screen at the top of the cmaera when the data for various parameters like shutter speed, white balance, exposure, focus, ISO etc is shown. The LCD at the back is only for image preview. The canon's one LCD at back does it both, and i like that. Furthermore canon has only one dial to control compared to 2 in Nikon. Canon has an extremely good series of lenses too for all kinds of photgraphy.

This is my first venture into DSLR after years of compact digital cameras & I am extremely impressed. The lens kit 18-55 is good enough to cover most situations (so far) and the speed of the camera in snapping my 2 year-old daughter is exactly what I wanted it for. This is a 2nd hand camera but looks brand new, its only the box which looks used. Very very impressed & would definitely recommend this to anyone upgrading from a point-and-shoot compact camera.

Exactly as described. Good seller to do business with, would use again!