Canon Digital Rebel: My Review

I own a Canon Digital Rebel. Many of my friends have asked me my thoughts. Here are some comments.

Number of pixels: As you may be aware this is a 8MB camera. I find that 8MB is the perfect pixel size support needed and I intend to stick with this for long time. Unless you are into professional / commercial photography -- where you may need to blow up pictures to poster sizes -- you really don't need more than 8MB. {Remember: photos quickly fill up your computer hard-drive. More on that later. Now, I am quite ruthless about the photos I keep, and I trash many pictures I take. But I digress.} The BIGGEST advantage I see in having an 8MB camera is that it gives you the luxury to crop images to remove extraneous noise and helps you dramatically improve picture composition without sacrificing quality of the image when you print it (or) view it online. Finally, I think the Canon EOS 20D, is a bit of an overkill, for my needs. It is bulkier too.

Size of the camera: If you are graduating from a simple point and click, you may find this camera a bit bulky to haul around. But, when the pictures come back and when I see what I have taken, I find it is well worth it. {By the way, I also have a Canon Powershot A80, which I also carry around, just because it is quicker, smaller, etc. And most importantly, my wife finds the Digital Rebel a bit overwhelming to handle, so she uses the Canon Powershot A80}. Speaking of point and click... since I used a Canon before, I was very familiar with the menus on the Rebel (which are quite similar to the Powershot). In that sense, you may have a learning curve, if you are graduating from a Nikon or some other camera.

Lenses: I have the 18-55mm lens that came with the package, and I also went to Wal-mart and bought a zoom lens from 75-300mm. (Cost: around $200). Yes, I am not covered from 55mm to 75mm (and there have been instances when I have seen my photo subjects fall in that range... but oh well... for the most part I am covered). Since Canon comes with over 300+ lenses, you really have a wide array to choose from. I recommend you purchase the zoom lens as well, because it gives you unbelievable liberty to shoot subjects from a distance (kids playing, etc), without making them conscious.

Additional accessories: If you are going to invest in a digital SLR camera with a 8MB pixel range, there are some accessories that you absolutely need to buy. (a) Simple UV filters for your lenses, to protect them from dust, specks, etc. (b) An external USB based hard drive, to quickly transfer your photos, especially when you are on a trip (doesn't need a computer). (c) A compact flash card reader (reading pictures from the camera directly takes ages). (d) a tripod (you never know when you want to take an awesome long exposure shot) (d) 1GB compact flash card (don't buy a 2GB card. if you want 2GBs, buy two 1GB's instead. Gives you greater flexibility). (e) an extra camera battery. (f) lens cleaning solutions, etc.

I recommend you also visit these two websites to read and learn more, especially the comparisons between Canon and Nikon.
http://www.dcviews.com/
http://www.dpreview.com/

Here are some of the pictures I took on my India Trip last Winter -- with this camera:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/98013786@N00/

I will keep adding to this post as I keep using the camera.