Canon EOS 350D Canon EOS 350D / Digital Rebel XT/ Kiss n Digital Review April 2005, Phil Askey

Review based on a production Canon EOS 350D, firmware Ver 1.0.1On 20th August 2003 Canon dropped a bomb into the digital SLR market with the six megapixel sub-$1,000 EOS 300D (Digital Rebel). Eighteen months later and just in time for the largest trade show of the year (PMA 2005) Canon has revealed the successor to the 300D, the new, smaller, eight megapixel, EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT). At first youd be forgiven for thinking this was just a drop-in upgrade of the EOS 300D with the EOS 20Ds eight megapixel sensor, but in actual fact it has a new CMOS sensor (its 8.0 megapixels versus the 20Ds 8.2 megapixels), the 350D also has a smaller body, re-worked design, DIGIC II, new features and custom functions. Global production of the EOS 300D started at 70,000 units per month, this was increased to 100,000 units per month a few months later. Canon clearly have big plans for the EOS 350D because they will be start production at 130,000 units per month (which is almost twice the initial production level for the EOS 300D).Summary of changes (compared to the EOS 300D / Digital Rebel)Eight megapixel CMOS sensor (not same as EOS 20D)Second generation CMOS (same generation as rest of current range)DIGIC II image processor (better image quality, faster processing, less power consumption)Instant power-on time, faster shutter release, shorter blackout timeContinuous shooting speed increased (3.0 fps vs. 2.5 fps)Buffer increased (14 JPEG frames vs. 4 JPEG frames)Image processing time decreased (thanks to DIGIC II)Compact Flash write speed increasedSmaller body (15 x 5 x 8 mm smaller)Lighter weight (17% lighter including battery)Matte plastic finish, standard body color to be black, sliver will also be availableRe-designed control layout (drive mode button, new metering mode & AF buttons)Metal mode dialHarder rubber finish on hand grip (doesnt feel much like rubber)Smaller and lighter NB-2LH battery (same as PowerShot S60 / S70) which is 48% lighterRear LCD panel changedFlash pop-up slightly higher (just 5 mm)E-TTL II flashNine custom functionsCustomizable SET buttonControl noise reductionFlash sync speed in Av modeShutter button / AE buttonAF-assist beam controlSelectable 0.3 or 0.5 EV exposure stepsMirror lock-upE-TTL II modeFlash shutter curtain sync (1st or 2nd)Selectable Metering modeSelectable AF modeFlash exposure compensationIndependently selectable color spaceTwo preset and three custom image parameter sets, B&W mode (same as EOS 20D)White balance fine tuning and bracketing (improved)Proper RAW+JPEG (one RAW, one JPEG; although only Large/Fine)Record review histogram via Info buttonPlay Jump mode by shot date, 10 or 100 imagesUSB 2.0 Hi-Speed connectionNew BG-E3 battery grip (portrait controls), takes two NB-2LH or six AA batteriesTwo additional menu languages added; Korean and RussianSubtly re-designed kit lens now named the EF-S 18 - 55 mm II (still no USM)Software now includes ZoomBrowser, DPP and EOS CaptureLower initial list priceIf youre new to digital photography you may wish to read the DigitalPhotography Glossary before diving into this article (it may helpyou understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions.Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window.To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top.DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This article is Copyright 2005Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced inany electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images)please contact: Phil Askey

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