Canon Digital Rebel XTi Design & Features

The latest offering from Canon is the successor to the incredibly popular Digital Rebel XT entry-level dSLR. The Digital Rebel XTi is, in many ways, very similar to its predecessor, with a few alterations and improvements.

First, the XTi has packed in an additional 2 megapixels into its CMOS sensor, giving the camera a total resolution of 10-megapixels. The odd thing about this particular upgrade is that Canon opted not increase the size of the sensor, but simply cram in more pixels (with a pixel resolution of 3,904 x 2,598) within the same space. It is not clear yet what effect, if any, this will have on overall performance.

Another new feature involving the image sensor is dust cleaning system. The sensor is actually self-cleaning, using ultrasonic vibrations to shake off dust when the camera powers on.
In addition, there is an anti-static filter that keeps dust from settling and an adhesive around the sensor that designed to intercept dust and keep it from flying around the camera chassis. If dust somehow still manages to stick to the sensor, Canon's Digital Photo Professional (DPP) software can plot the location of the dust and remove the blemishes left behind on your photos.

The EOS Digital Rebel XTi also sports a new 2.5-inch LCD color display with approximately 230,000 pixels. Photo information and playback can now be viewed simultaneously on one screen. The display also has a 160 degree viewing angle, which is larger than several other SLR displays in its class.

In stroke of genius, Canon has incorporated a Display Off Sensor, which turns off the display when the photographer places their face against the camera to compose a shot. This should cut down on glare (especially at night), and allow the photographer to take pictures without being disturbed by light from the display.


In addition to the image sensor and display, the XTi's continuous-shooting system has also been improved. The Canon XTi can shoot up to 27 frames of JPEG or 10 frames of RAW before performance begins to slow. The camera takes only 0.2 seconds to power up and has a shutter speed of 1/4000 to 30 seconds.

The Digital Rebel XTi has a 9-point auto-focus system that provides both accuracy and flexibility. Buttons located on the back right of camera allow users to quickly choose which focus points they want to use. The One-Shot setting can be used for still photography, while the AI Servo AF can track moving subjects to unsure accurate focus.

The XTi also comes with a variety of picture style settings, which allows the photographer to create photos with particular styles or expressions.
The photographer can play around with color, saturation, sharpness, and contrast to produce a truly unique photo. The six preset pictures styles include standard, portrait, landscape, neutral, faithful, and monochrome.

The Digital Rebel XTi has a nice pop-up flash with a range of 3.3m (12.1 ft), and enough height to get it above any camera-related obstructions. The camera uses the reliable E-TTL II flash metering system that delivers appropriate flash intensity under most conditions. The flash can be triggered by an electronic pop-up release, or pop-up on its own when using Auto exposure mode.

The camera is compatible with both Type I or Type II CompactFlash memory cards, including those over 2GB. All of the input/output connections can be found on the left side of the camera, underneath a rubber flap that protects them from dirt and debris. The connections include video out (top), remote terminal (E3), high-speed USB 2.0.

Canon Digital Rebel XTi Performance

The Canon Digital Rebel XTi performed well to moderately well on nearly all our standard tests. In general, it doesn't have the speed of its closest rival, the Nikon D80, or the more expensive Canon EOS 30D, but it does eek out very similar or slightly better performance in a few areas.

The XTi starts up fairly quick, in about 0.25 to 0.30 seconds. This is nearly on par with the Nikon D80. At nearly one second, the shutter lag was noticeable under low-light conditions. Under normal conditions, the shutter lag was much was considerably less; only 0.3 seconds. This, however, is still slower than the 0.1-second shutter lag claimed by Canon. The Nikon D80 posted similar results, with a normal shutter lag of 0.4 seconds and a low-light shutter lag of 0.8 seconds. Both cameras fall significantly behind the more expensive Canon EOS 30D and Nikon D200.

In continuous shooting mode, the camera faired quite well, though slightly behind the Nikon D80 in speed. As Canon claims, the XTi can shoot 27 JPEG and 10 RAW images in a row at a maximum of 3 frames per second. Once this number has been reached, however, the camera begins to slow considerably. Also, there is a considerable lag of several seconds between continuous shooting sessions. The JPEG+RAW mode can handle up to 8 photos in a row, and although slower than shooting in either mode separately, it is a nice option to have.

The standard kit lens is a relatively unimpressive EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6. Unless you are new to digital SLRs, you may be inclined to think that this particular lens feels a little slow - and we would have to agree. Under low-light conditions you will probably want a lens with a maximum aperture less than 3.0. Luckily, Canon has a wide variety of lenses to choose from, including the popular EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 standard zoom lens (below).



The Canon Digital Rebel XTi represents a relatively small advancement over its predecessor, the Digital Rebel XT. The overall size and design of the camera is very similar to the XT. And like the XT, the XTi is one of the smallest and lightest dSLRs in its class, which may be a problem for some people with larger hands. Also, the camera lacks a robust stabilization system to reduce camera shake, like the one found on the new Sony Alpha. Despite these limitations, the Canon Digital Rebel XTi is clearly a well-built camera capable of taking breathtaking high-resolution photos without a great deal of effort on the part of the photographer. For those on a very tight budget, however, the original Digital Rebel XT will probably do the trick.

Dimensions: 5.0 x 2.0 x 1.0 inches, 2.0 pounds
Price: $799 body only and $899 with EF-S 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens.

Key Features: