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• The Good: Price is right ($1,200 Cdn.) for the range the Rebel XT provides. Excellent command of lighting conditions and exposures. DIGIC II chip is a big help in many conditions.
• The Bad: T he 1.8-inch LCD screen is too small for a camera like this. Shooting movement can be a little inconsistent.
• The Verdict: A serious improvement from the original, even if it isn't perfect.
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REVIEW:

So far, 2005 has been a good year for digital camera enthusiasts, particularly those who thirst for more from consumer digital single-lense reflex models (SLRs).

The improvements have been steady, and Canon's Digital Rebel was a reliable and fairly affordable digital SLR with a lot to offer, even at 6.3 megapixels. But as times change, so do models, and that's where the Digital Rebel XT comes in. Though the company didn't completely overhaul any aspects of the original, Canon certainly tweaked a fair bit to give consumers a better product in every way.

The most obvious change is the increase to 8.0 megapixels at the highest resolution (3,456-by-2,304), which makes the RAW file format easier to manage. Since the images shot with 8.0 megapixels are saved as RAW files, the Rebel XT will then save them separately from the lower-quality jpegs on the Compact Flash card. But you can also save time and space by shooting in RAW only. With a 256MB CF card, I was able to shoot 65 photos at the highest resolution, and all were in RAW format.

A big help in achieving all this lies in the impressive DIGIC II chip. Ideal for an SLR, DIGIC II bumps up the precision and speed.

For starters, the Rebel XT is ready for shooting in just 0.2 of a second, compared to a full two seconds for its predecessor. AutoFocus is also much faster with the Rebel XT, and it does a fabulous job of controlling the white balance and overall colours and tones within a photo, regardless of whether it's outdoors or indoors.

The Rebel XT also does well in controlling exposures when a flash is in use. Canon calls it E-TTL II, and the technology is meant to optimize the exposure of an image when reflective subjects or dark lighting conditions are paramount in the photo. The results were impressive, given that the flash never flushed out the subject the way it's been commonly seen in point-and-shoot digital cameras. The level of detail the flash picks up is probably its most impressive attribute.

Canon had boasted that the seven-point AutoFocus system from the previous model had been improved to the point where the Rebel XT would be intuitive enough to bring a subject into focus — even if it wasn't in the centre of the frame. While it's not bad in this regard, it's also prone to error, especially when movement is involved.

When shooting sporting events (the Rebel XT has a shooting mode specifically for that), the results are wildly inconsistent. You may get some interesting blurring effects coupled with sharp focused subjects, but there are many times when the Rebel XT falls short in capturing the action, especially if you're close to it. Since there's a mode specifically for movement, the shutter is adjusted automatically, though you do have the option of using different ISO exposures. But no matter what ISO you use, some of the same issues creep into the photos.

Shooting frames non-stop is almost too simple with the Rebel XT - you can fire away at two to three frames per second. In fact, you can keep shooting rapidly until you run out of room on the CF card. The best part was that there was no delay in the images being read onto the card, and you can preview them almost immediately.

It would be wise to read the instruction manual and experiment with all the different features available to you with this camera, because there are a lot of buttons that do different things. The Rebel XT. This is a camera aimed at the consumer, but the varying options can make things confusing.

This is why the Rebel XT invites a high level of experimentation. Canon has tried to be as informative as possible by presenting in-depth explanations of some of the camera's features and how they work in certain conditions. This should serve Rebel XT owners well.

The battery power of the Rebel XT should also serve owners well, now that its efficiency has been improved a significant 35 per cent. Canon also says the battery can last through 600 shots when no flash is being used and 400 shots if the flash is being used every so often.

The Rebel XT is an excellent digital SLR, even if it falls a bit short in a few areas. The level of control you have is impressive, and would be a good starting point for serious beginners or amateurs.