How Good is the Canon EOS 300D the first sub $1000 digital SLR?
Written: Oct 24 '03 (Updated Nov 14 '03)
Product Rating:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Battery Life:
Photo Quality:
Shutter Lag
Pros: Price, 6.3 megapixels, excellent image quality, ease of use, great battery life
Cons: No ISO 50 sensitivity setting, the f3.5 maximum aperture on EF-S 18–55mm f/3.5–5.6
The Bottom Line: If you’ve been waiting for digital SLR prices to drop to a reasonable level, now is the time. The new EOS 300D Digital Rebel delivers.
Howard_Creech's Full Review: Canon Digital Rebel / EOS-300D Digital Camera with...
Since the beginning of the digital imaging revolution digital camera enthusiasts and advanced amateur photographers have been chasing the photographic holy-grail, an affordable Single Lens Reflex digital camera. Canon's new EOS 300D digital rebel is the first dSLR to sell below the magic one grand price point (and that includes a new EF-S zoom lens). The 300D is the latest salvo in the war to dominate the digital camera market and it should give Canon a commanding lead over competitors.
How was Canon able to introduce an interchangeable lens dSLR for just slightly more than its’ competitors charge for their prosumer digital point & shoot cameras? Canon’s product development folks cunningly de-constructed the $1500.00 EOS 10D and stuffed most of its advanced photographic capabilities into an entry level 35mm SLR body and then just to spice things up added a healthy dose of the cutting edge features that have made Canon’s point & shoot digicams the industry leaders. Canon’s snazzy little EOS 300D is the first in a totally new class of digital cameras that will revolutionize the dSLR market niche just like Canon’s first digital elf revolutionized the ultra compact digicam market.
A few Important Caveats for fist time dSLR Buyers
The 6 megapixel CMOS sensor in the 300 D is smaller than a frame of 35mm film so there’s a 1.6X magnification factor----telephoto lenses magically grow longer (a 200 mm telephoto becomes a 320 mm telephoto). The bad news is that the same thing happens to wide-angle lenses (a 28 mm wide-angle lens becomes a 43 mm normal lens). Photographers who like to shoot grand vista landscapes (like those made famous by Ansel Adams) or expansive interior shots are going to have to buy very expensive ultra wide-angle lenses or stay with film cameras.
For those new to dSLR’s the LCD screen can’t be used as a viewfinder (as it is with Point & Shoot digital cameras) because the mirror used to reflect the image up to the TTL optical viewfinder blocks the light path. Digital SLR LCD’s are used for menu navigation and image review.
Digital SLRs don’t feature movie modes, so if the video feature is an important selling point check out one of Canon’s upscale P&S models like the G5 or the S50.
Digital SLRs do not include even a starter memory card (like P&S digitcams) so 300D purchasers must buy their own.
NUTS & BOLTS
The Body
At first glance the 300D looks like Canon’s entry level Rebel Ti 35mm SLR, but beneath the silver polycarbonate outer shell beats the 6 megapixel CMOS heart of the EOS 10D and much of the personality of the Powershot G5 and some of the kicked back attitude of the A80. Canon has created a digital camera with the handling and capabilities of an SLR and the ease of use and “gee whiz” features a compact P&S digicam.
The 300D is easy to use and most controls are logical and well placed, however the back of the camera is like something out of The Matrix Reloaded and can only be described as very busy. The user interface is actually not as complicated as it looks and it does provide users with tons of options, but it’s definitely not intuitive. If you’ve used Canon’s upscale Powershot digicams then you won’t have any problems handling the D300.
What really sets the 300D apart from its competition is that it provides pretty much the same level of creative capability as other popular entry-level dSLR’s, but at a substantially lower price. Canon’s engineers have done a fantastic job of lowering costs without sacrificing too much functionality in the process.
Optical Viewfinder
The Digital Rebel’s eye-level Pentamirror through-the-lens (TTL) optical viewfinder is bright, color correct, and accurate. It shows almost (97 per cent) the image frame. Inside the viewfinder are 7 AF focusing points (the active focus point[s] are illuminated so shooters know exactly where the camera is focusing). The viewfinder status readout is very comprehensive and shows aperture, shutter speed AF/AE/FE lock, AEB, flash ready, ISO setting, flash exposure compensation, processing data, exposure data, CF card status, and more. There’s a built-in diopter correction adjustment for eyeglasses wearers.
LCD
The 1.8” LCD screen is bright and color accurate (brightness levels can be adjusted via the menu) and shows 100% of the image frame. Just above the LDC screen is a smaller backlit status display that provides the same information shown at the bottom of the frame in the optical viewfinder. There’s a histogram display for checking (post exposure) for over/under exposure and tonal range (in case you need to re-shoot).
Lens
The EOS 300D is available in two forms. Purchasers who have a stock of on hand EF mount lenses will probably choose the Body only option ($899.00) and save a hundred bucks. For everyone else Canon has designed a new lens especially for the EOS 300D. For $999.00 purchasers get the 300D and Canon’s compact EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm (28㫲mm 35mm equivalent) zoom lens.
Canon’s optical engineers did a great job with the EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm, substantially reducing size and weight without compromising optical performance. The moderate maximum aperture (f3.5) is a bummer (f2.8 would have been better) but overall the EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm zoom reminds me of Nikon’s legendary little f3.5-4.5/75-150 E zoom. Construction is 11 elements in 9 groups and the minimum aperture of f/22 and the closest focus distance is 13 inches (0.28m). The filter thread is 58mm.
Canon’s new EF-S lenses are comparable to their larger, heavier, and more expensive EF counterparts in terms of AF speed, build quality, and performance. The EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm does an amazingly good job across the board. Images are sharp, color correct, and contrast is good. There is some noticeable barrel distortion at the wide-angle end of the zoom range, but pincushion distortion at the telephoto end of the range is very well controlled.
Close-up photography is a snap with the EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm zoom.
Users can get as close as 13 inches, which is fine for general close-up shooting and the pop-up flash does a pretty good coverage job although it leaves the lower quarter of the frame slightly darker than the upper three quarters. For real macro photography users can opt for a Canon (or third party) EF mount macro lens (and an external flash) and shoot professional quality close-ups that will make John Shaw drool with envy.
Canon's compact EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm zoom is not backward compatible (it can’t be used on EF mount cameras---digital or film) and it’s sold only in a “point of purchase” kit and is not available for sale separately.
Lens Mount/Compatibility
One of the primary reasons for buying a dSLR is the ability to use interchangeable lenses, and the new 300D (in addition to the new EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm zoom) can use more than fifty (ranging from a 14mm ultra-wide-angle to a 1200mm super-telephoto) currently available Canon EF lenses and dozens of EF mount lenses from third party makers Sigma, Tamron, and Tokina.
Auto Focus
The EOS 300D’s seven AF point Auto Focus system is very similar to the AF system used in the EOS 10D. Users can manually select the specific AF point they want to base focus on (which is handy for composing images with off-center subjects) or allow the camera to select the AF point (closest subject priority). The camera automatically selects the AF mode (unlike the 10D which allows users to manually choose the AF mode).
Select Program AE, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, or Manual modes and the camera operates in AI Focus AF (it automatically switches between One Shot and AI Servo AF modes). For stationary subjects the camera automatically opts for One Shot AF mode and for moving subjects the 300D automatically switches to AI Servo AF and tracks the subject. When shooting in any of the Basic Zone settings (Automatic or scene modes), the camera selects One Shot or AI Servo AF mode (depending on whether the subject is stationary or moving) and doesn't switch between modes. The 300D also provides (like the EOS 10D) "Predictive AF" which calculates the speed at which your subject is approaching or retreating from the camera and then focuses on the subjects predicted location, which should be a big help for action/sports photographers.
The 300D’s AF system does an excellent job. It is consistently fast and accurate even in low light (using the focus aid beam) situations.
Manual Focus
Manual focus (with all EF/EF-S lenses) is simple, just slide the AF/MF switch to the MF position, and use the manual focus ring---just like in the old days.
Flash
The EOS 300D’s built-in pop-up flash makes shooting excellent pictures easy. The built-in multi mode flash automatically pops up in low-light or back-lit situations or when users select AUTO or the Basic Zone modes (except landscape, sports, and no flash mode) and includes settings for with Redeye Reduction and Slow Sync. In all manual exposure modes (aperture priority, shutter priority, and full manual) users must press the release button to pop up the flash. The 300D’s built-in speedlight has a guide number of 13/43 (meters/feet) at ISO 100. Maximum range is 12 feet and the fastest flash synch is at 1/200th of a second. The flash will cover the 18mm end of the EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm. Flash recycle time is about 3 seconds. The built-in flash (in Red-Eye Reduction mode) does a noticeably better job of avoiding red-eye (because of its’ high profile) than compact P&S flash units. In the Flash Off mode the pop-up flash (and any external flash unit mounted) are disabled.
Focus Aid Beam
I applaud Canon for including a focus aid for dim/low light (many digital cameras don’t provide this feature). The 300D’s built-in flash fires a series of micro bursts to illuminate the subject for the AF system, however it is not possible to take the picture (once focus is achieved) without flash. Canon should have enabled users to shoot the image without flash, even in low light.
Hot Shoe & External Flash Compatibility
The EOS 300D can mount any (except the 160E and 200E) Canon Speedlight, but some advanced features (FP flash sync, flash exposure bracketing with multiple flash units, and flash modeling) are available only with the 550EX flash unit. Canon’s nifty (and very useful) E-TTL (Evaluative through the lens) flash exposure metering system can only be used to full potential with the 420EX and 220EX Speedlights, and Macro Ring Lite MR-14EX or Macro Twin Lite MT-24EX.
Image Storage/File Formats/Connectivity
EOS 300D Digital Rebel saves images to Type I or II CompactFlash cards, including the big new 4GB Microdrives. Purchasers should plan on buying a (minimum) 512MB CF card. Images are saved in JPEG and RAW formats and there is a new RAW JPEG mode that saves a RAW file with an embedded JPEG file. A 512MB CF card will hold about 30-32 six megapixel (3072 x 2048) RAW JPEG images. The Digital Rebel utilizes a USB connection to transfer images to the computer and features a Video Out jack for TV connection (for slideshows).
Power/Battery Life
The 300D uses the same BP-511 Lithium Ion battery pack (or BP-512) used in the EOS 10D (and the G5). Canon claims the battery is good for about 600 exposures (400 if the flash is used for about fifty per cent of the exposures) and that seems pretty accurate. My friend and I used the camera for two weekends of heavy shooting and didn’t exhaust the original battery. A back-up BP-511 is about fifty bucks. The included CB-5L charger needs about 90 minutes to charge a dead BP-511 (or BP-512) battery pack. The optional BG-E1 grip holds two BP-511 (or BP-512) batteries and adds a vertical shutter release (with controls).
EXPOSURE
The EOS 300D offers photographers a full complement of exposure options including: full Auto, Program AE, Image Zone (Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait, and Flash off), Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, full Manual, and Auto Depth of Field modes. The Auto Depth of Field mode is pretty nifty, especially for novice photographers, because it uses the seven AF points to determine the nearest and farthest points in the composition and then matches that data with the focal length setting of the (Canon EF & EF-S) lens to determine the smallest aperture and the fastest shutter speed combination possible.
The 300D’s Continuous Shooting mode can capture up to four frames at approximately 2.5 frames per second, a very useful feature for shooting sports and action. Another nifty feature is the 300D's ability to lock exposure and focus independently which is great for images with an off center subject and busy borders or a dramatic background.
Metering
Metering modes include Evaluative, Partial (sort of a spot-metering mode), and Center-Weighted, however metering (unlike the EOS 10D) is based on the exposure mode chosen (In Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, or Program AE modes the camera automatically defaults to Evaluative metering and In Manual mode the camera defaults to Center-Weighted metering). More advanced users can press the AE Lock button which (temporarily) shifts metering to the Partial mode.
Advanced shooters can also use the Exposure Compensation function to bias exposure /-2EV in 1/3 EV increments. Auto Exposure Bracketing, ISO sensitivity (100 to 1600), and white balance settings may also be used to provide more user input into the exposure process and defeat the 300D’s arbitrary metering system. If creative control is an important consideration, the Digital Rebel’s P&S like metering system may force advanced photographers to bite the bullet and buy the more expensive 10D.
White Balance
The EOS Digital Rebel provides a comprehensive range of White Balance options, including automatic and pre-sets for Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Flash., and a Custom (manual) setting that bases color balance on a white card. The 300D allows users to bracket white balance (the camera captures one image and writes 3 image files with /- 3 steps in 1EV increments from 5500K ). Color space options are sRGB or Adobe RGB. The 300D’s auto setting does a very good job as do the outdoor settings (Daylight, Shade, Cloudy) and Custom setting, we didn’t try the Tungsten, Fluorescent, or Flash.settings.
In-Camera Image Adjustment
The ability to fine tune images is very important to serious photographers, and the 300D allows users to select the Parameters option (through the LCD menu) and choose Parameter 1 (sets contrast and saturation adjustments to 1 and increases sharpening to 2 for brighter and sharper images) or Parameter 2 (sets contrast, sharpness, saturation, and color tone to neutral).
Technical Specifications
Resolution: 6.3 Megapixels (3072 x 2048)
Viewfinder: TTL Pentamirror (fixed)
LCD: 1.8” Color TFT
Exposure: Auto, Program AE, Image Zone (Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait, and Flash off), Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, full Manual, and Auto Depth of Field modes
Lens/Optics: SLR Canon EF/EF-S
Auto Focus: 7 AF point phase detection
Manual Focus: yes
Metering: 35 point evaluative, 9% partial, and center-weighted
Flash: built-in multi mode and hot shoe for external flash
Shutter Speeds:1/4,000th of a second to 30 seconds --- with the Bulb setting (in Manual mode) up to 2.5 hours).
Sensitivity: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 ISO equivalent
White Balance: automatic and pre-sets for Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Flash, and Custom (manual)
Memory Media: CF types I&II
Power: one BP511 (or BP512) battery
Price: 300 D body $899.00 or Kit (300D body and Canon EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm zoom) $999.00
Included
EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm zoom (lens kit only), BP-511 Li-ion rechargeable battery pack & charger, neck strap, USB & video cables, Software, printed users and software manuals
Optional
More than fifty EF mount Canon Lenses, several Canon external flash units, BG-E1 Battery Grip, RC-1 & RC-5 wireless remotes or the RS-60E3 wired remote, dual battery charger, and Canon AC adapter, Canon EW-60C lens hood (for EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm zoom)
In the Field/Handling & Operation
My friend (who sells new and used digital and analog photography equipment) finally managed to get his hands on Canon’s New EOS 300D Digital Rebel. Saturday dawned with one of those pea soup fogs we occasionally get at this time of year so my friend got up early (which is rare, since he isn’t a morning person) and took the 300D to Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville’s only arboretum. Cave Hill has a magnificent old Ginko Tree (brought back from China by a local missionary in the 1850’s) and my friend wanted to shoot the huge old tree in the fog. In autumn the 160 foot Ginko’s millions of leaves turn a neon canary yellow and as they fall they cover the ground around the old tree with a two or three inch deep carpet of bright yellow leaves.
When I got together with my friend later in the day he showed me the images he’d shot that morning and they made me absolutely envious. The old Ginko is usually very hard to photograph because it’s surrounded by other trees, but the thick fog made it possible for my friend to isolate the tree completely. His images were almost ethereal depictions of millions of bright yellow leaves (and more leaves littered on the ground around dark black trunk) shining out of the fog.
Almost everyone here in Kentucky has been waiting for the fall leaf color peak. We have dozens of varieties of hardwood trees because Kentucky is the northern most extension of the ancient southern forests and the southern most extension of the northern forests that flowed south as the glaciers melted at the close of the last ice age. We didn’t really get a fall color peak this year, but there were pockets of nice color and we had lots of great individual trees with spectacular displays, but very little in the way of expansive autumn vistas. We tossed the EOS 300D, Canon’s new EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm zoom, Canon’s excellent EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, and a classic Leitz Tilt-All tripod in the back of my friends car and spent Saturday afternoon cruising the perimeter of Cherokee Park along the scenic loop (which traverses several miles of steep hillsides with old growth woods along Beargrass Creek) shooting joggers, dog walkers, and folks out enjoying the beautiful weather. The EOS 300D did a great job, no matter what we tried making it easy to fill a 512MB CF card before we called it a day.
Sunday started out warm with flat overcast lighting (there are no reflections or glare under overcast lighting, so colors appear more intense) so we decided to shoot Eliot Porter style intimate landscapes in Iroquois Park. The park covers a large heavily forested hill that rises more than 800 feet above the surrounding suburbs. Once you are inside the park, it is quite easy to believe that you are somewhere out in the country rather than completely surrounded by a large metropolitan area. There is a small meadow at the top of the hill that is home to a varied community of native Kentucky plants, wildflowers, prairie grasses, and old growth trees. We spent a couple of hours shooting small tight “nature” compositions and close-ups in the meadow.
When it started to drizzle we packed everything up and headed for Farmington (3033 Bardstown Rd) one of Louisville’s best-known historic homes. The old house was built in 1813 and in its heyday was a 500-acre hemp plantation. The house and several original outbuildings are set in a grove of ancient hardwood trees. The old plantation is shaded by dozens of beautiful old hardwood trees and we found several haloed with gorgeous late afternoon backlighting that made the red, orange, and yellow leaves just glow. We spent about an hour shooting at Farmington and then called it a day
The following Saturday we got together to run some color tests at Paul’s Fruit & Vegetable Market on Taylorsville Road. Paul’s has been an East End landmark since just after World War II. and sells fresh fruits and vegetables, nursery plants, flowers, gourmet groceries, deli items, and in the autumn pumpkins, gourds, Corn shocks, hay bales, and Indian Corn. We shot a couple of close ups of the fall displays with the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. After we finished at Paul’s we took the camera to the Louisville’s Waterfront Park to shoot part of the celebration of the two hundredth anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
William Clark, Lewis’ Co-Captain, was the brother of Revolutionary War hero and Louisville founder George Rogers. Clark put together the nucleus of the Corps of Discovery (his slave York, Seaman his Newfoundland dog, and nine young Kentucky woodsmen who were recruited to help the explorers find their way, keep the expedition in fresh meat, and protect the group from hostile Indians) while waiting for Lewis to arrive from Pittsburgh. Lewis & Clark spent almost two weeks in the Louisville area getting the expedition provisioned, armed, equipped, and organized for the long journey to the Pacific and back. The small band of intrepid explorers departed for St. Louis on October 26, 1803.
We wandered around Waterfront Park shooting some of the expedition re-enactors. Even in the large crowd we were able to use the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM to isolate and compose a couple of interesting environmental portraits of the more colorful re-enactors. We headed for home after spending about ninety minutes shooting living history.
Sunday afternoon we took the EOS 300D to the Belknap Neighborhood Fall Festival. Belknap is one of Louisville’s more unique neighborhoods, sort of like a small country town at the edge of the larger Highlands and Deer Park neighborhoods. The neighborhood is clustered around the Douglas Loop, which was a stage stop on the road to Nashville during the mid nineteenth-century. TARC buses now stop where stagecoaches drawn by horses once picked up passengers.
The neighborhood has an interesting collection of restaurants, a bakery, a Graeter’s Ice Cream shop, a popular local tavern, and a genuine old-fashioned hardware store. During the festival the narrow streets are lined with booths selling handcrafts, exotic and mundane household items, midway style munchies, and Kentucky crafts. The festival is always well attended and the large crowd makes for a constantly shifting collection of very interesting photographic subjects. We spent a couple of hours shooting “street” and environmental portraits before calling it a day.
After we finished up at the Belknap Neighborhood Fall Festival we reviewed the images we’d shot over the course of our two weekend test of the EOS 300D and they were impressive. The Digital Rebel did a good job in auto mode and an excellent job in manual mode, proving the 300D could be used by almost anyone from absolute beginner to seasoned pro with consistently good results. We printed two 6 megapixel RAW files at 8X10 (with an Epson EPX785 and Epson photo paper) and the enlargements were easily on par with ISO 100 35mm prints. Photographers looking for a digital SLR at a reasonable price aren’t going to do any better than the EOS 300D Digital Rebel.
PERFORMANCE
Image Quality
The 300D’s image quality is consistently excellent. Details are clear in both shadows and highlight areas, transitions are crisp, and noise is well controlled throughout, but especially at the 100 and 200 ISO sensitivity settings. Even at higher ISO settings the 300D produced little visible noise. Colors are bright, accurate, and well saturated—but not garish. Caucasian skin tones are just a bit warm (fairly common in amateur level P&S digital cameras) but not offensively so. Overall the 300D’s images tend to be just a tiny bit on the warm side of neutral. The 300D’s Resolution is equal to pretty much anything out there, just mount a good quality lens and the Digital Rebel will create consistently excellent images. The Canon EF-S f3.5–f5.6/18㫏mm zoom does an absolutely incredible job. The lens is a tremendous bargain for $100.
Timing/Shutter Lag
The 300D is very fast in operation. The camera needs about 2-3 seconds to boot up. AF times are excellent even in low/dim light. Shutter lag won’t be a problem --- press the shutter and exposure is virtually immediate. Shot-to-shot speed is instantaneous (unless you fill the buffer) and in normal shooting should never be a problem. My friend and I used the camera over two weekends and neither of us ever had to wait for anything with the 300D. For photographers who shoot fast moving sports or extreme action, your mileage may vary.
A Few Concerns
I was a little disappointed to discover that the RAW option isn’t available in full auto mode, however maybe that shortcoming will encourage neophyte shooters to learn to shoot in manual mode. The 300D’s most disturbing shortcoming is a very slight but consistent tendency toward underexposure. I suspect that someone on Canon’s design team wrote the interpolation code to make the 300D’s images look more like 35mm slide shots (highly saturated colors and harder contrast) which is fine for amateur shooters raised on Velvia style colors, however shadow detail is as easily lost in underexposure (and once gone even the magic of Adobe PhotoShop can not bring it back) as highlight detail in slight overexposures. I personally prefer a more neutral rendering and the option to select my own image biases.
My friend tells me he’s heard there were some problems with units from the first EOS 300D production run having malfunctioning hotshoes (the camera can’t communicate with external flash units). We didn’t use an external flash during our tests, so I can’t comment on this potential problem, but I wanted to pass the information along.
Who is the EOS 300D best suited for?
The Digital Rebel is best suited for amateur photographers who want the flexibility of an SLR but appreciate the ease of use of a point & shoot digital camera.
Conclusion
The high tech marketplace has always been very competitive and it is obvious that the introduction of the EOS 300D is going to have a profound impact on future digital imaging products. Clearly the Digital Rebel is a marketing silver bullet, the camera that actually bridges the gap between prosumer digital point & shoots and digital SLR’s.
In the final analysis image quality is more dependent on the lens than it is on the efficacy of the camera's processing and exposure. The 300D allows photographers entrance to the Canon EF lens system, including professional quality “L” series optics. The 300D's ability to use dozens of lenses and the camera's reasonable price mean serious film shooters can add a 6 megapixel EOS 300D to their photo tools arsenal and expand their photographic horizons exponentially. All of a sudden those snazzy feature rich $600 to $1000 fixed lens P&S digicams don't sound like such a good deal.
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