Canon EOS 450D with 18-55mm lens Reviews: Digital SLR Camera

+ It's 20+ years since I last had an SLR (film in those days) yet I felt right at home using the canon. The way you do things is radically different (setting aperture and shutter speeds etc) but the principles are the same. The instuction manual is first class and shows features I could only dream of in the past. Whilst the image quality of my compact is adequate for the snaps and memory pictures I've been taking, the quality of the pictures on the Canon are in a whole different league.

- Could do with a better photo editing package , but then I guess most will get photoshop so thats not a big issue. The camera is faultless

+ 12m pixels; 3" screen; 3.5 fps; higher battery capacity; IS lens (as standard in package); ISO control more readily available; 'spot' metering; Highlight Tone Priority; easier menu functions. These are the good points that prompted me to upgrade from the 350D - which I rated as 'Excellent' - and they have all surpassed my expectations. Equally impressive with the 55-250 IS lens.

- None apparent to date and none expected, bearing in mind that I am nothing more than an enthusiastic, keen, dedicated amateur and unlikely to push the gear beyond usable limits.

+ Both comfortable to hold & easy to use. The LCD monitor displays the camera's features very clearly which is a important factor to someone like myself new to an SLR/EOS. Having had a Canon A1 which I bought in The early 1980s and which is still going strong, I decided to go for a canon again & am delighted that I did.
I haven't tried other makes of EOS SLR. but would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone.

- I honestly have yet to come across any problems

+ All buttons are within easy reach, each of the manual modes remembers the settings that you used last in that mode - not just blanket settings across all manual modes. The body is light, large screen that is easy to see even in bright sunlight, included kit lens (18-55mm) provides crisp images & if you treat yourself to a 58mm macro filter/adaptor it can produce some stunning close up images. Focusing is fast and quiet - the 9 AF points work well and on the whole the auto mode works well. I rarely change to a manually selected AF focal point. In some situations I do use manual focus - but mainly for macro shots. Auto white balance detection seems to work well, again I rarely use the manual selection and this is only if I'm using off camera flash with colour correcting gels etc. The custom user menu is a very useful feature that I use a lot....all the options that I use the most in one place - this can also be setup from your computer using the provided Canon software which makes it incredibly easy to setup. Battery life is excellent - even using the flash. I use the camera most days & can take around 250 shots over a few days before needing to think about charging again...I expect it would last a lot longer past this point. I have also used the camera with a Tamron AF 70-300mm LD Di Tele-Macro lens this is capable of some great photos, but the lens is not as crisp as the kit 18-55mm lens. Despite saying that it is a nice lens and works very well with the camera - its as great lens for everyday shooting, particularly for nature etc If you properly compare the specs on this camera with others in the same price bracket, or even some of the other current Canon models (eg 40d), this camera provides serious power for the money & I would whole heartedly recommend it to anyone looking at getting a DSLR.

- Bad may be a little strong - but here are a couple of fussy comments:
The depth of field button is tricky to find....I find myself fumbling around trying to find it - I don't use it often so not too much of an issue.
No proper auto focus in Live view mode - again not an option I use much anyway, but it would be nice.
It would be nice to have some manual control over the built in flash - this is more a wish that a negative.
I would also like to see a custom user program mode like some of the higher models have...that would be a very nice addition.
I would also like to see a couple more ISO settings - what is provided is fine, I'm just greedy! My biggest negative comment is on the flash synch speed - the built in flash will only synch at 200, and the camera will not let you go faster than this.
I also have an external flash setup with remote triggers and two different flash units that I use in manual mode - one of these synchs at 250 & the other at 160. It would be nice if Canon could half this or more and get the synch speed to 500 or faster - as far as I am aware this is the same for all current Canon models (although I may be wrong). One point on software compatibilities - I shoot in RAW and use Adobe Lightroom to manage/adjust my photos. It seems that the set picture style is not taken into consideration by Lightroom, so your colours/contrast can appear off at first. There is now set of beta released profiles for Lightroom 2 that does a good job of addressing this, but even still the colours are not quite the same as they appear in Canon's own software. If you shoot in jpeg, this is not an issue.

+ I had 2 EOS 35mm cameras a few years back and that is why I went for the digital version. This is a fantastic camera and the pictures are amazing. You can quite happily use it straight from the box on the automatic settings and the camera will do everything for you. Professional quality photos at the click of a button - awesome! If you want to be more creative, there's plenty of potential for that too. It is amazing what the camera can do. A great quality piece of kit and great for first timers wanting a DSLR. You cant go wrong with Canon.

- The only bad point for me is getting used to looking through a small viewfinder again, but you do have the option of Live View where you can see what you are taking on the screen. This would be the same for any DSLR, so it is not really a problem for this particular camera alone. Some of the other people who have reviewed the camera said that it felt too light, but I would disagree with this. It feels like a serious piece of kit to me!

+ I bought this because I have a newborn and I want to capture the best pictures possible. My first DSLR and I grasped it straight away before even looking at the instructions with the automatic mode! My baby looked so gorgeous in the photos - the tone and textures really stand out. Packed with lots of features that I need to play with, but so far I just love the quality of photo compared to my compact digital camera. Particularly like the AF 9 point system which you can change to manual or auto and set the focus to any one of those points - just love it!!!!! Tried the automatic sports mode (for quick moving stuff) on a train passing by and it worked a treat!

- The live view (so you can see on screen) takes ages to switch on (a few menus to get there). However, this is only because I'm so used to my compact digital camera. PLUS you can set up your own quick menu buttons to make this quicker, just haven't done this yet!
Wish there was a help menu on screen to tell help newbiew into DSLR photography with all the various functions.

+ It's a wonderful camera. As my first step into the world DSLR cameras it's pleasing to feel that I haven't spent my money badly. The quality of the shots you get from this camera is astounding. Considering it's with the lens supplied which I would assume is not going to be of the highest quality.

- I now want to buy more lenses because this camera is so good.

+ Everything about the camera is excellent, I bought it for a specific need (astrophotography) and I've found myself just using the camera for all sorts of photography in general.

- In my opinion, nothing at all as I bought the camera knowing it would be fit for purpose.

+ 1. Very light, the whole package places no strain on my back.
2. It is set up to work straight away for an amatuer like me.
3. The Tamron lens is superb, it really suits what I want to achieve. In many ways the lens steals the show for me.
4. I feel that this camera will give me what I need as I progress into digital SLR.
5. The Handle for portrait with the extra battery is excellent, & makes the camera feel more substatial.
6. The 2 batteries seem to last forever. I have taken over 300 photo's at a time & I have not noticed any power loss at all.

- 1. The camera feels flimsy. I feel like I have to treat it with kid gloves. ( I do not know if this is true of all modern SLR's).
2. For the money the remote control unit would have just polished off the unit.
3. Also for the money a 16 GB card would have been the iceing on the cake. Over 2800 photo's at max jpeg resolution, this I had to buy seperately.

+ The most-used features are not buried in some difficult-to-find menu, but are easily to hand.
Canon have made an excellent camera in the 450D, almost identical to the much more expensive 40D.

- None really.

+ Good weight and size .large LCD screen, lots of features to help get best out of your photos, including Image Stabalizer,sensor/dust cleaner.easy display button shows detailed info. on every photo taken. like all the features, including the cd package to edit photosetc. Excellent once you've learned everything /most of what it can do.

- some of the features ie.changing the brightness or raising the sharpness level etc. are buried fairly deep in the menue, could be more accesible.

+ Easy to use - clear settings and easy to navigate round the features. Light weight. Brilliant size lcd display so you can easily see your shots.

- A bit hit and miss when taking photos of moving objects. On my non digital model and when placed on sport mode it was impossible to take a blurred picture. The same cannot be said with the digital one but if placed on general mode it does alot better.

+ With previous experience with Canon EOS cameras, the move to Digital SLR was fairly simple. However, there is a great learning curve to understand all the features available which will take some time and will be "a voyage of discovery".

- Up to this point there have been no bad points.

+ Light, easy to handle, very good on almost all the automatic features - rapid start-up. autofocus etc. Simple controls for more advanced settings, very intuitive and quick to change. Very good resolution. Image stabiliser is remarkably effective with telephoto lens.

- Only fault so far is very occasional hunting on autofocus when going from one extreme to the other with a long lens.

+ Takes fantastic pictures and has good features

- I fear this is the start of an expensive hobby