EOS 400D: Monday
Digital Rebel XTi: Coming Soon to... My Hands!
My Digital Rebel XTi was shipped on Friday. Yes!
History Lesson
Let’s go way back in time. Canon sells a lot of cameras—not just the point-and-shoot variety, either. They’ve had a set of “pro” equipment built around a common lens system since the early seventies, and due to a variety of design constraints, decided they needed to break compatibility. They dropped the FD lens mount, and introduced EF.
EF is a step up from FD. With FD, the camera mechanically moved things inside the lens to focus and such; EF stands for electro-focus, and as the name implies, EF lenses focus themselves electronically. The camera mount has no moving parts, just a series of electrical contacts. This new lens mount, compatible lenses, and compatible camera bodies were collectively bundled into a new SLR line called “EOS”, born in the late eighties.
In the late nineties, Canon realized that digital photography was starting to become practical for some professional applications, and started work in making an EOS camera with a digital sensor instead of film. In 2000, the D30 was born—fully compatible with the EF lenses that many photographers already owned, which was good, considering the $3000 price tag.
The D30 also marked the introduction of Canon’s CMOS digital sensor. Unlike other digital SLRs (including Nikon and Sony), Canon develops their own sensors in-house. Also, unlike other digital SLRs, Canon uses a CMOS sensor instead of a CCD. While CCDs are capable of higher efficiency on paper, CMOS has a number of real-world advantages, including the ability to build an image sensor and support circuitry into different layers of the same piece of silicon. This means that Canon can go from light-sensitive pixel to noise reduction logic to image transfer backplane in a few microns of silicon, instead of needing to build all of that on the periphery of the device (or worse).
Time passes. Canon announces a digital EOS-1 (their highest-end model), upgrades from the D30 to the D60 to the 10D, and eventually Canon decides to produce a sub-$1000 digital SLR. Thus was the Digital Rebel.
More time passes. The 1D cameras get upgraded, the 20D replaces the 10D, the Digital Rebel XT replaces the Digital Rebel, the 5D is added, the 30D replaces the 20D, and just last month, the Digital Rebel XTi replaces the Digital Rebel XT. Score!
Analysis
For anyone that got confused, please reference the table below.
| Line | Camera | Year | Resolution | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full-frame pro | 1Ds mark II | 2004 | 16.6 megapixels | $7,000 |
| High-speed pro | 1D mark II N | 2005 | 8.2 megapixels | $3,550 |
| Full-frame | 5D | 2005 | 12.8 megapixels | $3,000 |
| Semi-pro | 30D | 2006 | 8.2 megapixels | $1,200 |
| Consumer | Rebel XTi | 2006 | 10.1 megapixels | $800 |
Sidenote: all of the cameras except the 1Ds and the 5D have a so-called “crop factor” of 1.6. This is because the sensor used in place of the film is smaller than 35 mm—they’re 22.5×15.0 mm. So, if you use a lens designed for a 35 mm plate, you’ll only capture 22.5 mm, effectively zooming in by a factor of 1.6. This means that a 50 mm lens on a XTi or a 30D gives the same view that an 80 mm lens on a 35 mm camera would. Anyway.
Notice anything from the table? Compare the XTi to the 30D. They’re basically equivalent, except the 30D takes 5 frames per second (compared to the XTi’s 3), can go to ISO 3200 (compared to 1600), and the shutter can go down to 1/8000 of a second (compared to 1/4000)... however, the XTi captures at a higher resolution, has a unique self-cleaning sensor, is 30% lighter, and is $400 cheaper. Cool, huh?
This is a unique position for Canon. When they announced the Digital Rebel, it was clearly the bargain-basement digital SLR. The camera body sold for $899, and in order to call it a “sub-$1000 digital SLR”, Canon needed a $100 lens. They came up with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. Compare to the 20D and 30D, which sold either body-only or with the EF-S 17-85 f/4.0-5.6 IS USM lens, or the 5D and 1D/1Ds that never sold with a lens.
Application
Why does this matter? Seems that Canon recognizes that the XTi will cannibalize their 30D sales. They’re forced to give it those specs in order to compete in the sub-$1000 market. In response, they’re selling the camera body-only for $799 under part number 1236B002, with the 18-55mm lens for $899 under part number 1236B001, or (like the 20D and 30D) with the 17-85mm lens under part number 1236B006. However, if you look, you’ll find that no one actually has the 17-85 kit, and that many Canon dealers haven’t even heard of it. However, some have.
Anyway, I wanted the 17-85 mm lens for the wider range of focal lengths, the third-generation IS, and the ring-type USM (more on those later). Despite various other retailers getting the camera early this week (or even late last week), I decided to hang out until Norman Camera got a shipment of black bodies. Why? They would sell me a 1236B002 and the lens in separate boxes, but ring it up as a 1236B006 for $100 less than everyone else, and $150 less than buying both separately. Score!
Conclusion
So, if you want the XTi and a 17-85 IS USM, call Norman Camera. They’re an authorized dealer, selling legitimate products, with good ratings from everyone that rates stores. And you’ll save a lot of money. Also, others that offer cheap cameras try to charge you extra the charger and the battery that come with the camera. Norman does not.
Happy surfing!
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On Sunday 9/17, Norman was selling the XTi + 17-85 IS USM (1236b006) kit for $1200, indicating it was Out of Stock. I placed an order, just to get in the queue. They shipped mine the next day (yesterday), then raised the price to $1250 and changed the stock status to “please call for availability.” Today I see that it’s up to $1290, just $10 less than most everyone else – at least those few that offer it. I guess they must be seeing some demand for this kit…