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CANON DIGITAL REBEL XTi/400D

New Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D

I wrote about the new Digital Rebel XTi (400D in Europe) when it was first announced. It is now available for purchase. It received a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating (the highest possible rating) from DP Review (see the links below). The XTi will have a 10.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor, a new EOS Integrated Cleaning System, and a larger and brighter 2.5” LCD and 9-point AF system. The maximum frame burst increases from 14 to 27 large JPEGs and from 5 to 10 RAW files. So how much better is this camera?

A bigger LCD is nice. A bigger burst rate may a help a tiny percentage of photographers. After all, who shoots 14 or 27 frames in a row anyway? Going from 8 to 10 megapixels shouldn't mean an increase in image quality at any but the largest print sizes. The new dust reduction system might be really nice. Dust in a D-SLR is a digital photographer's curse.

If you are ready to buy your first Digital Rebel, then this camera would be a good choice. If you have a recent Digital Rebel, it may not be worth the price simply to upgrade for a few minor improvements. If you have one Digital Rebel and you need a second digital body, this would be a good choice.

Is this camera better than similar models from competing brands? Maybe, but that really shouldn't matter. I've long maintained that a camera brand should be chosen for the quality and selection of the lenses rather than the current camera bodies. This is especially true if you have (or some day will have) specialized lens needs. Bodies get replaced, lenses are forever (or at least a long, long time).

A full review is now available at DP Review.

Order this camera with the 18-55mm kit lens:

or get the body only:

SAVE INK, DON'T CHANGE THAT CARTRIDGE

Epson's Low Ink Warning

Don't change the ink cartridge when you get the low ink warning (above) from your Epson printer. There is more ink left in the cartridge than you might think.

I've printed five or six 8x10 inch prints after getting the yellow diamond warning before the ink cartridge was completely empty. On the day I made these illustrations, I printed two 11x16 inch prints and one 8x10 inch print between the time I got the first warning and when the ink cartridge needed to be replaced.

What happens if a cartridge runs out of ink in the middle of making a print? With my Epson 2200 printer, the printer stops mid-print and tells me to replace the ink cartridge. Once the cartridge is replaced, the printer charges the ink cartridges and resumes printing. The print shows no evidence that a cartridge was replaced in the middle of the printing process.

So save yourself some money and wait to replace the cartridge until you get the out of ink warning (below). Once the white cross in a red circle appears, the printer will not continue printing until you replace the empty cartridge.

Epson's Out Of Ink Warning

PHOTO OF THE DAY: ROAD TO NOWHERE

"Seasonal Road", Hiawatha National Forest. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

When you see "Seasonal Road" on a sign in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, what it really means is "You are on your own." Seasonal roads are not maintained. They are usually passable in a 2-wheel drive vehicle from late spring through late fall if they aren't too wet and you are careful not to get high centered. In a typical Michigan winter with several feet of snow on the ground, they are snow mobile only. These roads are usually used by hikers, hunters, snow mobilers and the occasional photographer.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: DAWN AT THE MACKINAC BRIDGE

The Mackinac Bridge at Dawn. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

Early morning light from the north side of the bridge looking southeast. From the north side of the bridge, exit I-75 at US 2 and go west. Turn south on the road to the Father Marquette Memorial and go past the memorial to the bridge viewing area.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: TURNING LEAVES

Turning Leaves. Photo © Jim Doty Jr.

After shooting a somewhat lackluster sunrise from the north shore of Lake Michigan, I looked down at my feet. The dew covered leaves were varying shades of green, orange and red. I picked out a nice cluster with a pleasing background and dropped my tripod legs to get my camera about a foot off the ground.

I put a Canon 500D double element closeup lens on my 70-200mm zoom lens so it could focus closeup enough to provide enough magnification of the small leaves. The 500D is actually a screw in closeup filter with two pieces of glass for better image quality. It is an excellent and relatively inexpensive way to do quality closeup work if you have a lens in the 200mm range.

The shutter speed was slow, a recipe for unsharp images with longer lenses, so I turned on the mirror lockup feature on the camera body. The mirror locks up prior to the shutter release so there is no vibration from the mirror slap. I use mirror lockup with long lenses (200mm and longer) any time the shutter speed is between 1/30 and 1/4 second. I would not buy a camera body for critical work that didn't have mirror lockup.

In order to keep the background out of focus, I used a wide aperture so depth of field was minimal. Only part of the center leaf is in sharp focus. With a much smaller aperture, all of the leaves would look sharp due to increased depth of field, but the background would no longer be soft for the same reason. I could preview the results with the camera's depth of field preview button, another valuable feature.

Data: Canon 5D. Canon EF 70-200mm lens at 180mm with a 500D closeup lens. Aperture: f/4. Shutter: 1/30 second. ISO: 100.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: CUT RIVER GORGE

Cut River Gorge from the Cut River Bridge. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

The Cut River Bridge in Michigan's Upper Peninsula is a popular spot. On the day I was there, lots of tourists were lined up on the bridge to take photos.

The view is beautiful in any season and especially in the fall. The only secret to getting a good photo is to wait until cars and trucks pass by before clicking the shutter since the bridge sways with the traffic. If it is a cloudy day, leave out all or most of the gray sky. Contrary to popular belief, fall colors can be rich and saturated when it is cloudy as it was on the morning I took this photo.

I've seen several published versions of the same scene from a variety of professional photographers. This is a popular place. From just north of the the Mackinac Bridge between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas, leave I-75 and take U.S. 2 west. It is less than a 30 minute drive from the Mackinac Bridge to the Cut River Bridge. There are parking lots and picnic tables on each side of the bridge.

Data: Canon 5D. Canon EF 24-105 lens at 37mm. Aperture: f/8. Shutter: 1/30. ISO: 100.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: SUNSET, LAKE MICHIGAN

PHOTO OF THE DAY: THE MACKINAC BRIDGE AT NIGHT

The Mackinac Bridge. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

The Mackinac Bridge (pronounced mack-i-naw) between Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas is a magnicificent sight. At five miles in length, it is one of the longest suspension bridges in North America. This photo was taken at deep dusk from the north side of the bridge.

Data: Canon 5D, Canon EF 24-105mm lens at 96mm. Shutter: 30 seconds. Aperture: f/8. ISO: 400.

PHOTO OF THE DAY: TAHQUAMENON FALLS

Upper Tahquamenon Falls, Michigan. Photo © Jim Doty, Jr.

My two favorite places to film fall color are Colorado and Michigan. Colorado aspens turn gold and Michigan maples turn red. The color show in Colorado is beginning to wind down. Due to an unfortnate mix of weather conditions, the color show in Colorado was not as stunning as it usually is, but reports indicate there were some pockets of fine color (check out Todd Caudle's photos on this thread). Unfortunately, I didn't get to check this out for myself.

On the other hand, reports from Michigan indicate that the UP (upper peninsula) looks great this year and the color is working it's way south. If you are headed for the UP, go now. I updated my fall color report page with some new Michigan links for the benefit of everyone who will be filming the gorgeous colors in the Great Lakes State.

The photo above of Upper Tahquamenon Falls is one of my favorites and it is currently linked to by a number of websites. The water really is "tea" colored due to leeching from trees in the area.

Other places in the country should also have some great color. Go out and have some fun!