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  • nigham - Thursday, July 10, 2008 - link

    I tend to compare only Canon and Nikon, like many people I know.

    The Nikon D60 has autofocus only for AF-S and AF-I lenses -- so anyone who thinks long term (and would like to have the option to buy, say, a 50mm f/1.8 prime lens) will simply have to go for the XS.
  • twistedlogic - Friday, July 11, 2008 - link

    Sigma makes a 50mm f/1.4 as well as a 30mm f/1.4 with HSM.

  • ivan2 - Thursday, July 10, 2008 - link

    I don't know why anyone will choose these (XS) considering a near new 30D body can be have for less than 600 (with MS live rebate, 480ish) on ebay and various forums.

    That 7 point AF is just not good enough, it's the main reason I jumped from XT to 30D (and probably 40D later).

    For the XSi, I can understand if someone want a light package with the performance of the 30D (they have the same kind of AF, 9 point with a cross type in the middle).
  • slashbinslashbash - Thursday, July 10, 2008 - link

    I am glad that Canon was competitively forced into creating an IS version of the 18-55 kit lens, with better optics to boot. It is a huge upgrade over the original kit lens and good enough to make me swear off purchasing the 17-55 f/2.8 IS. Now Canon needs to get on the ball with other lens upgrades:

    - Update all Prime lenses > $200 to use Ring USM (*cough* 50mm f/1.4 *cough*)
    - Update all L Zoom lenses to have IS, at least as an option like with the 70-200 f/4L and f/2.8L zooms (*cough* 17-40 f/4L *cough*)
    - Update all existing IS lenses to use the latest-generation "three or four stop" IS technology (*cough* 28-135 IS USM, 70-200 f/4L and f/2.8L *cough*)

    The next version of the high-end Rebel and maybe the prosumer model (40D successor, although the 40D will be around for a while) needs to have a swing-out LCD. The Digic III processor is a champ at high speed image processing; Digic IV will feel like overkill with anything less than 15MP images. They are making progress in the higher ISO numbers; thank God for Nikon forcing their hand in this arena. Sony and others with in-body IS are forcing Canon to put IS into more of the low-end lenses. Now they just need to start putting it into the more expensive lenses with the same sense of urgency.
  • shinpickle - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - link

    the pitiful camera coverage here is a disgrace to Anand name. why do you put amateur-hour camera reviews/previews/whatever along side in-depth technical IT hardware analysis, bumping down the articles done by skilled, experienced reviewers who do actual benchmarks & analysis. the bar is very high with dpreview, etc.. what on earth are you guys thinking.
  • Dennis Travis - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - link

    This is a preview and not a review. The camera is not even on the market as yet.
  • melgross - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - link

    Are you sure Sony is producing the D3/D700 sensor? That's a question that is being asked around the industry.
  • Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - link

    We are not 100% certain that Sony manufactures the D3/D700 sensor, but several respected experts have claimed this. Sony is also the most likely partner, since Sony and Nikon do have development agreements with Nikon exclusive marketing rights in place.

    Samsung and Sony hold joint patents on much of the technology on recent advancements on CMOS manufacturing, and Samsung is supposedly close to producing their first full-frame sensor, according to recent leaks in their R&D. This leak more or less confirms Samsung is not the manufacturer for Nikon, although it is an outside possibility.

    Panasonic/Leica would undoubtedly use any full-frame Panasonic manufactured in new Leica models, and Canon certainly didn't produce the sensor for Nikon. That leaves Sony and Kodak as the likely partners, and the long-term relationships and exclusive marketing agreements on joint development point toward Sony being the more likely.
  • Wesley Fink - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - link

    We are not 100% certain that Sony manufactures the D3/D700 sensor, but several respected experts have claimed this. Sony is also the most likely partner, since Sony and Nikon do have development agreements with Nikon exclusive marketing rights in place.

    Samsung and Sony hold joint patents on much of the technology on recent advancements on CMOS manufacturing, and Samsung is supposedly close to producing their first full-frame sensor, according to recent leaks in their R&D. This leak more or less confirms Samsung is not the manufacturer for Nikon, although it is an outside possibility.

    Panasonic/Leica would undoubtedly use any full-frame Panasonic manufactured in new Leica models, and Canon certainly didn't produce the sensor for Nikon. That leaves Sony and Kodak as the likely partners, and the long-term relationships and exclusive marketing agreements on joint development point toward Sony being the more likely.
  • yyrkoon - Tuesday, July 8, 2008 - link

    Does not look like a bad camera for the price point, but if IQ is not as good as the competition we all would probably be better off with a $300 P&S

    Now where is the rest of the review ?
  • CSMR - Tuesday, July 8, 2008 - link

    "if IQ is not as good as the competition we all would probably be better off with a $300 P&S"
    Er, no; that's a pretty inane remark.
  • yyrkoon - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - link

    Not really, I have a $300 Sony (DSC-P200)that will do most of what my Nikon DSLR here will do. Granted my DSLR has way more control, but typically under good lighting conditions I would be hard pressed to tell the difference between them. Now I do know that my Nikon is not the Rebel XS . . . and my Sony will not do RAW. I guess what I was hoping, or wanting to see was IF the IQ with this camera was on par with the 'old' 350D(at the time of release).

    Having said the above, I guess that if IQ were that important, a person would not be using this camera to begin with.
  • CSMR - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - link

    It doesn't have a large sensor; it only has one non-specialised lens which will not be particularly good. There are certain situations in which compacts can give adequate shots (in good light, when you want wide dof) but it's a pretty narrow range of situations, depending on your tastes.
  • melgross - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - link

    The IQ of the XS1 is considered to be very high for a camera anywhere around its price.

    The question is how close this model will approach it.
  • Wesley Fink - Tuesday, July 8, 2008 - link

    The XS was announced today and, as stated in the review and the Canon Press Release, it will not be available for purchase until sometime in August. This is the way items are normally introduced in the Digital SLR market. You will not find a real IQ review of the XS anywhere as the camera is not available. Also Canon does not pre-release Press samples under NDA. Nothing is available for review until the cameras ship.

    Since the 10.1 megapixel Canon CMOS sensor is currently used in both the Canon XTi and the 40D, and the Digic III processing engine is used in the XSi and 40D we do not expect any performance surprises with the XS sensor. The Canon 10.1 mp sensor is already well-known for low-noise across the ISO range.

  • yyrkoon - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 - link

    Ah, ok, I read this as more of a review, when in fact I suppose it was a preview instead. Or maybe just an announcement ? Not used to you guys just making 'announcements' as such.

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