colonelbutt

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you guys got to be kidding. this is the best picture quality this side of the 5D

Apr 11, 2008

Rating: 9 out of 10 (Spectacular)
Pros: Handling, speed, price, quality, 12mp, 14bit, live view, screen
Cons: no dial on back, kit lens has rotating focus front end
Opinion:
ok, so I'm a 40D shooter and former 400D shooter.

I received my new 450D yesterday, with kit lens (18-55mm IS).

I have the razor bleed sharp 17-55mm f2.8, but decided to test the 450D initially with the kit lens as it had got such good reviews.

The question is, is the kit lens good enough as a light travel lens ? Its 190g vs the 17-55mm f2.8 645g.

First impressions are very positive. The small changes to the grip make this comfortable to hold. The camera has also undergone a weight reduction, now comfortably the lightest DSLR apart from then E410. Undercutting a key rival, the D60.

The job that Canon have done with the buttons and handling is quite simply awesome. The new ISO button, combined with the exposure hold and focus selection button are in just the right places. The menu system, using the four direction keys, is easy to access. Its a clever balance between having too many and too little buttons. I miss the dial of the 40D on the back, but the four arrow keys are reasonable and also give access to key settings, including exposure area.

The screen is bright and sharp. Luckily it allows you to change the colour settings. The white text on black background selection is much better then the default black text on white background.

ISO display is in the view finder and the focus point red flasher now seems brighter then the 400D.
The IS of the kit lens seems quite powerful. possibly 3 spots or more available.

The camera feels very fast in usage, no doubt due to the digic III. However the continuous shoot, being half of the 40D, is noticeably slower. I would expect upgraders from entry level DSLRs or P&S not to notice this though.

In terms of picture quality and exposure balance, its really pretty amazing. I would be interested to see a comparison between this and the 5D.

ISO detail is great in raw and one stop of chroma and detail noise reduction (in dpreview) gets rid of much of the speckles viewable on my 28" monitor.

You can expect miracles, and the kit lens is noticably softer then the 17-55mm f2.8, however its a step up from what I have seen in previous kit lenses.