First Impressions

So I haven't really had much time to play with the camera, but so far I am very happy with it. Compared to my old Rebel XS, the Digital Rebel is huge! It's close to 50% heavier and the 58mm diameter of the kit lense is quite a bit more impressive than the 52mm on the film camera and has a wider angle to boot--down to (effective) 28mm. The body size actually fits my hands better and it's still significantly smaller and lighter than the other digital SLRs that I have seen.

I've only taken a few pictures and having all that control is a blast. I really dig the fact that I can instantly see a histogram of my picture which allows me to adjust metering right on the spot (this evening sky needed a -1f shift). Plus the info view of the picture blinks any pixels that were clipped (100% color) which alerts you to severe overexposure. Still, in most situation the default metering works like a charm.

Jennifer likes it because "the camera makes her look cute". And I'm very happy that my old Speedlight 380EX that I bought for the Rebel XS works just as well (actually, even better) with the digital camera.

Here's a close up of my lemonade (during my photography class). That's something I couldn't do with my Powershot S10 and one of the reasons why I wanted an SLR. The other (beside the interchangeable lenses and huge image sensor) is the lack of shutter lag.

I got a couple of filters at Austin Camera today (they have a store-closing sale and filters are 40% off) and I'll have to get a bigger flash card and a firewire reader (those 6 megapixel images take a while over USB).

Overall, I'm a happy camper and I know I am about to start coveting lenses...