Photos: Hands-on with the Canon EOS 1000D
Never ones to hang around when a hot new product is announced, we got our hands on the Canon EOS 1000D. It's a 10-megapixel dSLR that has a number of consumer-friendly features
Yesterday may have been iPhone 3G day for many techslingers, but Canon still chose it as the right time to drop the Canon EOS 1000D, a new consumer-level dSLR camera. Never one to hang about when there's a hot gadget to find and fiddle about with, your intrepid Craver wasted no time in tracking down a working model of this new addition to the popular EOS range -- which is incidentally known to our Yankee cousins at the Canon Rebel XS. We took a look at the some of the features that will make this dSLR appealling to the average chap and chapette.
As we revealed yesterday, the 1000D is the lightest EOS going. In the flesh it's shockingly light, even with the kit lens mounted. It's certainly portable, ideal for taking on holiday. It's designed to be unintimidating for dSLR newbies, with the control layout and features such as scene modes carried over from compact cameras.
Then there's the interesting decision to go for the near-ubiquitous SD card format, rather than CompactFlash, a memory card format that survives almost exclusively in dSLRs. SDHC cards are increasing in capacity all the time and can be used in a wider range of devices, so you're less likely to have to buy a new format.
The kit has a recomended retail price of £580, while the 1000D body only is slated to cost £500. That seems rather steep for what is supposed to be an entry-level dSLR, so we'll be interested to see what the pricing is like when the 1000D hits the shops. Click through the links for a full tour of the Canon EOS 1000D. -Rich Trenholm
Update: Read our full Canon EOS 1000D preview.
The first announced kit includes this Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS lens. The lens is image stabilised, fractionally moving the optics inside to hopefully save you up to four stops of exposure. The 1000D's lens mount is compatible with all Canon lenses, of which there are currently 66. Only 22 of those are stabilised, though.
The friendly, unintimidating theme continues with the 1000D's oversized controls and 64mm (2.5-inch) LCD screen, with live view. We still think the screen is rather small, with the big buttons taking up lots of space. Still, it's a clear viewfinder, and live view does give you plenty of flexibility when holding the camera at an angle, such as above your head or when shooting round corners.
Here's the 1000D with the flash popped up, by a button on the other side. The mode dial sits atop the on switch, with the command wheel in front of it. Like most cameras at this level, there's only one wheel. The shutter release sits snugly in the shoulder of the comfortably contoured grip.
This is the 1000D body with the lens off, with the 10.1-megapixel CMOS sensor protected by a dust-removal system.
This is the top view of the 1000D, showing the hot shoe and mode wheel. Manual, program, shutter and aperture priorities are available on the wheel alongside selected scene modes. The scene modes will be familiar to compact users. The wheel doesn't go all the way round, which is a pet peeve of ours. Still, it's a satisfyingly clicky wheel and easy to use.