Canon EOS 450D / Digital Rebel XSi Digital Camera with 18-55mm lens

Being novice in photography, I was a bit reluctant to spend that amount of money on the Canon 450D. But to my amazement I haven't been disappointed at all. In my opinion it is by far one of the best entry level DSLR camera.

It has a massive 12mp resolution and a huge 3 inch LCD screen.

The plastic outer shell has a refined finish and there's some textured areas on the hand-grip and thumb-rest on the rear of the camera.

Like most entry-level DSLRs the EOS 450D provides a number of auto shooting modes aimed at beginners, including portrait, landscape, close-up, sports and night portrait and flash off choices. All of these functions performed adequately in all aspects, apart from the close-up macro mode that did not come near to offering a true 1:1 reproduction (you'll need a dedicated macro lens for that). There are, of course, manual and semi-automatic modes for users who want more advanced exposure control. Canon refers to these advanced operations as the 'creative zone' and provides all the normal settings including Program, Aperture and Shutter Priority and the full manual mode. Additionally, they provide the 'A-DEP' (Automatic Depth of Field) function that gives a wider depth of field between a near and far subject.

In the creative zone (From 'p' upward to 'A dep' mode) you can use the live view mode, whereby you can look at the subject that you are about to photography through the screen. In the basic mode (from 'full automatic' down to 'flash off' mode) you can not see via the LCD and you would need to use the eye piece to take a picture. But you don't buy DSLRS for basic modes anyway, you have the point and shoot cameras to do that.!

Once you have captured a photo, the Canon EOS 450D has an average range of options for playing, reviewing and managing your images. More information about a captured image can be seen on the LCD by pressing the DISP. button, which brings up an image histogram and all the shooting Exif data, including shutter speed and the time and date it was captured, with a second press displaying an additional RGB histogram. It is simple to get a closer look at an image as users can zoom in up to 15 times, and it is also possible to view pictures in a set of nine contact sheet. You can also delete an image, rotate an image, view a slideshow, protect images so that they cannot be deleted, and set various printing options. Unlike some competitors, there are no digital styles or effects that can be applied to an image after it has been taken - the more subtle Picture Styles are the only way of tweaking your JPEGs in-camera. The camera shows you a preview of what the effect will look like when applied, and the effect is applied to a copy of your image, thus preserving the original intact.

The Canon EOS 450D looks and feels more expensive than it is actually is, and is certainly solid enough for an entry-level DSLR.

In summary the Canon EOS 450D is an all-plastic but well-built, intuitive and very responsive DSLR that makes an excellent camera even better. The only notable fly in the ointment is the Live View mode, which will appeal to more experienced photographers who require technical control, but probably not to the user who wants a point-and-shoot experience via the LCD screen.