Canon Rebel XSi

August 20th, 2008

I mentioned in a previous post that I upgraded from my Rebel XT to the new Rebel XSi but besides the pictures I posted didn’t really say much about the camera. So far I’ve been very happy with the results.

Even though there is only a few years and a slightly different name separating these cameras the actual experience is very much improved. The three things that stand out are:

1. The Screen

On the XT camera information was shown on a small black and white LCD display that was often difficult to read and the preview of the photograph was shown on a color display directly beneath it. The XSi does away with the dual display and gives you one fat 3” screen for both camera information and preview. The display is very bright and works well even in full sunlight. When you put your eye up to camera a light sensor detects you and turns the display off.

2. IS Lens

I got the XSi at Best Buy where it comes standard with a Canon IS (Optical Image Stabilizer) lens. IS works much better than expected. It effectively stops the shake from my hand pushing the shutter-release button even at low shutter speeds.

3. 12.2 MegaPixels

That’s more than a 50 percent increase from the XT. It’s nice to have that extra information for larger prints or tighter crops.

Best Buy has a deal that comes with a nice bag, extra battery, and a UV filter for an extra $50. Highly recommended.

Posted in: Gadgets, Photography
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Vacation

August 14th, 2008

I returned yesterday from a week long family vacation on the Pend O’Reille Lake in Idaho. My aunt and uncle own a cabin between Sandpoint and Newport. When possible, my family visits annually in the summer. It was a great couple of days of swimming, tanning, and reading my large stack of books.

In other news I got a new digital camera. A Canon Digital Rebel XSi. The pictures in the post, in addition to being from vacation, were all taken with the XSi and then tweaked a bit in Photoshop.

This is my mom and her dog Sparky.

My niece Sophia prepared for her first inner tubing excursion.

Panoramic of Lake Pend O’Reille from the dock. Click for a larger version.

This is a shot on the return to Yakima. My dad and I ran out of gas in one of the few areas of Washington without cell phone coverage. A local farmer was kind enough to sell us some gas.

That should get everyone up to speed. I’ll be back to my usual blog activities and should be updating almost every day.

Posted in: Photography, Vacation
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