Canon Digital Rebel XSi, it’s Canon offers two body designs for the XSi, an attractive solid black and a less-attractive two-tone silver and black. Each comes in a body-only or single-lens kit with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens. This is a bit unusual, since most manufacturers also offer a dual-lens kit for this market. We tested the kit, as well as tried it out with the new EF-S 55mm-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS lens. On some counts, the XSi offers some pretty nice specs, highlighted by the 12-megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor (for Canon’s traditional 1.6x focal-length multiplier) and 9-point user-selectable autofocus system. The latter wouldn’t be much of a standout if Nikon hadn’t dropped to three-area AF in the D60. I also mark the switch from CompactFlash to SDHC in the plus column. The camera also includes the same Highlight Tone Priority mode found in the 1D Mark III, which helps preserve detail in the brightest portion of a scene. Also, the XSi includes Canon’s Auto Lighting Optimizer, which automatically adjusts contrast and brightness in case the image you captured isn’t quite perfect. Introduced last year in the 40D, the Auto Lighting Optimizer is now available in all exposure modes and employs face detection to prevent the underexposure of backlit faces I complained about in the XTi (it works). Remaining specifications are in line with the previous Rebel. For example, shutter speeds range from 30 seconds to 1/4,000 second with a flash sync speed of 1/200 second and the camera employs a 35-zone TTL metering system. Canon also offers the BG-E5 battery grip. On the other hand, it lacks common perks Sony, Pentax, and Olympus include in their cameras, like in-body mechanical stabilization and a wireless flash controller in the body, a feature I occasionally find quite useful. The inclusion of an image-stabilizing kit lens doesn’t quite compensate, since additional optically stabilized lenses tend to cost more in the long run. The XSi’s sensitivity range also tops out at ISO 1600, when others routinely reach as high as ISO 3200, and a spot meter that uses a whopping 4 percent of the viewfinder.
