The Canon EOS Rebel XS costs $200 less than its Editors’ Choice–winning sibling, the EOS Rebel XSi, but the only real differences are in its lower resolution and smaller LCD. Indeed, the XS takes beautiful photos, works quickly, and is easy to use. Thanks to its simple interface, we particularly recommend it to DSLR newbies.
Design
The Rebel XS is almost identical in looks to the sloping-shouldered XSi. The hand groove leaves plenty of rooms for the fingers, and we like the ergonomic indentation for the thumb. The XS feels light; at the same time, though, its heavier counterparts have a more solid, professional feel.
The Rebel XS has a simple arrangement of buttons: a hot shoe on top, a mode dial, and an ISO button. On the back are Menu, Display, Exposure, White Balance, Playback, and Delete buttons, and two for zooming in playback. The five-way navigational pad’s outer buttons double as autofocus, self-timer/continuous shooting, metering, and picture style buttons. To activate the pop-up flash, press the button on the left side, next to the lens.
The big buttons (and the fairly large font below each) make the Rebel XS look like a more novice-friendly camera than the Nikon D40 or the Olympus Evolt E-520. In fact, the simple design belies some sophisticated architecture: it has an automatic sensor-cleaning system, which the D40 doesn’t.
The 2.5-inch LCD is smaller than those on the XSi and Olympus Evolt E-520, which are 2.7 inches. Nevertheless, it’s bright and sharp, and we were able to comfortably review photos on it. And given the $200 price difference between the Rebel XS and XSi, we appreciate that the small LCD is one of few trade-offs. Like the XSi, it’s available in black and silver, and takes SD and SDHC Cards up to 32GB.
User Interface
The Rebel XS has clean menus, from which users can adjust various settings. However, users can also change some settings by pressing the corresponding buttons on the back of the camera, which often made the Rebel XS more convenient to use than the D40. The Rebel XS has fewer options in its menu, even in Manual mode, which could be a bummer for nonbeginners.
Live View
As with the Rebel XSi, enabling Live View on the XS was complicated. You have to drill into the menu system, and even then you can’t use Live View in Auto, no-flash, or any of the scene modes; you have to be in Manual or Program (precisely the modes Live View shooters—namely, novices—will avoid). To activate Live View you have to half-press the shutter and then Set. We wish there were a dedicated Live View button as is there is on the E-520.
It’s just as well that Live View is difficult to access. The lens couldn’t focus on objects as far away as it could when the viewfinder was enabled. At least the on-screen action looked more fluid than it did on the E-520’s LCD.
Like other cameras in its class, the Rebel XS’ Live View created a four-second shot-to-shot lag, including a pause as the screen goes dark. Without Live View, there was virtually no shutter lag.
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