Along with Canon’s announcement of a new four-megapixel PowerShot A80 digital camera, the company announced Wednesday the EOS Digital Rebel, an autofocus Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera design with 6.3-megapixel resolution.
The camera features an auto-focus sensor identical to the one found on Canon’s EOS 10D model. It features shutter speeds from 1/4,000th of a second to 30 seconds, and can capture up to 4 continuous shots at 2.5 frames per second. 12 shooting modes help users achieve the right settings for night scene shots, portrait and landscape shots, and more. The camera also incorporates a 35-zone metering system to make sure exposure levels are set correctly.
A dial provides access to different operational modes broken into Basic or Creative “zones”; Basic settings set ISO speed automatically with choices like Portrait, Landscape, Close-Up and more; Creative enables users to manually select ISO modes along with different auto-exposure modes or full manual operation.
A 1.8-inch color LCD display lets users navigate controls and review images capabilities, with magnification and scrolling also possible. The camera supports 6 different JPEG compression settings and RAW image capture, as well.
The EOS Digital Rebel can be used with more than 50 different Canon EF lenses, as well as EOS-specific accessories and Canon’s EX-series Speedlites. The camera also incorporates a retractable flash unit. The EOS Digital Rebel works without drivers on Mac OS X systems and connects through USB. It writes data to CompactFlash Type I or Type II media cards and also supports IBM Microdrive media.
The EOS Digital Rebel is encased in a titanium gray metallic finish and weighs 19.7 ounces. The camera measures 5.6 x 3.9 x 2.9 inches.
Anticipated to ship in mid-September, the camera will be available with our without an EF 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens. With the lens, the camera costs US$999, and without, it costs $899. In either configuration, the camera includes software, manuals, interface cables, neckstrap, battery pack and charger.