Take next step with digital SLR

By RICHARD WOOD

If you love the flexibility of single-lens reflex cameras and have been putting off the move to digital, then Canon's EOS 300D may well tempt you.

The 6.3 megapixel, autofocus, digital SLR with an array of program modes and whiz-bang internal technology will get amateur photo enthusiasts salivating.

If you make money from photography, you are more likely to be interested in the 300D's older sibling, the 10D, which has a heavier magnesium alloy case instead of polycarbonate and a slightly richer feature set, albeit at a Camera House price of $4499.

The 300D is priced at $2699 at the same store - cheap for such technology - and it has a bundled zoom lens into the bargain.

I gave the 300D a run at a media event and doing family snapshots, and after two days was as familiar with it as I am my 15-year-old Canon T70.

Canon has remained consistent and the shift to digital presents few mental gymnastics.

The photos produced were superb. The great thing about digital is that you can alter pictures on your computer later to make up deficiencies in available light, or your own skills. And the sheer quality of the original data captured by the 300D gives plenty of scope for such play.

A 128MB card holds between 16 and 132 images depending on resolution and compression settings. The 2.8 megapixel medium-data setting was sufficient for most jobs, even for some I printed at A4 size.

The camera has a number of photo modes besides regular shutter priority, aperture priority and the consistent brightness "program" modes.

Full automatic worked well for family shots in bright daylight and late afternoon.

For those who don't like to think at all, the camera has modes for portrait, landscape, close-up, sports, night portrait and without flash.

A digital SLR simply replaces the 35mm film with a panel of sensors. In this case it uses "CMOS" sensors rather than the "CCD" sensors used in most point-and-shoot digitals.

The benefit of CMOS is that it provides a faster frame rate by reading the data directly from each sensor point between each shot.

The 300D camera can take photos at up to 2.5 frames a second but unfortunately has a buffer that can only hold four frames before it has to shift those to the compact flash memory, so continuous photography slows down at that point.

This is a shame because one of the great things about having no film is it costs nothing to take volumes of pictures, opening up a new area of photo exploration for the cash-constrained.

The built-in flash is okay for close-up shots, but a buyer of this camera should already have, or be considering, additional lighting options.

The camera is compatible with existing Canon EF lenses and EOS accessories and the bundled lens is a compact 18-55mm, equivalent to a 28-90 mm on a regular camera.

This difference occurs between film and digital SLRs because the sensor panel is usually smaller than 35mm film. A side-effect of this is that the depth of field should be greater.

Canon has implemented a seven-point autofocus in the 300D and a 35-zone light metering system. Sensitivity can be altered between 100 and 1600 ISO. Autofocus can be switched off at the lens.

Two LCD screens on the back allow you to set options and preview pictures. Unlike a compact digital camera, a digital SLR will not show you the scene on the LCD until the picture has been taken.

The 300D is also one of the first cameras to include PictBridge for direct printing to PictBridge-enabled printers - no PC required.

I tried this with the Canon i470D bubblejet printer and was able to select parameters such as borders, cropping, size, rotation and quantity. The highest-resolution RAW format cannot be printed directly.

Another option available on some printers is to insert the camera's memory card and use controls on the printer.

The Canon 300D kit includes a lithium ion battery and charger, USB and video cables, strap, and photo viewing, management and printing software.

The 300D may have its work cut out in the price-sensitive New Zealand market when it debuts next month, but will make inroads with amateurs, especially if they own a bag of Canon lenses.

For those with the dosh, it is time to stop paying for film and take the next technological step.

Canon EOS 300D

$2699

Pros: Lower cost than professional models, lightweight, PictBridge-direct printing.

Cons: Higher cost than regular SLR, limited high-speed continuous shooting.

Rating: 8/10