CANON EOS 450D DIGITAL SLR

The Canon EOS 450D SLR camera is basically the successor to the very popular EOS 400D but with several marked improvements. The new camera is 12 megapixels whereas the 400D was only 10. What is impressing most photographers however is the inclusion of "Live View". Having said that the thing that I liked with the Canon EOS 450D was the new 3 inch screen, making viewing a pleasure. I also like the use of SD Memory cards as opposed to Compact Flash. For the more technically minded of you it has a new 9 point AF system and 14 bit processing. I am going to try to keep it not technical as I realise that a great number of you who read my reviews are amateur photographers and basically want to know if it is a good or a bad camera and value for money.  A little later in the review I will give you a link to an excellent video demonstration of this Camera.

Although it may not look it I found this camera to be very lightweight and manageable. Basically, the bits you hold on to are ergonomically designed by Canon for your comfort. In fact the body of the Canon EOS 450D only weighs about 475 grams.

Lets start with what most of you look at the number of megapixels. The Canon EOS 450D has 12.2 Megapixels. Without getting technical unless you are a professional this will give you perfect prints up to A4 size and better if required. In fact you can safely go up to poster sized prints. The 12.2 Megapixel CMOS sensor also gives you more flexibility when cropping pictures.

As you can see from the above picture the large 3 inch LCD screen on the Canon EOS 450D SLR gives you excellent and bright vision even in bright sunlight, thus enabling you to check the composition and focus of your pictures better. For finer detail again there is magnification of 10 times. If you are shooting from an awkward angle the "Live View" feature comes into it's own. With a choice of 2 focussing modes it allows you the option of framing the image in the LCD screen

As you will also see the camera has a large bright view finder (I hate cameras with just the screen and no viewfinder) which will allow you to compose your picture more easily

If you are into wildlife or action photography then the Canon EOS 450D is for you as its continuous shooting speed of 3.5 frames per second will give you excellent results of up to 53 large JPEG images (or 6 in RAW)

To better accommodate off centre subjects the 9 AF points on the 450D SLR camera are spread out across the frame. For accurate focussing with f/2.8 or faster lenses, the central AF point is a high sensitivity cross type.
 

The Canon EOS 450D has a fantastic cleaning system which will keep your pictures free of marks and blemishes in 3 ways.

Firstly within the camera specialised materials reduce the generation of dust in the first place. Secondly the Canon EOS 450D SLR has its own Self Cleaning Sensor Unit which actually shakes dust from the sensor every time the camera is turned on or off. Finally any stubborn dust spots will be mapped for removal in Digital Photo Professional

I was amazed at how this camera produced photos with colours giving absolute true to life precision. The gadgetry behind this is it's amazing DIGIC III processor. Good pictures are produced from accurate white balance and this processor is renowned for it's white balance accuracy. The images produced are processed using a 14 bit colour depth allowing finer tonal gradations. It gives an ultra fast response time but at the same time does a good job of minimising power consumption.

The camera has a Picture Style Presets giving you first class and easy control over the various parameters for processing your images. You can either customise such things as sharpness, contrast or photo saturation in the camera itself or alternatively by using the Picture Style Editor software which comes with the Canon EOS 450D.  After you finish shooting you can manage and process your RAW images using Canons RAW processing software called Digital Photo Professional.

If you have previously acquired any EF or EF-S lenses there are over 60 of them which are compatible with this camera as are all EX Series Speedlite flash units.

OK - As promised at the beginning of this short review here is a link to come excellent video all about this camera. Just CLICK HERE

FINAL APPRAISAL

FOR: Well built and light. Excellent quality pictures. Fast shutter speeds for action photos. As an entry level SLR camera it is reasonably priced against other makes of comparable specifications.

AGAINST: My main gripe is that it is not the prettiest looking camera.

As an entry level SLR the Canon EOS 450D Digital SLR camera is good value for money and packed with features and certainly comparable to other similar cameras from such as Nikon or Pentax.

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