Cameras: Canon EOS 450D – Review – 24

August 26th, 2009 by D-Photo « Sony DSC-W120 – Review... | Epson P-3000 – Review... »

Canon 450D 001

Fraser Kitt was the first person in the country to get his hands on Canon’s new EOS 450D. He’s still beaming.

Canon has made some major improvements with its latest entry-level digital SLR, the EOS 450D, including shrinking the card slot for SD cards and ballooning the LCD screen to a gigantic three inches. The frame rate has taken a bump up to 3.5fps and the buffer can now withstand a massive 56 images in one hit. But is this the camera for you?

Big love

Boosting the screen size to three inches is a good thing as the information generated is so easy to read, even for aging eyes. Each box of information on the screen is clear and a quick look around the camera back will give you the corresponding button to push to make changes.

When using shutter or aperture priority the camera even prompts you to turn the wheel to make exposure adjustments. It means making adjustments using the screen is fast and allows you to tweak without raising the camera to your eye. When you do move the camera to your eye a sensor just under the eyepiece automatically shuts off the screen.

Live view

I’m still not a big fan of Live View but this new feature in dSLRs is starting to develop in the 450D. Once you have enabled Live View and scoured the custom functions for the two different settings, you will be able to read the camera like a compact.
Ideally you’ll use manual focus when shooting in Live View, but should you wish to take advantage of the camera’s auto-focus system, using the custom settings will help. Quick Mode — a contradiction in terms — lets you choose where you want the focus point to be, then, with the press of the asterisk button, will set the camera about focusing. The screen will black out when you press the button as the mirror goes down to allow focusing. It takes valuable time and is annoyingly slow.
The other option Live Mode works faster, allowing the camera to focus with the mirror up, but it is still slower than holding the camera to your eye. The beauty of the Live View settings is that you can tether the camera to your computer with the USB cable and take pictures remotely.

Get the point

The nine-point focus system works beautifully and will automatically select where your subject is when using the AI Focus. Or, with a push of the button and turn of the control wheel, you can select any of the points to use.

Conclusion

Canon has improved this model out of this world with a big 12.2 million pixel CMOS sensor, huge three-inch screen and the brilliant DiG!C III image processor for images with the correct colour balance and just the right punch to make them look realistic.

The screen could be better — it only has 230,000 pixels so double or triple this amount would make it unbelievable.

Realistically, this is a budget camera that is aimed at those who don’t want to carry a bulky camera. The ability to shoot a series of images at 3.5fps is a bonus, as are the image-stabilised lenses. And I’m sure there is someone out there who will love the Live View.

Specs

Manufacturer: Canon

Model: EOS 450D

Price: $1699

Effective Pixels: 12.2 million

Lens: 18-55mm EF-S IS &   55-250mm EF-S IS

Viewfinder: Eye level pentamirror

Monitor: 3-inch TFT colour LCD   (230,000 pixels)

Shutter: 30 – 1/4000 sec

Aperture: f3.5 – f5.6

ISO: Auto, 100, 200, 400,   800, 1600

Shooting Modes: Green Auto,   Program, Aperture & Shutter   Priority, Manual, Auto Depth,   Portrait, Landscape, Macro,   Sport, Night Scene, Flash Off