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Overall, in CNET Labs' tests the XSi just edges past its competitors for shooting speed. It goes from power-to-photo in a hair more than 0.2 second. At 0.5 second in good conditions, the XSi's JPEG shooting lag is a bit longer than the rest; its 1.2-seconds duration in dim conditions, while not very zippy, is about average for its class. Once focused, shot-to-shot time typically takes about 0.4 second for RAW or JPEG, and adding flash recycling time bumps it to only 0.7 second, which is very good for any class. It's also the fastest burst shooter among entry-level dSLRs, snapping 3.4 frames per second, for more than 60 JPEGs in testing. The buffer maxes out at six RAW frames, however, so you'll have to move to another class of camera if you take shooting your children's soccer games really seriously.
Regardless of the other entries in the XSi's pro and con columns, it delivers hands-down, best-in-class photo quality, surprising given the higher-resolution sensor. It does tend to underexpose--I rarely use exposure compensation, but bumped it up a stop for many of my shots with the XSi--and you might need to kick the sharpness settings up a little to your taste. But its color accuracy, dynamic range, and consistently good noise profile up to the maximum ISO 1600 clearly put this model in front of the pack. With both built-in and external flash, as well as without, it delivered even exposures, and the lenses rendered extremely good edge-to-edge sharpness.
Though it'll run you a few bucks more than competitors such as the Sony Alpha DSLR-A200 or the Nikon D60, the Canon EOS Rebel XSi will deliver slightly better performance and noticeably better photo quality in return, making it a worthwhile trade-off.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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Time to first shot | |
Raw shot-to-shot time | |
Shutter lag (dim light) | |
Shutter lag (typical) |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
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Canon EOS Rebel XSi (with 18-55mm lens, silver):
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