Customer Reviews

Canon Digital Rebel XS 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Black) + Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS Lens + Spare LP-E5 Battery + 16GB Card + Gadget Bag

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I ordered this, 3 days after Christmas 2008, the Canon Rebel XS with 18-55mm IS lens was $469, the 8 GB memory card was $13, the spare battery was around $35. This kit was $499, which included a 16 GB card instead of 8, camera bag, high quality lens cleaning cloth, memory card bag (that's the little black thing down-left from the camera), and a USB 2.0 SD Card reader (the thing that looks like a thumb drive on the far right at the bottom of the picture).

While the bag isn't of the most amazing quality, it still works quite well, and when you spend $30 to get well over $50 worth of merchandise (i.e. the 16 GB card and the spare battery), the bag is just bonus. It has four clips (two in the front and one on each side), a shoulder strap not shown in the picture, and five spaces for items. It easily holds the camera and 18-55mm IS lens in the middle space, and could probably hold two similar-sized lenses in some of the side spaces, but certainly nothing that is very long or wide.

Anyway, more about the kit. There are three or four CDs that come with it with various software, an english instruction manual, a spanish instruction manual, a couple brochures of how much you can benefit by purchasing a macro lens.

As for the camera, it has a built-in flash and space to add a more professional flash and durable metal loops for neck strap attachment (also included). Zoom on the kit lens is about 5 to 10x I'd say, manual focus is a breeze (haven't tried automatic focus), the standard options available will be familiar to anyone who has used a digital camera of any sort in the past five years (e.g. landscape mode, manual mode, macro mode, aperture priority, etc). Without flash, I've been able to take a maximum of about 3 photos per second -- that's 10 MP photos -- and unlike my old digital camera with it's 5-frame-limit, this will keep taking more so long as you hold the button.

Complaints so far: none!

Finally, the kit itself. As I mentioned earlier, I ordered this the Sunday after Christmas (December 28th). It took about 5 days to begin shipping, which was annoying but not unexpected -- it's the holidays, people take days off. When it shipped, it shipped fast. The seller sent an email with contact information/store hours/etc either the day before or the day of shipping, including their return policy that probably never gets used. The kit was packaged well in the shipping box so I had no concern about shipping damage.

Anyway, this is highly recommended as an entry-level Digital SLR. If you have the extra few-hundred-dollars, the Canon Rebel XSi is a (small) step up, and there are probably similar kits for it.

I have been very happy with this camera. The picture quality/resolution is excellent. It's easy to use. I did purchase a smaller camera bag as the one that came with the camera was very large.

I purchased this kit through Amazon and am very pleased with it. It takes fantastic photographs. This is my first SLR camera and I feel free! No waiting around to take the next shot. I would recommend that you purchase a zoom lens as soon as you can because you will soon be wishing you had one! The 16GB card is the bomb! No limits!

I waited and waited for this to be available again and ordered it immediately. I got it in THREE days and it was greater than I imagined. The last really nice camera I had was a Pentax film camera about 10 years ago. This reminded me of the excitement I felt when I got that camera. I can't stop playing with it, it's easy to use and takes great pictures. Don't let this deal get by you. There's not a better value out there. Normally just the camera body is $500 and this comes with everything but a tripod. Just a really amazing deal.