Canon EOS 1000D review

Canon's entry-level digital SLRs have been creeping up in price compared with the competition.

To take on the likes of Sony and its bargain Alpha A200, Canon has launched the EOS 1000D. You get a 10-megapixel sensor and a respectable seven autofocus points in a body that's a little smaller and lighter than previous EOS models. For beginners who are accustomed to framing shots using a screen rather than an optical viewfinder, the 1000D has a Live View mode, which lets you compose shots with the 2in LCD.

The kit lens is Canon's newer 18-55mm IS model, and has optical image stabilisation. It's reasonably good quality and the stabilisation works well, but you may soon want to upgrade to something better and more flexible. This is one of the 1000D's main strengths: its EF-S lens mount accepts any of the massive range of modern Canon-mount lenses from both Canon itself and third parties such as Sigma.

If you upgrade the lens, you'll find that the 1000D's sensor is more than able to make the most of it. It has typically excellent Canon quality. At high ISO settings it outstrips any of the competition. Even shots taken at ISO 1600, while affected by some noise, are perfectly usable.

The only real weakness is its burst frame rate. In JPEG mode you get three frames per second, but if you want to take shots in RAW mode to get the most post-processing flexibility, you'll be disappointed. Its RAW frame rate is a pathetic 1.5 frames per second - no other budget DSLR on the market is so slow.

The EOS 1000D is a solid, capable camera that - aside from the burst-rate - is unlikely to disappoint. The problem is that it costs roughly the same as the better-specified EOS 450D. In the light of the Sony A200, Canon needs to lower the price significantly before we can recommend it.

Author: David Fearon