These are the best kinds of user reviews I like, the types that have tons of pictures and a detailed report of the camera’s strengths.
Jovo has a lot to say about his experiences with the Canon XTi / 400D … after sharing these images, of course.
View a larger version of these splendid images, and read the start of Jovo’s forum thread.
Jovo’s comments on the Rebel XTi
- He finds the 400D to be a huge upgrade over the older Canon 350D, mainly because of better AF performance (noticeable when using the EF 400mm f/5.6L lens with a 1.4x teleconverter, and no more lens hunting or backfocus with the 70-200mm f/2.8 … more information on AF problems with his XT and lenses here.). He also finds the 400D’s metering to be better than the Rebel XT.
- Battery life translates to about 500 shots on a full charge with the XTi compared to 600 shots with the 350D.
- The 400D is a more suitable camera than the Canon EOS 5D for birding photography.
- He prefers to shoot handheld and avoid the use of tripods, which is why he bought the 400D instead of the heavier Canon EOS 30D.
Jovo’s comments on lenses
- Two lenses were used, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM and Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM.
- He’s not to keen on consumer lenses and believes that L lenses are necessary to squeeze every bit of image quality out of the XTi.
Jovo’s comments on postprocessing
- This is a link to his thoughts on various RAW converters, and notes that the Canon Digital Photo Professional software is not too good with skin tones.
- He finds that the images from the 400D sharpens better than the photos from the Canon XT / Rebel 350D, and provides a link to the John Brownlow’s Photoshop smart sharpening action, which he uses.
In the discussion, three links to EXIF readers that work with your browser were provided: EXIF Reader #1 | EXIF Reader #2 | EXIF Reader #3.