Staci and I each have a Canon Eos SLR and have been looking longingly at the Digital Rebel. From what we've read in the photography news print and online reviews it seems that the Rebel is very closely related to the 10D but the frame has been changed from a magnesium alloy to ABS plastic. Also, the production has been moved from Japan to Taiwan (I believe) to reduce cost. The feature set for the Rebel has been reduced in comparison to the 10D (a software disable, no doubt).

From my point of view, if you do need the features there's no escaping the 10D, but if you can live without them the Rebel is a very good buy. One thing that is unique to the Rebel is the new series of lenses that will only work on the Rebel. The Rebel does take all Eos lenses, so you don't need to invest in new lenses.

Given the immediate price drop of $100 right after last Christmas, I think we'll probably wait until the end of this year before we make the move to digital.

Now if you ask me what I really want (no price limit), I'd say the Eos 1Ds. With 11 Megapixels and a sensor size equal to a 35 mm negative frame this is the way to go. But you can buy 10 Rebels for the price of one 1Ds.

yeah...get one ...they sound amazing. Although today Canon announced some new digicams so maybe check out some of those too. The Canon Powershot Pro 1 sounds pretty amazing

I have been looking at the D-Reb's too. They compare well to the 10D in terms of image quality (and in fact have slightly newer firmware). One key differentiator is that they are pretty much all plastic, not much metal. When I was a photographer for a living, I used all Nikon cameras, which is probably - in all honesty - the one thing that has held me back thus far from buying a Digital Rebel. It's a nice camera, Canon optics are outstanding (even tho9ugh the focus backwards.... ;) ) and the price is pretty darn amazing.

The rest of the models I have been reviewing cost more, some by a long shot. So, I still have some decisions to make.

Maybe you should buy one so I can try it out. :)

- g

The D-Rebel is an awesome camera (especially for the price) if you can live with it's limitations. It is essentially a Canon EOS-10D with a plastic frame and crippled firmware. If the disabled features aren't important to you, it's the best thing going right now. But if they are, you'd either need to go with the $1,500 10D or wait a few weeks until the Nikon D70 hits the stores.

The D70 is essentially an upgraded version of Nikon's same-priced competitor to the Canon 10D: the Nikon D100. The D70 is a bit more expensive than the D-Rebel: $999 for the body only, $1,299 for the kit. And the D-Rebel might go down in price as soon as the D70 is available. Hard to say.

Since the D70 isn't available yet, neither are any reviews of its image quality. The general opinion is that the D-Rebel has less noise than the Nikon D10, so folks are waiting to see if the D70's sensor has caught up to Canon's. If it has, the D70 will be superior to the D-Rebel in every way except the price. If not, you'll be left to decide between features and noise levels. But we're talking small differences here. They are both fantastic cameras, especially if you're used to a point-and-shoot digital camera.

If you already have a bunch of Canon lenses, flashes, etc., I'd probably wait until the D70 forces Canon to either lower the price of the D-Rebel or to release a less-crippled version.

If not, the D70 may be the way to go. Check dpreview.com periodically over the next few weeks to see when the full D70 review is available. That's what I'll be doing.

Links: (newbie alert: I have no idea how to put proper links in a blog. Sorry.)

D-Rebel review:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos300d/

Nikon D70 preview:
a href=http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond70/

D-Rebel forum:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1031

Nikon DSLR forum:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1021