The Incredible Shrinking Rebel

I pulled my old 300d kit out of mothballs today. The first thing I noticed was how well it fit in my hand and how solid it felt. Then I noticed the lcd info display on the back of the camera (equivalent of the xxD top display). I compared it to my T2i and really could see, and feel, the size difference. I know the Rebel line has progressed a lot technologically, but it sure seems that it's gone the other direction as far as ergonomics is concerned.

Agreed

Once they saw what a hit the Rebel "idea" was, they decided to cut corners.. in the name of profits.

Yet they leave the high end LCD and cutback on body controls arrrgh

My first DSLR was an original Rebel (in fact, my first Canon camera was a film Rebel), and while I get what you're saying, I'm one of the people that prefers the smaller size of the new Rebels (for that model camera). I've had a few Rebels and currently have a T3i that I love - it's compact, light-weight and take excellent photos. I can pair it up with a smallish lens like my 24L or 17-40L and have a camera that's MUCH nicer to carry around on vacation than my 5D but still gets excellent photos.

I have used my original Rebel a few times recently. It has good ergos, but I also noticed how slow it is -- slow to turn on, and slow to write files to the card.

1Tanker wrote in post #14177739
Once they saw what a hit the Rebel "idea" was, they decided to cut corners.. in the name of profits.

Given that they have improved every successive generation of rebel in terms of feature and still kept them priced at value levels I'm curious about what corners you are talking about? The only corner cutting I saw was the disastrous XS. If you are equating size with corner cutting, I dont get the correlation.

1Tanker wrote in post #14177739
Once they saw what a hit the Rebel "idea" was, they decided to cut corners.. in the name of profits.

I don't think size has anything to do with cutting corners. That's like .0001$ worth of saved polycarbonate material. How about catering to women and people with smaller hands?

Rebels are also the next step up for P&S users. When I went from a SD800 Elph to the XSi, I thought the XSi was HUGE.

I loved my XS. If it wasn't for it, I wouldn't be here!

Oh, and I laugh now at how expensive I thought it was. If only i knew how much I would be spending in the future... haha.

Could it be that a majority of Rebel buyers have smaller hands? Volvo for example has one design team that is all female, and their objective is to design the cars ergos to be more comfortable for women, since at one point a majority of Volvo owners/drivers were woman (actually, I think a majority of Volvo drivers are still woman). That could explain some of it. It could also be that because it is an entry level/consumer camera series they don't want to overwhelm people with a large body that can be cumbersome to carry around. Just a thought.

dawnkyung wrote in post #14181608
I loved my XS. If it wasn't for it, I wouldn't be here!

I'm glad you are here, but it was an intentionally dumbed down camera to meet a price point, so in that respect it was corner cutting.

Intentionally dumbed down compared to xxd and xd bodies. Coming from a p&s, which most new Rebel owners are, still a BIG jump.

BrickR wrote in post #14181845
Intentionally dumbed down compared to xxd and xd bodies. Coming from a p&s, which most new Rebel owners are, still a BIG jump.

Yes, but the OP was talking about cutting corners with the rebel line.