First meeting with 500D ...

I was lucky enough to be allowed to handle a 500D yesterday,straight from the box, at my local retailer.

First impressions:

• great looking screen
  
• the VF looks quite bright
  
• the rubber on the grip has been improved, the grip feels better than ever before
  
• the sound the shutter makes is very impressive, sounds like quality
  
• the body feels quite well made compared to the 400D, and also feels better than the 450D
  
• it is quite a bit more expensive than the 450D, almost as expensive with 18-55 IS as the (naked) 50D

Im going to go check out the 500D now. I only looked into the XXD line during my initial search for my camera

obnoxiousmom wrote in post #7834279
Im going to go check out the 500D now. I only looked into the XXD line during my initial search for my camera

Sorry, forgot to mention, it is the Digital Rebel T1i in your part of the world, and the Kiss X3 Digital in Japan. It is called the 500D in Europe.

Kind regards, Wim

Thanks for pointing that out

It still has the same size viewfinder as the XSi right? I got a chance to have an XSi for a few days recently and I just couldn't use it. The lack of the rear wheel and the tiny viewfinder were NOT fun......which is a shame because I love the small form factor.

Perry Ge wrote in post #7834632
It still has the same size viewfinder as the XSi right? I got a chance to have an XSi for a few days recently and I just couldn't use it. The lack of the rear wheel and the tiny viewfinder were NOT fun......which is a shame because I love the small form factor.

I'll compare them, today, and report back. Off to collect my 5D II anyway, it just arrived .

The rear wheel vs the buttons is just a matter of getting used to, if you ask me. I definitely disliked the rear wheel when I changed to the 40D. However, I got that for the better high iso performance, not for its rear wheel. To me it is much of a muchness, because every new body seems to have a different implemention of the use of the rear wheel or the buttons and joystick anyway.

I find the VF ok, no problem, but then, that's maybe because I wear glasses. I can always see the whole frame while wearing glasses on the crop bodies, which is rather more difficult with the FF bodies. And I do like the small form factor, too.

Kind regards, Wim

wimg wrote in post #7834267
I was lucky enough to be allowed to handle a 500D yesterday,straight from the box, at my local retailer.

First impressions:

• great looking screen
  
• the VF looks quite bright
  
• the rubber on the grip has been improved, the grip feels better than ever before
  
• the sound the shutter makes is very impressive, sounds like quality
  
• the body feels quite well made compared to the 400D, and also feels better than the 450D
  
• it is quite a bit more expensive than the 450D, almost as expensive with 18-55 IS as the (naked) 50D

However, the aspect that made me really stop and take notice is the AWB. It looks like Canon finally got it right. Shooting in the same mixed tungsten/fluorescent/h​alogen light mix where I normally get yellow/greenish skin tints which are almost impossible to correct, it now looks right on!

I didn't believe my eyes, so I tried quite a few more shots, just to confirm what I saw in that first portrait. Wow, I am impressed!

I was considering getting a 50D as a second or third body, but I think I will settle for a 500D now. I do like small cameras, even though it did feel a bit awkward at first having handled only xxDs and the 5D the last year and a half. I reckon a 500D is in my future, as backup and travel camera next to the 5D II.

Just wanted to share.

Kind regards, Wim

Well isn't that a fresh breath of air. =]

Perry Ge wrote in post #7834632
It still has the same size viewfinder as the XSi right? I got a chance to have an XSi for a few days recently and I just couldn't use it. The lack of the rear wheel and the tiny viewfinder were NOT fun......which is a shame because I love the small form factor.

wimg wrote in post #7836921
I'll compare them, today, and report back. Off to collect my 5D II anyway, it just arrived .

The rear wheel vs the buttons is just a matter of getting used to, if you ask me. I definitely disliked the rear wheel when I changed to the 40D. However, I got that for the better high iso performance, not for its rear wheel. To me it is much of a muchness, because every new body seems to have a different implemention of the use of the rear wheel or the buttons and joystick anyway.

I find the VF ok, no problem, but then, that's maybe because I wear glasses. I can always see the whole frame while wearing glasses on the crop bodies, which is rather more difficult with the FF bodies. And I do like the small form factor, too.

Kind regards, Wim

Ok, I went back to the shop, collected my 5D II , and played a bit more with both the 500D and 450D, semi-simultaneously. Someone happened to come in with a 400D in the bag, and we put that next to the other two too .

The 450D's VF is clearly brighter than the 400D's, and the 500D's is again a little brighter than the 450D, but only just, and the 500D's VF also is a little crisper, somehow.

Putting the three next to each other, it is also interesting to note that the 500D is actually a little smaller, specifically in depth, by about a 1 mm or so. And the difference in grip is clearly caused by the use of a different material, which feels more natural somehow, and has better anti-slip characteristics.

Comparing the LCDs at the back, there just is no comparison. It is like going from CGI to highres XWVGA, or from Windows 95 to Apple Mac. Amazing.

I am getting more convinced by the day, no, by the hour, and I almost took one home. I realized I still had to get to know the 5D II first, otherwise it would have been in the bag already.

Kind regards, Wim

Perry Ge wrote in post #7834632
It still has the same size viewfinder as the XSi right? I got a chance to have an XSi for a few days recently and I just couldn't use it. The lack of the rear wheel and the tiny viewfinder were NOT fun......which is a shame because I love the small form factor.

+1. i guess non-rebel users have been spoiled with a rear wheel.

Perry Ge wrote in post #7834632
It still has the same size viewfinder as the XSi right? I got a chance to have an XSi for a few days recently and I just couldn't use it. The lack of the rear wheel and the tiny viewfinder were NOT fun......which is a shame because I love the small form factor.

Angle finder c - the solution to the small viewfinder problem