Digital SLR

Replacing the popular EOS 400D at the entry level of Canon's DSLR range, the EOS 1000D brings yet another level to Canon's DSLR nomenclature, reflecting the days of film, when Canon's lowest-priced SLR cameras had four-figure model names. The 1000D has been designed for photographers who want to upgrade from a digicam to a more capable, better performing DSLR. It boasts the same 10.1-megapixel imager as the 400D but is smaller and lighter and supports Live View shooting.

Front view of the EOS 1000D with the pop-up flash raised.

A 'see-through' view showing the lens stabilisation mechanism and the lens moutn and mirror box.

Another feature differentiating the EOS 1000D from its predecessor includes a swap from CompactFlash to SD/SDHC memory cards. We suspect some potential purchasers may find the move to smaller cards a backward step, although upgraders from Ixus and PowerShot cameras (and entrants from other brands) will welcome the ability to use their existing memory cards in their new DSLR. Like the 450D, the 1000D displays a warning message if you accidentally open the memory card cover while saving shots. Data writing is stopped until the cover is closed, preventing files from becoming corrupted.

Back view of the EOS 1000D showing the on-screen menu display.

A 'see-through' view showing the position of the SD card and camera battery.

The table below compares the key differences between Canon's three 'consumer' DSLRs: the EOS 1000D, EOS 400D and EOS 450D.

As you can see, the 1000D is something of a hybrid between the 400D and the 450D, taking some of the new features introduced with the 450D (SD/SDHC card support, Live View, ISO display in viewfinder, high ISO noise reduction, auto ISO adjustment  and custom My Menu mode) while sacrificing only two autofocus points.

The EOS 100D isn't the lightest DSLR camera on the market; nor is it the cheapest. That prize goes to the Olympus E-420, which has a body weight of 380 grams, measures 129.5 x 91 x 53 mm and sells for $899 as a single lens kit. However, Olympus uses the Four Thirds System, which has a sensor size that is 20% smaller than Canon's sensors and the E-420 lacks Live View support. 

Build and Controls
The 1000D is slightly more 'plasticky' than the 400D and lacks the solid feel and finish of Olympus's entry-level models. Like the EOS 450D, the 1000D has a metal chassis and lens mounting plate, while the rest of the body (including the mirror box) is made from 'engineering plastic'. However, overall build quality and finish are good.

Top view of the EOS 1000D with the kit lens, showing the mode dial, control dial and ISO button.

The general body design and control layout are almost identical to the 450D and both cameras have similar grips. We found the grip on the 450D more comfortable than that on the 400D and the same applies to the new model. However, all three cameras are small and light and users with large hands or limited dexterity may find them difficult to operate.

Most controls are logically located and easy to operate. The pop-up flash, card slot, battery compartment and port covers fit snugly. The strap loops don't protrude too far and although the flash hot shoe lacks a contacts protector, it is securely attached. The rubber surround on the viewfinder is soft and resilient and doesn't get in the way when you're wearing glasses.

The viewfinder in the 1000D is small - and very similar to the 400D. It's not as bright or comfortable to use as the 450D's finder, although it offers the same expanded data display, with the ISO setting and an indicator that alerts you when shooting in black and white. The seven AF sensor points are arranged in a cross with five points along the horizontal axis and a point above and below the centre.

Although the 1000D's LCD screen is smaller than the 450D's, the button controls are located in the same positions and the menu displays in both cameras are essentially identical and equally easy to read.  None of the three models has a data LCD; instead the main LCD is used to display camera settings. Unlike the 450D, the 1000D has no eye-start proximity sensor. You have to press the Display button to switch the display on and off if it annoys you when you're shooting with the viewfinder.

Like all recently-released Canon DSLRs, the 1000D comes with Canon's EOS Integrated Cleaning system, which was first introduced on the 400D. This two-way system combines a vibrating low-pass filter with an adhesive dust trap in its base with Dust Delete Data recording, which allows users to s subtract dust spots from images during post processing. Image stabilisation is lens-based and included in the kit lens.

The 1000D supports the same pre- and post-capture controls and displays as the 450D. Users can choose between the sRGB and Adobe RGB colour spaces or implement any of six Picture Style settings (or create up to three Custom Picture Styles of your own). You can also apply automatic image brightness correction. White balance controls include auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent (white type), flash and custom plus +/- nine stops of white balance correction and +/- three stops of bracketing. Colour temperature information is provided.

Two levels of in-camera noise correction are provided in the Custom Function menu, separately covering long exposures and high ISO settings. The former has three options: off, auto and on. High ISO noise reduction can only be switched on or off and when it's on, continuous shooting and white balance bracketing are disabled.

We've already covered the key controls - including the live view function - in our review of the EOS 450D. The new model uses the same LP-E5 rechargeable lithium-ion battery as the EOS 450D and will also accept the BG-E5 battery grip. This grip slots into the battery bay and can use two LP-E5 batteries or six AA cells. But it adds a couple of hundred grams to the overall weight of the camera body.

 
EOS 1000D with BG-E5 battery grip fitted.

Sensor and Image Processing
The CMOS sensor in the EOS 1000D is a Canon-developed and manufactured chip that measures 22.2 x 14.8 mm and supports an effective resolution of 10.1 megapixels. Essentially identically-specified to the 400D's imager, it retains the standard 1.6x focal length crop factor of Canon's entry models and produces 12-bit CR2.RAW files. Sensitivity settings up to ISO 1600 are supported. Typical file sizes for the available settings are shown below.

Like the EOS 450D, the 1000D benefits from the DiG!C III processor but only supports a burst rate of three frames/second for continuous shooting. The camera's buffer memory is pretty small and will only accept four CR2.RAW files per burst (although we managed to squeeze in five raw frames when we tested the camera with a fast SDHC card). However, you can shoot up to 514 JPEGs continuously, thanks to a faster data processing speed.

Live View
Live View shooting with the 1000D is similar to Canon's other consumer DSLR models, with support for two focusing modes. The Quick Mode uses phase-detection and the dedicated AF sensor that is used for normal focusing. The array of AF points is displayed on-screen and photographers can select the AF point they wish to use. The mirror flips up briefly to permit autofocusing, blacking out the LCD display. But when it drops down again, the subject should be sharply focused (and a focus confirmation beep will sound).

The second, Live Mode is contrast-based and operates without blacking out the viewfinder. Although autofocusing is possible in this mode, it's very slow and more difficult to achieve than with the Quick View mode. The AF points array is not displayed; instead there's a single AF point in the centre of the field.

To focus a shot, simply position the AF point over the subject and press the * button. The AF point turns green when focus is achieved and the beeper sounds. (An orange AF point indicates that focus was not achieved.) The AF point can be moved about the field of view with the arrow pad keys and re-centred by pressing the delete button. Pressing the magnify button can enlarge a part of the subject by 5x or 10x - a very useful feature for confirming focus.

Manual focusing is possible with both Live View settings, although the switch on the lens must be set to Manual beforehand. You can check depth of field in Live View mode by pressing the depth-of-field preview button. Continuous shooting is also supported, with focus and exposure settings locked on the first frame of the sequence. But it's slower than using the viewfinder to compose shots.

When the real-time image is displayed on the LCD, the display simulates the brightness level corresponding to the exposure setting, enabling users to adjust exposure levels accordingly. It doesn't work for flash shots but provides a useful guide for available-light photography, although there's a lag of a second or so when you move the camera while Live View is engaged.

Toggling the Display button takes you through four settings: no overlay on the LCD, shooting data overlay, grid overlay and histogram overlay. Neither the data nor histogram overlay is translucent.  You can connect the 1000D to a TV set via the supplied video cable and use Live View mode to view the image recorded by the camera on the screen.  

Kit Lens
The review camera was supplied with the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens, which has become the standard kit lens for Canon's entry-level and 'pro-sumer' cameras since the launch of the EOS 40D almost a year ago. Although equipped with a plastic mount, it is generally well-built and represents a significant upgrade on the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II lens offered with the 400D.

Constructed from 11 elements in 9 groups, it includes one aspherical element and has an iris made from six rounded blades. Minimum focusing distance is 25 cm, with a maximum magnification ratio of 0.34x. The front of the lens rotates during focusing, making use of angle-sensitive filters difficult. Filter size is 58mm. Neither distance markings nor a focus distance window are provided.

Canon has redesigned the grip pattern on the zoom ring of the new lens to provide a higher-quality feel but the lens still produces a soft brushing, plastic-on-plastic noise as the zoom ring is rotated. A narrow ridged ring at the front of the lens is used for manual focusing, which is accessed via an AF/MF slider on the lens barrel. Manual focusing involves moving the inner lens barrel and focus requires adjusting whenever the focal length is changed.

Also on the lens barrel is an IS On/Off slider, which has two positions: on and off. The image stabiliser design is based on the systems used in Canon's recent digicams and features automatic panning detection. In our tests it operated silently. Canon claims four f-stops of camera shake correction but we found three stops to be more realistic over the lens's focal length range.

No lens hood is supplied with the lens, which accepts the same EW-60C hood as its non-stabilised counterpart. We found the clip-on lens cap easy to attach and remove. 

Performance
Overall performance from the test camera was in line with previous Canon DSLR cameras we've reviewed. Autofocusing was fast and accurate under most conditions, although there were times when the camera selected an unsuitable focusing point and we had to resort to manual over-ride (the user manual warns you to expect this). In dim lighting, 'hunting' was negligible without the AF-assist light (which uses the built-in flash and only operates when the flash is up).

Test shots were sharp almost always colour accurate, although overall accuracy was not quite as high as for the EOS 450D. Imatest showed slightly elevated saturation in the red colour band and saturation was slightly elevated but skin hues were close to the mark. The test camera's exposure system appeared to be biased slightly in favour of recording shadow detail and we had to apply -0.3EV of compensation when shooting in bright sunlight. The Auto Lighting Optimiser had minimal effect on highlights but did bring out a little more shadow detail without adding extra noise.

JPEG images showed resolution levels that were slightly below expectations in our Imatest tests. However, CR2.RAW files converted into TIFF format with Canon's Digital Photo Professional software had resolution levels that were above expectations for a 10-megapixel camera. The graph below shows the results of our tests based on JPEG files (Raw and JPEG graphs are shown in the Imatest results below.)

Resolution declined only slightly as ISO sensitivity was increased, with the greatest drop occurring between the ISO 800 and ISO 1600 settings. The graph below plots the results of our Imatest tests.

Low-light performance was very good. Shots taken at ISO 1600 were sharp and colour-accurate with only a hint of visible colour noise. This was eliminated with the high ISO noise reduction setting. Long exposure noise reduction produced minimal image softening.  Lateral chromatic aberration was generally low and negligible at the 55mm focal length setting. The results of our Imatest assessments are shown in the graph below. Note: the red line indicates the boundary between negligible and low CA.

Traces of green fringing were found in test shots in bright, contrasty conditions and corners were slightly softened. Auto white balance performance was similar to the EOS 450D, with a failure to remove the orange cast of incandescent lighting. Shots taken under fluorescent lighting were free of colour casts. Both the pre-sets and manual measurement produced good results under incandescent lighting.

Flash output was well-balanced and exposures were even throughout the camera's ISO range. The flash was able to illuminate an average-sized room at ISO 200. Barrel distortion was quite obvious at the 18mm focal length but negligible by 35mm. Slight pincushioning was seen at the 55mm focal length setting. Vignetting was only just apparent at 18mm and flare was generally well controlled.

The test camera took just under a second to power-up and we measured an average capture lag of 0.1 second, which was eliminated by pre-focusing. It took one second to process and store a high-resolution JPEG image with a 4GB Verbatim Class 6 SDHC card and just over 1.5 seconds for a RAW+JPEG file.

Using the same card for the continuous shooting mode we were able to record nine high-resolution JPEGs at intervals of 0.33 seconds before the burst rate began to slow. It took 2.4 seconds to process and store this burst. Swapping to RAW+JPEG capture extended the intervals between shots to 0.6 seconds and reduced the number of files per burst to a maximum of five. It took 5.2 seconds to process a burst of three RAW+JPEG images.
The battery indicator was showing half power at the conclusion of our test sequences, which involved 353 exposures, most without flash. The battery is CIPA-rated for 600 shots without flash or 500 shots with 50% flash. Using Live View mode reduces this to 200 shots without flash or 190 with 50% flash. 

IMATEST GRAPHS

Resolution for JPEG  images:

Resolution for CR2.RAW files converted into TIFF format

SAMPLE IMAGES

Auto white balance with incandescent lighting.

 
Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.

 
Flare

 
Close-up (55mm focal length, 1/160 second at f/8; ISO 100).

 
Dynamic range (55mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/100 second at f/8).

18mm focal length, 1/500 second at f/11; ISO 100.

55mm focal length, 1/500 second at f/11; ISO 100.

 
28mm focal length, 1/1600 second at f/5.0; ISO 400.

37mm focal length, 1/25 second at f/7.1; ISO 400.

43mm focal length, 1/12 second at f/5.0; ISO 800.

Image sensor: 22.2 x 14.8 mm CMOS sensor with 10.50 million photosites  (10.1 megapixels effective)
Lens mount: Canon EF (for EF  and EF-S lenses)
Focal length crop factor: 1.6x
Image formats: JPEG, RAW (12-bit Canon original), RAW+JPEG
Image Sizes: 3888 x 2592, 2816 x 1880, 1936 x 1288
Image Stabilisation: Lens-based only
Dust removal: Canon EOS Integrated Cleaning System
Shutter speed range: 30-1/4000 second plus Bulb; X-synch at 1/2000 second
Exposure Compensation: +/- 2EV in 1/3 or ½ EV increments (can be combined with AEB)
Self-timer: 10-sec. or 2-sec. delay or 10-sec. delay plus continuous shooting
Focus system: TTL secondary image-registration, phase detection with 7 AF points; AD assist beam via flash
Focus modes: One-Shot AF, AI Servo AF, AI Focus AF, Manual focusing
Exposure metering: 35-zone TTL full-aperture metering with Evaluative (linkable to any AF point), Partial(approx. 10% of viewfinder at centre), Centre-weighted metering
Shooting modes: Program AE (Full Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait, Flash Off, Program), shutter-priority AE, aperture-priority AE, depth-of-field AE, manual exposure, E-TTL II autoflash
Picture Style/Control settings: Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful, Monochrome, User Def. 1 - 3
Colour space options: sRGB, Adobe RGB
Custom functions: 12/32
ISO range: Auto, ISO 100-1600
White balance: Auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, white fluorescent light, flash, custom; WB bracketing +/- 3 steps in full-stop increments; WB correction +/- 9 steps in full-stop increments; colour temperature information provided
Flash: Retractable, auto pop-up E-TTL II autoflash; GN 13; coverage to 17mm lens angle of view
Flash exposure adjustment: ±2 stops in 1/3- or 1/2-stop increments
Sequence shooting: JPEG: Max. approx. 3 shots/sec for 514 shots; RAW: Max. approx. 1.5 shots/sec. for 5 shots
Storage Media: SD/SDHC memory cards
Viewfinder:  Eye-level pentamirror with 95% coverage, 0.81x magnification; 21mm eyepoint (from eyepiece lens centre); dioptric adjustment -3.0 to +1.0; fixed precision matte screen
LCD monitor: 2.5-inch TFT LCD with Approx. 230,000 dots; 100% coverage
Live View: Yes (Live & Quick AF Modes); Remote Live View shooting and manual focusing supported
Data LCD:  No
Playback functions: Single image, single image + image-recording quality, shooting information, histogram, 4- or 9-image index, magnified view (approx. 1.5x - 10x), rotated image, image jump (by 1/10/100 images, or shooting date); highlight alert provided
Interface terminals: USB 2.0 (Hi-Speed); Video out (PAL/NTSC); Remote Switch RS-60E3 terminal
Power supply: LP-E5 rechargeable lithium-ion battery (600 shots/charge without flash)
Dimensions (wxhxd): 126.1 x 97.5 x 61.9 mm (body only)
Weight: 450 grams (body only)