Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/1376
Canon's 300D (Digital Rebel) vs 10D: Battle of the DSLRs
by Stephen Caston on July 5, 2004 12:23 PM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
When Canon released its 10D in March 2003, it was the most affordable 6+ megapixel DSLR (Digital SLR) available (then, $1500). However, just six months after the release of the 10D, Canon released another DSLR - the Digital Rebel (then, $1000). Considering such a big price difference, the Rebel seems to offer similar, and in most cases, exactly the same features as the 10D. The Rebel promises the same CMOS sensor as the 10D, delivering a high-resolution 6.3 megapixel image. They both use the EF lens mount, which is compatible with any lens in the Canon EF line, and both have a seven-point auto focus system.
What is the difference between the 10D and the Digital Rebel? Why would you pay the extra money for the 10D? We're going to take a look at the differences between these two cameras and find out.
The Specifications
Feature | Canon Digital Rebel (EOS-300D) |
Canon EOS-10D |
Price | ~$830 | ~$1300 |
Pixel Count | 6.3 Million | 6.3 Million |
Camera Type | DSLR | DSLR |
Highest Resolution | 3072x2048 | 3072x2048 |
Lower Resolutions | 2048x1360, 1536x1024 | 2048x1360, 1536x1024 |
Sensor Type | CMOS | CMOS |
Sensor Size | 22.7 mm x 15.1 mm | 22.7 mm x 15.1 mm |
Lens | N/A | N/A |
Optical Zoom | N/A | N/A |
Digital Zoom | N/A | N/A |
Lens Thread | EF, EF-S | EF |
Auto Focus | Yes | Yes |
Manual Focus | Yes | Yes |
Auto Focus Type | TTL, 7 Point Focus | TTL, 7 Point Focus |
Aperture Range | N/A | N/A |
Shutter Speeds | 1/4000 - 30 sec, bulb | 1/4000 - 30 sec, bulb |
ISO | 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 | 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 (3200 available with ISO expansion on) |
Flash | Built-in pop-up, hot-shoe | Built-in pop-up, hot-shoe, sync |
Exposure Compensation | +/-2 stops in 1/3 stop increments | +/-2 stops in 1/2 or 1/3 stop increments |
White Balance | Auto, daylight, shade, overcast, tungsten, flouorescent, flash, manual | Auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, fluorescent, flash, manual, Kelvin (color temperature) |
Metering | 35-Zone Evaluative, Partial, Centerweighted (camera picks automatically) | 35-Zone Evaluative, Partial, Centerweighted (user picks mode) |
Color Space | sRGB, Adobe RGB | sRGB, Adobe RGB |
Aperture Priority | Yes | Yes |
Shutter Priority | Yes | Yes |
Continuous Drive | 2.5 fps, up to 4 shots | 3 fps, up to 9 shots |
Self Timer | Yes | Yes |
Storage Method | Compact Flash Card (Type I and II) | Compact Flash Card (Type I and II) |
Storage Included | None | None |
Compressed Format | JPG: (Large, Medium, Small) with quality options (Fine or Normal) | JPG: (Large, Medium, Small) with quality options (Fine or Normal) |
Uncompressed Format | RAW + Medium, Fine JPG | RAW + JPG options (Large, Medium, or Small) with quality options (Fine or Normal) |
Quality Settings | Normal, Fine, RAW | Normal, Fine, RAW |
Battery Type | 1 BP-511/512 Lithium Ion | 1 BP-511/512 Lithium Ion |
Charger Included | Yes | Yes |
PC Interface | USB | USB |
TV-out | Yes | Yes |
Tripod Mount | Yes | Yes |
Weight (with battery) | 23 oz | 30.5 oz |
Digital Rebel | 10D |
Canon EOS Digital Rebel camera body | Canon EOS 10D camera body |
BP-511 Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery | BP-511 Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery |
CB-5L battery charger with power cable | CB-5L battery charger with power cable |
USB cable | USB cable |
Video cable | Video cable |
Neck strap | Neck strap |
EOS Digital Solution CD-ROM | EOS Digital Solution CD-ROM |
Adobe Photoshop Elements CD-ROM | Adobe Photoshop Elements CD-ROM |
User's Guide and instruction booklets | EOS 10D instruction manual |
Pocket Guide | Quick Operation Guide |
Software Installation Guide | Accessories Guide |
The Design
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The first considerable difference that we noticed between these two cameras is the way they felt in our hands. The Rebel casing is made of a slick, silver plastic, while the 10D casing is constructed with magnesium alloy. Because of the metal construction of the 10D, it does weigh a little more (30.5 oz with battery) than the Rebel (23 oz with battery). The 10D is bulkier in general, as you can see by its dimensions, but it feels well balanced in our hands and even has a molded, rubberized grip for the trigger hand. The extra room in its height allows for the camera's main power switch to be located on the back of the camera instead of the top. Another interesting difference was Canon's decision to put the LCD panel on the back of the Rebel, situated right above the LCD monitor. The 10D's LCD panel is on the top right, following a far more traditional Canon SLR style. The navigation system utilized by the two cameras appears to be similar except for one change - the Rebel has four arrow buttons (cross keys) and a set button in the middle, where the 10D has a wheel (Quick Control Dial) with a set button in the middle. The Main Dial, situated just behind the shutter button also serves as a means to navigate the menus.
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These two cameras have virtually the same CMOS sensor, sizing in at 22.7 mm x 15.1 mm. It is important to keep in mind that the Rebel and the 10D do not have full-size sensors like the Canon 1Ds (35.8 x 23.8 mm), for example. This means a magnification factor of 1.6x. In other words, using the same lens from your 35mm film Canon EOS 300 will give you a cropped version of the same picture with the 10D and the Rebel. This can be seen as a good and bad thing. It means that to get the results you would normally get from a regular wide angle lens, you would have to buy a very expensive, super wide angle lens. However, at the same time, it means that your old 300mm telephoto lens has just earned an extra 180mm coverage, giving you a whopping 480mm effective shooting ability. Again, it all depends on how you look at the situation.
Both the 10D and the Rebel use Compact Flash (Type I or II). Also, because they have a FAT32 file system, they are able to support larger-capacity cards such as the Lexar 4GB and the Hitachi Microdrive 4GB. This is a great advantage over other types of removable media-based cameras.
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Both cameras have a pop-up flash with a release button on the front side, opposite the shutter button. The 10D has a motorized mechanism that releases the flash, while the Rebel relies on non-motorized spring action release. We measured the Rebel's flash at 2.25 cm higher than the 10D's. This difference gives the Rebel's flash an advantage when shooting with longer lenses. Because it is higher, it has more room to shoot over the lens instead of through it (which would create shadows on the subject).
One major addition to the Rebel was the compatibility of a new type of lens, called EF-S (Electrofocus Short Back Focus). Canon introduced this lens as an 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 to be packaged with the Digital Rebel. It should be noted that EF-S lenses are not compatible with other EF mount cameras such as the 10D. The EF-S mount is marked by a white dot on the front of the camera body indicating where to align the lens when attaching it. The 18-55mm lens boasts a perfected lens coating that is supposed to minimize reflections, which would guard against flaring and ghosting. The lens is also capable of focusing at distances as close as 0.28m. Basically, Canon is trying to compensate for the 1.6x magnification factor by distributing a wide angle zoom lens with the Rebel. For the purpose of this review, I will be using a 50mm f2.5 macro lens that uses an EF mount simply because it will fit on both cameras.
The controls for adjusting picture settings are a little different for each camera (mostly because of the subtraction of the wheel on the Rebel). The Main Dial is responsible on both cameras for adjusting the:
- Aperture in Av (Aperture Priority) mode
- Shutter speed in (Shutter Priority)Tv mode
- Shutter speed and aperture combination in P (Program AE) mode
- Shutter speed in Manual mode
On the 10D, adjusting the aperture in Manual mode is just a simple turn of the Quick Control Dial. On the Rebel, you have to hold down the Av/Ec (Aperture value/Exposure compensation) button while you turn the Main Dial in order to adjust the aperture. While the button is within reach of my thumb, it is certainly more convenient on the 10D to spin the wheel.
One huge advantage that the 10D has over the Rebel is the option to adjust Custom Functions under the main menu. One such option is to enable mirror lockup. Mirror lockup is when the mirror flips up prior to exposure in order to help prevent vibrations normally caused by the mirror movement. Any wildlife photographer would need to utilize this feature to keep their images sharp while shooting with telephoto lenses. The same applies to macro photographers. Mirror lockup ability is not a feature of the Rebel. In addition to mirror lockup, you are given the option to separate AF (Auto Focus) from AE (Auto Exposure) lock (normally, they coincide), which is very helpful in circumstances where you want to have total control over the exposure lock (function 4). Another option allows you to control the activity of the AF-assist beam. In automatic modes, if the ambient light is too low, the flash will emit short preliminary flashes in order to attain focus. Sometimes, this can be frustrating if you are in situations where the extra flashing could impose on your subject. Luckily, custom function 5 gives you control of the nature of the assist beam. Another really cool feature is the option to enable auto reduction of the fill flash. Basically, this option is for situations when you are shooting outdoors with ambient light and you want to use the flash as a fill light to cancel out unneeded shadows. Enabling this option (function 14) will automatically weaken the flash if the ambient light levels are bright enough. This is to ensure a well exposed background while preventing the flash from washing out your subject. These are just a few of the 17 custom functions on the 10D.
Two more features that the 10D offers are the ability to select what type of metering and auto focus that you would like. For metering, you can choose between evaluative 35-area, partial (9% of viewfinder), and center-weighted average. The Rebel has the ability to do these metering modes too, but it automatically decides what is best and offers no input from the user. On the 10D, the user can choose between One Shot AF (for still subjects), AI Servo AF (to track moving subjects), or AI Focus AF (to let the camera switch from One Shot to Servo if it detects movement). Again, the Rebel has these features, but gives the user no control over them.
The 10D is capable of taking 9 consecutive frames at 3 fps, while the Rebel can take 4 consecutive frames at 2.5 fps. This advantage of the 10D may be more important to some photographers if they are likely to be shooting sports events or other fast-paced subjects.
The Battery
Before reading the results of our battery test, we recommend you read the Testing Procedures of our Digital Camera Review Guide. We chose to use our EF 50mm f2.5 Autofocus Macro lens for both cameras. We were shooting in RAW mode on a 12X 256MB Lexar Type I Compact Flash Card. Each camera was placed on a stationary tripod and was pointed at an object on a wall during testing.Digital Rebel | 10D | |
Number of shots on a single battery charge | 1,630 | 1,727 |
As you can see, both the Rebel and the 10D performed extremely well. These numbers are well above what Canon reports (650 shots without the flash and 500 when using the flash 50% of the time). Battery life is very dependent on the type of lens you use and the way you use it. For example, if we were using a lens with IS (Image Stabilization), the battery performance would have been much lower due to the extra power needed. You would also get fewer shots per battery cycle if you were constantly using autofocus to focus near and far between shots. Another factor that can influence how long a battery will last is the frequency in which the camera is used. We did each battery test in approximately 4 hours in one sitting. However, casual shooting over a longer period of time would probably result in less shots than we were able to get.
Both the 10D and the Rebel use the same lithium-ion battery type (BP-511). One of the major reasons why battery life is so outstanding in these cameras is because DSLRs use a mirror to reflect the image onto the camera's image sensor. Because of this process, the mirror actually blocks the scene from the viewfinder during the exposure time (just like in non-digital SLRs). This means that for the Rebel and the 10D, there is no LCD monitor preview for composing the picture - you must look through the viewfinder to compose shots. Because there is no preview capability (given the nature of the mirror to intercept the image), battery life is able to last much longer than point-and-shoot cameras where the preview monitor is in heavy use.
The Timing Tests
For detailed information about our testing methods, please read our Testing Procedures. Before we began testing the two cameras, we were generally expecting that they would perform about the same, since they are almost identical except for a few bells and whistles on the 10D. It was interesting to see the differences that we found.*Please note: All tests done on this page were done with use of a 12X 256MB Lexar Type I Compact Flash Card
Shutter Lag
Digital Rebel | 10D | |
Shutter Lag (seconds) | ~ .06 | ~ .04 |
The shutter lag times looked very impressive overall. The 10D performed just slightly better than the Rebel, although the difference is too small to notice during casual shooting.
Startup Time
Our next test was to see how long each camera took to power up and get ready to shoot. We recorded three times and averaged them to find our results:Digital Rebel | 10D | |
Startup Time (seconds) | 2.76 | 2.14 |
While these times are not terribly slow, they seem longer than they really are when you are trying to take advantage of a picture opportunity.
Write Times
Write times were calculated from the moment the red "writing" light came on to the moment that it went out, indicating that the RAW file had finished transferring to the CF card. Again, we took three samples from each camera and averaged the times.Digital Rebel | 10D | |
Write time RAW (seconds) | 4.34 | 3.71 |
Write time JPG Large/Fine (seconds) | 1.32 | 1.18 |
The times in our tests (except for the shutter lag test) could have different results depending on the speed of your CF card. We were using a 12X 256MB Lexar Type I card.
Resolving Fine Lines
Before reading this page, please refer to our Testing Procedures to see our methodology.*For all image quality tests, a Canon 50mm Macro lens was used on both cameras.
We set each camera to ISO 100 and used the aperture priority mode to keep the aperture at f8. After shooting the RAW images, we set the EV (exposure value) to +1.0 and converted them to JPEG. Click on a picture to download the full-version JPEG converted from the RAW file.
Digital Rebel | 10D |
f/8, 1/13, ISO 100 Click to enlarge. |
f/8, 1/10, ISO 100 Click to enlarge. |
Below are crops from the full-size versions above.
Digital Rebel | |
10D |
We were hard-pressed to see any huge differences in quality between the Rebel and the 10D here. It looks like the 10D is able to hold its line resolution a little bit longer, but both start to lose resolution after 16. It also seems that the 10D does a better job trying to keep its resolution past 18 where the Rebel becomes one smooth line.
Digital Rebel | 10D |
The vertical line test proves to be very similar to the horizontal one. The Rebel begins to crack up just after the 16 mark, while the 10D holds out to a little past 17 before showing signs of degradation. Again, we can see that by the 18 mark, the Rebel and the 10D have lost any signs of individual lines. Overall, these two cameras have performed very similarly in our ISO 122233 Resolution test.
Color Reproduction
GretagMacbeth ColorChecker
*Note: For all tests on this page, both cameras were reset to their factory default settings and the Large/Fine JPG mode was used.Digital Rebel | 10D | |
Auto WB | ||
Manual WB | ||
(Actual GretagMacbeth RGB reference values) |
As we can see from the color charts above, neither the Rebel nor the 10D does that impressive of a job when set to Auto WB (white balance) in Tungsten lighting. There seems to be a pinkish yellow color cast on both of them. The Manual WB shots does a better job at replicating the colors on the original chart. Below are crops from the Manual WB color test.
Digital Rebel | 10D | |
Manual WB |
From this crop, we can see that the main difference between the default settings on these cameras is that the Rebel has a touch more saturation straight out of the camera than the 10D.
Studio Shot
The pictures below are of our studio shot. They were taken in aperture priority mode at f/5.6. Click on a picture to download the full-version.Digital Rebel | 10D | |
Auto WB ISO 100 |
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Manual WB ISO 100 |
Again, we weren't very impressed with the performance of the Auto WB in either camera. Also, we noticed a sort of bluish look in the Manual WB pictures.
Built-in Flash
For our flash test, we set both cameras to their fully automatic setting. We took the picture from 5 feet away.Digital Rebel | 10D |
f/4, 1/60 sec., ISO 400 |
f/4, 1/60 sec., ISO 400 |
In our flash test, the 10D did a better job of reproducing the colors of our hand. The Rebel picture had a little bit too much pink in it. However, both cameras do a pretty good job for a built-in flash.
ISO Tests
Below are crops from ISO 100 and up with Manual WB. Click on a picture to download the full-size version.Digital Rebel | 10D | |
ISO 100 | ||
ISO 200 | ||
ISO 400 | ||
ISO 800 | ||
ISO 1600 | ||
ISO 3200 | N/A |
As we expected, the noise in these images gets progressively worse as the ISO setting is raised. Again, we can see that the Rebel has a bit more saturation than the 10D, making the soda bottle appear more red on the Rebel crops. The noise for both cameras is very acceptable up to ISO 800 and not too bad at 1600. The Rebel does not have the ISO 3200 option, but we don't feel that it is much of a loss, considering the quality of our studio shot at this setting.
General Image Quality
All of these samples were taken using the same Canon 50mm f2.5 macro lens attached. Each camera was reset to the factory default settings. The Rebel and the 10D were set to Av Mode (apertures noted for each picture). The quality setting with the lowest compression (highest quality) was used (Large/Fine-3072x2048). To avoid focus differences, each camera was set to focus using the center focal point. The pictures were taken between 11 AM and 12 PM on a bright day on N.C. State University's campus with the use of a tripod. The pictures were not manipulated in any way. They are right out of the camera. Click any picture for the full-size version.Canon Digital Rebel | Canon 10D |
f5.6 |
f5.6 |
f7.1 |
f7.1 |
Canon Digital Rebel (100% crop) |
Canon 10D (100% crop) |
f5.6 |
f5.6 |
This first picture shows two substantial differences between the Rebel and the 10D. The Rebel's auto white balance resulted in a bluish look, while the 10D was more accurate at representing the actual colors. Also, the 10D appears to be significantly sharper than the Rebel. We were not expecting such a dramatic difference, especially considering the Rebel includes more in-camera sharpening (by default) than the 10D. Our guess is that the Rebel simply had trouble focusing on the proper plane. Below is a crop from the left portion of the picture, which was spatially farther back from the stool.
Canon Digital Rebel (100% crop) |
Canon 10D (100% crop) |
f5.6 |
f5.6 |
This crop shows an improvement in sharpness from the stool crop. Here, the Rebel comes much closer to matching the sharpness of the 10D. The same was found for objects to the right of the stool. They get sharper as they move back away from the stool.
Canon Digital Rebel (100% crop) |
Canon 10D (100% crop) |
f5.6 |
f5.6 |
Interestingly, on our next shot, we came upon these findings. The Rebel is noticably sharper than the 10D; however, it appears that the cement wall is sharper on the 10D. The focal point for this picture was a bit tricky. It was the text written on the metal in the center of the picture. Despite this slightly ambiguous focal point, we expected better clarity on the 10D. This strange finding, in addition to the focusing problem of the last picture, lead us to think that there may be the much-talked-about front/back-focusing issues on both cameras. However, they don't appear to be consistently focusing this way.
Canon Digital Rebel (100% crop) |
Canon 10D (100% crop) |
f5.6 |
f5.6 |
Here, the 10D appears just a bit sharper than the Rebel. We can also see that the Rebel has a higher default saturation setting than the 10D.
Canon Digital Rebel (100% crop) |
Canon 10D (100% crop) |
f7.1 |
f7.1 |
The difference between these two is more dramatic. The image shot with the Rebel is washed out (overexposed) on the window shade and the whole picture has a general lightness to it. The 10D, on the other hand, did a pretty good job of exposing the window shades and the bricks, while retaining some definition of the window. You can see that both cameras did a pretty good job in regards to sharpness on this picture.
The three major factors in overall image quality between the Rebel and the 10D were white balance, sharpness, and metering. The auto white balance isn't outstanding in either camera, but the 10D does a better job in our samples here. The inconsistent sharpness of these cameras is a big concern. They both appear to have front/back-focusing issues some of the time. On the pictures where there was a problem, we noticed that the cameras took a little longer to lock focus as they were having trouble determining where the focal point was. In general, the automatic metering of the Rebel doesn't seem to do as well as the evaluative metering of the 10D in producing an even exposure. The Rebel produced pictures that were either too dark or too bright (to the point of overexposing), while the 10D consistently produced even exposures.
Conclusion
What is the difference between the Rebel and the 10D? If you had to buy one, which would it be? It's a tough decision. The 10D has a much more solid construction. It offers a lot of user flexibility such as the ability to set custom functions. The 10D allows you to specify what metering and AF modes you would like to use. You can select a specific color temperature in Kelvin as a white balance option and you can take nine consecutive frames at three frames per second. Are these enough reasons to warrant the extra $500 for the 10D?We felt that the differences in performance during our time tests were not really significant enough to notice when using the camera casually. We really liked the layout of the buttons on the 10D better than the Rebel. One problem with the 10D that really dragged us down was its weight. It doesn't feel very heavy at first, but after carrying it around all day, you begin to grow fond of the lighter Rebel. But then again, the rugged construction made us feel more confident when we were out in the field.
It really comes down to a personal preference. If you are an amateur photographer who is looking for a camera that will give you great image quality at a reasonable price, you might feel that the Rebel is the way to go. If you are looking for a more professional-level DSLR and you want something that will give you more control over your shots, you might feel that the 10D is right for you. Basically, the key differences that the 10D offers are: a solid metal body, 3fps for 9 shots, custom functions (including mirror lock-up), and auto-focus and metering mode control. If you are a sports or nature photographer, the 10D is a better choice. If you are looking for a camera with great image quality, but you don't need all the extras that the 10D offers, the Rebel would be a perfect solution.
Recently, 10D and Rebel users have been in a state of turmoil due to a new "hack" (a firmware update) that promises to unlock some 10D-equivalent functions for the Rebel. More information can be found here. We will certainly keep an eye on this as it develops.