Canon's Rapid Rebel XTi

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A scene from my fatherhood:



"No, no, no, no, no!" insists my daughter, in response to my pleas that she look into the camera.



"Annika, come on," I implore. "Look over here."



"Come on," says the 21-month-old girl, openly mocking me.



She's kicking a soccer ball in our front yard and I want to snap a photo. She looks for a split second, then quickly turns away to kick the ball or pick up sticks. This habit, of turning away just as a camera is pointed in her direction, has consistently confounded my efforts to take photos of my daughter -- indeed, to be all the father I can be -- for nearly two years now.



I've arrived at an unsettling conclusion. Despite all the high-tech wizardry wrapped up in standard point-and-shoot digital cameras, their aggravating delay between button press and picture snap are simply no match for the impulsiveness of my kid [and probably yours, too].



Now, there's a solution. A new crop of digital cameras coming to market this fall are what's called "single-lens reflex," or SLRs. These cameras do away with many of the annoyances of the point-and-shoot digitals, including that split-second delay all parents have come to fear and loathe. SLRs have been on the market for years, but they've largely been a niche product. This year, they're designed for the mainstream, to be the kind of gadget people will give as birthday or holiday presents. No less authority than Philip Schoonover, the chief executive of Circuit City (CC), has declared them the next big thing in digital gear.



An important impetus has been the efforts of Japan's Canon (CAJ). The company's Digital Rebel has been the most popular digital SLR on the market since it was introduced in 2004, largely because of its relatively low price and consumer-friendly features. That approach continues with the latest version of Canon's Rebel, the XTi. The 10.1-megapixel camera, which went on sale the week of Sept. 11, is available from Amazon.com (AMZN) and other retailers for about $800, not including lenses. That makes it a bargain compared with the other 10-megapixel SLR cameras coming to market this fall, including the $1,000 D80 from Nikon (NINOY). Sony (SNE) is releasing its first digital SLR, the A100, which is comparably priced at about $800 without any lenses.



Canon's Rebel XTi is likely to keep its place as the top choice among digital SLRs. The camera is relatively light and easy to use, with intuitive controls to help serious amateurs take the kind of pictures they've always wanted to take. The instantaneous shutter response is a huge improvement over point-and-shoot digitals.



The XTi also has a few key improvements over the previous version of the Rebel. Besides the increase to 10.1 megapixels, the camera has a 2.5-inch LCD screen on the back to check out your photos at greater size, a nine-point autofocus to help capture quick action, and a nifty dust cleaning system. Dust, the bane of digital cameras, is cleaned out of the inside of the camera each time you shut it off. If specks continue to show up, you can pinpoint the problem and wipe it out through Canon's software. The camera also has a continuous shooting mode that lets you feel like a real member of the paparazzi, snapping three frames per second.



I used the camera in a variety of situations, including in low light and with quick action. It consistently performed well and delivered high-quality, high-resolution photos. The biggest problem I had was with the software Canon provides to move photos from the camera to the computer. I found loading the software nonintuitive. What's more, the software created new photo storage folders automatically, categorizing pictures by date taken. This meant more work for me, since I prefer to organize photos differently -- say, by month. I would prefer to have been given the option to create folders on my own.



Canon will face some stiff competition in the digital SLR market this year. In particular, Sony's A100 has several features that serious consumer photographers may find appealing, in addition to the camera's price. Perhaps most valuable is the A100's built-in anti-shake technology, to get clear pictures even if the camera is moving. Canon [as well as Nikon] offers such technology, but it has to be purchased separately. The Canon Rebel XTi is a wonderful camera for capturing those ephemeral moments in your life, from your daughter playing soccer to your son taking his first steps. The good news for consumers is that they will have plenty of other good digital SLRs to choose from as well.