Product Reviews

Canon's back catalogue of entry level digital SLR cameras is so strong that competitors have been forced to compete on price more than quality. In our recent round-up (check our website to see our Digital SLRs labs test), the EOS 450D cost £75 to £200 more than rivals, but its superiority made it worth the extra.

Not everyone can afford the 450D, though, so Canon's 1000D in turn now competes on price as well as quality with the likes of Nikon's D60. Again, it still costs a little more, but Canon's £30 cashback offer, valid until 12 January 2009, brings the price within a few pounds of the Nikon.

In many respects the 1000D is identical to the 450D.

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The excellent layout remains unchanged, and the same 18-55mm kit lens, with its optical stabilisation, is included. The same excellent live view mode shows the frame on the LCD before you shoot it, in common with all compact cameras but few DSLRs. The 2.5 inch screen is smaller than the 450D's 3 incher, but it's just as detailed.

The 10 megapixel resolution is down from the 450D's 12, but the difference in detail captured was small, and noise levels were even lower, comfortably leading the field in this respect. Now that all digital SLRs are capable of capturing superb detail and lifelike colours, noise (graininess) is where the significant contests are being fought.

The 1000D's only significant weakness is its continuous shooting speed. It snapped JPEGs at 2.9 frames per second, but slowed to 1.4fps when capturing the higher quality Raw images; other DSLRs can manage at least a handful of Raw frames at the top speed. Continuous shooting isn't available at all when noise reduction is enabled. These limitations are annoying, but in practice they'll only really matter on rare occasions.

Bargain hunters are still better off with Sony's A200K, at just £275. However, Canon's cleaner, sharper images and excellent live view are worth more. If you were baulking at the price of the 450D, the 1000D offers the ideal compromise.