The Digital Rebel was my first digital SLR, which I bought back in 2003. It changed the way I practiced photography. But five years and thousands of shots later, I bought the Canon 30D, which worked wonders on my style of photography. I was planning on waiting for the 50D in 2009, but decided to go for the Rebel XSi – 450D which I got just a few days ago and have been using since then. I took around 650 shots under different conditions and using a variety of lenses from Canon and other brands. I can probably consider it as my top SLR camera and here are some of the reasons why:

The camera build is light yet feels very well built. The buttons on this baby are different from those on the original Digital Rebel and 30D; the buttons on the XSi are more tactile and has a resounding click when pressed. The Digital Rebel XSi has a 3-inch LCD with 230K pixels, which makes the images look great on playback but experiences a slight delay when zoomed 10x before the images are loaded and displayed fully. The delay is probably not that noticeable to others, as I only noticed it because I was able to compare it with my other two lower-resolution Canon digital SLRs.

After you find out which is the best digital camera to buy is, you will see that Canon or maybe even Fuji comes out on top. Compare specifications to see what each camera has and how easy they are to use.

The Maxxum QTsi also has the vibe of a point and shoot camera because of its ease of use and auto-programming of settings. The camera has an auto-exposure feature which lets you choose among five preset modes or settings for exposure: portraits, sports, night scenes, landscapes, and close-ups. I tried out each of the modes and was able to come up with great pictures and without complications. Another great thing about the camera is that at an affordable price, you will get the 35-80mm Minolta zoom lens along with the lightweight camera. The camera is also compatible with all of the lenses in Minolta’s AF line as well as with filters and lenses of other brands.

The downside, however, is that Minolta SLR camera models seem to have a two to three year lifespan. I used the QTsi for two years until I began to experience electrical problems with it. Two of my friends who also used Minolta cameras complained of the same thing after using their SLRs for two to three years. Another drawback is that the Minolta Maxxum QTsi doesn’t have a B or Bulb mode, so you can’t use it for astrophotography or for taking longer exposure pictures.

The Canon PowerShot compact cameras and the Canon Rebel SLR cameras are the leaders for digital cameras, but everyone has a different preference. Just look around at the many digital cameras and you are going to find a camera that will suit all your needs.