Canon EOS 450D is very similar to its predecessor 400D but a lot has been improved, both in respect of the design and overall performance.
Intro:
The new Canon 450D has a 18-55mm lens, 12,2 effective Megapixels, improved continuous drive mode, very good battery life, large 3’’ screen and many new features such as live view, 14bit raw and spot metering. Additionally, it feels really good in hand and has pretty quick response time so you can start taking photon in less than a second from turning it on.
The design:
The Canon 450D is made of engineering plastic, a high quality, light material and stainless steel which assures durability of the camera. The 3-inch screen at the back has great resolution which allows quick evaluation of the photos, but unfortunately it lack anti-reflective coating. The viewfinder has also been improved when compared to Canon 400D. Above the lens you will find a pop-up built-in flash whose range is about 2.3 meters at telephoto and 3.7 meters at wide angle. Since Canon 450D uses EF/ EF-S lens mount you can use any of Canon EF lenses. At the back of the camera you will find thirteen buttons thanks to which you will easily control all the options.
Performance:
Considering the image size that Canon 450D offers (whole 12.2 megapixels) it needs to be said that the image quality and the shooting speed are excellent. In the continuous mode it shoots at 3.5 fps until your memory card is full. And thanks to the comfortable placing of buttons at the back of the camera you can easily and quickly adjust image parameter settings to improve the quality of photos. Whether you take photos with the flash or without it the outcome is impressive, with excellent colour and exposure.
When you add to it that Canon 450D has several pre-defined Picture Styles (Monochrome, Neutral, Faithful, Landscape, Portrait and Standard) as well as the ability to remember user-defined Styles, a few image parameter settings (colour tone, saturation, sharpness, contrast) you can achieve truly remarkable results with this digital camera.
User-friendliness / menus:
Thanks to the dedicated buttons at the back of the camera, several picture styles to choose from and the possibility of defining own styles you will not have to plunge deep into the menus too often. But when you do, you will find the menus really logically arranged and thus easy to navigate. The Canon EOS 450D is for sure beginner-friendly and capable. Moreover, it has great battery life, good lens and comfortable grip. Its main disadvantage is the price which is a bit too high, especially that Sony Alpha 350 offers slightly more features for slightly less money.
Selected Canon EOS 450D specifications are as follows:
IMAGE SENSOR
Type 22.2 x 14.8mm CMOS
Effective Pixels Approx. 12.2M
Total Pixels Approx. 12.4M
Aspect Ratio 3:2
Low-Pass Filter Built-in/Fixed with Self Cleaning Sensor Unit
Colour Filter Type Primary Colour
IMAGE PROCESSOR
Type DIGIC III
LENS
Lens Mount EF/EF-S
Focal Length 1.6x Multiplication with EF lens fitted
FOCUSING
Type TTL-CT-SIR with a CMOS sensor
AF System / Points 9 AF points (f/5.6 cross type at centre, extra sensitivity at f/2.8)
AF Working Range EV -0.5 -18 (at 23°C & ISO100)
AF Modes AI Focus
One Shot
AI Servo
AF Point selection Automatic selection, Manual selection
Selected AF Point Display Superimposed in viewfinder and indicated on LCD monitor
Predictive AF Yes
AF Lock Locked when shutter button is pressed half way in One Shot AF mode
AF Assist Beam Intermittent firing of built-in flash
Manual Focus Selected on lens
EXPOSURE CONTROL
Metering Modes TTL full aperture metering with 35-zone SPC
(1) Evaluative metering (linked to all AF points)
(2) Partial metering at center (approx. 9% of viewfinder)
(3) Spot metering at center (approx. 4% of viewfinder)
(4) Center weighted average metering
Metering Range EV 1-20 (at 23°C with 50mm f/1.4 lens ISO100)
AE Lock Auto: Operates in 1-shot AF mode with evaluative metering when focus is achieved
Manual: By AE lock button in creative zone modes
Exposure Compensation +/- 2 EV, 1/2 or 1/3-stop increments
AEB
+/- 2 EV, 1/2 or 1/3-stop increments
ISO Speed Equivalent AUTO(100-800), 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 (in 1-stop increments)
ISO 200-1600 in Highlight Tone Priority (C.Fn II -3)
SHUTTER
Type Electronically-controlled focal-plane shutter
Speed 30-1/4000 sec (1/2 or 1/3 stop increments), Bulb (Total shutter speed range)
Shutter Release Soft touch electromagnetic release
WHITE BALANCE
Type Auto white balance with the imaging sensor
Settings AWB, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, White Fluorescent light, Flash, Custom.
White balance compensation:
1. Blue/Amber +/-9
2. Magenta/ Green +/-9
WB Bracketing +/-3 levels in single level increments
3 bracketed images per shutter release.
Selectable Blue/Amber bias or Magenta/ Green bias.
COLOUR MATRIX
Type Two types of colour space, sRGB and Adobe RGB.
VIEWFINDER
Viewfinder Eye-level SLR (with fixed pentamirror)
Coverage (Vert/Horiz) Approx. 95%
Magnification Approx. 0.87x
Eyepoint Approx. 19mm (from eyepiece lens center)
Dioptre Correction -3 to +1 (1/m) (dioptre)
Focusing Screen Fixed
Mirror Quick-return half mirror (Transmission: reflection ratio of 40:60)
Source: Canon.