[ Japan : EOS Kiss Digital, Americas : EOS DIGITAL REBEL,
Europe/Asia/Oceania : EOS 300D DIGITAL ]
Following last month's Technical Report, this month's Report continues the overview of the EOS Kiss Digital, a new digital AF SLR camera which has gained great popularity among users worldwide since its announcement and release.
The exterior design objectives of the EOS Kiss Digital are as follows:
Create a new market for affordable digital SLR cameras
| • | Simple and smart design that appeals to a variety of users |
| • | Novel and stylish form that stands out from competitors |
| • | Titanium gray metallic finish for a high-grade quality image befitting a new generation of digital SLR camera |
High-performance with easy operability
(1) Centralized layout of LCD panel and LCD monitor on the back cover
As shown in Photo 2, LCD panel and LCD monitor are located on the back cover enabling the user to see camera settings at a glance. Operation controls are also located around the LCD monitor for improved visibility and operability.
For the first time in the EOS series digital SLR cameras, the EOS Kiss Digital adopts cross keys. The cross keys offer intuitive top and bottom or left and right buttons operation for selecting images during playback, menu settings, selecting the image area for enlarged image viewing, and trimming image area for direct printing. The cross keys also functions as the ISO speed setting button (top button) and selecting the white balance (lower button).
The menu has been divided into four individual tabs in Shooting, Playback, Set-up 1 and Set-up 2 (see Fig. 1). All the setting items within each tab appear on one screen so that scrolling is unnecessary, making it easier to search the settings.
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The EOS Kiss Digital inherits the basic shooting operation of EOS Kiss series of 35mm film cameras. The shutter button, main dial, mode dial and AF point selector are placed on the right shoulder so that most of the operation can be conveniently carried out with only the right hand.
(4) Shooting-priority concept retained
As with the EOS-1D and the EOS 10D, the EOS Kiss Digital allows the user to instantly switch to shootings by pressing the shutter button halfway even during image playback, menu operation, and while a printer is connected, ensuring shutter release at the right moment.
(5) Innovative grip design with excellent holding comfort
Dynamic, rounded right-hand grip achieves both novel form and reliable handling.
• Compact and lightweight design
The dimensions of the EOS Kiss Digital are 142 (W) x 99 (H) x 72.4 (D) mm and the weight is approximately 560g (body only). Compared to the EOS 10D, the width, height, and depth are 7.7mm, 8.5mm and 2.6mm less respectively. The weight is also 30% lighter (see Fig.2).
Compatible with Direct Printing
When connected to a printer with the dedicated cable, the EOS Kiss Digital is enabled for direct printing of images from the printer without using a computer.
Following the EOS 10D, the EOS Kiss Digital is the second EOS series digital SLR camera which is compatible with direct printing, but it is the first model to support PictBridge, a newly established industry standard for direct printing.
(1) CP Direct (Canon Standard)
Direct printing with CP-series Card Photo printer.
(2) Bubble Jet Direct (Canon Standard)
Direct printing with Bubble Jet printer. For more information on direct printing with CP and Bubble Jet printers, please refer to May 2003 issue of the Technical Report. Canon printers compatible with direct printing are listed in the Table 1.
Table1 Direct Printing Compatible Canon Printers (as of September 2003)
| Direct Printing Method | Printers |
| CP Direct
|
CP-300 |
| CP-200 | |
| CP-100 | |
| CP-10 | |
| Bubble Jet Direct | PIXUS 455i |
| PIXUS 450i | |
| PIXUS 50i | |
| PIXUS 475PD | |
| PIXUS 470PD | |
| BJ 895PD | |
| BJ 535PD | |
| BJ F890PD | |
| PictBridge | PIXUS 455i |
| PIXUS 475PD |
(3) PictBridge (CIPA Standard)
| PictBridge is a new direct
printing standard for connecting digital camera to printers that was jointly proposed
by Canon, Fuji Photo Film, Hewlett-Packard, Olympus, Seiko Epson and Sony and
officially announced by CIPA (Camera & Imaging Products Association) in February
2003.
In short, PictBridge is a standard that enables direct printing of images from a digital camera regardless of the manufacturers of the digital camera and printer. |
|
| With the PictBridge compatible PIXUS 455i Bubble Jet printer, for example, turn on the printer's main switch and then turn the camera's main switch on and press the Playback button. The PictBridge printer-connected icon will appear in the upper left corner of the LCD monitor (see Fig. 4). |
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Only JPEG format images are printable. RAW images and JPEG images that are recorded simultaneously in the RAW+JPEG image format cannot be printed.
(1) EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM
The EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM (Photo 3) has following features:
| • | Compact, lightweight standard zoom lens exclusively
for the EOS Kiss Digital
|
| • | Realization of wide zoom range of 18-55mm (29-88mm in
35mm film format) and compactness thanks to short back-focus optical system optimized
for the EOS Kiss Digital's frame size of 22.7 x 15.1 mm
|
| •
• |
Aspherical lens for high-quality image throughout the
zoom range
Silent, high-speed AF performance with Micro USM |
| • | Optimized lens coating for digital SLR cameras minimizes
ghosting and flaring particular in digital photography
|
| •
• • |
Minimum focusing distance of 0.28 meters throughout the
zoom range
Round diaphragm for attractive bokeh (blur) effects Optical system contains only lead-free glass |
The EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM adopts a 4-group zoom system with a filter diameter of 58mm. The dimension is (dia.) 68.5 x 66mm and the weight is 190g.
(2) EF55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM
The EF55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM is a new telephoto zoom lens (Photo 4) with a wide zoom range from standard 55mm to telephoto 200mm as well as high cost-performance. It has following features:
| • | Compact and lightweight telephoto zoom lens
Note: When attached to the EOS Kiss Digital, the lens achieves a zoom range equivalent to about 88 - 320mm in the 35mm format. The 5-group zoom optical system is the same as that of the EF55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 USM |
| • | Silent, high-speed AF performance with Micro USM
|
| • | Optimized lens coating for digital SLR cameras minimizes
ghosting and flaring particular in digital photography
|
| •
|
Optical system contains only lead-free glass |
The filter diameter of the EF55-200mm f/4.5-5.6 II USM is 52mm and the dimension is(dia.)70.4 x 97.3mm with a weight of 310g. The closest focusing distance is 1.2m.
(3) Extension Tube EF12 II / EF25 II
Extension Tube EF12 II / EF25 II are redesigned to match the EF-S lens by modifying the lens mount (Photo 5). When used together with the EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM, Extension Tube EF12 II extends magnification of 0.23x-0.81x while Extension Tube EF25 II extends 0.51x-0.92x.
The Battery Grip BG-E1 (refer Photo 1) is developed exclusively for the EOS Kiss Digital for larger shooting capacity and enhanced vertical shooting. It holds two Battery Packs BP-511 or BP-512 enabling up to 1,200 shots and can also operate on a single Battery Pack.
The grip is equipped with a vertical shutter release button, main dial, AE lock button, AF points selector, aperture value/exposure compensation button. The dimensions and the weight without Battery Pack are 139.2 (W) x 109.6 (H) x 76 (D) mm and 300g respectively.
(5) Semi-Hard case
Accommodates the EOS Kiss Digital with the EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM (with hood, filter, lens cap) attached.
This issue of the Technical Report provides additional information on the EOS Kiss Digital. The EOS Kiss Digital kit is shown in Photo 6 and the Table 2 lists the bundled software (same as the EOS 10D) while Table 3 depicts the comparison of major specifications between the EOS Kiss Digital and the EOS 10D.
(From Top Left) EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 USM, EOS Kiss Digital Body (with Body Cap removed), EOS DIGITAL SOLUTION DISK CD-ROM, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 CD-ROM
(From Middle Left) Power Cord for CB-5L, Battery Charger CB-5L, Battery Pack BP-511, Interface Cable IFC-300PCU, Video Cable VC-100
(Bottom) Wide Strap EW-100DB II
Table 2 EOS Kiss Digital Bundled Software
| Windows
98/98SE / Me / 2000 / XP |
Macintosh
OS9.0-9.2 / X v10.1 / v10.2 |
|
| RAW Image Processing Utility | File Viewer Utility 1.3.1 | File Viewer Utility 1.3.1 |
| Image Browsing and Management | ZoomBrowser EX 4.1.1 | ImageBrowser 3.0.7 |
| Layout Printing | PhotoRecord 1.6 | |
| Remote Shooting /
Image Transfer to PC |
RemoteCapture 2.7.4 | RemoteCapture 2.7.4 |
| Panorama Photo Composition | PhotoStitch 3.1 | PhotoStitch 3.1 |
| Camera Driver | TWAIN Driver 5.2.0
(for 98 / 2000) WIA Driver 5.2.0 (For Me) * XP also supports OS-standard driver |
*Included in ImageBrowser /
RemoteCapture / File Viewer Utility |
Table 3 Comparison of Major Specifications between EOS Kiss Digital and EOS 10D