So last night I was strolling through Circuit City and behold there they had the new Canon Rebel XSi on display. This was a little strange because Amazon and BH dont even have them available yet. I talked with the sales dude and they said they had gotten them in that morning and had already sold the 2 they received. To make a long story short, I tracked down the last available Canon XSi in the state (at least for now) in Fultondale and made the quick drive to pick it up. I spent some time looking it over last night, and this is my initial review:

Pros-

1. Its very light, granted its body is made out of plastic, after holding a camera for 10 hours, you want something as light as possible.
2. 12.2 Megapixels
3. Dedicated ISO button.
4. Fewer buttons than the XTi, yes, this is a good thing- too much clutter on some of these cameras. Many of these cool features still exist, just a simpler interface.
5. Secondary selector interface uses primary selector wheel.
6. Simplified Menu System
7. Live View
8. My Menu

Cons-
1. Feels a little small, as mentioned- not sure about a plastic body.
2. Lack of 50 or 3200 ISO
3. The lens it came with the 18-55 is a joke. It looks & feels like a toy. If you are considering this camera save your extra $100, get the body kit only and buy a REAL lens. The 28-135 is a MUCH, MUCH better kit lens.

Over all, I am impressed with this little guy. I will be doing an extensive analysis this week as I prepare to shoot for my Canon Rebel XSi Crash Course Training DVD. Look for pre-orders of that DVD to be made available shortly. 🙂