Best selling DSLRs chart
Each month the NPD Group ranks America’s top-selling digital cameras based on unit sales.
Here are the top-selling digital SLRs for March 2008.
1) Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi
Canon’s EOS 400D Digital Rebel XTi has been loaded up with power and features taken from its EOS 30D and 5D cameras. The XTi ($659, estimated street, body only; $719 with 18 - 55mm f/3.5 - 5.6 II EF-S lens) most notably captures 10.1-megapixel images — leapfrogging it ahead of the higher-priced 8MP Canon 30D and putting it squarely in competition with the Sony Alpha 100 and the Nikon D80. The Rebel XTi also gains a dust-reduction system that uses both hardware and software suppression of dust — a first for Canon DSLRs. The camera’s LCD doubles as an oversize alphanumeric status panel, showing key shooting data such as shutter speed, f-stop, ISO, and the number of shots remaining. This highly readable white-on-black display stays on except for when you’re looking through the viewfinder, turning off if an eypiece sensor detects your face — then back on again when you lower the camera. Another new XTi feature (one it shares with Canon’s top-pf-the-line professional DSLR, the EOS-1D Mark III) is its Self Cleaning Sensor Unit, which uses an ultrasonic micromotor to shake image-marring dust off the low-pass filter that protects the sensor. The XTi’s most outstanding feature, in our view, is its autofocus system. Inherited from its bigger brother, the Canon EOS 30D, this nine-point, wide-area AF array tracks focus tenaciously, making the XTi the best choice in its class for shooting sports, or anything else that’s moving fast.
2) Nikon D40
The obvious shortcomings of compact cameras and the shrinking prices of entry-level digital SLRs have spurred a huge growth in the DSLR market. Nikon hopes to continue that trend with the 6.1MP D40 ($560, street, with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens). The D40’s features and overall performance clearly raise the bar on the “entry-level” DSLR class. But will first-time DSLR owners be satisfied with the D40’s overall performance compared with its competitors or similarly priced advanced compacts such as the 10MP Canon PowerShot G7 ($500, street, with built-in 6X optical zoom)? And does it have what it takes to attract 35mm holdouts or current DSLR owners looking for a better camera? Yes and no. First-time DSLR shoppers can’t argue with the price of this camera — priced even lower than the Nikon D50 it replaces, and highly competitive with the 6.1MP Pentax K100D ($590, street, with 18-55mm lens), the older 8.0MP Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT ($600, street, with 18-55mm EF-S lens), and the 8MP Olympus Evolt E-500 ($580, street, with 14-55mm Zuiko lens). But current digital SLR owners who would like to upgrade their equipment will certainly be happier with a newer 10-megapixel DSLR (for some examples, see “10MP Shootout,” February 2007), even though they cost a few hundred dollars more. And Nikon 35mm SLR owners who have a bag full of Nikkor lenses and are ready to cross over to digital might ignore the D40, due to its lack of autofocus support for their older lenses. (Only relatively new Nikkor AF-S or lenses, and compatible third-party lenses whose AF motor is located in the lens, work with the D40’s autofocus system.) Also comapare to the 10-megapixel Nikon D40x.
3) Canon Digital Rebel XT
At the bottom of Canon’s digital SLR lineup, this very compact model offers excellent image quality for its class. Its fairly advanced exposure and metering controls rival those on the higher-end EOS 20D and 30D, although its performance at ISO settings higher than 200 isn’t nearly as strong. It also lacks the spot meter that the 30D provides to supplement Canon’s 9-percent Partial metering mode. While its autofocus system isn’t as fast or sensitive as the more expensive cameras’, it’s still quick, accurate, and capable of focusing even at EV -0.5 at ISO 100. Like the 20D and 30D, the XT has an APS-size CMOS sensor with a 1.6X lens-conversion factor, and it’s compatible with Canon’s less expensive EF-S lenses as well as the full line of EF lenses, EX-series Speedlites, and Canon’s E-TTL II flash system. The XT’s burst capability of up to 50 fine-quality JPEG images at 3.5 fps is impressive for the price. However, this camera has a shorter list of features and fine-tuning tools than many other cameras in its price range. The XT doesn’t capture TIFFs, but you can process its RAW images with the included Digital Photo Professional 2.1 software.
4) Nikon D300
The Nikon D300, Pop Photo’s 2007 Camera of the Year, features a 12.3-megapixel self-cleaning DX-format CMOS sensor and high-resolution (920,000-dot, or 307,000 pixel) 3-inch LCD with a 170-degree viewing angle. The camera takes F-mount lenses, and provides selectable 14-bit RAW image capture. The D300’s optical viewfinder provides a nearly 100 percent view of the image frame and 0.94x magnification. The camera’s CompactFlash slot supports the UDMA standard for fast write speeds. The D300 body also incorporates an HDMI port for outputting images to a high-definition screen.
The D300’s exposure controls include a native 200-3200 ISO range that can be expanded with a Lo-1 ISO 100 setting or a Hi-1 ISO 6400. In the lab, the D300 scored Excellent in the image quality category from ISO 200-3200, making it the first DSLR to earn that rating for the entire ISO 200-3200 range. Color accuracy scored Excellent for ISO 200-1600, resolution scored Excellent up to ISO 6400, and noise levels were Extremely Low at ISO 200 and only Moderate at ISO 6400. The camera also provides a new implementation of Nikon’s D-Lighting technology, making it available in shooting mode instead of simply as an image-correction tool. Active D-Lighting applies localized tonal changes to open up dark shadows while retaining highlight detail, and can be used at low, medium, and high settings.
The D300 supports Nikon’s iTTL external flash system and includes a built-in flash. Nikon claims the D300’s shutter lag clocks in at 45 milliseconds and its startup time at 0.13 second, thanks to the camera’s EXPEED image processor. Its drive mode speed is rated at 6 frames per second for a series of 100 JPEGs or 8 fps with Nikon’s Multi-Power Battery Pack MB-D10 attached. The D300’s 51-point autofocus system uses a new MultiCAM 3500 DX sensor, offering selectable 9-, 21-, and 51-point group dynamic autofocus. Its 15 cross-type sensors remain active with all Nikkor lenses. The camera employs face-detection technology and Nikon’s new Scene Recognition System to distinguish between subjects and backgrounds and detect movement, improving both autofocus performance and automatic exposure and white balance settings. The D300 (body only), which also includes Nikon Capture NX RAW conversion software, is available with a MSRP of $1799.95.
5) Nikon D60
The 10.2-megapixel Nikon D60 is an improved version of Nikon’s D40x camera. It retains the same body; viewfinder; battery, and 230,000-dot, 2.5-inch LCD with a wide 170-degree viewing angle. However, the D60 LCD and viewfinder have been upgraded with a sensor system that automatically rotates the LCD’s status display when the camera is turned and switches it off when the camera is brought up to the photographer’s eye. The D60 also has a new system for keeping dust off the sensor. It vibrates the low-pass filter that covers the CCD, in a similar manner to the system in the higher-end D300 SLR, and has an airflow control system that keeps more dust from getting near the sensor in the first place. The D60 uses the same image processing engine as the D40x, but Nikon has dubbed it “Expeed” in the new camera.
Among the notable functions that the D60 shares with the D40x are a 3fps drive mode, eight Digital-Vari Program scene modes, 3D Color Matrix Metering II, three-area autofocus, and support for Nikon’s wireless flash control system. New features in the D60 include more powerful in-camera RAW-to-JPEG conversion that allows the photographer to adjust numerous image parameters before saving the file; Nikon’s Active D-lighting feature, which opens up dark shadows while preserving highlight detail as a shot is taken; and a focus indicator that can be displayed in the viewfinder instead of the exposure meter to aid manual focus. The D60 also outdoes the D40x by capturing stop-motion movies, with selectable frame rates and sizes. Movies can be previewed on the LCD and adjusted before being saved as an AVI video file. Other additions include a digital cross filter for adding star effects to specular highlights, an RGB intensifier that lets the photographer increase the saturation of each color channel separately, and redeye correction. The D60 will be available in February 2008 in a kit with the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G lens. Pricing for the D60 with 18-55mm VR lens kit will be $749.95
