I decided to upgrade from the Rebel XT, for the simple reason that I’m in my 40s, have had Laser surgery on my eyes, and my close up vision isn’t as good as it once was. Of course the first thing you notice is the 2.5″ LCD. With the elimination of the mini-LCD on the XT, which displayed the camera settings, everything is now on the large LCD. This is a huge improvement for us middle aged folks. No more accidentally shooting at 1600 because this setting was buried. The current camera settings are staring you in the face.

I’ve just received the camera and have taken a few test shots. The first thing I noticed is the 9 point AF is much more robust than the Canon XTs focus system. So much so that I will have to turn down the sharpness especially on portraits.
I have a couple Canon L series lenses, and to my surprise, my initial opinion is the XTi shots seem significantly sharper than the Canon XT. The only thing I can attribute this to is the new AF system.

As for the dust cleaning system. Time will tell, but you do see a dust cleaning screen for a couple seconds after power up/down.

For the most part, the rest of the camera is pretty much the same as an XT. If you are used to the XT menu, you will have no problem navigating the XTi menu…it’s the same. USB Interface, batteries, charger etc…all the same as the Canon XT. I was glad to see this camera still uses CF, because I have invested a little cash in memory cards..

I had been saving up for the 30D, but when I saw news releases about the XTi, I bit because of the 2.5″ LCD and 10mp. Perhaps Canon will lose some 30D sales until they upgrade the 30D to 10mp. At 4-500 less, I couldn’t resist the XTi.

So my initial opinion, pending more test shots and some serious shooting, is I’m very happy with this purchase.
Just the 2.5″ LCD alone, was reason enough for me to upgrade.