There have been a few rumours about this recently, it was about time for Canon to update their entry level model with the new Digic III processor and the Live View technology they have put into their other cameras like the 1D MKIII and the EOS 40D.

There will be two kits, body only for $800 and one with a starter 18-55mm lens for $900

• 12.2 megapixel CMOS sensor
• SD/SDHC cards
• Larger viewfinder
• Live view mode, including contrast-detect AF
• Improved 9-point AF system
• Spot metering
• 3.0″ LCD monitor
• Continuous shooting at 3.5fps for up to 53 JPEG (6 RAW)

Finally Canon’s entry level cameras has spot metering! Something that has been missing (and rather important) for quite some time.

It’s also Canon’s first camera to use only SD cards (Supports SDHC).

Read the full release here:

Canon EOS 450D / Rebel XSi brief hands-on

This is a extremely useful page if you are into checking out the performance of the CF cards you are purchasing.

It’s also updated fairly frequently when new cards come out.

CF/SD Performance Database

The data in the tables below was derived by timing how long it took the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II to write out 16 Large ( Quality 8 ) JPEG and 10 RAW .CR2 photos to the card. Timing commenced when the camera’s card status light illuminated, and stopped when the light went out. Each test cycle was performed 3 times (if the card’s capacity allowed for that) to ensure accurate results. All cards were first secure erased, then formatted in the camera (except for larger-than-2GB SD cards, which won’t work in this camera unless they’re formatted on a computer), prior to testing.

Personally I don’t go for the latest fastest cards (Currently SanDisk Extreme IV 2GB) as they are expensive, but I only buy SanDisk as that’s what every pro recommends and they are definitely the most reliable.

I’m currently using 2x 2GB SanDisk Ultra II cards and 1x 1GB Apacer just as a backup.

As my camera is only 5fps and has a fairly good buffer (around 19 shots with RAW) and I don’t often shoot sport I don’t need the super fast write speed the 166x speed cards write.

I do recommend using SanDisk and also spreading out your cards, it’s better to have 4x 2GB cards than 1x 8GB card, as if that one 8GB card fails everything is gone..

A lot of people still use 1GB cards as they prefer to swap often and safeguard their pics.

I’m thinking of getting a PSD (Portable Storage Device) as well, something like the Epson P-5000, but they are so freaking expensive.

Urgh….GAS (Gadget Acquisition Syndrome) is bad.

Purpose
As fake memory cards have now proliferated throughout the marketplace, it is important to be able to spot a fake. This page includes methods to spot fakes, and examples of fake cards.

Why should you care?

• Inferior quality card - you’re not getting what you paid for
• No warranty - when the card fails, you’re out of luck
• Fake cards sometimes have invalid partition sizes, making it likely to fail
• It will drive costs of genuine cards up

Spotting a fake
Unfortunately there is no software which will test the card, and ensure that it’s genuine. You must manually scrutinise your card, (both visually and by testing it’s performance), to get some idea of it’s genuinity.

Presentation quality and differences

First thing to look for is poorly printed labels and material; most fake cards have slight differences from the real deal. Most manufacturers have a page where you can download high resolution pictures of their cards. Below is a list of manufacturer image page links:

• Sandisk
• Sony
• Olympus

Example of fake 1GB Sandisk SD Card

(Click here (http://www.pointful.com/files/files/incoming/disk_fake_vs_real.jpg) for high resolution image)

This particular card was also missing a notch, making it quite easy to spot:

Example of fake 2GB Sandisk CF Card - courtesy of mpot’s Fake SanDisk CF article (http://martybugs.net/articles/fakesandisk.cgi)

Note the faded red print on the back, and the “TM” next to “CF” at the top right side on the fake:

Note there is no serial on the bottom of the fake (serial blurred on the real one):

Note the fake box has no hologram:

Another example of Sandisk 2GB CF Card - courtesy of Mark Tranchant (http://tranchant.plus.com/notes/dodgy-cf)

Note the poor print and alignment of label:

Note the poor quality workmanship on edge, print quality and alignment of text:

Fake Sony Pro Duo 2GB

Note that the fake card has poor quality printing and does not have the same various extrusions and intrusions as the genuine card. With the number of lips and dips on the genuine card it isn’t difficult to spot the fake.

Fake Sony Pro Duo 2GB Ultra II courtesy of OCAU forum user Slugoid

Note there is no hologram sticker

Note the incorrect corporation name of ‘Sorry Corporation’

Note the incorrect serial number

Note that the front of the card looks very similar to a real card.

The SanDisk card manual was different to the real thing as well (note that the manual on the right hand is from a Sandisk Ultra II, wheras the manual on the left is for a ‘flash memory card’):

Performance issues

The second thing to look for is performance issues. Sisoft Sandra (http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/index.html?dir=&location=downandbuy&langx=en&a=) is a suite you can use for testing, with our example card, we got a less than stellar performance:

The fake 1GB SD Card card is a green line, and the red lines are similar specced cards.

Disk capacity and formatting

With most faked cards, the capacity is overstated by the disk being prepared with incorrect parameters, when partitioned. It is quite difficult to detect fake cards, by just the size of the partition, but sometimes the card will fail, if we do a format from the command line. The sandisk card from above failed thusly:

If you try this, and your card fails it will be unusable. To reformat it with the original parameters, you could try and put it in your camera, as it will not do as thorough checking as the format command does, (of course this won’t make a fake card good).
There’s a large thread in OCAU’s Photography Forum here (http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=479877) with more info about memory cards.

Whole article from Overclockers