Building on its EOS Digital Rebel series, Canon has developed a faster, smaller 8-megapixel Rebel XT SLR. Although the size of the APS-C CMOS sensor on the XT SLR is fractionally smaller than that of the EOS 20D camera, individual pixel dimensions are identical, and both provide the same effective angle of view, equivalent to 1.6x the normal EF lens focal length.

The new XT digital camera can shoot up to 14 consecutive 8-mega-pixel JPEGs, five RAW files, or four RAW or large/fine JPEGs at a rate of up to three frames per second. The EOS Digital Rebel camera's smaller buffer permits bursts of only four 6.3-megapixel JPEG or RAW frames at a rate of up to 2.5 frames per second.

Like the Rebel SLR, the XT model has an ISO range of 100, 200, 400, 800 and 1600. In addition, the auto ISO setting has been raised to 400 to help improve image quality, reduce camera shake and brighten the scene behind subjects when taking flash photos. The XT also offers 12-exposure modes: full auto, portrait, landscape, close-up, sports, night portrait, flash off, program AE, shutter speed-priority AE, aperture-priority AE, manual and auto depth-of-field AE.

Whereas the original Digital Rebel required dedicated software to extract middle/fine-resolution JPEGs from larger, uncompressed RAW image files, the new model saves RAW and large/fine-resolution images as separate files on CompactFlash cards. The user also has the option of selecting RAW (8-megapixel) files only.

Among the new features found on the XT are selectable metering and autofocus modes, flash exposure compensation control, improved E-TTL II evaluative flash metering and custom function control. The Digital Rebel XT SLR also has a monochrome mode for black-and-white images.

The EOS Digital Rebel XT is offered in two kit configurations: with and without Canon's EF-S 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 zoom lens. The estimated price for the zoom lens kit is $999, while the body-only kit will sell for $899.