Canon Digital Rebel XT: Hardly an Entry-Level DSLR

Battery Performance

Our general method for battery testing is to reset the camera to its default settings and change the recording mode to the highest quality option (RAW). Then, we take 5 pictures without the flash and 2 pictures with the flash until the battery is dead. For more information on our battery test, please refer to our Testing Procedures page. For this test, we used the supplied rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for each camera. For the Canon 20D and 300D, this was a BP-511A 7.4V 1100 mAh. The Canon 350D uses an NB-2LH 7.4V 720 mAh. The batteries were fully drained before charging overnight for the test.

	Number of shots taken in one battery charge
Canon 20D	4,353
Canon 350D	3,818
Canon 300D	1,630

Despite having a smaller battery with a smaller capacity, the 350D performed extremely well in our battery test. We were able to take 3,818 frames with the 350D compared to 4,353 with the 20D. As the table above demonstrates, the 350D is more comparable to the 20D than it is to the 300D. We should also mention that the new BG-E3 battery grip is available for the 350D, which runs approximately $150. The grip can hold either 2 NB-2LH batteries or 6 AA's. We have heard of some people buying the BG-E3 grip in order to compensate for the smaller main grip. This is something to keep in mind if you think your hand might be uncomfortable with the main grip. The only way to find out is to actually hold a 350D in your hands to get a feel for how well the main grip will work for you. Even without the extra battery potential of the BG-E3, we are extremely impressed with the 350D's performance in our battery test. Keep in mind that the actual number of frames that you will get out of the 350D will vary based on a number of factors such as image stabilization, periods of inactivity, temperature, etc. Our battery test represents more of an ideal number of shots that you could achieve if you shot continuously until the battery was empty.