Canon watchers will however note the company has once again trumped its semi-pro model in terms of resolution. The earlier 400D / XTi sported 10.1 Megapixels when the EOS 30D had 8, and now the new EOS 450D / XSi has 12.2 Megapixels to the EOS 40D’s 10.

As expected, the EOS 450D / XSi features Live View, and interestingly Canon has again trumped the 40D by offering both traditional phase-change AF on the 450D / XSi, along with a new contrast-based AF option.

Contrast-based AF allows the 450D / XSi to auto-focus in Live View without flipping down its mirror. This sounds quicker, although in practice, like Panasonic’s L10, this can actually take longer; the benefit though is not losing the image, nor sounding like you’ve taken a shot. Unlike Panasonic’s L10 though, the 450D / XSi can perform contrast-based AF with any Canon lens, without the need for any firmware updates.

Speaking of lenses, the EOS 450D / Rebel XSi is optionally bundled with the recently launched EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS lens. This has the same range as the previous standard kit lens, but now includes Image Stabilisation to combat camera shake. This is undoubtedly to combat rival DSLRs with built-in anti-shake facilities, although as an optical system, the stabilising effect of the Canon lens can be seen through the optical viewfinder.

Other enhancements include an improved viewfinder, bigger screen, quicker AF, slightly faster continuous shooting and spot metering. Interestingly, Canon has also switched from Compact Flash memory to SD cards.

So there’s a raft of improvements, but how well do they work in practice and are they worth having? Find out in our Canon EOS 450D / Rebel XSi review where we’ll check out the new features and compare it against its predecessor and other key rivals including the Sony Alpha DSLR-A350. And as always, you can see a demonstration of its key features in our Canon EOS 450D / XSi video tour.