A significant overhaul and a great camera. At this price it’s the best all-round package on the market

Rarely has a new camera received as much attention as the EOS 300D, released amid a flurry of excitement among photographers and a massive marketing campaign. Why the fuss? Because it's a true 6.3-megapixel digital SLR for under $2,000 including lens. It sounds expensive in the context of the cameras in this month's digital cameras Labs, but the previous generation of several models in that test were nudging a grand when they were released.

A decent enough addition to the legendary EOS range, but there are too many competitors at this price.

High performance with a matching price tag.

The 450D’s superb sensor makes it the best choice if quality is your priority. It doesn't beat the Sony A200 for value, but for the best quality below $1500 the 450D has the edge.

Canon’s SLR fails to make the enormous splash of its predecessors, but it’s still a great camera in its own right.

For a DSLR that does everything an amateur is ever likely to want, with a terrifyingly cheap price tag, look no further.

The A330 is a competent, fully featured and easy to use DSLR, but a backward step in some respects.

Not the pinnacle of image quality, but superbly compact with plenty of neat features

They may look big and complicated, but a digital slr is just as easy to use and takes far better pictures than a pocket digicam