Camera Armor for Canon EOS Rebel XSi
Camera Armor is an excellent way to add a layer of protection to the investment in your digital camera with a full body sleeve, plastic protector for the LCD and a lens armor sleeve.
Ease of Use, Performance: 24/25
Look & Feel: 24/25
Features 24/25
How much I enjoy 24/25
Total: 96/100
This is such a great way to protect your camera, is easy to install and works so well while taking pictures that it has earned my Blue Ribbon for Excellence. The Camera Armor I was able to review for my Canon EOS Rebel XSi comes with the body armor, lens armor, LCD shield, pass-through bolt and a Lens Cap Leash as well as instructions for installing the armor.
Actually the armor is pretty self explanatory to install and you will probably have to remove your lens to get the body armor on but the rest can be installed without any problems or removing anything else. The kit even comes with a 1/4 inch extension or pass-through bolt for the bottom camera tripod mount so you do not lose any functionality for mounting your camera.
To install the armor on the Canon Rebel XSi you simply remove the lens and place the cover over the opening to protect the mirror and sensor during installation. Slip the armor on over the top and stretch the armor into place, then place the bottom armor onto the bottom of the camera body and slip the tabs into the main armor.
Once the armor is in place putting the plastic LCD cover and screwing the pass-through screw for tripod mounting onto the body is simple and then you remove your protective cover and put your lens back on. I did find that the armor does get in the way a little when putting the lens on or changing lenses but it does protect your camera body very well.
The armor grips tightly to the body of the Rebel XSi and is not bothersome or a problem at all when using your camera, as I said the only problem is a bit of a tight fit around the lens of the camera. The armor stretches a bit on the body and does hold around the circle of the lens opening tightly but not so tight that changing lenses is nothing more than a little more difficult than usual.
When you do change the lens you simply have to stretch the armor opening around the lens area a little and slip the lens in place while occasionally moving the armor out of the way. The armor fits well and even has a flap that covers the flash shoe for protecting that but it is only connected on the back and easily flips out of the way.
The flash shoe protection fits snuggly in place with a rubber tongue and groove sort of affair so when you don’t have a flash on it stays put. When you do have a flash in place the flap angles up along the back side out of the way and it is still easy to look through the view finder.
They really have gone through a lot of research and made sure that everything works well with the armor in place but you do have a few inconveniences. The armor does block a couple of the small button markings but all the buttons are usable even if the symbols or markings are covered.
The armor fits snuggly and works extremely well for a great way to protect your camera and ensure that scratches, dents and dings do not mar your investment. The armor will not of course protect against heavy damage or a drop but it will help reduce the damage if you do drop your camera.
The armor, clear plastic LCD protection and the lens armor provide a great all around protection for your camera and Camera Armor has plenty of models for many DSLR cameras. They have many of the popular models from Canon, Nikon and a few others including 8 Canon models, 8 Nikon models and four models one each for Fuji, Sony, Pentax and Olympus.
Camera Armor also has battery grip protectors and lens armor for general use on numerous models but may not fit all lenses or battery grips. The regular Camera Armor for specific models of cameras are designed specifically for that model and vary a bit in their design due to the various models.
Camera Armor works extremely well and I do like it for that extra bit of protection for your DSLR camera so much that it wins my Blue Ribbon for Excellence award. Check out the various models for your DSLR camera at CameraArmor.com with each armor set costing about $30.