RonFrank:
By 2002, film camera's had already dropped in price. Nikon had already released the coolpix lineup (1997), and Canon the Power shot (1996). The D60 was out as was the D100, and many pro level models as well (D1x/h, 1D) and DSLR's were taking the photojournalism world by storm. Consumers were flocking to digital, and film sales and prices dropping quickly.
I purchased a Rebel kit for my parents, and think I paid around $450 for it with one lens in the mid 1990's. My first AF camera was the Nikon 8008, and paid around $600 in 1988. To put the cost in perspective, at that time cost of a new single family house (national average, US Dept of Housing and Urban Development) was $112,500 as opposed to $264,540 in Oct. 2004 which is not current, but you get the idea.
You can't really use those numbers. House prices don't follow inflation and the houses being built today are not the same houses that were being built in the 80's. You can get really accurate if you want, but as a first guess, you can assume 3% inflation which gets you 1.03^16 or 60% total inflation. But cameras, like other electronic goods have *always* dropped in price. I was looking at a 1793 magazine yesterday advertising a Minolta entry range SLR for $300. That'd be $820 in today's dollars neglecting the serious inflation of the mid-late 1970's.
The Original Digital Rebel was a dumbed down camera. Thank Nikon for forcing Canon to offer a more full featured version with the release of the D70.
I'm not sure one can begin to compare the Rebel XT, an 8mpix, 3fps, 7 focus zone full featured camera that includes a TFT LCD for review, WB control, and a feature list that goes on for pages with the film Rebel. There is SOOO much more to the digital version that it surprises me they can sell them for what they do now!
Well, I own an original Digital Rebel, an Elan 7, and a film rebel. The original digital rebel is clearly more of a child of the Rebel than the Elan. What it's missing (off the top of my head) are a bunch of photographer features
DEP mode (A-DEP is not so great)
Mirror lockup
Selectable focus mode
Selectable metering mode
Rear control dial
Flash Exposure Compensation
The only ways it was more like the Elan were in size and weight and a metal lens mount.
Now the recent Rebels seem to have solved MLU and the focus and metering modes (although menus are not nearly as useful as switches as on the Elan). The size of the new Rebels is a lot smaller and more toy like.
Of course, I'm leaving off digital-only things, since there is no comparison, but where the two compare head to head even the new Rebels are not more featured and more ergonomic (the rear wheel is a big deal) than an old $400 Elan.
That's not to say that every camera mentioned in this post isn't a great camera, they are. They just serve different niches and the Rebels are clearly for beginning DSLR people. I, for one, am becoming quite frustrated with mine having gone back to using my Elan for the last couple of months. If you want to match the advanced amateur experience of the Elan or the EOS 3/5, you need to head up to the 20D/30D which will set you back around $1000.
Edit: I don't use any of these underwater, I use an A620. I don't want to spend $1500 on a housing and port just so I can flood an expensive camera.