It's early on, we know, but the
EOS Digital Rebel T1i is already shaping up to be a winner. Merely hours after its official unveiling, the shutterbugs over at
Imaging-Resource have put together a remarkably thorough hands-on preview that takes you through practically every feature offered on the new DSLR. One area of importance was the movie mode; we quickly noticed that Canon deliberately failed to mention the word "autofocus" when referencing "movie mode," and sure enough, the cam won't autofocus continuously. As
with the D90, this little fact puts a huge damper on what would otherwise be an (even more) amazing feature, but we suppose we'll chalk it up to baby steps and just hope for better at PMA 2010. At any rate, everything else seemed to exceed expectations, with their beta unit delivering image quality "at least as good as the
50D." Hop to the read link for all the rest.
posted March 25th 2009 10:46AM
I'm glad you brought up the continual focusing, cause that was the one feature I kept waiting to hear about in comparison to the d90. So it appears I won't be hocking my d80 and sanyo hd1000 combo for a while.... Thanks for the update.
Worse to me is the inability (of the reviewers, anyway) to change the aperture, ISO, or shutter speed when shooting video. What's the point of large-sensor video if you can't guarantee the aperture will be wide open for shallow DOF?
I think the Panasonic GH1 will be the only one doing this for a while. They had to specially design the lens to have this capability.
So is this a more affordable 5D MkII?
Bummer no 24fps video...
I really couldn't care less if the camera auto-focuses when shooting video. Video's a bonus on a DSLR; if you want camcorder features, buy a camcorder. It's like saying you're going to trade in your camcorder because it doesn't do auto-bracketing on still images.
This camera looks like a winner to me; only concern I have is that last shot in the high-ISO test vs. the XSi, where it had trouble with the low-contrast red fabric (and it REALLY had trouble with it). But that might be because it's a beta camera too. Overall, the lack of noise at high ISO's given the sensor density is pretty amazing, especially given that there's (usually) no loss of detail evident with the noise reduction. The image quality is clearly superior to the Nikons in the same tests.
Now I just need to decide if it's worth it to me paying the extra for this camera over the XSi. Movie mode would be nice to have, but my main need right now is a new camera to take product shots for my little web store (http://www.tokyorebel.com) and also the occasional vacation photo or two. I don't have a camcorder now and never really felt like I was missing anything given the crap most people shoot with their camcorders - I'd rather just take good stills.
The only other really notable thing this has over the XSi is 3 extra megapixels, which don't really matter much... plus generally better high ISO performance. I think for me it will come down to whether the high ISO performance justifies whatever the extra cost is.
Jeff - Filmmakers are interested in video-shooting SLRs.
Why?
Because they shoot more film-like images than camcorders.
C
Glad to see ISO 100-3200 becoming a standard. H2: 12800 is very exciting for a CMOS sensor. Kinda makes me wonder if I should make the jump from my Xti to a 5D Mark II or not??
Might have to trade in my XSi for this one. I could really use that better ISO performance!!
Just because it can go higher doesn't mean it will look good. If you want ISO performance get a 10 MP 1D MKIII
G1H can autofocus..more frames per sec.
The G1H also doesn't have Phase Detection auto focus and it's not a true SLR.
The T1i is an SLR, it uses phase detection auto focus. For a true SLR to have focus during video it needs to have image sensor based contrast detection AF. Obviously Canon doesn't have contrast detection AF for their SLR sensors yet.
I stand corrected, the Rebel can contrast detect, and it can auto focus in video mode, just not continuously.
I bought my Son one for his Birthday and he absolutely loves it.
RT
www.privacy-tools.us.tc
someone hack the firmware to allow 24, 25 and 30fps 1080p video recording already!
Yes, I expect this will happen pretty quickly.
If this is supposed to be competing with the Nikon D90, where's the LCD display on the top of the body with your current shooting settings? Movie mode is nice and all but having an immediate display of your settings is much more important.
Also, what's with the silly "Digital Rebel" naming scheme for the US? I realise this has been around for a while does anyone know why?
Hmm, I'm inclined to complain less given that the Canon is supposed to be about $300 cheaper than the Nikon D90. I still feel that the LCD on the top plate ought to be there on a camera like this (heck, I'd like to see it on all) but $300 is a reasonable amount of money and perhaps worth the inconvenience.
I know that in Europe it's called 450D,400D etc etc..
In Europe apparently "Rebel" has a bad connotation
I don't know why they don't call it 450D,400D in N/A
In japan it's called Kiss
Silly canon...
Canon Kiss? Well, I didn't know that. I guess the "Digital Rebel" moniker could have been a lot worse then. Cheers for that nugget of information.
if youve seen marketing materials, the kiss line is meant for japanese families and that means housewives since dad is putting in 80 hrs a week at the city office. go to japan (or go to the japanese canon site) and look at the marketing images and the sample images they choose to show for the Kiss line.
obviously, consumer-level gadgets in the US are bought by dads to photograph their kids sports and music events. so Kiss is out. Boring suburban dads want to be rebels so there is the camera for them. Keep in mind how old the Rebel moniker is. Has anyone seen old Rebel marketing collateral with Andre Agassi? Now suburban dads can be hairy tennis stars. Recent rebel collateral, especially for the XTi focuses on taking pics at your kids pee-wee football games. This ties in with their NFL sponsorship.
European naming? must be the japanese think europeans like number schemes. Like Mercedes and BMW number schemes. I have no idea to be honest.
but having different names for the same products in different countries is common. think about car names...who wants to buy a Nissan Fairlady? Me! Because in the states its called a Nissan 300Z. common stuff. and they cant simply abandon years of brand recognition just to stay current. "rebel" may have been the word on everyone's tongue back in the 80s. it sounds cheesy and dated, but it is better that thinking of something new for every generation. What *should* they call it now? Canon Digital LOL WTF T1i
It's been around for a VERY long time. Since the early 1990s, if not earlier. (I've got a 1995 Canon Rebel G 35mm SLR, and that was far from the first Rebel.)
the 5D Mark II doesn't autofocus continually in movie mode, no reason the rebel would.
Ok, I'm back and I've decided to buy this as soon as its available and spend the extra $2,000 on a grip and some lenses. I'm in love.
Where have you been Jake?
Canon cameras support chkdk software, third party firmware development. There's no reason many devices with a cpu, memory and a network option can't support its own evolution, even when the product is no longer viable on hardware features it will still have a life and can be passed on, and can be a part of an intelligent network rather than a standalone device. This means making things hackable, fixable, and interoperable. I'd like to not buy any gadgets unless they have a guaranteed future, rather than the disposable attitude that prevails today. It would just take a shift in consumer expectations for manufacturers to support this option. http://wiki.zooid.org/wiki/Lifetime_networked_gadgets
Typical Japanese approach to product bracketing. They have limited features at certain values ("HD" video at 20 fps?) so as to keep the product from cannibalizing sales in other product lines. Canon would rather have thirty different DSLR models with half-assed feature sets than five models that do things well.
thats huge
This is a bunch of crap crap crap. Just go with the D90. The D90 already has better image quality and better high ISO performance than the 50D (even better than the Nikon D300). Plus, you can actually record at 24fps. If any of you pull that, "But this has more MEGAPIXELS" bullshit, I'll jump through the screen and slap you because for those that don't know, megapixels has little to do with image quality. Call me a fanboy all you want but know that I shoot both Canon and Nikon. This is primarily why I'm switching to Nikon though because Canon is so out of touch with users. I'll fully switch to Nikon if they keep trying to trick us users who can't afford the pro DSLRs with this gimmicky bullshit.
For Jesus, you are pretty dumb. This camera can do 30fps in 720p mode...
Wait, did anyone check in with ole rosy cheeks Ken Rockwell? I heard he's the best at reviewing these gizmo's. P.S. I can find the D90 at reputable online camera sites for $859/no tax/free shipping.
Tommy likey!