Canon Rebel T1i: The Perfect Camera for Newbies PLUS Rumors of the T2i Release

Canon Rebel: An Advanced Line for Great Pictures & Video
Photographers everywhere know exactly what the Canon name means, the utmost in photographic image quality. And, for the most part, the Canon Rebel T1i, AKA the Canon EOS 500D, is really not too much different. It is also not too different from its predecessor, the EOS Rebel XSi, by way of design, as they are practically identical looking. The T1i however, is by all means a Canon and an awesome camera too-for a newbie that is. The Professionals might just want to stay away form this particular EOS class camera, for reasons you will soon understand. The perfect still camera and digital video camera it's not, but it comes very close and is awesome nevertheless. The Canon Ti ships two ways, with, or without, the f3.5-5.6 18-55mm IS lens. Some people who already have a Rebel, or an EOS may already have a lens laying around, so they could only purchase the body, and cut the cost dramatically.

The Good: Camera & Video Pros
This Canon EOS is the T1i, a digital SLR with Live View Mode and a dedicated Live View button on the back and digital HD video recording. The 15.1 megapixel camera sports a total of 15,500,000 pixels. While the camera supports a color CMOS optical sensor type, it weighs only 1 pound 9 ounces and its Height, Width and Depth measurements come in at 3.9, 5.1 and 2.4 inches respectively. Camera sensors such as Dust Reduction, a Self Cleaning Sensor Unit and the EOS Integrated Cleaning System (it cleans itself!) are built in. Other specs include an optical stabilizer, an image stabilizer; perfect to help prevent blur, for handheld cameras at slow shutter speeds or with the high optical zoom and a light sensitivity of ISO 6400, ISO 12800, ISO 100-3200, ISO auto (100-3200).

T1i uses a Zoom lens - 18 mm - 55 mm - F/3.5-5.6 Canon EF-S, with a focal length of 18 mm - 55 mm (29 - 88 mm equivalent to 35 mm)using both manual and automatic adjustments. Auto focus uses TTL phase detection with a 9 zone focus, for faces or backgrounds. The Canon EF-S Lens system mounting uses a 3X optical zoom which is manually adjustable, and a pop-up flash. The images are saved as RAW, JPEG, and RAW + JPEG formats and it uses a few different preset program modes including Close-up, Landscape, Sports mode, Portrait mode and Night portrait; plus numerous special effects including Neutral, Faithful, and Portrait, among others. The Field of Crop factor of 1.6, crops out any mistakes. It also has a delay self timer form 2-10 seconds with shutter speeds from 30 seconds minimum to 1/4000 maximum.

Video Recorder
Apparently, the Rebel T1i has almost identical video features as its predecessor, the EOS Rebel XSi. For starters, it is of course an HD true widescreen (16:9) with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels at only 20fps, but if you lower the resolution to 1280x720 pixels, you can get up to 30fps out of it. In SD mode (4:3), resolution is 640 x 480 pixels also at 30fps. It uses an HDMI Type C output for combined audio video output. The viewfinder of the cam is an optical eye-level mirror pentaprism with 95 percent field coverage using an auto focus frame with 0.87 times magnification. The 3 inch LCD display is a built in TFT active matrix color touchscreen, with on-screen status information. Total memory storage is kept on a microSD card, storing as many photos as the resolution and image format allows, typically from 0.9 Mb to 20.2 Mb. Also, no device of this caliber would be complete without USB 2.0 compatibility. Its battery support includes the standard Canon LP-E5 and the 1 x Lithium-ion rechargeable battery at 1080 mAh, the Lithium of which is included in the box with a wall charger.

The Bad: Camera & Video Cons
The drawbacks of the Canon T1i are surprisingly few, although they are very important in terms of the overall quality of pictures and video it produces. For example, this camera cannot continuously auto focus when in Live View mode. This is because when Live View is activated, a mirror goes up which brings the view onto the LCD screen and because the auto focus sensors are on the top of the camera, they become blocked, essentially making the auto focus blind. So, when in Live View mode, the camera automatically analyses the image with the internal computer sensors. Also, according to independent tests done by the Wired.com team, the camera seems to have a color problem, calling them "comic-book oversaturated," and they also state an orange hue tinges most every photo, especially with indoor shots, the reds look weak and the outdoor shots are often overexposed. The upshot to this, however,, most times only a professional photographer would know the difference between these shots and shots with perfect colors.

As for the video recording mode, the LCD screen is not a very good judge of color or brightness and contrast, so always use your own judgments while keeping this fact in mind when adjusting the outside lighting or the camera's settings, or you may wind up with over or under saturated pictures or video. This Canon's video mode is also like that of its predecessors, not very good at assessing focus problems. The resolution, while very good, still is not good enough. There is no external microphone jack, so if you are planning on shooting a movie, you will definitely have to record the sound separately and integrate it later on. The sound it does pick up includes the noise it makes when handling it, making extra steps for editing. The LCD cannot swivel, meaning when taking video, you have to have it right up to your face to see it. This can be cumbersome, but no more so than the video cameras of the past.

The Future: The T2i Rumors
On February 1 2009, there was a rumor on various news and blog sites talking about an upcoming release of the newest addition to the Rebel family, the Rebel T2i. There is not much known about this new Canon addition, except it will look much like the T1i, and include some updates to the housing including a new build quality and shape for a Rebel, updates to the LCD for an even higher resolution, include selectable FPS (Video), and it will also support a new battery, the LP-E8. Unfortunately, it looks like no upgrades will be made t the color quality, which is a shame because that is the one thing keeping anyone from giving it 5 stars, or recommending it to a professional photographer for that matter.

The Verdict Overall
Overall, this is an awesome camera. The downfalls aren't even too bad; if you take into consideration the fact the color "problems" are hardly noticeable at all by an amateur. For a professional, however, it might just be enough of a problem to move on to the next best thing. But, for a professional combination camera video recorder that is under $1000, you really can't beat its quality. The whole Rebel series as a matter of fact is a series of almost perfect cameras. It is a Canon Rebel, after all, and it is still the best on the market, despite its limitations.

References & Resources
:ZDNet Reviews: Canon EOS Rebel T1i (With 18-55 mm lens)
Wired Reviews: The Canon Rebel EOS T1i
Canon EOS
EOS Rebel T1i EF-S 18-55mm IS Kit Digital SLR Camera
Canon EOS Rebel T1i (with 18-55mm IS lens)
Canon Rumors:Canon Rebel T2i (CR2)