Canon EOS Rebel

The EOS Rebel T3i has an 18.0 Megapixel CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor that captures images with exceptional clarity and tonal range and offers more than enough resolution for big enlargements or crops. This first-class sensor features many of the same new technologies as used by professional Canon cameras to maximize each pixel’s light-gathering efficiency. Its APS-C size sensor creates an effective 1.6x field of view (compared to 35mm format).

 The Canon DIGIC 4 Image Processor dramatically speeds up the entire EOS Rebel T3i DSLR’s camera operations for intuitive operation and offers improvements in both fine detail and natural color reproduction. It works in concert with the EOS Rebel T3i DSLR’s CMOS Image Sensor to achieve phenomenal levels of performance in nearly any situation.Amazing Results, No Matter the Light. ISO 100 – 6400 (expandable to 12800) for shooting from bright to dim light.

The EOS Rebel T3i features an expanded ISO range that makes shooting possible in situations previously unthinkable without flash. With an ISO rating up to 6400 (expandable to ISO 12800), along with the DIGIC 4 Image Processor's improved noise-reduction technology, creative possibilities abound. Combine the EOS Rebel T3i with one of Canon's EF or EF-S lenses with Optical Image Stabilizer and the shooting possibilities for both movies and stills expand even further.

Improved EOS Full HD Movie mode with manual exposure control, expanded recording [1920 x 1080 Full HD video at frame rates of 30 (29.97), 24 (23.976) and 25.0 frames per second] with new Movie Digital zoom and Video Snapshot features for enhanced video shooting options.

The EOS Rebel T3i does not just shoot video clips, it offers the enhanced ease-of-use, image quality, smooth frame rates and adaptive exposure compensation necessary in a professional video-making tool by boasting the most advanced EOS video capturing features to date: When Full HD (1920 x 1080) is set, you can use Movie Digital Zoom to magnify the center of the image by 3–10x while at the same time maintaining gorgeous Canon Full HD image quality. With the Video Snapshot feature, the EOS Rebel T3i DSLR will capture short video clips (of 2, 4 or 8 seconds) then combine them automatically into one video file as a snapshot or highlights “album.” With no editing needed after shooting, the compiled video is perfect for sharing online or displaying directly on an HDTV via the camera’s HDMI port.

In addition to a number of different recording size and frame rate modes, the EOS Rebel T3i enables easy manual control of exposure, focus and Live View features and even allows for in-camera editing. The large CMOS sensor and compatibility with over 60 lenses provide a wealth of depth-of-field options. And it’s all as easy as the press of a button — the EOS Rebel T3i has a dedicated Live View/Movie Recording start/stop button that gets the shooting started fast.

Manual focus is surprisingly much better on the STM. If you have backbutton focus enabled, then just half-pressing the shutter button activates the focusing. On the STM, the focus travel is perfectly chosen for each focal length, while the physical gearing on the non-STM is too twitchy at the long end and too slow at the wide end.

The STM has a stiffer zoom, while the non-STM has a lovely and delicate zoom feel. However, the non-STM has a crowded wide end, while the STM spreads focal lengths out evenly. The STM has a zoom lock, but it doesn't really need it.

For the money, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i is a great choice for dSLR videographers--though the cheaper T2i can still suffice if you don't need the articulated LCD--and it's a solid choice for creative still shooters. But though the image quality and general shooting performance are top-notch, if you're upgrading to capture sports, kids, or pets, the T3i may not be able to keep up.

That's not to say it compromises on still photo quality. Overall, the T3i has an excellent noise profile, unsurprisingly similar to that of the 60D's. JPEGs look very clean up through ISO 400, and even at ISO 800 you really have to scrutinize to see the beginnings of detail degradation; at ISO 1,600 the noise becomes more obvious but still isn't too bad.

ISO 400 is sort of my tipping-point sensitivity; to shoot action outdoors, I generally have to bump up the setting to at least ISO 400 in order to reach a sufficiently fast shutter speed. And because few consumer cameras are fast enough at shooting burst raw+JPEG, the in-camera JPEG processing has to be decent as well. The T3i fared pretty well under these conditions. Overall, I consider shots at this setting good enough to use, but I still wish I would have been able to shoot raw to clean them up.

I have always been a photo fiend, taking my camera everywhere and pulling it out at any opportunity. While I'd gotten to a decent level of archiving important moments with my point-and-shoot cameras over the years, I wanted to take my photography to the next level. I was inspired by my brother-in-law's photos of his kids to take the dSLR plunge. But I knew (and still know), very little about professional photography. I wanted to start taking better photos right away. But I also wanted to have room to grow as a photographer and a camera that would grow with me.