Canon Announces New Rebel

Canon has announced the newest in its long line of hugely successful Rebel DSLRs, the Rebel T1i (EOS 500D in the rest of the world). The big news this time is that the camera will record 12 minute clips of full HD video (or, alternately, 18 minutes of 720p HD video or 24 minutes of SD video). As a still photography site, we officially don't care about that...but you might.

As a still camera, the new T1i is likely to be every bit as good as every previous top Rebel—starting with the very first, which was a very good picture-maker despite its then-groundbreaking low price. This one offers a 15.1-MP sensor virtually guaranteed to have excellent high-ISO performance, live view in both still and video mode, and the same 3-inch-wide, 920,000-dot viewing screen as the one found in the EOS 5D Mark II. It will shoot nine raw images at 3.4 fps, and uses Canon's DIGIC4 imaging processor with 14-bit analog-to-digital conversion. Unfortunately, it still has a smallish pentamirror finder, albeit with good eye relief for eyeglass wearers. (The finder compares favorably to other cameras in the Rebel's class; it's just that that's not saying much.) Also unfortunately, still no body-integral IS. And no weatherproofing. It does have sensor cleaning. The T1i is nigh on perfect in size and weight for comfortable handling and carrying as long as you don't saddle it with too chunky a lens.Also announced is a nifty new coat-pocket flash unit made specifically for the new Rebel, the Speedlite 270EX, which features bounce up to 90° and runs off two AA batteries.

Speedlite 270EX side views; on right, with head extended for 90° bounce

List price for the new camera is $800 for the body only or $900 with a kit lens. Ships in early May.

Mike

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Comments

[Tom]

It is also known as, I believe, the Kiss X3 Digital in Japan.

[David Dyer-Bennet]

A Canon-using friend (who is thus paying more attention than me) said this morning that it supports only 20fps at 1080p, so "full" may not be the right adjective.

Ah, here we go; I can confirm this limitation from the press release on the Canon USA web site at http://www.usa.canon.com/templatedata/pressrelease/20090325_t1i.html

[MarcW]

You will see body IS in Canon cameras when one of two things happens:

1) Canon becomes absolutely convinced that people are not only not starting out Canon because of the lack, but that people are switching out of Canon because of the lack.

2) Canon decides they just don't care about the higher profit margin on white IS L Superlenses and makes a plan to gradually retire them.

1 is possible in the next few years. 2 will not happen, ceteris paribus, for decades.

M

[Barbu]

I was expecting something along the lines of 60D (weak chance there, 50D is too fresh for replacement) but with the 12Mp sensor from XSi/450D; it has proven itself to be the best of the APS-C bunch, sometimes even better than the 10Mp sensor from 40D. My guess is that it all came down to the antialiasing filter. The 50D sensor (probably same thing now on 500D/T1i) seems to be crippled by a strong AA filter, and at base sensitivity (100, but also to 400) it simply doesn't have as much accutance as the older 10/12Mp sensors. It gets worse at higher ISOs, and the downsampling doesn't help there; one must wonder if they did that entirely driven by the marketing „engineers”...

Anyway, to the real piece there: the 270EX is a much more sensible upgrade, finally worh pairing with a 5D (the first version; except the LCD screen, I don't care much for the 5DmkII). Couple that with a modest zoom (24-105IS) or, better yet, with a 28mm f/2.8 or 50mm f/1.8 or f/1.4 lens, and you get a real photo tool which isn't as heavy on one's shoulder.
I use the 550EX and 580EX-II flashes, but a lot of times I'm going light and still could use a bounce flash; 270EX seems to be the most attractive investment for me, and that's even when choosing from all the recent (1-2 years) announcements from Canon.

Second on my list would be a Selphy ES2/ES30 printer; the posibility to quick check (even) a small black-and-white print makes me drool...

[erlik]

What a cute little flash. :-)

But: full HD is only at 20fps. Which is... crippling. 720p will have 30fps, though.

One thing always strikes me as more than slightly ironic - the name. Calling this "Rebel" when they sell oodles of the things is about the same as calling Britney Spears alternative rock.

[Mike Johnston]

Tom and DD-B,
Thanks...I made those changes in the post.

Mike

[hugh crawford]

"made specifically for the new Rebel"

I don't know, it looks to me like just the thing for fill flash on the 5D and 1D where Canon couldn't be bothered to feature a built in flash. No, wait a moment it's not as small as it looks, check out the side view. Maybe for Bob Keeshan's coat pockets? Still it has a bounce swivel and leans out to clear wide angle lens shades

[Martin Doonan]

That Speedlite might actually persuade me into using flash. Small and functional, nice.

[emptyspaces]

Like the little flash. If all it does is bounce and it can be dialed down in power, I'm in with that form factor.

The model name of the Rebel is idiotic, you NEVER should have a 1 and an i next to one another. What was wrong with 500D?

Why no 24fps?

Other than that, I'm sure it's as good as the other Rebels, nice cameras in my book.

[Tom]

They should call the 20fps mode the Benny Hill Mode.

[wtlloyd]

Captain Kangaroo flash! I want!

[Antony Shepherd]

So video-wise how does this compare to the Panasonic GH-1? I think the GH-1 can do 25 fps in full HD.

[Carl Leonardi]

This will be a great camera--the lens that comes with the kit is an IS lens at $100 extra and a very good lens at it's price point. With the cost of film and processing today,the camera is free at around 3,000 exposures. The video feature is great even if you only use it once. Since Canon has IS in so many of their lenses, they probably don't see a need for it in the camera. Most serious
shooters use a tripod, making it unnecessary. To me the live view is indispensable in todays cameras. I think the Sony A900 dropped the ball on that one.
No camera will ever have every thing that everyone wants --But most will have everything that you will need.
I blew up one of DPR's test photos to 12 feet wide that used the $100 lens--as a pro I will tell you it looked great.
will a $60,000 camera look better, of course. Would 99.9% of us like one, sure, do we need it--I don't think so.
I think back to the old film day and thank digital technology that they are gone. Digital newbies have no idea what a pain it was working with film and darkroom stuff.

[Ken Tanaka]

Mike; In-body image stabilization has become something that you seem to really crave. As a long-time Canon shooter, however, I really don't care about it in dslr-class bodies. Yes, I want (and have) it in my low-mass G10. But on my dslrs I have Canon's excellent IS in the long focal length lenses, which is the only place I really need or want it. I'd much rather that Canon concentrate its efforts on producing cleaner images in lower light at faster shutter speeds, something they clearly have been very successful doing during the fast several years.

I'll worry about in-body IS if I'm unfortunate enough to develop muscular tremors as my age advances.

[Marty McAuliff]

"Calling this "Rebel" when they sell oodles of the things is about the same as calling Britney Spears alternative rock."

Like, totally.
I would probably have owned more "Rebels" (or any at all) if they didn't have that stupid name...and even if you get the Euro model, everybody still knows you have a Rebel. ...worse, one of the silver ones. I'd rather get out my box of 64 Crayolas and draw the picture.
Petty, I know.

[Kathy Li]

The good thing about the 270EX is that Canon now has a counterpart to Nikon's SB-400. Bad part is it can't be used as a slave, and the "Manual" control is from camera menu, so I'm guessing that with older Canon dSLRs that don't have the flash control menu, it's an eTTL-only flash.

Absolutely ideal for pairing with the G9/G10, and those S-series bridge cameras, though.

Tom: I'd've called the 20fps Lumiere Mode or Bruckman Mode, myself. :)

[Tom]

"So video-wise how does this compare to the Panasonic GH-1? I think the GH-1 can do 25 fps in full HD."

The GH-1 can AF and Zoom in video mode. Not sure about exposure controls.

[David Long]

"The GH-1 can AF and Zoom in video mode. Not sure about exposure controls."

The GH-1 allows full manual control in video mode. And it has stereo sound, external mic jack, does 720p @ 60fps, etc. It was obviously designed with video firmly in mind.

[Bojidar]

Who needs 15 MP in an entry-level camera? Who needs 15 MP anyway? All this leads to is worse high-ISO performance, larger images, longer time to transfer the images, longer to open, longer to make a backup, you need a faster computer, etc, etc, etc.

[erlik]

"In-body image stabilization [...] As a long-time Canon shooter, however, I really don't care about it in dslr-class bodies. Yes, I want (and have) it in my low-mass G10."

Isn't G10 also lens-stabilised?

[David Bostedo]

"All this leads to is worse high-ISO performance..."

Bojidar - Not necessarily. That's likely true at a pixel level, but at an image level, the higher resolution will usually make up for the increase in pixel-level noise. So when you make a print or screen image, the noise actually appears lower than the previous sensor (assuming the same reproduction size). This is the case with the 50D vs. the 40D. And at low ISOs, you have higher resolving capability.

"This one offers a 15.1-MP sensor virtually guaranteed to have excellent high-ISO performance..."

Mike - While I'd agree (every current Canon has excellent high ISO performance) the performance may actually be worse at a pixel level than the previous generation, while still being better at the image level. (See above...although I'm sure you knew that. :)

[Mike Johnston]

"Mike - While I'd agree (every current Canon has excellent high ISO performance) the performance may actually be worse at a pixel level than the previous generation, while still being better at the image level. (See above...although I'm sure you knew that. :)"

David,
I know the theory. Wouldn't it be interesting to see one of the Bigs make a full-frame 6- or 8-megapixel camera with today's technology? I'd like to see that, although of course I won't be holding my breath.

Mike

[Bojidar]

I need a new DSLR and I have a Canon system, but the lack of in-body-IS is putting me off. So at the moment I'm not buying anything.

[Greg Smith]

I loved my 300D. I loved my 400D even more,
EXCEPT for the idiotic ISO button, which was relocated on the 450D, but its SD card and different battery style was a deal-breaker for me and I moved up to the 50D instead. The 50D's weight and mass make that one a whole different ball game. I have many fond memories and a ton of truly fine images from my Rebels. They are sweet handling cameras, go very, very well with L-series lenses and I do heartily recommend them without any hesitation whatsoever to anyone who is thinking about one. Just do it, you'll love it and wonder why you waited so long.

[James McDermott]

I have to agree with the 'Rebel' comment above. What is it about the US market that demands dumb pet-names for cameras? Does anyone really feel like firing on Fort Sumter with a plastic Japanese image-recording device? If it's such a good marketing idea, why are the company's 'serious' cameras given the same grown-up nomenclature as in the rest of the world?

[Carl Leonardi]

I realized this morning why I would not want or need IS in the camera. It's really very simple, try focusing a 400mm lens in the manual mode with out IS in the lens not very
easy, if not impossible.
IS in the camera does not stabilize the image you are looking at, making it more difficult to focus and frame the photo since you are always in a manual focus mode, in relation to viewing the subject.
Leaving IS out of the camera in my opinion is the right way to go.

[Dogman]

James--I don't think it's the US market that demands dumb names. The Rebel in Japan was originally "Kiss". The dumb name syndrome came from the manufacturer. We dummies just perpetuate it--Walkman, Discman, etc.

Carl--I often focus my EF 400/5.6L lens in manual mode without the aid of IS (since IS is not available in that lens). It's not hard to do at all but it's easier on a tripod than handheld.

I would love a Canon body with built-in IS. Most of my Canon lenses are older, shorter, faster prime lenses that never had the option of optical IS. I've even considered a move to Pentax just for that feature but I'm too heavily invested in Canon equipment to jump ship now.

If Canon ever does include IS in a body, it is likely to be in the Rebel series. These cameras appear to be the most innovative and practical of all Canon's models.

[Colin Work]

Well I could have predicted the flash was coming. How? Well it's exactly what I've been looking for so last month I went and bought a third party equivalent (probably saved some money though).

Do I want in body IS? Not too bothered. Would I rather have in body IS than video? YES!

Cheers,

Colin

[Carl Leonardi]

Dogman--They will probably discontinue that lens soon--the ƒ/4 DO lens has IS but is pricy. 10 years ago I didn't have a problem either--but at 68 you start to shake a little bit more.
The bottom line for me is, it's just something else that can go wrong with the camera. I also don't understand or have seen any comparisons of both types of IS (in camera and in lens) in the horizontal and vertical mode in the long mm lenses.
I still like the steady look when hand holding the long lenses.