Digital Home Thoughts - News & Reviews for the Digital Home

"There's a full explanation of the differences between the 500D/T1i and it predecessor on the coming pages but, in general terms, it's a gentle re-working of the 450D. So you get the 15MP sensor much like the one that appears in the 50D, helping this to become the first entry-level DSLR to feature video (and 1080p HD video at that). You also get the lovely 920,000 dot VGA monitor that has been slowly working its way down most manufacturer's DSLR line-ups. There are a handful of other specification tweaks that come from the use of the latest Digic 4 processor but essentially this is most of a 50D stuffed into the familiar 450D body."

In typical dpreview.com fashion, this preview walks through all the major components in the new Rebel T1i, essentially giving you an online version of the manual before you get your hands on the camera. If such a thing tickles your geek fancy, go check it out...

"Canon announces the new 15.1MP EOS 500D which offers photographers an outstanding combination of features. Following the launch of the first Canon EOS camera to shoot movies - the EOS 5D Mark II in September 2008 - Canon now brings Full High Definition (HD) video capability to consumers in a compact and lightweight DSLR. The new EOS 500D features a 15.1 Megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor - ideal for large detailed prints or enormous cropping possibilities. For shooting in near-dark conditions, the EOS 500D offers a high ISO sensitivity up to 3200 which is expandable to 12800, giving photographers the power to shoot in the dimmest light conditions. Outstanding noise reduction is made possible by Canon's DIGIC 4 processor."

The press release has the full details, but here are the specs you're probably curious about: the DIGIC 4 CMOS sensor snaps up to 3.4 frames per second at 15.1 megapixels, it has a three inch display with 920,000 dot resolution, the ISO goes up to 12,800, and it does 720p video at 30fps and 1080p video at 20fps, both in Quicktime MOV format (h.264). The MSRP is $899 USD. That's a lot of camera, and some great video functins, for the price. What I'm a bit curious about those is that 20fps 1080p video capture - on Canon's product page for it, it has the "Full HD 1080" gold logo - but I always assumed that in order to quality for that your product had to hit 30fps. 20fps is kind of weak Kung-fu if you ask me...but, heck, 720p video looks excellent so this camera will deliver some nice results.