While we are primarily a computer hardware website, occasionally a piece of consumer electronic news catches our eye; given that photography and computers often go hand in hand here is some official news from Canon about their latest creation.
The company has officially announced its latest prosumer DSLR, the EOS Rebel T2i (EOS 550D outside of North America). The camera is said to take mixture of ideas from the original T1i along with Canon’s professional offerings, the EOS 7D. It uses a similar 18MP APS-C CMOS sensor and the 7D’s 63-point iFCL metering system, it also boasts Canon’s DIGIC 4 image processor with ISO 100-6400 (expandable to 12,800). Unlike the 7D, it is only able to pull off 3.7FPS during continuous shooting.
Another notable improvement is the update to filming in full 1080p at a 30FPS (or selectable 25/24fps) compared the T1i’s simple 20FPS and also allows for 720P at 60FPS (50fps selectable). More improvements on the movie front include a zooming “Movie Crop” function handled by the CMOS sensor that provides roughly 7x effective magnification without losing quality in SD.
“There is no question that HD video is the biggest trend in DSLR technology and because of this we are seeing the creativity of still photographers transferring to the moving image. Still photographers are using the various lenses and accessories they are already familiar with to create amazing video footage,” stated Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. “Taking that HD video quality and putting it in the hands of entry-level photographers with cameras like our new EOS Rebel T2i, we are seeing a new generation of creative digital artists emerge.”
Externally, the T2i has a widescreen 3.0″ display, auto pop-up flash, self-cleaning sensor unit, and an SD/SDHC/SDXC memory card slot. It also is said to improve the button layout over the old T1i.
The camera is available with a EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens kit and will hit store shelves sometime in March for roughly $800 for the body and $900 as a kit.
