Yes, that’s right, I am looking at the T2i, but like everyone else, my look is virtual rather than real, so for those expecting a hands-on review, you’ll have to wait until it ships.  For what it’s worth though, here’s some initial thoughts on looking through the specs that Canon released.  First off, their PR description from the landing page on their website:

“The new flagship of the EOS Rebel line, Canon EOS Rebel T2i brings professional EOS features into an easy to use, lightweight digital SLR that’s a joy to use. Featuring a class-leading 18.0 Megapixel CMOS Image Sensor and increased light sensitivity for low light photography, the EOS Rebel T2i also has an advanced HD Movie mode for gorgeous Full HD movies. Able to capture up to 3.7 frames per second, it’s ready to go the minute it’s picked up. Advanced Live View, a new wide-area screen, plus features like Canon’s brilliant Auto Lighting Optimizer and Highlight Tone features ensure brilliant photos and movies, easily. With some of the most advanced features of any digital SLR, it’s simply the best Rebel Canon has ever created.”

So, wow, right off the bat, they are calling it the new “flagship”.  Impressive words, but I am a little surprised by this as flagship is usually used in reference to the top-of-the-line in a product, which in Canon’s case is the 1Ds Mark III. Well, it’s a Japanese company though, so a minor nit…now, on to the nitty gritty details.

Media: First off, Canon has changed from the venerable CF format card to the SD format card for their entry level lines…which I think is a first (I am sure someone will sound off in the comments if I am wrong though).  This includes support for the traditional SD, as well as the high capacity, and the extended capacity cards (SDHC and SDXC respectively).  This is kind of cool as my P&S uses those card types, so this means buying fewer types of media for newcomers to the SLR world.  One point for Canon.

Megapixels: Weighing in at a whopping 18MP count – this is kind of surprising, given that the sensor is is the crop format – that’s an awful lot of pixels to be cramming onto a sensor that size.  With Nikon holding the edge in noise handling, I am afraid of what kind of noise this MP count will produce at anything above 400.  I remember my Canon XT (which had less than half the MP count at was pretty rough above the 400 ISO setting.  We’ll see, but for now I am afraid this is one point against Canon.

ISO/Shutter Speed: Well, they went and did it…not only did they jack up the MP count, but they also brought the super high ISO settings to the entry level cameras.  You can now shoot in High ISO mode (12800), so the amount of noise that is going to appear here will likely be screamingly high which is not a good thing.  Sure, it enables more low light shooting, but at what expense?  Give me better noise handling and I’ll be impressed, but with the 18 MP count, I am not holding my breath.  On the shutter speed side, also a little disappointed.  They’ve upped the ISO, and MP count, why did they leave such a cheesy shutter in there?  Only 1/4000ths of a second?  This is the same that the Rebel XT had some 4 years ago – you can’t improve shutter quality in 4 years?  How depressing….another 1/2 point off for a total of more more gig against the body in this category.

Video: Not a big shocker here as most cameras are moving to add the video recording capability in SLR’s.  The big advantage of having video in an SLR is that you can change lenses where formerly you needed super-expensive video equipment to do this.  The fact that Canon has extended the HD recording capacity to its entry level line of DSLR’s is impressive with a full 1080p.  It seems the format is also in the popular .MOV style which is probably one of the most portable ones available.  Kudos to Canon here, so one point for them on the video.

Frames per Second: No surprises here, the entry level is still not very fast with only 3.7 fps.  One of the reasons I upgraded to the 40D and am now looking beyond that is the burst of 6 fps that comes in mid range models, so am happy to leave that behind.  The fact that they were able to eke that much out with the new MP count is impressive, but stil,l very much “entry-grade” in the shutter fps count.  One point against ‘em (sorry guys).

LCD Monitor: I am glad to see that Canon has adapted in this regard and is now providing higher resolution screens for the entire lineup, with the entry level “flagship” weighing in at 1,010,000 dpi – something that my 40D doesn’t have!  The large 3″ size should be a notable nod as well so one point for you in this element.

Focusing Points: Only 9?  Really?  Disappointing, as this is available in many of the P&S line-up.  Pony up a little here Canon and give ‘em a few more to choose from.  A little surprising that they haven’t raised the bar here – given the advances in technology.  Sorry guys, but gotta dock another point here for not bringing up the count.

Price: Ah yes, the final point to consider when buying an SLR – how many sawbones are leaving your bank account.  The MSRP for this is not surprising given the market point as an entry-level DSLR:  $899  This does include the kit lens of an 18-55 IS lens…so if we take that price from B&H of $170 off, that means the body only will weigh in at roughly  $729.  Once you stock up on a spare battery, media, and swapping out what I am sure is the cheap-o strap (which is still the one provided in their high end 1Ds Mark III camera which boggles my mind) for one with decent padding, your price is right back up into the $800 range for the body and required accessories.  This really starts getting into the subjective element here, but for me, when I see entry level SLR’s in Target, Wal-mart, Costco, and the like for $600, and high end P&S cameras in the same category, shelling out an extra $200 for the feature set doesn’t really seem worth it to me.  I’d rather save the $200 for the accessories, with a lower end SLR from the big box stores, or get a high end P&S from B&H that pretty much does everything this does except the interchangeable lenses.  That, combined with the economy being what it is, and this seems a tad over-priced.  Sorry guys, but another notch against you here…you gotta adjust to market conditions and given the rest of your product line, it’s just not worth it!

So, what’s the final tally?  let’s take a look and see:

Points For: 3

• +1 – Media
• +1 – HD Video
• +1 – LCD Quality

Points Against:  5

• -1  – Price
• -1 – Focusing Points
• -1 – Frame Rate
• -1 – ISO/Shutter
• -1 – Megapixel count

The final tally has more cons than pros, which means I can’t in good conscience say that this body is worth jumping into the DSLR range for beginners.  Save some moolah and go with the XS – it’s got roughly the same frame rate with an MP count that is more appropriate for a crop sensor camera.  Granted, you don’t have the HD video and are dealing with a slightly smaller screen (2.5″ versus 3″), but how much are you really planning on using that screen for checking image sharpness anyway…probably not much – that kind of evaluation comes in during post.  And you save $320 in the process.  Start off with this and some nice glass and you can upgrade to the mid-range down the road which will give much better features in terms of IQ, response time, and the like.

So, there you have it- my first look/thoughts on Canon’s latest release.  Have you looked at the details yet yourself?  What do you think?  Is it worth it or a waste?  Am I off in my estimation?  Sound off in the comments, as your feedback and input is really what matters… enjoy the weekend, and we’ll see you back here on Monday!  Until then, happy shooting!

You knew it was gonna happen.  A new camera body has hit the market from Canon.  It was only a matter of  time.  The latest?  The Canon 1D Mark IV!  (That’s four in Roman numerals…)  What’s it got going for it?  Lots of features and functions.  Everything is being discussed ad infinitum from Megapixels to frame rates, to video, to shutter speeds to ISO’s, and everything in between.  In the end, I’ve come to one conclusion:  the camera market is always changing, always advancing, and new gear is coming out all the time – from all the vendors.  Want some proof?  The Canon line-up of Digital SLR’s in its entirety is little more than 2 years old – with the oldest being the 1D Mark III which was introduced in early 2007.  Take a look at the current active line-up of Canon DSLR’s and their dates of introduction (from Wikipedia):

• EOS 1Ds mark III – Mid 2007
• EOS 1D Mark IV – Two days ago
• EOS 1D Mark III – Early 2007
• EOS 5D Mark II – Mid 2008
• EOS 7D – 2009
• EOS 50D – Mid 2008
• EOS Rebel T1i – 2009
• EOS Rebel XSi – 2008
• EOS Rebel XS – 2008

That’s a lot of cameras!  And that’s only their active lineup!  Others that have been “deprecated” (taken out of production) include the 40D, 30D, 20D, 10D, Rebel XT and probably more.  It’s funny actually that the two SLR’s I have owned are the XT and the 40D – neither of which is in production anymore.  And both of these cameras were absolute cutting edge on their release roughly 2 years ago and 5 years ago respectively.  The XT marked a new era of consumer grade SLR’s and the 40D marked a significant advancement to the 20D which was the most popular camera for serious enthusiast shooters for many years.  (Apparently, the 30D was only an incremental upgrade…)

A lot of people have been asking me:  “Are you going to upgrade?” What does the new MP count mean?  What about the video?  Do we need to be concerned about this?  Is it priced fairly?  What about this?  What about that?”  Lots of techno-babble is going around, and to be honest, I can’t keep up anymore.  For me it’s about one thing and one thing only:  Does it take good pictures?  In both the active and the deprecated line-up, the answer is a solid yes!

For what it’s worth, for me, I will continue to use my current camera until one of two things happens:

1. It breaks
2. My needs exceed its ability

Having said that, I am always interested in hearing what others think about the latest developments in the camera and photography industry.  It’s always fun to talk gear talk, and prognosticate, and “oooh” and “ahhh” over the latest gagedtry.  If I had a million bucks, then sure, I might look at all the stuff and buy every time a new one comes out, but until then…the above criteria fit the bill for me just fine.  What about everyone else though?  Does this make sense?  Am I being curmudgeonly?  Am I burying my head in the sand?  Is there something I am missing?  What are your thoughts on the “latest and greatest” in the camera world?  I’d love to hear, so sound off in the comments and via email – who knows, you may get your name featured on a podcast!  LOL

In the meantime, as always, Happy Shooting!   (We’ll see you back here on Friday with hopefully the latest podcast and some weekend nuggets (like a winner for the Flickr Monthly Giveaway!)

See, cameras, like any other device in todays technologically advanced world, can have flaws that are discovered after it is released to the public.  Most of the time the bigger players like Canon and Nikon keep these to a minimum, but nevertheless, things can happen.  Here is what happened to me.

Thus far my lens collection has consisted of glass that does not have built in image stabilization(or Vibration Reduction if you are a Nikon shooter).  So, when I had a shoot for work this last Tuesday, I thought it might be a good idea to go rent some glass and give it a whirl – to see if I could benefit from it.  Well, the oddest thing happened…whenever I was using the IS lens, I would hear a funny sound in camera.  It’s very hard to describe, but when I swapped lenses out, I didn’t hear the sound anymore.  I stopped using the lens and did the rest of the evening with my kit 18-55 lens.  When I returned the lens to the rental store, the guy told me that there have been reported problems with my particular body (the 40D), and I should check my firmware.

Sure enough, the firmware was at 1.5 or something, and Canon’s website verified that a newer release had been issuedto correct this very problem.  So, I downloaded the firmware and will be updating that for a tutorial next week.  (Make sure you tune in for that, because it’s not like I’ll have a chance to practice for it, and if I mess up, that will make for a funny tutorial!)  The moral here though is that cameras need maintenance too.

As we think about our work flow, we make sure our software is up to date, our operatig system is patched and secured, and hotfixes or system updates are applied…after all, we’re talking about all our work captured and saved on those precious hard disks.

Since Adobe, Microsoft, Apple, and the rest all have ways to automate our updates, that side of things can become rather ubiquitous.  We’ve set things up, and we know it will update itself when it needs to, so we don’t even think about it anymore.  it falls off our radar.  Cameras though, do not have a way of “auto-updating”.  Thus, we can’t let things things fall off our radar.  Letting things slide like that will only result in what happened to me on Tuesday – equipment failure or problems due to lack of current firmware.

As sort of a PSA, I am including here indications of what the latest firmware is for all the EOS cameras that are active in Canon’s line.  Check your firmware in camera and if it matches, you’re good to go.  If not, follow the link to get the latest firmware direct from Canon.  Mac is listed first, Windows is listed second:

Canon 1Ds Mark III – at version 1.1.2, dated 4/30/08

• Mac version
• Windows Version

Canon ID Mark III – at version 1.2.3, dated 4/30/08

• Mac Version
• Windows Version

Canon 5D – at version 1.1.1, dated 3/18/08

• Mac Version
• Windows Version

Canon 50D – brand new, no version updates available yet

Canon 40D – at version 1.0.8, dated 4/7/08

• Mac Version
• Windows Version

Canon 30D – at version 1.0.6, dated 3/18/08

• Mac Version
• Windows Version

Canon XSi – no firmware updates are available for the XSi – but software updates can be obtained too

• Mac Version
• Windows Version

Canon XTi – at version 1.1.1 dated 12/7/07

• Mac Version
• Windows Version

Canon XS – no updates are available for this camera on a current platform, but legacy WIn2K has some installers

• Windows 2000 downloads

Canon XT – at version 1.0.3, dated 12/1/07

• Mac Version
• Windows Version

So, there’s the complete list of all EOS cameras.  Hope you take a moment to check your firmware today.  Happy shooting and watch those apertures (and firmware).  We’ll see you back here tomorrow!

I know web links are typically done on Wednesdays, but a little schedule change was in order given the recent news from this corner of the internet.  So, for this Friday, here’s some stuff I read around the web recently:

Brian Reyman of Professional Snapshots has released a beta version of a neat Flash program for schematics of lighting setups.  It’s a very helpful in documenting studio work and other such photo utilities.  Best of all, it’s Flash-based so it will work on Mac and PC!  Many thanks to Brian for all the time and energy he’s put into this program.

Being very much a fan of DIY photography, I have to give shout outs to the guys over at This Week in Photography for their post on making your own reflectors from cardboard, styrofoam, or plywood and either paiting white or covering with aluminum foil.  Very clever, and a great tip!  Thanks to Scott Bourne for this…oh yeah, check out their weekly podcast too.  Lots of info and always fun to listen to!

Scott Kelby needs no introduction, as he’s pretty well recognized throughout the industry.  He also most certainly needs no help from me for publicity, but his post this week about the “School of Hard Knocks” really hit home as I forgot a CF card for my camera just the other day.  So, sometimes I really am just like Scott Kelby!

David Hobby also gave a little nod to this over on Strobist, and while it’s a little late to be saying it here, there was a Shoot! the Day scheduled for today – photogs the world over will be sharing their shots taken from today over at Photoshelter in the coming week or so.  I signed up, but because I forgot my CF card, was not able to participate.  Still, stop over there to see a day in the life of photographers the world over!

Michael Johnston of The Online Photographer anounced his newist list of Top Ten Cameras, and Canon gear made it in twice (three times if you count them in with the “any entry-level DSLR” listing.)  The top Canon recommendations are the 5D and the SD870 IS.

Finally, in Canon-specific news, we’ all have likely heard about the upcoming release of the Canon XS.  Scheduled for release in July, it’s gotten a few reviews trickling out from various resources.  The best review I’ve read is over at the Photokina site.

Last, but not least, don’t forget to take a break, and laugh a little over at What the Duck!  My favorite one from this week: