Photo » Equipment
2011 – Present
Canon Rebel T3i
Got this in March of 2011. Since Canon introduced the T1i, I’ve had my eyes on a new camera for the video features. With the T3i, I couldn’t resist any longer – articulating screen! Looking at the two, there is not a whole lot that look different at a glance. Apart from the blaring difference of a screen that rotates, the differences are in the details. The peeps at Canon went nip-tuck on the camera. All the buttons on the camera seem to be less… shiny. There is more of a matte finish to them. The circular mod buttons all seem more pronounced. Channels and dents for your fingers to slip into are also a tad bit more pronounced. These bits would be fairly hard to notice unless you were going back and forth between the two cameras. The back face of the camera however is quite different. Because of the swiveling screen, the buttons seem to have less real estate. The direction keypad has been squished up a bit (less empty space in the inner circle). Weirdly, the other mod and option buttons have been made bigger. The aperture/exposure control, play mode, trash etc. buttons have all been flattened and slightly enlarged. I was somewhat concerned that this would impede in using the camera by feel. Over the past couple of months however, I’ve found them to be just as good as the old rounded ones, if not better. The flatter, larger buttons seem more comfortable under my thumb’s surface area. In general, I don’t think the buttons feel any better or worse – just sort of different. In other words, the T3i is just as wonderfully comfortable as the XSi.
Once you start up the camera and go through all the buttons, there are several differences. As mentioned before the T3i has a swiveling screen. This is especially useful if you are taking videos, using the T3i as a high-end camcorder. The LCD used is also much, much better – showing more colors and in a higher resolution. The menus have been updated slightly to take advantage of this pixel magic, but for the most part, the changes are non-consequential. The swivel action itself feels strong and robust. I don’t feel the need to be gentle when opening/closing/moving it. Other than getting you better vantage points, the swiveling screen also lets you rotate the screen and close it with the plastic backing showing. This is a nice quick way to protect your screen if you can’t get to a case and are walking around in an environment that’s not very glass friendly. Even in a case, this serves as a nice way to protect it from the odd buckle or clip while the camera travels in and out. That said, there is one niggle I have with this area of the camera. Because Canon had to fit the swiveling screen and it’s bevel, there is no longer a proximity detector. This means that unless you turn off the LCD manually, it’s on. All the time. Yes, if you hold down the shutter release half-way, the screen turns off. But this doesn’t entirely take care of the problem as I am often looking down the view finder without depressing the shutter release – while I am manual focusing, after I’ve auto focused in one-shot mode etc. The screen in my periphery is somewhat annoying. This is worse when you are auto focusing in one-shot mode and are tracking a target. You end up seeing the screen turn on and off. That said, this is just a tiny tiny niggle. Canon have even provided a new DISP button right next to the ISO button that turns the screen on and off. This means that you no longer have to switch between 5 different screens to just toggle the LCD. The button that did do said switching is now labeled INFO and only changes information shown on the screen if it’s on. The information on these screens is fairly standard – settings info, histograms etc.
As I had mentioned before, the entire camera feels like it has more of a matte finish. Nothing is in a dark shiny color. This actually makes it look a lot nicer. It looks more professional somehow. Some other small changes like the textured dots on the mode dial instead of vertical grooves add a little flair. Finishing this off is the flash cover. Unlike the XSi, the T3i’s flash cover is relatively silent. It also feels like it’s a softer action. On my XSi, the flash always seemed like it was being whacked open, with a fairly assertive click at the end. The T3i’s flash cover feels a bit flimsier almost, but it is definitely less loud.
Video recording works as it should. You get to choose between 1080p or 720p in different recording speeds. If you set the exposure mode to manual, you can go to town on the ISO/aperture etc in video!
All in all, this thing is a great camera for amateurs or prosumers. I only refrain from speaking for anyone higher on the photography chain as I haven’t been there.
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 Lens
When I sold my XSi, I sold my 50mm as well. And I only had to buy the body for the T3i. This lens replaced both my kit lens and the 50mm. It has a f2.8 throughout and has a nice range of 17mm to 50mm. Apart from 1-2 times, this range has been very good for me. Tilt the camera a bit, pull it all the way back to 17mm and you’ve got yourself a very epic photo of pretty much whatever you are looking at.
2008 – 2011
