Canon Digital Rebel T1i (EOS 500D) Review

The Digital Rebel T1i is certainly the most fully featured "Digital Rebel" to date, and comes very close to equaling the performance of the EOS 50D in many respects. It has the same sized sensor and shares many firmware features such as Peripheral Illumination Control, Highlight Tone Priority, High ISO noise reduction, Auto Illumination Optimization and the usual array of exposure, metering and Picture Style options. The T1i is the first DSLR in the Rebel series which offers an ISO setting over 1600 and Canon went all the way and added not only ISO 3200, but 6400 and 12800 as well, again equaling the specifications of the EOS 50D. Canon even gave the T1i the new high resolution 3" LCD screen found on the 50D. The Digital Rebel T1i actually goes one step further than the EOS 50D in one respect and incorporates many of the video recording features only found elsewhere in the Canon lineup on the EOS 5D MkII.

Of course all these added features wouldn't be so attractive if the image quality of previous models hadn't been maintained, but it has. Despite the increased pixel count (and consequently smaller pixels), noise is well controlled (at least up to ISO 3200) and image quality is very similar to that of the EOS 50D.

For anyone who wants to shoot HD video, the T1i at a current price of around $800 (including the 18-55 IS lens) is a real bargain, especially when the only other alternative in the Canon lineup is the $2700 Canon EOS 5D MkII. Of course the 5D MkII is a full frame camera and has more video controls and a higher 1080p frame rate, but then for almost $2000 more, it should have!

Overall I think the Digital Rebel T1i is one of the best bargains in Canon's (or anyone else's) DSLR lineup. You get a high resolution sensor, ISO capabilities up to 12,800, HD video and most of the "bells and whistles" that the average photographer will ever need.

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