Canon Rebel T3i VS T2i

As if it was not already a complicated choice, Canon has made your Digital SLR purchasing decision somewhat more complicated. Now you have to pick between the Canon Rebel T2i or T3i.

Is the Canon Rebel T3i actually an upgrade? That is the query under consideration right now, and many reviewers are weighing in on the subject. Make sure you read this discussion all the way through, because you will notice that there are some subtle changes here that may sway your purchasing decision.

Every review should study a camera's main features first. The image sensor and processor are the exact same in both cameras. All that means is that both cameras are capable of producing identical image quality and size.

To go along with that, there are other features for camera comparison are also identical. Two more features that have not changed are the video and ISO settings. Both models can shoot 3.7 fps... no change there.

The first chief difference comes in the LCD panel. The new tilt-panel LCD screen is the one feature that everyone draws attention to first. It has been very popular on the Canon 60D, and it may just be what brings out your wallet, too, when it comes to the T3i.

So a vari-angle LCD panel is a large advantage for the Canon Rebel T3i.

An additionalA second convenience for the Canon T3i is the potential to remotely fire more than one flash when taking a photo. This seems more like a pro feature, but it is unquestionably something that is not available on the T2i.

Now let's look a little closer at video. A new feature allows the photographer to zoom in digitally by a factor of 3-10x without losing any image quality in the video. Auto focus has also been upgraded so that there is more manual control whenever in video mode.

Images below are from the Flickr Creative Commons area. They are all from new Canon Rebel T3i users.

Perhaps the real advantage of the Canon Rebel T3i vs T2i comes in some of the creative features available now on the new model.

First, there is a new video component that allows you to take short video clips and have them stitched together inside the camera. This is done by selecting the length of the clips. You can choose between 2 sec, 4 sec, or 8 sec clip lengths, then the camera does its magic.

A second creative selection is Basic +. Inside Basic+ there are two creative output choices. The first is choosing an ambience setting and the second is shooting by lighting or scene type.

If you choose the ambience setting, the camera does its thing by changing the color and saturation along with sharpness and contrast to create the selected ambience for that shot.

If you choose the lighting or scene setting, there will be changes applied that are called Creative Filters that can result in 5 separate types of effects. The results are Grainy Black and White, Miniature, Soft Focus, Toy Camera effect, and the ever-popular Fish-eye effect.

Finally, perhaps the most useful feature for those new to digital SLR cameras, there is now a Feature Guide that appears in the LCD panel. When you modify the camera settings, the new choice is shown in the LCD window with a description of what that setting will do.

The Canon Rebel T3i vs T2i discourse boils down to some rather subtle changes to the feature set and one fundamental change in the hardware.