Canon Rebel T3i - The Still Video Hybrid Camera

February 10, 2011

Canon is a multi-national company based in Tokyo Japan. Originally Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory, the company introduced its first optical film camera, the Kwanon, in 1935. After operating for approximately ten years the company changed its name to Canon, a more English friendly version of Kwanon.

Today, Canon manufactures both business and consumer imaging products. These products include printers, scanners, binoculars, compact digital cameras, film and digital SLR cameras, lenses and video camcorders.

Canon's Business Solutions division produces printers and other document solution products for both small and medium sized businesses as well as government. Printers include the mufti-function type in both color and black and white. They also produce large scanners, format printers, as well as software to support these products.

Canon also produces medical, optical and broadcast products, including x-ray devices, eye-exam instruments, broadcast lenses, semiconductors, and digital microfilm scanners.

In fact, Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory's second product, introduced in 1940, was an x-ray camera.

First and foremost, this is not a "point-and-shoot" camera; it is a full fleged digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera with interchangeable lenses.

Canon introduces new camera every February and this month is no exception. Canon is introducing the Rebel T3i, which is an updated T2i with one exception. The camera now has a tilt and swivel "preview" screen borrowed from the 60D.

This is one of those additions that make the camera better suited to more than still images. The intent, is to make the camera a hybrid of both still and video capture. As such the T3i is optimized for HD video and allows for 1080p shooting at 24 frames per second (fps), or 25fps or 30fps. It can also record 720p at 60fps.

The T3i camera has an 18-Megapixel sensor and a 3-inch variable angle rear-facing LCD for taking shots overhead or at other odd angles. The LCD can be swung out away from the camera body and swiveled to face forward toward the object or person being photographed.

The T3i also has an automatic mode that can take picture style into account when shooting. This mode analyses faces, colors, brightness levels, movement, contrast, and more. All of these parameters can be adjusted by the user within the camera.

The three inch diagonal Vari-Angle rear LCD has a very high resolution of over one million pixels (1,040,000). It also features an anti-reflective coating which resists fingerprints and scratches. The T3i also has several creative digital filters to get effects like soft focus, grainy black and white, Toy Camera, and a Miniature Effect Filter.

As mentioned above, the camera can also record 1080p HD video at 24fps, 25fps, and 30fps. It also has a digital zoom for movie filing with 3x to 10x.

In burst mode the camera can shoot up to 34 shots in full resolution JPEG or 11 shots in RAW format. Photos and video are stored to SD or SDHC cards and the camera supports SDXC cards too.

The T3i will ship in March with the camera body only for $799.99.

The T3i can also be ordered with a kit including an EF-S 18-55mm lens at $899.99.

Yet another kit will be offered with an 18-135mm lens with for $1,099.

Canon is clearly attempting to create a camera that is more than a still image snapper. Though the T2i had almost all the same features the addition of a tiling swiveling preview screen clearly puts this camera in another category; that of hybrid.

Return to this article in March for a full rundown of resellers and discounts (if any).

The author was not compensated in any way, monetarily, with discounts, or freebies by any of the companies mentioned.

Though the author does make a small profit for the word count of this article none of that comes directly from the manufacturers mentioned. The author also stands to make a small profit from advertising attached to this article.

The author has no control over either the advertising or the contents of those ads.