Canon just announced the new entry level digital SLR Canon EOS 500D / Canon digital Rebel T1i with 1080p HD video capture. Together with Nikon D90 and Canon 5D Mark II, there are three digital SLRs with the HD video recording function. Which one has the best video mode?

Canon 5D Mark II has the best of the three with two movie modes: a HD 1080p (1920 x 1080) mode at 30 frames per second which can record ca 12 min and a SD mode (640 x 480) at 30 frames per second which can record ca 24 min. The built-in internal microphone captures only mono audio. But you can use an external microphone to plug in the socket on the side to record stereo sound.

For a Canon 5D Mark II video sample and Nikon D90 video sample,
However, Canon 5D Mark II is very expensive at $2699 and beyond the price range of most of consumers. Canon 500D / Rebel T1i and Nikon D90 are sub $1000 digital SLRs with HD video function.

Canon 500D / T1i, which will be available in May, has three video modes: a 16:9 720p HD video capture at 30 fps, a Full HD 1080p video capture at 20 fps, and a third option to record 4:3 standard TV quality (SD) video capture at 640 x 480 pixels at 30 fps. You can adjust image sharpness, contrast, color saturation and white balance and apply these settings to video capture. EOS Rebel T1i camera will record video up to 4GB per clip equaling approximately 12 minutes of Full HD video, 18 minutes of 720p HD video, or 24 minutes of SD video.

For a video sample of Canon 500D / Rebel T1i, watch here.

Nikon D90, being the first digital SLR to record video, has very limited video recording. HD video recording on Nikon D90 has only 1280 /720 (720p) at 24 fps. There is a 5 min limit. The SD video mode on Nikon is also not as good as Canon T1i, 640x 424 at 24 fps with a 20 min limit. There is one more movie mode: 320 x 216 at 24 fps, not very useful, apparently.

Never the less, Nikon D90 is a great camera with higher shooting speed (4.5fps) than Canon T1i (3.4fps). In addition, Nikon D90 has better building quality and better AF.

Which one is you? If you prefer a high quality camera with top video mode, Canon 5D Mark II is the one for you. Full frames cameras have better image quality and a wider angle of view than small sensor cameras.

If you have Nikon lenses, go for Nikon D90. However, if you are looking for your first digital SLR, Canon T1i 500D might be a better choice for the HD video, and most important, availability of a wide range of lenses at more affordable prices comparing with Nikon lenses. For the comparison of Nikon and Canon digital SLRs, read here.

Sign up here on amazon to be notified when Canon T1i becomes available.

If you are looking for Canon landscape lenses, read the best landscape lenses for Canon

For landscape photography, you don’t have to use fast lenses. But you do need sharp lenses to get sharp photos with large depth of field. Nikon lenses with vibration reduction are a great plus especially when you travel without a tripod with you.

For the most affordable landscape lens kits:

Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR is also a good lens at $150 and Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom Nikkor Lens ($216.87 at amazon). These two lenses cover the most useful focal lens range and both have vibration reduction.

The good landscape lens kits:

Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens is a very popular Nikon lens with vibration reduction. It is great for travel since you don’t have to switch lenses for a long focal lens range. A wide angle lens such as Nikon 12-24mm f/4G is another one to carry. If you feel this is too expensive, the affordable Tokina 12-24mm f/4 or Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM are the ones for you. Either one is good for landscape photography.

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Best Nikon wildlife lenses

Source: Netmark

The new 15.1 megapixel EOS 500D / digital Rebel T1i looks the same with its predecessor, the best-selling 12.2 megapixel EOS 450D / XSi. Both cameras have the same dimensions,  the same viewfinder coverage (95%)  and the same 9-point AF.  However, the new Canon 500D/ T1i has significant improvements over Canon 450D / XSi including HD video capture, a 3.0-inch Clear View LCD monitor and user-friendly functions such as Auto Lighting Optimizer and Creative Auto Mode. More specifically:

HD and SD Video Capture

Canon T1i has three video modes: a 16:9 720p HD video capture at 30 fps,  a Full HD 1080p video capture at 20 fps, and a third option to record 4:3 standard TV quality (SD) video capture at 640 x 480 pixels and 30 fps.  You can adjust image sharpness, contrast, color saturation and white balance and apply these settings to video capture.   EOS Rebel T1i camera will record video up to 4GB per clip equaling approximately 12 minutes of Full HD video, 18 minutes of 720p HD video, or 24 minutes of SD video. Video clips are recorded in .MOV format using an MPEG-4 video compression and sound is recorded using linear PCMii without compression. EOS Rebel T1i camera includes an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) output to display  clear images on a High-Definition TV.

3.0-inch Clear View LCD

The 3-inch LCD is a 640×480 design with 920,000 pixels, great for focusing and confirming sharpness after capture. The Canon T1i is the first Rebel to have such a high resolution screen.  Both Canon EOS 40D, Canon XSi have a lower resolution LCD display with only  230,000 pixels.

Canon’s new DIGIC 4 processor

Canon’s new DIGIC 4 processor handles the larger 4,752 x 3,168 at a slightly reduced speed of 3.4 frames per second (at 1/500 second or greater — down from the XSi’s 3.5 fps), with a maximum JPEG burst of 170 frames or 9 RAW frames. Canon XSi, with the DIGIC III processor,  has a shooting speed of 3.5 fps, with a max burst of 53 JPEG or 6 RAW frames. The higher burst rate is great for sports photography and wildlife photography.

Auto Lighting Optimizer

Canon’s Auto Lighting Optimizer technology helps ensure that the subject of each picture is clearly visible by analyzing image brightness and automatically adjusting dark areas in images so they appear brighter. This is ideal when shooting high-contrast situations that include harsh shadow areas, such as landscape images where the foreground is brightly lit and the background detail blanketed in dark shadow. In a scene such as this, the EOS Rebel T1i camera’s Auto Lighting Optimizer technology maintains exposure of the highlight areas while lightening shadow areas for a more enjoyable and evenly illuminated image.

The EOS Rebel T1i also supports Peripheral Illumination Correction for up to 40 Canon EF and EF-S lenses. Peripheral Illumination Correction improves  image quality by maintaining evenness of illumination from corner to corner in JPEG images, even when shooting wide open with a zoom lens.

(If the camera is set to CR2, Peripheral Illumination Correction is not applied to the RAW data, but the vignette info is noted in the metadata, enabling Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software to optionally apply the correction during conversion)

Canon’s Creative Auto Mode

Canon’s “CA” Creative Full Auto setting available on the EOS Rebel T1i, EOS 50D and EOS 5D Mark II cameras allows users to make image adjustments such as exposure compensation, aperture or shutter speed through a simple navigation screen on the camera’s LCD screen, allowing them to “blur the background” or “lighten or darken the image” with ease. These easy-to-understand image options allow learning-photographers to experiment with image options while still shooting in an automatic mode.  Canon XSi and Canon 40D  do not have Creative Auto Mode.

EOS Integrated Cleaning System 

The Self-Cleaning Sensor Unit for the Canon EOS Rebel T1i has been upgraded with a fluorine coating on the low-pass filter for better dust resistance.

Higher Sensitivity

Canon EOS Rebel T1i  provides ISO speeds from ISO 100 up to ISO 3200 in whole stop increments, along with two additional high-speed ISO settings – H1: 6400 and H2: 12800,  which is much higher than the max ISO of 1600 on Canon EOS 450D / rebel XSi.  The high sensitivity is very useful in low light photography such as in door or at night.

Canon EOS XSi was selling for $575 at amazon and Canon T1i will be sold for $799 body only.  For $225 more you will have HD video recording, a much better LCD display, a much higher ISO and the creative auto mode.  The new Canon EOS 500D or digital Rebel T1i has much better value than Canon XSi, in my opinion.  Canon T1i is a great choice to people who look for an entry level digital SLR or for people who look for a second DSLR body. 

Related posts:

Canon EOS Rebel T1i and Nikon D90 comparison

Canon EOS Rebel T1i /EOS 500D-key features and availability

Nikon D90, Canon XSi and Canon 50D comparison, which one is for you?

Canon EOS Rebel T1i / EOS 500D hands-on previews, sample photos

Source: Netmark

Digital SLR market is becoming so competitive that Canon digital Rebel T1i is out only 14 months after Canon XSi was announced.  To give you a detailed picture of this new camera, here are the previews from major review sites.

Previews and hands-on previews from major review sites:

Canon EOS 500D (Digital Rebel T1i / Kiss X3 Digital) Preview from dpreview

Canon EOS 500D Digital Rebel T1i Preview from imaging-resource

Hands-on with the Canon EOS Rebel T1i from cnet.com

HD video capture, 15MP sensor in Canon EOS Rebel T1i-by Rob Galbraith 

Canon EOS 500D / Rebel T1i preview from camera labs

Canon EOS 500D / Digital Rebel T1i sample photos

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Canon EOS Rebel T1i and Nikon D90 comparison

Canon EOS Rebel T1i /EOS 500D-key features and availability

Nikon D90, Canon XSi and Canon 50D comparison, which one is for you?

Source: Netmark

Digital SLR market is becoming so competitive that Canon digital Rebel T1i is out only 14 months after Canon XSi was announced.  

Previews and hands-on previews from major review sites:

Canon EOS 500D (Digital Rebel T1i / Kiss X3 Digital) Preview from dpreview

Canon EOS 500D Digital Rebel T1i Preview from imaging-resource

Hands-on with the Canon EOS Rebel T1i from cnet

HD video capture, 15MP sensor in Canon EOS Rebel T1i-by Rob Galbraith 

Canon EOS 500D / Rebel T1i preview from camera labs

Canon EOS 500D / Digital Rebel T1i sample photos

Source: Netmark

Canon Just announced the new Rebel DSLR-Canon T1i which incorporated some of the best features in Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 50D such as HD video capture.  Canon T1i will be available in May.  If you plan to buy a digital SLR for the summer vacation, should you get Nikon D90 or Canon T1i? 

Nikon D90 has been reviewed extensively.  It is a great digital SLR.  Canon T1i will not be available until may.  But it is based the best selling digital SLR, Canon XSi.  Very likely it will become another hot seller when it becomes available.  

The key differences of the two cameras are as follows:

• Canon T1i is cheaper than Nikon D90.  Nikon D90 is selling for $889 body only and $1149 with Nikon 18-105 kit lens.  Canon T1i will be sold $799 body only and $899 with kit lens Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS.  

• Canon T1i has a 15.1 megapixel CMOS sensor and Nikon D90 has 12.9 megapixel CMOS sensor

• Canon T1i has a higher sensitivity ISO 12800, Nikon D90 has 6400 ISO.

• Canon T1i has 1080p HD video recording, which is better than 720p video recording on Nikon D90

• Nikon D90 has a a bigger viewfinder coverage of  96% comparing with 95% on Canon T1i.

• Nikon D90 has a faster continuous shooting of 4.5fps versus 3.4fps on Canon T1i

• Nikon D90 is the better AF with 11 area TTL comparing with the 9 point AF on Canon T1i.

Nikon D90 appears to have better building quality,  a better viewfinder and ergonomics, faster shooting speed and better AF. Nikon D90 is a better camera overall. However, for most of people, especially for those who have canon lenses, Canon T1i will be a better choice for the cheaper price, better HD video recording and most important, good Canon lenses are a lot of cheaper than Nikon lenses.  In addition, Canon T1i is a great choice for people who need second camera body.

Related Posts:

Canon XSi and Nikon D80, Nikon D40 comparison

Nikon D90, Nikon D80, Canon 50D and Canon XSi comparison

Canon EOS 500D/ digital Rebel T1i-key features and availability

Source: Netmark