Canon T3i – Canon out with a new entry level DSLR

A year ago, Canon had T2i which could capture 1080p videos and now the company is out with its successor, the Canon T3i. It is a new entry level dSLR from this company and was announced on Monday. The manufacturer also announced two flashes and one of them is optimized for video recording. I did get the new camera for review and after testing it, I found that that it is really underwhelming because the device is quite similar to T2i. Both the cameras can capture 18 megapixel images at 3.7 fps or frame rates per second and there is also 1080p video capture along with manual controls. There is just one big change here – the three inch screen now has a resolution of 1.04 million dots and it is mounted on retractable LCD.

It is surprising to see that Canon didn’t choose to put any video centric features here like continuous auto-focus during the video recording. Competing cameras like Nikon D3100 do have it and with this feature, you can enable face detection, to make the experience similar to that of a camcorder. There aren’t any big video features here but the manufacturer has announced a very clever accessory for video enthusiasts – hybrid flash which is meant for video recording and still images. On the top, there is a traditional flashtube which discharges light flashes while you shoot images. There is also a LED on front which will remain on while recording videos. All this will be handy in low light conditions. 

These 2 new flashes on the Canon EOS Rebel T3i have handy wireless capabilities. There are wireless slave unit built in to the flashes and you can get really creative with your pics. You can also use these flashes are a remote control for the camera. The flashes have dedicated shutter release key for commanding the device to capture images.