The second of Canon's SLR announcements today comes in the shape of the T3i, or the 600D. This comes in above the super-successful 550D, and at its core is the same camera, with the same 18MP APS-C sensor with ISO 100-6400 (extendable to ISO 12,800), 3.9-fps burst shooting, 9-point autofocus and 63-zone light-metering.
But the extra features make a big difference. The most noticeable is the swingin' and twistin' LCD panel on the back, a three-incher with over 1,000,000 dots. And while the new EOS gains the Basic+ mode, which makes it easy for beginners to tweak settings, it also has a lot of pro-features. For instance, there are manual sound-level controls for video, a wireless trigger for off-camera-flash and shooting in multiple aspect ratios.
As this is a "pro-sumer" model, there are a few gimmicks to play with, although for a change they actually look like fun. There is post-processing for stills to give faux tilt-shift effects, along with toy-camera and fisheye "filters". Clearly the success of iPhone apps like Instagram and Hipstamatic hasn't been lost on Canon.
Video gets a new twist, too. Called "Video Snapshot", it lets you grab shots in two, four, or eight second clips and stitches them together in-camera. If you ever saw a family on vacation where Dad was shooting minute-long clips of unmoving buildings (and worse, if you had to watch his "movies" when he got back home) then you'll see why this is a great feature.
There's probably no reason for owners of the year-old 550D to get jealous, but the new features sure are compelling for new users. The 600D will be available in March for $800 (body only) and for $900 in a kit with the new EF-S 18-55mm ƒ3.5-5.6 IS II lens.
T3i press release [Canon]
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