new cannon rebel t1i

[cdlv]

The rumors were true. Canon has crammed the $1500 50D's sensor and 5D-Mark-II-like 1080p video capture into an $899 entry-level Rebel. We ran it through its paces for a few hours, and it's awesome.

So what we have here is almost the exact sensor from the 50D—a 15.1 megapixel CMOS with sensitivities up to ISO 12,800 at its top-end H2 boost setting. And almost the exact same HD capture from the 5D Mark II—the only change is that 1080p video is captured at 20fps, down from the 5D Mark II's 30fps. You can step down to 720p video at 30fps, though, for the same buttery smoothness we've seen on the 5D Mark II. Other aspects of the video capture mode have actually been improved over the 5D Mark II though, which we'll get to in a second.

http://i.gizmodo.com/5182772/canon-r...080p-vids-899-

[Crystal_Mt_Dreamin]

Damn, sounds pretty cool.

[supermodel159]

Wow, not bad for Canon.

[Trackhead]

Nice progression, but 20fps is useless in terms of video.

[Crystal_Mt_Dreamin]

30 at 720p though.

[Trackhead]

30 at 720p though.

Yeah, that's cool and all, especially given the price.

But 1080p at 20fps is just kinda silly.

[grskier]

Yeah, that's cool and all, especially given the price.

But 1080p at 20fps is just kinda silly.

I was thinking the same thing.. But I'm a bit of a vid jong still. I thought HD implied either 30 or 60 fps.... either way, for an entry level DSLR, the rest of the camera looks pretty nice.

[pappag]

Sounds like packing in the 1080 video feature was purely for marketing.

[dumpy]

I was thinking the same thing.. But I'm a bit of a vid jong still. I thought HD implied either 30 or 60 fps.... either way, for an entry level DSLR, the rest of the camera looks pretty nice.

No, it has more to do with color accuracy and resolution. NTSC TV is an abortion of an image to make color fit in the same bandwidth as black and white TV. Lots of approximations involved.

60 fps (assuming F stands for frames) would be redonkulous unless used to do half speed slow moes. I don't think you eye would even be able to handle the additional information.
With progressive scan, even as low as 24 is good, film is essentially 24 FPS progressive scan. Regular old NTSC TV is 29.9 frames per second interlaced or 60 fields per second. A field is sort of like a half frame, but not really.

Edit: I think NPG tottally nailed it on 1080i on this camera, pure marketing unless you really want that slow frame affect and a big image.

[grskier]

No... image.

Danke...

[dumpy]

Danke...

No problemo, sorry if I went too heavy with some nerd terms.

Just an FYI, NTSC=regular old standard def TV in the US, Canada,Japan and some other places. No real problems with the frame rate on that, although interlacing kinda sucks.
HD can be in interlaced or progressive (hence terms like 1080p and 1080i) and at various frame rates, but I'm pretty sure most of the broadcast stuff is probably still at 30fps. Since it's digital, it doesn't matter as much as it did with analog.

And 1080i at 20fps is still pretty goddamn stupid...

[Tippster]

1080p at 20fps has gotta look "strobey." Just shoot in 720p ar 30fps and you'll be fine.

I still think fast action stuff (like skiing) looks better in interlaced video than progressive. Then again LCD flatpanel TVs de-interlace the signal anyway so there's no real point, unless you have a 120Hz monitor.

[123ski]

1080p at 20fps has gotta look "strobey." Just shoot in 720p ar 30fps and you'll be fine.

I still think fast action stuff (like skiing) looks better in interlaced video than progressive. Then again LCD flatpanel TVs de-interlace the signal anyway so there's no real point, unless you have a 120Hz monitor.

I found some sample video online, the 1080 20fps did loook pretty strobey, but i think if you were shooting with a macro lens on something up close it would be fine. The 720p compared to the Mark II 5D 1080p video did look pretty good though.

[Tippster]

I found some sample video online, the 1080 20fps did loook pretty strobey, but i think if you were shooting with a macro lens on something up close it would be fine.

What difference would that make? You're still looking at a 33% slower frame rate than "normal."

[123ski]

I guess what I mean is, if you were shooting something that wasn't moving too much

[doughboy]

The 720p 30fps is a nice funtion, but even then, no exposure control or focusing while it's recording, right?

[Trackhead]

The 720p 30fps is a nice funtion, but even then, no exposure control or focusing while it's recording, right?

Manual focus ring still works, that's what I do with the 5D. Lost art, but something not impossible to do.

[123ski]

The 720p 30fps is a nice funtion, but even then, no exposure control or focusing while it's recording, right?

kind of:

You can manually focus or autofocus via contrast detect by pressing the Canon T1i's rear AE/AF-Lock button.

"Capturing movies with the Canon Rebel T1i is not as easy as using a camcorder. It's still really for "artist" videographers, rather than casual users. The primary reason is that the Canon T1i can't autofocus as quickly as we're used to our camcorders doing, and it won't autofocus continuously; you have to press the AE-Lock/AF-Lock button (marked with an asterisk or star) on the back to activate it. When you do, the Canon T1i's exposure will gain up a bit to let in more and less light, perhaps to help the processor find the best contrast, and the focus will move around until it locks on something. You can do this while recording, but both the exposure and focus changes will be recorded in the movie."

"Following action while focusing is out of the question, though, which isn't ideal."

"The enthusiast videographer will enjoy the Canon T1i's Movie mode, but there are some shortcomings for them as well. One is that they can't control shutter speed, aperture, or ISO, nor can they know what the camera is setting. Most camcorder users don't expect to be able to select fast or slow shutter speeds, except perhaps a sports mode, but from a camera where you can set both aperture and shutter speed for stills you can be forgiven for expecting a little more control in Movie mode. Many 5D Mark II users have learned to trick the camera by locking the exposure, but it's unclear how to achieve this with the Rebel T1i, at least in the Beta version we tested."

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/T1I/T1IA.HTM