Canon EOS Rebel T3i Pro Reviews

I found the Rebel T3i to be—like all Rebels—an inherently honest camera that gives lots of bang for the buck. At $799 for the body only, this Rebel is certainly not as rugged as a $1699 EOS 7D but then again you’re not paying the same price. And based on the quality of images that I was able to extract from just a tiny part of the camera’s sensor, I’m guessing most Rebel T3i shooters will be quite happy with the results from their still images or video clips. The Rebel T3i is all about the fun of photography and if you’ve been reading me for any time you know that having fun is why I make pictures. Don’t you? Canon’s new Rebel T3i is a perfect partner for making fun happen.

If you’ve been using Canon kit for a few years and are looking to replace an entry-level DSLR with something more up-to-date, the EOS 600D is an excellent halfway house between a low-spec DSLR and a semi-professional model such as the EOS 60D or EOS 7D. If you haven’t chosen a platform yet, the best advice is to pick both cameras up and see which you prefer: neither will disappoint.

There's no getting away from the fact that the Canon EOS 600D has inherited a lot from existing models in the Canon line-up, primarily the 550D and to a lesser extent, the 60D. In essence, the EOS 600D is a 550D with the 60D's vari-angle screen, with very little in the way of innovation. With the 550D still available for around £150 less than the 600D, you'll have to ask yourself how desperately you want a vari-angle screen and the other minor additions. Ignoring its predecessors for one moment, and as a standalone mid-price DSLR, and the EOS 600D is a great camera. Admittedly, the performance can be left a little wanting, especially with certain aspects of the AF and frame advance, but results from the 18-megapixel sensor are great, with bags of detail and well-controlled noise. Then there's the polished user interface that allows novice users to grow with their new bit of kit, while the list of features shouldn't leave more experienced users feeling short-changed either. It may not feel particularly cutting edge, but the Canon EOS 600D has been years in the making, evolving into a great camera for the price.

As it stands, the Canon T3i is the flagship Rebel, with the T3 and T2i beneath it in features. Its still image quality is among the best in its price range, and its video modes are quite complete, offering excellent quality, provided you can handle shooting video more carefully than you would with a digicam or camcorder. Taken as a whole, the Canon T3i is an excellent digital SLR, with just about every feature we've been longing for in a sub-$1,000 camera. The articulating screen stands out in particular as a very useful feature, and with the Nikon D5100 having the same side-swiveling design, it was important that a Rebel have one too. The LCD is gorgeous and very high resolution, excellent in sunlight, and the only problem we had with it was that it was harder to notice out-of-focus areas while shooting video. Either kit lens option is a good one, with the 18-55mm keeping the overall package light and nimble, and the 18-135mm lens taking care of most photographic needs with aplomb. Optically, both are better matches to the 18-megapixel sensor than past offerings, and both include optical image stabilization. Prints made from ISO 100 to 3,200 look quite good at 20x30 inches, which is very impressive; and even ISO 12,800 images make a good 8x10-inch print.

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i is a fast, high-performing digital SLR, but it isn't as good as its predecessor, the Editors' Choice-winning T2i, which, thankfully, is still available.

With HD video recording, great image quality, and a solid selection of lenses, the Nikon D5100 and Canon T3i are on the top of a lot of wish lists out there. For people already in the Canon or Nikon camp (full disclosure: I’m a Canon man), the choice is obvious if an upgrade is in their future, but for the less dogmatic and new recruits to the DSLR crowd, it’s not nearly as clear-cut. $800 buys you a lot of camera either way.

Ultimately, the Canon 600D makes a far better camera than camcorder. But with the price starting at £680 for the body and kit lens, photographers are being asked to pay a high premium for that flip-out screen: a feature that will benefit videographers far more than photography buffs. If you’re serious about recording HD video, you’ll be much better served by the dedicated camcorders on our A List. If, on the other hand, you’re serious about photography, the 600D is a superb, increasingly user-friendly camera; but you’ll find a near-identical feature set on the cheaper 550D.

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i / 600D delivers 18 megapixels of professional grade image quality in a compact, light weight, feature-filled, easy-to-use body that carries a very affordable price tag. These are the qualities have anchored the flagship Canon Rebel model in the top-selling DSLRs category for years - and I fully expect the Canon EOS Rebel T3i / 600D to maintain the Rebel's popularity.

The T3i is perfectly content to fire away all day in full auto, or a handful of scene modes for those folks who want to do nothing more than frame and shoot, yet offers all the versatility of any DSLR for more advanced users. Image quality and noise performance mimic the prosumer 60D, and if you don't need the extra 1.5 fps continuous shooting speed (for JPEGS) of big brother, you'll probably not lose any sleep over shutter lag being a paltry 0.02 seconds longer. All bets are off for RAW shooters, however, as the T3i has a fairly limited buffer capacity for RAW or RAW/JPEGS shot in continuous mode.

The Canon EOS 600D / Rebel T3i further blurs the lines between consumer and prosumer DSLR, offering the portability of the former with some of the advanced features of the latter. The vari-angle LCD is the most welcome addition, making perfect sense on a camera that will potentially be used by all the family for both stills and video alike. It may not be the most exciting new DSLR, but the EOS 600D / Rebel T3i does a lot of things for the money, and does most of them very well. It's the most capable yet friendly Rebel yet, and easily worthy of our Highly Recommended award.

The EOS 600D / Rebel T3i continues a strategy started with the EOS 60D, where Canon slots a new camera in-between existing ones, rather than directly replacing a specific model. As such the EOS 600D / T3i slots between the EOS 550D / Rebel T2i and the EOS 60D, narrowing their feature gap. It earns our Highly Recommended rating, but consider your requirements carefully as the models on either side of it, or indeed ones from rivals may be more appropriate for your needs.

The Canon EOS Rebel T3i is a premium entry level DSLR that captures excellent still images and video. It is Mac friendly in terms of its bundled software, and its compatibility with Apple imaging applications. If you don’t need the extended zooming range of the 18-135mm IS kit lens option, then you can save yourself a couple hundred dollars with the shorter 18-55mm kit zoom. Both lenses provide terrific image quality, and you can add lenses later as your budget allows.

Given that the twelve-month-old 550D is set to remain in production for the time being as a kind of kid brother to the 600D, is the newer model worth the extra £150 or so? Well, of course, that very much depends on your priorities. If an articulated screen is at the top of your must-have feature list, then only the 600D can deliver this. In many other respects, however, the 600D is much the same camera as the 550D. That’s not to do the 600D down in any way. The new model adds some improvements and refinements to what was already a very good camera. Movie recording issues aside, the 600D remains a well specified and easy-to-use entry-level digital SLR that delivers consistently good results. As with all new models we’d expect the street price to fall a bit before long, at which point it’s definitely a camera that deserves to be on your shortlist.

Feels good, looks good, takes stunning photos. What more could you want? Sure it would be nice if there was more warning about the battery giving up, and it would be nice if the continuous shooting mode was a little quicker, but these are minor niggles compared to a camera that delivers an excellent all round package, and offers good value for money as well.

The Rebel T3i / 600D is exactly the camera that we'd expect it to be - it's feature-rich, reasonably priced, enjoyable to use and, most importantly, takes great pictures. It's not a particularly innovative camera but it is a generally well planned one. Unlike the original Rebel / 300D, the T3i doesn't sit in isolation - if you want a smaller or easier-to-use camera, there are plenty of options (including the increasingly competitive mirrorless brigade). However, in keeping with previous models in the range, it's an impressive camera for the money and it's hard not to imagine owners loving theirs.

For the money, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i is a great choice for dSLR videographers--though the cheaper T2i can still suffice if you don't need the articulated LCD--and it's a solid choice for creative still shooters. But though the image quality and general shooting performance are top-notch, if you're upgrading to capture sports, kids or pets, the T3i may not be able to keep up.

It's far from revolutionary, but the Canon EOS 600D is a well specified camera that's ideal for those wanting to get creative and elevate their photography to the next level.

We have no problem whatsoever recommending the Canon Rebel T3i. It’s not as robust as the Nikon D7000, but then again it’s $400 less if you opt for similar 18-135mm kit lenses. The Nikon is really geared for the adventurous shutterbug who really wants to dig deeply into the camera’s capabilities. The EOS Rebel T3i is more for the DSLR newbie who wants great picture quality right off the bat, with room to start exploring further, if they want. With its sterling picture quality, eminently usable vari-angle screen and solid 1080p HD videos, you really can’t go wrong.

The Canon EOS 600D is more than the “550D with vari-angle screen” it may at first appear to be. It’s really the built-in wireless flash commander that pushes the camera into new and more advanced territory. Something that arguably, with the exception of build quality, brings into question the value of the higher-specced EOS 60D.

We have only a few reservations stopping us from wholeheartedly recommending the Canon EOS 600D for amateur photographers. Its buttons take a while to get the hang of (and we think a more logical layout would make them friendlier), and the menu system can be labyrinthine at times. It's an excellent choice for shooting in automatic mode, though, and the photos and video it produces are definitely impressive given its entry-level positioning in Canon's camera line-up.