DSLR News

“We’ve got to consider the pros and cons, make a list, get advice…” —Jim Backus in Rebel Without a Cause

I don’t blame you for being confused. I just tested the EOS Rebel T3i, which I really, really liked, and along comes this review of the EOS Rebel T3. What’s the difference? In practical terms the Rebel T3 is somewhat smaller in size, lower in resolution (12.2 vs. 18 megapixel), and lacks the T3i’s swiveling LCD screen. Oh yeah, and it’s cheaper, too. But is it any good?

Pentax has a long history of innovation as well as a rabid fan base that loves the company’s tradition of optical excellence and originality. In fact, this fan base is the reason I’m writing this review. If you’re not already a Pentaxian you probably didn’t know that Pentax (derived from PENTAprism refleX) built the first camera to incorporate a penta-prism viewfinder and reflex mirror system in 1957 and went on to introduce the first TTL metering system in 1964. While late to the digital SLR game, when they finally arrived it was with a series of entry-level cameras that delivered impressive image quality at affordable prices. Over time they’ve dipped their toes into the semipro market and the K-5 is the latest model with professional aspirations yet it retains all the quirky uniqueness that all Pentax cameras have and that endears them to so many photographers.

Feeling very much in hand like a pro camera, with magnesium alloy top and rear body construction, the Nikon D7000 (list: $1199, body only) has all the bells and whistles of a modern D-SLR, including a high megapixel count CMOS sensor, a new image processor to handle all the data it can capture, including 14-bit NEF, a high ISO 6400 “normal” (expandable two stops), and the currently requisite 1080p HD movie capability. This DX (APS-C) format camera also features dual SD card slots, with spillover or format sort capability, a nice and speedy 6 frames-per-second (fps) shooting capability for up to a 100 frame burst (JPEG), and full-time AF with video and Live View. The monitor is bright and highly readable in just about every lighting condition. Unfortunately, it is fixed and does not articulate, but the penta-prism finder makes one pray that Nikon will never go EVF (electronic viewfinder), yielding 100 percent coverage and being a pleasure to view through, especially after suffering some recent EVF obscuring experiences.

When it was launched in October 2007, the E-3 broke new ground. It wasn’t a me-too SLR; it carried the Four Thirds format into new directions that were uniquely Olympus.

The weirdest camera at the show, the GFAE, wasn’t even recognizable as a camera, not least because it was a view camera with the bellows left out in order to show its construction more clearly. We’ll come back to it later, but first, let’s look at some more conventional offerings.

If you look at Canon’s website you’ll notice that the 18-megapixel EOS Rebel T2i sits between the EOS 50D and the price-point EOS Rebel XS, the latter being a camera I tried and disliked intensely.