Canon EOS 500D / Digital Rebel T1i Digital Camera with 18-55mm lens

What a great camera. I bought the Kiss x3 (Japanese version of 500D). The reason I chose this over a European version is that it saved me a few £. However, I made sure that I bought this from a UK seller, so as to avoid being hit with a no doubt hefty Customs Charge.

I was most interested in this camera for its HD video recording. The ultimate camera for this would be the 5D Mark II, however, this is way out of my price range - at around twice the price of the 500D!

So far I have tested the camera in 720p mode (as this is reported to reduce the rolling shutter, and also allows for a standard frame rate - 1080p mode only shoots 20fps), and the results have been stunning! I took it out with a couple of friends to a fun fair, at night - and I was blown away by the quality and shallow depth of field achieved. The colours were gorgeous, the responsiveness was so much better in low light than I would ever expect from a HD camcorder (FX1, Z1, etc). I was very impressed. Also, I didn't notice any rolling shutter problems. The image seemed nice and stable.

I tested this with the standard 18-55mm kit lens, and the results were great. I can't wait to get an FD to EOS adapter and try out some of my old manual lenses (in particular an 50mm f1.4).

Also, and this kind of goes without saying - the stills photographs are gorgeous too. However I was mainly interested in this camera for the HD video.

The drawbacks -- really, you're limited to 720p - because of the odd framerate canon have chosen for 1080p. A shame, but nothing worth moaning about. No audio inputs (this camera does record audio, but with an on board mic - so quality isn't fantastic) so if used for a short film, and external DAT/sound recorder + Clapper Board would be needed.

The niggles -- When in video mode, auto controls are invoked. The shutter speed and ISO can be locked very easily. The aperture however requires a little unlock+twist of the lens to lock - but once they're set, you can't change them on the fly, without dipping back into auto and having the camera chose for you. Not the best solution - but this is an entry level camera, and I don't see this being too much of a problem for me. Especially with manual aperture lenses.

Also, as a little note - In the short time I've had it, I briefly tested if the Video Out cable works while the camera is in movie mode. And yes, it does seem to - which might be useful to know, for those who wish to use an externally mounted monitor for shooting.

I hope this review is helpful to some. I hope that I get to use this camera to shoot some short films, you can check out some of them at www.mattandvince.com

Thanks.

Vince.