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440
4.3 out of 5 stars

Canon Rebel Digital SLR Camera

$829.99
$949.99 13% off Reference Price
Condition: New
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Top positive review
12 people found this helpful
Excellent but not a no-brainer
By The Honest Conn Man on Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2013
I am astonished at how much more this camera provides than the lower-priced digital cameras I've owned in the past -- but, for this still-a-tyro photographer, it provides its challenges. Yes, you can use the camera as a point-and-shoot in auto mode, but why pay all this money to use it as a fully automatic camera? The fun . . . and the challenge . . . is to play with aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. But, learning how to do so is, simultaneously, a challenge, a process, and where the fun and results are. The camera gives you several ways to do virtually anything -- and that can get confusing. Where do I find this? What is the point of my doing this or that? How do I find out? My first and best suggestion is an excellent course from the Great Courses ([...]) called "Fundamentals of Photography" by National Geographic photograpgher Joel Santore. It is NOT a course in the Canon Rebel T4i, but it IS a course that will explain aperture, shutter speed, depth of field, composition, and a lot about digital cameras. Whatever he covers is doable with the Rebel T4i. And, he'll have you WANTING to do it. The only question is, "How?" The course is frequently on sale and should be bought only when it is on sale since the "regular" price is considerably higher and unnecessary. On sale, the course goes for around $60. That's where the second reference comes in, Canon EOS Rebel T4i/650D For Dummies by Julie Adair King. You can get it for about $16 from Amazon. Sartore's course will provide knowledge, motivation, and a clear idea of what you might try. The King book will help you fill in the gaps on how, specifically, do you do it with the Canon. Some random notes: o Sartore's course is, IMHO, the best by far of the Great Course offerings (although some of the music courses by Robert Greenberg are pretty good). He gives "homework" assignments to help develop you as a photographer. They're worth actually doing! o Those whose prior experience with lower-priced digital cameras had them disappointed because of the slow focusing and shooting speeds, can rest easy. This camera focuses quickly and its burst speed is remarkable, allowing you to take a barrage of pictures in very rapid order. Those people who you find attractive but not photogenic will now take a good picture because, by taking several pictures rapidly, you'll catch those micro expressions which account for their attractiveness. (Everyone is photogenic if you take enough pictures of them. And, since there is no cost to taking lots of pictures, why not?) o Aperture, the size of the opening through which a picture is taken, determines the depth of field (i.e., whether the background is clear or not). Learn to use it to take pictures that blur the background when the subject is more important and to provide 3-D effects. (The more the background is blurred, the more the subject seems to leap off the page ... or canvas if you have the picture printed out on canvas and blown up.) o Shutter speed -- the faster the shutter speed, the more an action is frozen rather than blurred. At the higher speeds, a moving fan will appear to be a picture of a stopped fan or a kicked football will appear frozen in the air. At the lower speeds, more light is admitted and a tripod may be necessary. o ISO speed. With modern cameras, one can shoot at night without a flash if the ISO speed is set high enough. The downside? The shots may appear grainier. And there is the photographer's trio -- smaller apertures and faster shutter speeds, which are sometimes desired, admit less light. So, one has to decide whether to use a flash or a higher ISO (film or memory sensitivity to light). Or, if one doesn't use fully manual mode, one can pick a setting that allows you to take control of any one of the Big 3 and allow the camera to take care of the other 2 -- which is, in fact, what I usually opt to do. ================================================================== The camera is highly capable and flexible. Go with a high speed, high capacity memory card to avoid handcuffing it. Then, get out of automatic mode and explore it. NOTE: I know. I know. This review is useless for those who know photography and cameras well. But, you're not my audience. I'm writing for those who want to take the next step to assist in their finding an approach to learning more about this camera. I haven't said a lot about the camera itself, per se, other than that it's capable and flexible. But, others have covered its capabilities far better than I can. I'm just telling the other tyros who are considering stepping up that the water is fine and where to get their swimming lessons. I feared that I had bought too much camera but have been glad to find that the camera is like Excel. You can use it immediately and get some fine results. But, when ready, you can use it at far deeper levels and will find that whatever you want to do with it you can do with it . . . if you dig a little deeper to learn more of its capabilities. You won't outgrow it, but you can certainly grow as a photographer with it.
Top critical review
2 people found this helpful
Much less than I had expected...
By Zachary Klein on Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2012
It's possible i set my expectations too high, but after spending many many hours researching (reading reviews, comparing photos, pixel peeping, reviewing specs, etc) I pulled the trigger on this with the 55-250mm lens combo deal, and all I can say is, I am slightly disappointed... I also own a Sony HX9V and Lumix FZ47K, so I'd been looking for a decent SLR to take that next step forward, and I just don't get what all the hype is about. First, let me say the build quality on the camera is excellent. I love how it feels in my hands and I love when I'm able to snap off several shots quickly. One thing I loved about my point and shoot was that I didn't need a viewfinder, and this camera is HORRIBLE to use UNLESS you use the viewfinder... If you try to use the rear digital display to snap a shot, it almost literally cripples the camera, as the shooting time requires several more seconds for it to focus and snap the picture... But I was ok with that, I have actually gotten used to using the viewfinder and started to prefer it over using the digital display... The touchscreen is a nifty feature and appears to work great. But considering this camera costs 2x what I spent on my HX9v, I expected much better image quality. It feels like I could have saved myself $400+ and bought the HX20V and gotten relatively similar results, as I've played with it and it provided a marginal upgrade over the HX9V as far as image quality and speed. And to be honest, that's all I've seen with the T4I camera so far is a marginal improvement. I stepped outside today and snapped a handful of shots with each camera, and that quality wasn't much better, and speed was only 1-2 seconds apart for capturing and processing the image... Truth be told, I bought this camera hoping for better indoor / low light photos, and while this is a highly subjective issue, I just don't see the value per dollar here... This camera has issues focusing on things that are dark or black -- my TV for instance, a black LCD TV--this camera goes crazy and takes several seconds trying to figure out what it's looking at, and even then the photo is sub-par... I get the same issue with my dog, a black Labrador...The camera is simply confused by dark objects... I snapped several pictures of my office and many came out slightly blurred with bad white-balance issues, as things had a yellow tinge to them... I tried switching through several modes and got only slightly better results than I would get with the point & shoot.. I tried to point the camera to the sky to catch falling snowflakes, and the camera couldn't focus on that either... Maybe my expectations were too high? Or it could be I'm lousy with the advanced camera. If anything, this may be an indictment of the entry-level SLR cameras, as the point & shoots are quickly bridging that gap in quality and speed, and they cost a fraction of what this does.. Please don't get me wrong, there is difference in quality... But for anyone reading this and wanting to take the plunge, don't expect a miracle here... I've snapped ~400-500 photos of various things and do see some improvement, but honestly, based on what I've seen so far, if I could go back in time I'd stop myself from making this purchase because I don't see a drastic improvement warranting the cost... Which, again, I want to say I'm not entirely negative on this camera... It feels great, shoots fast in general, and takes good pictures... Just don't expect the world from this camera and you'll be happy, which is why I'm rating it 3/5... * I will keep using the camera and play with the RAW images and change the review if needed...

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