Canon Rebel T1i Digital Camera Review

Movie Mode and Software

The biggest addition to this new Rebel is the movie mode. The Rebel T1i takes movies in 720p and 30 frames per second or 1080p and 20 frames per second. Because the 1080p mode only shoots with 20 frames per second the results were slightly choppier than we would have liked. However, we were quite happy with the 720p videos. They were smooth and good in low light. The camera videos are in an H.264 AVCHD format rapped in a Quick Time rapper.

Sound is recorded through the camera microphone which is located above the EOS label on the front of the camera, as shown in Figure 9. Unfortunately, this placement of the microphone means that it will also picks up any camera sounds as well as the audio you are trying to capture. In our testing this was not an issue, but it is something to be aware of.

Figure 9: The microphone.

You also have the ability to zoom while taking a movie. Doing so smoothly requires quite a bit of practice, but this is a function not found in many digicams. You can shoot a video up to 30 minutes long. However, the camera becomes quite hot when using the movie mode for long periods of time. It may be best to try to limit the videos you shoot to shorter clips. Also when shooting movies be sure to use an SD card Class 6 or higher, which basically means a high speed card. Use of a slower SD card gave us much poorer quality videos.

On the left side of the camera, shown in Figure 10, you can see the Remote Control terminal, the Audio/video out/USB port, and an HDMI mini Out. The mini HDMI port can be used to show the hi-def movies you shoot on a television screen.

Figure 10: The left side of the camera.

You can use included USB cable to hook the camera up to a computer and use the included software to remote control the camera. This allows you to control the camera functions with your mouse and puts the pictures directly on your hard disk.

The thing that amazed us was the ability to use Live View on your computer screen. You can even focus the camera while working directly on your computer screen.

With some cameras remote control software of this type can be a pricey added cost. We were amazed to find it included at no cost with the Rebel T1i. If you have any use for this type of remote control, this camera performs admirably. Even if you don’t think that you will need it, the remote control software is fun to try out and use when the occasion arises.

As you use the Rebel T1i and the included software you will find that there are plenty of other useful features. For instance, the camera also has face recognition, the LCD has 7 levels of brightness, and the software has the ability to interface with Photoshop.