Canon recently announced the new Canon EOS Rebel T2i (550D) as the latest addition to its range. The T2i is widely seen as a replacement for the Canon EOS Rebel T1i (500D) which was only released in 2009. IT continues the trend by dslr manufacturers to pack more of the features and technologies of professional cameras into the consumer end products.

In this post we’ll take a look at the key features of this new addition to the Canon range.

18Mp CMOS Sensor & Improved DIGIC 4 processor

This size of sensor take a big leap on from the 12.2MP that was in the 450d. This new sensor from Canon means you have the ability to be able to crop images much more without losing quality/size. Printing large posters or prints becomes much easier. Perhaps the best advantage this new sensor brings is the improved low light performance thanks to the DIGIC 4 sensor.

ISO Performance

ISO performance is always a key benchmark to look for in new cameras. The 550D’s ISO range  will be 100-6400 and expandable up to 12800. This huge range (along with the enhanced on board noise reduction) means much better performance in low light conditions. In addition you can set the maximum ISO to use if you are shooting in auto ISO mode.

Full HD Video Capture

Since it’s introduction on the Canon 5d Mk II Canon has gradually been adding this functionality onto it’s new models. The 550D will record full 1920 x 1080p HD resolution video at  up to 30fps, much better than the sometimes jerky 20fps on the Canon EOS Rebel T1i (500D) it replaces.

Drop down to 720p and you can shoot at up to 60 fps. Also a nice feature is the ability to plug in an external mic, enabling you to capture the best possible sound. The camera also has an HDMI connection allowing you to playback photos or video on an HDTV with minimal fuss.

Another nice addition is the movie crop feature. This allows you to shoot video using only the center part of the sensor, magnifying you subjects by about 7 times! This is perfect for when your subjects are a long way away and you can’t change to a telephoto lens.

LCD Display

As you’d expect the LCD display on the 550D is bigger and brighter than ever. Measuring 7.7cm it boasts a 3:2 ratio allowing you to preview your shots in the true ratio. The 1040k resolution screen displays  vivid colors making previewing your shots on camera a pleasure.

Additional Usability

One great little feature is the new “Q” button on the back that allows you to access the quick control screen which contains your most used controls. A simple but very slick addition.

This camera follows in the footsteps of the 7D and allows you up to 5 stops up or down of exposure compensation, great for making sure you get the perfect exposure and simply awesome for the HDR lover!

Another great addition is the compatibility with Eye-Fi memory cards. Replace one of your regular SD cards with and Eye-Fi card and you can transfer pictures from camera to computer directly using wifi, no need for any leads whatsoever, you don’t even need to remove your card from your camera.

Available for less that $800 on Amazon this camera is sure to be a hit.

Tokina have just announced that they are about to launch their 11-16mm f2.8 AT-X Pro DX lens with a Sony Alph mount. Until now this has only been available for Canon and Nikon users. The new Sony Mount 11-16mm went on sale in Japan yesterday (Feb 24th 2010) with a global roll out expected to follow shortly.

Tokina 11-16 Lens

As we mentioned in our review of the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 this lens takes a bit of getting used to however when you learn to play by its rules it produces some stunning photographs. Check out our full review here.

We’ve written a lot on Digital SLR Guru about the Canon 50mm f1.8 lens. In fact for about two years it was my go to lens that rarely got taken off my camera. All this changed however when I decided to upgrade to it’s older brother the Canon EF f1.4 50mm….

Differences between the 50mm f1.8 and f1.4?

Well the obvious and main difference between these two lenses is the extra f stop you get with the f1.4 version. If like me you tend to shoot indoors a lot (in poor light conditions) having that extra stop will make a big difference.

On top of the extra f stop the f1.4 has everything that the f1.8 gets criticised for not having;

• Faster & Less Noisy USM Focus Motor
• Solid All Round Build Quality
• Usable Manual Focus Ring
• Metal Mount Ring

In our review of the 50mm f1.8 we dismissed these features as worth sacrificing for the wonderful image quality. Well the 50mm gives you both the image quality plus all of the above.

Build Quality

One of the main criticisms levelled at the 50mm f1.8 is the cheap, plastic build quality. For the price and image quality of the f1.8 this can be forgiven in our opinion. The 50mm f1.4 on the other hand is build much more like the rest of Canons range of lenses. The f1.4 feels like a “proper lens”, one that is built to last and one that belongs on your expensive digital slr, and will last for many years to come.

The f1.8 version was often accused of feeling like a toy, this f1.4 version doesn’t have the same problem. The f1.4 is built using much more robust materials, including a solid metal mount ring. Overall when mounted on the camera this version feels much more balanced with the weight of you slr.

Usability

One of the big advantages of the f1.4 is the fast ad quiet USM motor that powers the auto focus. The 50mm f1.8 often tended to hunt about for focus in very low light. With the 1.4 this is much less of a problem with focusing being much faster and quieter.

The USM Focus on the 50mm f1.4 lens is impressive

The focus ring on the f1.4 is on the middle of the lens barrel (like most other Canon lenses) and has a smooth action allowing fine adjustments by using the ridged rubber grip. This is much better than the barely usable end mounted ring on the f1.8 that made manual focus virtually impossible.

Unlike the f1.8, the f1.4 comes with a focus distance window, again very useful for manual focusing. Also this lens incorporates manual override feature allowing you to over ride the autofocus by simply twisting the focus ring.

Image Quality of the 50mm f1.4

The image quality if very similar to the f1.8 version in out tests. Unless you look very closely it is very hard to detect much improvement in the quality of images the two lenses produce.

You may expect to see a massive improvement baring in mind this lens costs over twice the price of the f1.8 however most of the extra money goes on the features discussed above. It just proves that the f1.8 was built with only image quality in mind, at the expense of everything else!

What this lens does is excel in low light. The extra f stop and USM focus motor mean sharp shots i very low light are possible. The shot blow was hand held at f1.4 on a very low light street.

50mm f1.4 Low Light Performance

The quality of images is still great even for a lens at this price. Colours are vivid and the lens is tack sharp about a stop and a half from maximum aperture.

Another benefit of this lens over the f1.8 is the bokeh it produces. The f1.4 has an 8 blade aperture (compared to 6 in the f1.8) which gives it a softer, more rounded bokeh effect when shooting at big apertures.

Summary

Whether you choose the 50mm f1.8 or the f1.4 version will depend both on your budget and expected use required from a 50mm lens.

If like me you are regularly shoot in poor light (and like to avoid using the flash) we’d recommend you opt for the 50mm f1.4. The big aperture of this lens allows you to shoot fast shutter speeds using lower ISOs.

Don’t get us wrong the f1.8 is a great lens however we feel the better build quality, extra f stop and faster/quieter USM focus motor make the f1.4 a better long term purchase.

Click here to check out the latest prices of the Canon 50mm f1.4 lens.

The aim of this lens is to provide professional photographers with a small, portable standard zoom lens to use on everyday shoots. At is widest this lens provides the photographer with a great wide angle while also having the ability to zoom to just over the 100mm mark.

It must be remembered that if you are using this lens on a cropped frame camera then the equivalent focal length of this lens is about 38-168mm meaning you miss out slightly at the wide end but gain some zoom at the telephoto end.

Build Quality

As with all of Canon’s L series lenses the build quality is superb. Unlike non L lenses this lens is weather sealed meaning it will be fine in a light shower and in addition comes with a lens hood included in the price.

The USM motor makes the focusing both speedy and quiet while the Image Stabilization does a great job of reducing the effects of camera shake, meaning you’ll get sharper images, especially at lower shutter speeds.

If you are new to L series lenses the first thing you will notice is that performance and build quality often comes at the expense of weight. This lens is naturally larger and heavier than other similar lenses in Canon’s range such as the EF-S 17-85mm or EFS-18-55 or kit lens that comes with most of the cropped body cameras.

As mentioned above the weight instantly makes this lens feel solid and like it will last an age, after all this lens is designed to be used on a daily basis by professional photographers so it needs to be tough.

Performance

The internal optics offer a constant aperture of f4.0 throughout the focal range of the lens. Both the zoom and focus ring are reassuringly smooth and solid at the same time allowing you to make very small precise changes easily. You can also adjust or override the automatic focusing at any time by simply turning the focus ring which is a nice option.

As expected all focusing is internal meaning that the lens doesn’t increase in size as you focus (unlike most cheaper lenses in the same class). When on auto focus mode the USM motor is fast and quiet – no complaints in this area.

Canon claim that the Image Stabilization system on this lens offers the equivalent of 3 stops of compensation meaning hand holding is a possibility at much slower shutter speeds. This is the equivalent of being able to hand hold not at 1/60 of a second but at 1/6, a truly remarkable performance enhancer! During our tests the IS system certainly made a dramatic difference to the shots we took.

Image Quality

The old adage of you get what you pay for certainly holds true with this lens. The lens performs well throughout its focal range and certainly way above the non L series lenses. Unlike some of its competitors there is minimal vignetting or chromatic aberrations.

If you are looking to upgrade your kit lens to something that will last you well into the future then this lens has to be one of the best options out there. Not only does it offer you are large focal range from traditional wide angle to short telephoto but the image quality is impressive throughout. This really is a multi purpose lens that will last you a life time. The Canon EF 24-105mm f4 L IS USM is certainly one of the best lenses we have tested here at Digital SLR Guru.

One question we get asked about all of the time is “what is the best walkabout lens?”.

This got us thinking about why the usual answer is a zoom lens with a large focal range and what other alternatives are out there.

What is a Walkabout Lens?

In order to be able to answer this question we must first think about what we mean by walkabout lens. Well most people want to know what is the most flexible lens to carry around with you when you do not know what you are going to be shooting. You may head to a friends house, go to a bar, take a drive into the country, but if you were only taking your camera body and one lens what would it be.

Most people think that a lens such as the kit lens that comes on many entry level dslr cameras is the best option. With a focal length of around 18-55mm it is easy to see that the flexibility of this range allows you to comfortably shoot landscapes as well as portraits for example. However we believe there are better walk about lenses out there.

The 18-55mm Kit Lens Can Take Great Photos, Especially Outdoors

The big problem that most people encounter with their kit lenses is the small aperture. While ‘walking about’ all too often i find myself indoors or in a low light situation where i need a lens with a large aperture. As a result for my walkabout lens I opt for a prime or fixed focal length lens with a large aperture.

I think that too many people rely on zoom lenses far too much.  It is very easy to fall in to the trap of thinking it is essential to need a zoom lens with a range of 18-200mm so that you can capture ‘any’ scene that unfolds in front of you. What many people seem to forget is that we are all fitted with our own zoom mechanism – our feet.

There are actually very few instances where you simply cannot get the shot you want if you only have a prime lens. In fact I am a firm believer that when using a prime lens you are, by default, forced to give a lot more  thought to the composition of your photographs.

I think it is fair to say that zoom lenses make us lazy but equally so prime lenses force you into a creative mind set, which ultimately makes you a better photograph.

So what lens do I use as a walkabout lens? Well the lens that is on my current dslr most of the time is the Canon 50mm f1.8 prime lens. If you haven’t already you should definitely check this lens out.

The unique design of the Lowepro SlingShot 300 AW (and it’s younger brothers the 200 and 100) provides you with quick access to your dslr without the need to remove the bag from your body. The 300 AW aims to solve the age old problem with traditional camera bags which is that in order to get your camera out you have to remove the bag, rest it on the ground, open it up, remove your camera then stand up and take your shot.
The Slingshot series of bags allow you to slide the bag around from off your back and in front of your body giving you access to a small zip pocket that allows you to remove your camera (with lens attached) without removing the bag from your body.

The 300AW is a nice size in that there is plenty of room for lots of gear while the great design means the external dimensions of 44cm x 32cm x 19cm are not overly large. In fact this bag surprised us by how much we were able to fit in it. The main compartment

This style of bag is perfect for all sorts of photographers ranging from photo journalists, sports photographers right down to keen amateurs. If you want a comfortable bag that gives you quick access to your camera gear then this may be the solution for you.

The quality of materials and workmanship is as you would expect from Lowepro, very good.

How we got on with the AW300

We loaded up out bag with a Canon Rebel XSi body with a Canon 70-200mm lens attached and it fitted perfectly. In addition using the configurable inserts we fitted in an external flash unit, and additional 4 lenses, a couple of lens hoods in the main compartment. There is also the top compartment that has plenty of room in it for drinks, snacks, guidebooks or extra accessories. There are is also two smaller accessory pouches designed to accommodate memory cards and batteries.

In  our tests the 300 managed to hold all of the above gear no problems at all but of course it did way quite a bit as a result. The bag features one large padded shoulder strap that comes over your right shoulder. This kept the bag comfortable for a couple of hours at which point the weight began to cut in and my shoulder started to ache (to be fair this would probably have happened with other bags as we were carrying a huge amount of gear!).

To help spread the weight around there is also two waist straps, similar to those found on large outdoor type rucksacks. By using these straps tight and loosening off the main shoulder strap the weight was more evenly distributed and the comfort level undoubtedly increased.

One feature we really liked is the waterproof cover that is concealed nicely in a hidden compartment at the base of the bag. If you are stuck out in the rain simply pull it out and over the bag and you have a very water proof cover over the bag, which is itself water resistant. Basically, your gear is only going to get wet if you are stuck in a monsoon.

Summary of the Lowepro 300

In our view this is an ideal bag for day trips/shoots. Whether you are a professional out on a short assignment or a hobbiest taking your gear out while on holiday this is an ideal solution. The bag is plenty big enough to fit in a couple of bodies as well as extra lenses/flashes while still leaving room for a few non camera essentials.

The benefit of being able to access your camera easily without removing the bag are the biggest selling point of this bag.

Have a look on Amazon to find out the latest prices of this bag.

The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens is currently Canon’s widest lens in its entire EF/EF-S lens line up. In the world of wide angle lenses to fit crop sensor cameras this is one of the most talked about and popular. The 10mm range is the equivalent of 16mm on taking into account your cropped sensor which is certainly wide. This lens is a very popular choice for those after seriously wide angle however recently it has faced much stiffer competition from the likes of Sigma and of course the Tokina 11-16mm.

Build Quality

As you would expect from a Canon lens the build quality of this lens is good with a solid construction (though not quite as good as the Tokina in our opinion. As you would expect there is a metal mount for this lens which adds to the overall feel of quality this lens has however no sign of the weather proof sealing you get on the L-series glass.

Compared to some of the other EF-S range this is certainly at the higher end of the scale in terms of build quality.

Lens Performance

When focusing the barrel does not either extend or rotate which is not always the case with other cheaper alternatives. In addition the 10-12 is powered by a USM motor which focuses both quickly and quietly. Manual focusing feels smooth, solid and as it should.

With such a wide angle lens flare is to be expected however to be fair this lens does a pretty good job to keep this down to a minimum. That said it is still rather annoying that Canon does not include a lens hood with this lens. For the price you’d expect to get one included as you do with other manufacturers such as Tokina.

The picture quality of this lens is very impressive. Image sharpness is pretty good throughout the focal range. If we had to pick some weakness then if you look really hard images at about 10-11mm look a bit soft and some sharpness is lost in the corners of images. This however is a problem that affects almost all ultra wide angle lenses.

Despite it’s wide angle distortion is kept to a minimum, in fact it is as far as ultra wide angle lenses go this is one of the best we have seen for this. Even down at 10mm there is minimum distortion.In addition there is very little chromatic aberration (another inherent weakness of wide angles) and any that is detected is fairly simple to fix in post processing.

If this is your first ultra wide angle then don’t be worried if you get some initial disapointment from this lens. Shooting at such wide ranges as 10mm take some getting used to and you really need to learn how best to fill your composition to get interesting shots out of a lens like this. Once you do get it right however the results are spectacular.

Verdict on the Canon 10-22mm Ultra Wide Angle

Overall, this is a very nice lens. Optically, the EF-S 10-22mm performs very well producing very sharp images throughout it’s focal range.The build quality is great with a durable solid feel, without it weighing a ton.In truth if thy stuck an L on this lens it would not look out of place.

Shooting so wide can take a bit of getting used to however when you do the images this lens will produce are stunning. Whether it is landscapes, architecture or quirky portraits that you shoot a lot this lens will produce some great results for you. If you are looking for some wide fun then you could do a lot worse than invest in this lens!

Check out the latest prices of this lens on Amazon.

A zoom lens with a big range is what many people are looking for when they upgrade from the kit lens they got with their SLR. As a result the Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS lens will be one that many people will consider when looking to upgrade.

Canon have pitched this lens firmly at the ‘all day’ lens crowd for people who want a truly all purpose walk around lens. On a standard cropped sensor slr camera such as the Rebel XSi 450D  the effective focal length of this lens is 29mm-320mm which is a massive increase from the standard kit lens (18mm-55mm).

Canon EF-S 18-200mm IS Features

Aperture ranges from f3.5-f5.6 which is pretty good considering the massive focal range. One nice bonus is the front ring doesn’t rotate meaning you can add filters without a problem.

The lens also incorporates Image Stabilization to help avoid blurred images caused by camera shake. As is the way with Canon IS the feature is visible through the view finder making it much easier to compose your shots, despite being zoomed in.

This lens is not compatible with full frame cameras so if you think you may upgrade at some point in the future it may not be for you, unless you have deep pockets.

Build Quality

The actual mount is made of metal with the barrel and rest  of the lens made from tough plastics, making it feel much  better quality that the 18-55mm kit lens. There are switches on the side for Auto/Manual focus, Image Stabilization and  a zoom lock which is a nice feature missing from the Nikon 18-200mm. Though it feels a solid lens there are some noticeable downsides to the build quality of this lens.

Firstly there is no USM motor meaning that the auto focus is fairly noisy, however to be fair it does tend to focus relatively quickly. On it’s own this is not the end of the world however an added annoyance is that the manual focus ring turns when using the auto focus. This can be annoying and we found ourselves having to adjust our grip several times after switching to auto. That said you would soon adapt to not holding the lens using the focus ruing if you use AF a lot.

Lens Performance

This is a good little lens. However it’s relatively low price means that there will be areas where it is not so great. Under out tests the image quality was much better at the telephoto end rather than the wide end. The weaknesses at the wide end include some barrel distortion, , chromatic aberration and not as much sharpness. When zoomed however the lens performs really well with nice sharp images, a soft bokeh and good colour reproduction.

The above negatives are however expected as you simply can’t make a perfect all round lens for this sort of money. The main benefit is the huge optical range you get which means that you really can walk around with this lens all day and photograph a huge variety of types of photographs without having to swap lenses. The image stabilization works very well enabling you to take sharp images when fully zoomed in.

If you are looking to upgrade your kit lens and yearn for more zoom this really is  a good option for the money. Check out the latest prices for this lens on Amazon here.

Once you start using your camera off flash regularly you will probably realize sooner or later that you are spending quite a lot on batteries. We recently started wondering what was the best kind of speedlight battery out there to get the most flashes for our buck. After a bit of research and some experimentation we have concluded the best speedlight battery to be: rechargeable NiMH batteries.

Why Use NiMH for Your Speedlights?

Obviously using recyclable batteries over time helps save you money. While a set of NiMH batteries and a fast 1 hour charger may be much higher cost up front (compared to regular alkalines) they should last you hundreds, if not thousands of recharges. Off camera flashes can be power hungry devices so to constantly buy disposable alkaline batteries gets expensive in the long run. Using rechargables then should save you money in the long run as well as being better for the environment.

Despite outputting a slightly lower voltage than regular alkaline batteries rechargeable NiMH’s can put out a greater current. The current is what matters when it comes to giving you  a faster recycle time for your speedlights.

When selecting which rechargeables to buy always buy NiMH’s with the highest possible mAH or miliamp hours. This basically tell you the capacity of the batteries. Rechargeable NiMH batteries can have mAH ranging from 1000-2800 mAH. Aim to buy the highest possible, at least 2500 mAH to get the most out of your recheargables.

Getting The Most From Your Speedlight Batteries

NiMH batteries have none of the dreaded memory issues that other types of battery have (such as NiCADs. This means that you do not have to fully run them down between charges to avoid reducing their capacity. However this said it is good practice to try to always use and charge your batteries with batteries with similar states. The easiest way to do this is to buy a spare set of four and label each set A and B with a magic marker. This way you always charge batteries together and never use batteries with different amounts of power left.

Speedlight Battery Conclusion

If you want to know what the best kind of speedlight battery there is then it really has to be the NiMH rechargeable. The only thing that can really beat it is an external battery pack, however these are only really required by professionals who need to use their speedlights for extended periods of time when changing batteries is not an option.

Check out the best NiMh battery rechargers on Amazon.

After having your first digital slr it almost certainly will not be long before you start thinking about upgrading your kit lens. The standard 18-55 mm lens you get with most canon digital slrs does a good job. Not only does it provide you with a fairly large focal range but it produces pretty good quality images. It even now come with image stabilization a feature that used to be reserved for canons more expensive lenses.

It can be confusing trying to decide which lens to upgrade to.  Not only is there the huge range of lenses from Canon & Nikon but also some equally impressive offerings from third party producers like Sigma, Tokina  and Tamron. Below we will discuss some of the most likely candidates that you may want to consider.

A Prime Lens: Canon 50mm f1.8 Mark II

This has to be without doubt the best value lens that canon make. The lens is by far the cheapest lens in Canon’s range, coming in at around $90 (£75) at the time of writing. The best thing about this lens is you get great optics for the money, meaning sharp images as well as incredibly fast aperture of f1.8. All in all this means the 50mm f1.8 performs really well in low light conditions.

The 50mm Produces Stunning Portraits

Canon have kept the cost of this lens so low by keeping the cost low in all other areas, apart from optics. This means the build is almost entirely plastic making this lens feel like a toy. In addition you get a very loud auto focus that can take it’s time to focus when compared to lenses more than three times the price. The image quality however offsets these deficiencies.

The biggest thing you will find strange with his lens when migrating from the kit lens is that there is  no zoom. A few years ago no-zoom or primes lenses were the norm for camera enthusiasts. Once you get used to zooming with your feet you will not miss this function and the image quality of this little lens will more than make up for the lack of zoom.

This lens should be a must for any photographers camera bag. If you want to take some stunning portraits that are pin sharp (even in low light) then you will not be disappointed with this lens. In our view it would still be great value at twice the price.

Check out our full review of the 50mm f1.8 for a more in depth test.

A wide angle Lens

If landscapes are your thing then a wide angle lens may be the next logical step for you. Wide angle lenses do what they say they increase the width of view that you can get into your photo.

Tokina 11-16 Lens

A good option for a great quality wide angle lens is the Canon 10-22mm. This lens gives you the benefit of a nice wide 10mm and also zooms all the way up to 22mm meaning that when added to your kit lens in your bag you have a great focal range at your disposal.

Another option might be the Tokina 11-16mm which is what is known as an ultra wide lens which focuses on producing better image quality than the canon at the wider end of the spectrum.

Zoom or Telephoto  Lenses

One of the most popular choices for people upgrading their kit lens is the addition of a zoom or telephoto lens. Whether they tend to specialize in street photography or wildlife snaps many people feel the need for much more zoom than the 55mm offered by the standard kit lens.

The most common options are to opt for a lens that zooms to either 200 or 300mm. Such a zoom will satisfy all but the most specialist photographer.

The big thing that increases the cost of zoom lenses is the aperture they deliver throughout their focal range. If you are looking to blur the background, shoot in low light at subjects that are far away  you will need to spend more to get a lens with a bigger aperture.

Some common options are:

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS Lens
Canon EF 70-300mm f4-5.6 IS USM Lens
Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM Lens

Macro lenses

The other main type of lens many people opt for is a macro lens. If you are I to taking extreme close ups of flowers or insects then a macro lens is for you.

Macro lenses can produce some stunning results

Macro lenses can be bought in a range of focal lengths however they all have one thing in common – they let you focus on objects that are very close to the lens. This can make for some spectacular images that reveal details that are not normally visible to the naked eye.

As the above image shows macros lenses need not restrict you to photographing flowers or insects – all around you are every day items that when seem through a macro lens take on a whole new life. The above shot was taken using the Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro lens and was simply a shot taken in the kitchen sink of the water from a dripping tap falling into the basin. Check out our full review here.