Canon T3i T3 600D

• 26 Comments

•

Canon-T3i_LetusCage-900LED (2)

Canon-T3i_LetusCage-900LED (1)

Because the 900 LED panels can be battery powered, it's fairly easy to use this as a portable On-Camera video light. Here it's shown mounted on the Letus DSLR Cage with Canon T3i + 18-55mm IS II lens. I'm just kidding..it's a joke people. Don't get too serious about this post. You all know I would never be seriously caught going out with this type of setup. I mean, who can take the 18-55mm stock lens seriously? LOL. Now to mount this to a shoulder rig...yeah..now we're talking.. (kidding guys..kidding)

900-500-LED (3)

900-500-LED (2)

900-500-LED (1)

A common question right now is, why the 900's? Well the 900's is a happy medium sitting right in between the 600 & 1200 LED lights. I can't complain since the 900's already push out twice the light as the older 500 LED panels. An upgrade is an upgrade. Also as seen in the images (above) I can fit (2) 900 LED light panels into standard sized Carry On luggage and room to spare for my power cords. The 500 LED panels were a bit beefier and would be impossible to fit two. You can check out more images and specs about these new LED light panels over at Amazon available for Prime - Click Here.

600 LED 900 1200 Video Light Panel
find-price-button Dimmable LED Video Light Panels

• 4 Comments

•

canon-t3i-available
find-price-button Canon EOS Rebel T3i Digital Camera w/ 18-55mm IS II Lens

Just got wind that the Canon EOS T3i is definitely in stock and ready to ship. I know many guys aren't ready to 'convert' but this is a nice camera for first time DSLR shooters. Enough improvements to 'not' consider buying a T2i for your first camera. In stock Found here: Canon EOS T3i Rebel Digital Camera Kit

canon-60D
find-price-button Canon EOS 60D DSLR Camera (Body Only)

Of course Canon is here to confuse us, so for the same price you can grab the Canon 60D. Everything is very close between the two, but the Canon 60D also has Manual Kelvin (White Balance), while the Canon T3i does not. Like the Canon 60D, the Canon T3i does provide you with Manual Audio levels, Vari Angle LCD, Wireless Flash Trigger, and all those silly Custom Filters. Of course this is a Body Only price for the 60D, and you'll be missing out on that new 3x - 10x Zoom Feature.

• 6 Comments

•

battery-grip (1 of 3)

battery-grip (1 of 1)

They said it would work, but you never know until you try. Just confirmed that the Canon T3i is compatible with the same BG-E8 Battery grip for the Canon T2i / 550D. Works seamlessly.

The camera bodies are very close in design, but still a bit different. It doesn't seem like you can swap the camera's battery doors (when removed for installing battery grip). For those wondering about the GGS glass protectors working on the Canon T3i / 600D, it doesn't look like a fit. The buttons are close to the same position, but everything is just slightly off. Other accessories such as Batteries, Cards, and Chargers are all the same, so the T3i / 600D should be seamless to drop into any existing Canon T2i workflow...

Canon-550D-Aftermarket-Grip
find-price-button Canon T2i & T3i Battery Grips

• 31 Comments

•

Wanted to put the T3i's new 3x Zoom featuer to the paces, so I shot some bugs with the 100mm F/2.8L IS Macro. At 10x you do notice it gets soft and it's pretty hard to see what's going on with these little guys. So for now here's an all 3x Zoom video which shows the original camera position. (except for the first few seconds. You'll see the text change). The shakiness was because it was a windy day, it's not from the camera. It's also pretty hard to pan at 3x Macro, everything is exaggerated.

I know what you're thinking. Wow, what a rare treat to find a flower full of sooo many lady bugs with great fill lighting? A very unique experience to have outside in nature. Ok, I admit. I cheated. Just a little.

I'm going to try this again in a more controlled environment when I get my real lights setup. I was at home and limited to what I could use. You can't use bulbs that generate too much heat or the flower will wilt and the lady bugs will 'crisp'. These little FLO's don't output as much as the LED panels which i'll try (maybe tomorrow).

canon-t3i-available
find-price-button Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR

• 58 Comments

•

The Canon T3i is in, and so far looks very close to a Canon T2i. There is one cool feature that none of the other Canon's have and it's the 3x-10x Zoom feature. The T2i and 60D had something similar but could not perform this while shooting in HD resolution. The Panasonic GH2 already had this feature built in, so it's nice to see Canon stepping up with the same.

canon-t3i (1 of 1)

The new T3i has this Zoom ability that can only be used in 1080 either 24fps or 30fps. You can't use this feature when shooting in 720. It's not a hard set Zoom factor, as you can start at 3x and slowly work your way to any Zoom in between all the way up to 10x. For people trying to find a solution to shooting far (wedding guys?), this new feature can essentially change my 100mm F/2.8 into a 1600mm F/2.8. So a simple 50mm F/1.4 can become a 500mm F/1.4. You see where this can come in handy? Oh and because my 100mm is one of Canon's finest 'Macro' lenses, the 10x feature on this lens is 'INSANE!!'. A must see, I mean seriously this is where this feature really really shines. It's crazy....

Let's hope Canon has the ability to throw this feature in via Firmware updates to our older cams, but don't hold your breath.

canon-t3i-available
find-price-button Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR

• 6 Comments

•

I'm still set on getting some type of Tilt Shift lens (eventually), but if you just want to experiment putting some videos together you can do this without an actual Tilt Shift lens. One of the popular tricks is to shoot far. Really far. Here's an example of a Tilt Shift video I posted that used post processing software to create the effect: http://cheesycam.com/tilt-shift-without-the-tilt-shift-lens/

Here's another example from Vimeo member Mark Rigler. In order to get these shots, he used an inexpensive Samyang 500mm mirror lens. Afterwards, the Tilt Shift effect was added in post.

Sounds like a monster telescope, but mirror lenses use a technique to multiply the image inside a small form factor. The cons to using this technique is some softness and loss of light and the best of the best Mirror lenses at 500mm might be about F/6.3. The pros are you're able to get a crazy distance in a lightweight lens for super cheap. These lenses are often rebranded so Samyang is just one name. You can also find them in Rokinon, Vivitar, and Bower. Imagine using this lens on a GH2 or T3i with new Cropped modes - Crazy far!

Samyang-500mm-mirror-lens
find-price-button Cheap 500mm F/6.3 Mirror Lenses

• 13 Comments

•

With the Canon EOS T3i / 600D out in the marketplace, this marks Canon's second Vari-Angle LCD DSLR. Thinking of a different way to mount a View Finder to cameras similar to the Canon 60D's swivel out monitor, I tinkered around with the idea of using the some cheap hot shoe adapters.

In this configuration you'd be able to lock in a view finder while still maintaining a hot shoe to mount other accessories. By slotting the flat bar, you'd still have a quick release way of detaching the view finder without dismounting your hot shoe accessory 'i.e. Microphone'. By using Velcro to attach a View Finder, this type of adapter would pretty much be 'Universal'. Somebody needs to refine this idea....

shoe-adapter-threaded-x20
find-price-button Shoe Adapter 1/4 x 20 Threaded

shoe-adapter-threaded
find-price-button Cold Shoe Adapter Threaded

• 2 Comments

•

Yup it's out there. Most retailers still show the T3i as a pre-order item, but you might be able to catch the new Canon EOS T3i / 600D via eBay. There's a limited amount posted right now, but i'm expecting more to show up by tomorrow afternoon. Pricing? Some fair, some hiked up a bit but try to make up by throwing in accessories. You can find it all in the link below.

canon-t3i-available
find-price-button Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR