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The Canon EOS Rebel T4i / 650D – more HD than SLR!

June 8^th, 2012

by Sebastian WöberJune 8^th, 2012

Now we’re talking!

Whoever said Canon HDSLR’s were too expensive. We were desperate for an affordable alternative to the 5D mark III and Canon delivered. The T4i is $849.

Not only that, there are several interesting additions that make this camera seem more HDSLR than any HDSLR before it.
Canon talks about “Stunning stereo sound” via a built-in stereo-mic, silent-fast autofocus and a touch-screen flip-out LCD. The T4i press release screams video more than stills. Fascinating.

A new Autofocus mode?
Yes, we (I) want autofocus. What we’ve seen so far on large sensor cameras was mostly catastrophic and unusably noisy, slow or inaccurate. The fact that Canon emphasizes the Canon T4i’s Autofocus mode so much is a good sign:
“The new AF system includes a nine-point all cross-type sensor array, and new Hybrid CMOS AF which achieves fast focus when shooting stills or video in Live View mode. Much to the pleasure of aspiring student filmmakers and parents everywhere, the Rebel T4i features Canon’s new Movie Servo AF providing a quiet, continuous AF during HD video recording when using one of Canon’s newly introduced Stepping Motor (STM) lenses. The silent continuous autofocus when shooting HD video helps ensure the camera only captures the sounds of the scene being recorded. ”

That sounds promising. You need a lens like the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM or new pancake EF 40mm f/2.8 STM lens.

Limitations?
There is no direct mention of less moiré or aliasing – a Canon HDSLR problem the 5D mark III could finally solve. However the press release talks about “Stunningly Crisp Video“. I guess we’ll have to wait and see for first tests to prove that.
There is manual audio! But there’s no word of 5D mk3’s improved All-I codec.
Availability
The EOS Rebel T4i Digital SLR camera will be available at the end of June.

Pricing
The Canon Rebel T4i / 650D is $849 at B&H: