Canon EOS Rebel T3i
Intermediate dSLR
With kit price well under $1,000, this makes a good gift for someone who wants to update from an older Canon dSLR or wants to play around with video.
The good: The Canon EOS Rebel T3i delivers excellent video capabilities and image and video quality.
The bad: If you shoot both still and video, the T3i's controls can be frustrating to operate, and it's not terribly fast for burst shooting sports, kids, or pets.
The bottom line: For the money, the Canon EOS Rebel T3i is a great choice for dSLR videographers--though the cheaper T2i can still suffice if you don't need the articulated LCD--and it's a solid choice for creative still shooters. But though the image quality and general shooting performance are top-notch, if you're upgrading to capture sports, kids, or pets, the T3i may not be able to keep up.
October 31, 2012 3:00 PM PDT
Photo by: Sarah Tew/CNET
