Canon EOS Rebel T5 EF-S 18-55mm IS II Digital SLR Kit

CUSTOMER REVIEW



To me the Canon EOS Rebel line of DSLR cameras are the best for those wanting to get into more advanced photography. The main reasons are they allow you full manual controls and the interchangeable lenses. These allow you to change so much of how the cameras functions in different lighting situations. And over the last five years Canon digital SLR cameras have become very capable of 1080p high definition video cameras also. Over the course of this review I get a mention some basics about digital photography that can help you if you're a first-time camera buyer.



NOTE: You can get the older models like the T3i and save a few bucks but still get the full manual controls like this camera. Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens The thing about the T3i is that it's all around a better camera and even more advanced than this one. It has an articulating LCD screen and the LCD screen has more pixels I really recommend it over this camera and it's even cheaper. I put it on par even with the Canon T5i. so be sure to check it out I think the T3i is the camera to get at the present time.



1. The number one reason to get a camera like this is the full manual controls over such things as shutter speed and aperture. Most point-and-shoot digital cameras that you can buy today for under $200 don't allow you to adjust these things but really if you're serious about photography learning how shutter speed and aperture work together to create photographs is very important. And the fact that this camera allows you to control these features and so many more manually means you can make great photographs. In point number two I will explain how shutter speed and aperture work together but just know that they are very important and having control of them means you're in a make better photos. Notice I said make better photos instead of take better photos that is because by learning how shutter speed and aperture work together you will be able to create photos where regular point-and-shoot cameras would fail.



2. Interchangeable lenses are a MAJOR reason you will want this camera. If you search Canon lenses on Amazon you will see that they offer a wide variety of lenses for this camera. Take for example this 50 mm lens that everybody calls the nifty 50: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens The best part about this amazing lens is that it's less than $100. And the cool thing is you can get a lot of different lenses relatively cheap for these Canon cameras.



The lens that comes with this camera is ok but it's lowest f-stop is 5 and that is bad in low light situations. I definitely recommend the 50mm linked above as it helps learning the manual controls of this camera.



HOW APERTURE AND SHUTTER SPEED WORK: (The following was taken from my 50mm lens review but it walks you through understanding shutter speed and aperture)

Here I'll explain how the f-stop or aperture priority works on digital SLR cameras. Basically the aperture is a circle inside the lens that as you go up in your f-stop from 1.8 to 2.2 to 3.0 and beyond it shrinks the size of this circle in the lens. The shrinking of the circle from a higher f-stop allows less light to pass through to the sensor. The lower the f-stop i.e. 1.8 allows you to shoot at faster shutter speeds in low light situations because the circle in the lens allows more light to pass through because of the lower aperture. Here's an example say are in a well lit room and you're shooting your child (yes that sounds very weird but it's a funny joke anyway). Generally indoors you need to shoot at 1/60 of a second with most lenses they'll instantly autofocus at their lowest f-stop which would be about 4.0. But with this lens since it can go down to 1.8 on the f-stop you could shoot the same picture at 1/125 shutter speed. Resulting in about the same light but avoiding any motion blur that plagues low light photography. Now needs to be noted that as you drop your f-stop you lose depth of field. I.e. how much of your photo will be in focus and how much will be blurred. It's the effect you see on portraits where the person is in focus but the background is blurry.



Now I know many people will probably shoot holes in the foregoing explanation of f-stop but I'm not a really advanced photographer but I get how shutter speed and aperture priority work with each other. Buying a lens like this can only help somebody understand how both are related and work together.



Here's what I recommend that you do:

1. Enable manual mode on your camera this mode allows you to set both the aperture for the lens a.k.a. the f-stop and the shutter speed a.k.a. how long the shutter is opened while taking a photograph.

2. Drop the aperture or f-stop to 1.8 on this lens

3. Set your shutter speed to 1/60 of a second

4. take a picture

5. Look at your photograph notice how much is dark and light about it how sharp it is etc.

6. Go up to the next shutter speed 1/90th of the second or 1/125 and take another photograph.

7. now compare both of the photographs you took

8. to change the shutter speed again going up another step taken other photograph now compare all three photographs



If you continue to do this adjust shutter speed while knowing what your aperture is you're going to notice how shutter speed affects the lighting of your photographs all you need to do then is start changing your aperture and repeat the process of stepping through your shutter speeds eventually you'll understand how the aperture works in correlation with shutter speed. I became a proficient photographer using manual controls in less than a month just by doing this simple practice. I would recommend starting outdoors on a well lit day because then you will see how you can adjust your aperture and your shutter speeds to really make good photographs.

***END***



On the top of this camera there's a dial on the dial there is the Tv mode for shutter priority aka you can adjust the shutter speed up and down while the camera adjusts the aperture. There is also Av mode where the camera allows you to adjust the aperture of the lens while it handles the shutter speed. And then finally on that dial there is the magic M and that is manual mode and that's where you get to set the shutter speed and aperture for yourself. If you follow the tips and step-by-step above even if you just use the lens included you will get better at photography.



3. HD video: One of my favorite things about this line of cameras is you can shoot video at 1080p which is very high-resolution and looks great on high definition televisions and even on YouTube. And with the fact you can use interchangeable lenses you can really start to do some amazing things with your video. Dropping your f-stop to 1.8 on the 50mm lens and being able to shoot 1080p video is really incredible.



Those are my three main reasons why these canon cameras are the BEST for new photographers and even videographers nowadays.



I also TOTALLY RECOMMEND getting the battery grip: Opteka Battery Pack Grip / Vertical Shutter Release for Canon Rebel T2i, T3i, T4I, T5i,Digital SLR Cameras with 2 Extra LP-E8 Extended Life High Capacity Batteries, Wireless Infrared Remote and Lens Cleaning Kit They add so much to this camera as far as feel. Plus the extra battery life is so useful. And it's less than $60 with two extra batteries.



Hope this helps thanks for reading this wall of text.