Canon EOS Rebel T2i

Handling (7.00)

If you’ve handled other Canon Rebel models, the T2i will feel very familiar. The weight is a bit more evenly distributed than the XS or XSi, but it feels virtually identical to last year’s T1i. The weight is also nearly identical: like the T1i, the T2i is lighter than many comparable SLRs. This is great if you’re lugging the camera around all day, but it lacks the solid, reassuring feel of a weightier body. The light weight can also make Rebel cameras feel less stable than a heftier model.

The button layout is very close to that of last year’s T1i. The most significant change is the addition of a dedicated Live View and video record button, located right next to the viewfinder. This button is easier to reach and it no longer shares duties with the playback print button. Playback print is now the secondary function of the Q button. This sharp new addition lets you pop into Quick Control mode, where you can change each individual shooting setting on the fly. We like this a great deal more than assigning this function to the ambiguous ‘Set’ button.

Buttons & Dials (9.25)

One of the advantages of an entry-level DSLR is in its sparse button design, which can be less intimidating to first-time users. Controls on the T2i fit nicely into this category. The buttons are all sensibly laid out and the most important features get their own buttons here on the body of the camera. (You’ll have to plumb the depths of the menus for everything else.)

There are a couple new design elements this year, including the dedicated Live View / video record button up near the viewfinder. Most beginners won’t know that this symbol is Canon’s universal language for Live View, but once you know it’s there, you’ll appreciate its convenient location. There’s also a button for the Quick Controls screen; the new button is much more obvious than pressing down the Set button, as you were required to do with the T1i.

Display(s) (9.70)

Canon has given consumers a slight increase in LCD resolution this year, with the T2i’s 1,040,000-dot, 3-inch display. This high-res screen is great for sharp image playback and a more accurate manual focus in Live View. In comparison, the Nikon D5000 LCD is much lower in resolution (only 230,000 pixels), but it is articulated: the user can unfold the LCD and view it at different angles.

This year, Canon recycles the same Quick Control Screen interface seen on the T1i. When the shooting settings are displayed, pressing the Q button will switch the user into Quick Control mode. Though the two modes look nearly identical, in the Quick Control Screen, you can use the directional pad to navigate through the various options. Once you’ve highlighted a function, the name of that function is displayed at the bottom and you can use the dial to adjust it. If you press the Set button, a more detailed setting display appears.

The screen color option allows you to choose from one of four color schemes for the LCD: black on gray, white on black, white on brown, or green on black. The LCD can also be set to one of seven brightness levels.

Secondary Display

The monochrome LCD panel you’ll find on many higher-end SLRs is, understandably, missing from the $900 Rebel T2i.

Viewfinder (9.00)

The T2i viewfinder is identical to that of last year’s T1i. The viewfinder has a 95% field of view at 0.87x magnification and a diopter range of -3.0 to +1.0 m^-1^. Beneath the viewfinder is a small proximity sensor, which deactivates the LCD when you put your face up to the viewfinder.

The view through the eyepiece is detailed below:

The T2i ships with an eyepiece cover: a small bit of flexible rubber that can be used to keep light leaking in through the viewfinder from affecting exposure readings during tripod photography. The cover is conveniently attached to the neck-strap, but it inconveniently requires you to remove the eyecup for each use. Sliding that eyecup off is fairly annoying and it makes you feel like you’re breaking the camera — not to mention the fact that you could easily misplace the eyecup once it’s off. Still, the cover is a nice feature for an entry-level model, even if you only use it occasionally.

Image Stabilization (2.44)

The optical image stabilization built into the T2i’s kit lens did not do much to improve the camera’s performance. In the best case scenario (1/60 second shutter speed at low shake), there was a moderate improvement in sharpness. In other cases, however, the stabilization either did nothing or made matters worse. More on how we test image stabilization.

In our low shake testing, the T2i performed much as we’ve come to expect: at higher shutter speeds; the stabilization actually hurt sharpness performances, while at lower speeds the system improved sharpness. At the lowest shutter speeds (i.e. 1/15 and 1/8), the stabilization simply wasn’t effective enough to alter sharpness in either direction.

In our high shake test, however, the results were unusual. Once again, the lower shutter speeds (in this case, anything slower than 1/30 of a second) seemed unaffected by stabilization. The surprise comes from the sharpness results above 1/30 second. Stabilization actually helped sharpness at 1/125 second and higher, while it hindered the camera’s performance at 1/60 second. Our interpretation of the data is that the camera’s stabilization system is simply not predictable in high shake scenarios.

Image Stabilization Comparison Table			Expand
	Low Shake IS Off	Low Shake IS On	High Shake IS Off	High Shake IS On
1/500
1/250
1/125
1/60
1/30
1/15
1/8

Compared to other cameras in this group, the T2i fared quite poorly in stabilization. None of these SLRs is particularly impressive in this category, but the Sony A550 and Nikon D5000 at least posted results that we feel indicate significant effectiveness on the part of their respective image stabilization systems.

The representative same-size crops below are taken from our test images. They should give you an idea of the improvement in sharpness — if any — offered by the stabilization system.