Canon EOS Rebel T2i

Sharpness (10.06)

`We were impressed by the sharpness of the T2i, especially compared to the results measured on several competitors’ cameras. The T2i was tested in Standard mode, which has a minimal amount of in-camera sharpening. The resulting images turned out to be quite good, with the best results coming in at the 18mm focal length: 2124 lw/ph horizontal resolution and 2279 lw/ph vertical resolution. More on how we test sharpness.

Image Sharpness and Chromatic Aberration

Focal Length:

18.0mm

36.0mm

55.0mm

Click blue squares to change sample crops below
f/3.5 f/9 f/22
f/4.5 f/11 f/29
f/5.6 f/14 f/36

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.

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.