Like most people these days, I have been using digital point and shoot cameras for years, and have greatly enjoyed taking pictures with them with reckless abandon. Soon enough, however, you start appreciating the intrinsic limitations of point and shoot cameras, even the best ones on the market: no matter how sophisticated the camera, shooting objects will never be as sharp as when you saw them with your naked eye, the colors are not exactly what you saw, and unless you have the perfect lighting conditions all of those problems only get exacerbated. Sometimes post-production in Photoshop or a similar program can improve things to a great extent, but even this can only take you so far. For most everyday shooting this still might not be the problem, but if you want to get a bit more sophisticated with your pictures you need to take the plunge and buy a truly qualitatively different camera: a digital SLR. These cameras used to be an almost exclusive domain of professional photographers, but with the improvements in technology and the increased marketplace competition they have become accessible to regular consumers.

There are many manufacturers of DSLRs out there, with seemingly more and more entering that space every day. However, there are two well-established brands that still more or less dominate over all the others: Canon and Nikon. If you are an amateur photographer who is just starting out in the DSLR world, chances are you’ll do more than fine with any one of those brands. One of the main reasons I decided to go with Canon is that it seems that for about the same price you get more megapixels. I like to play with images in Photoshop, and more pixels in general give you more stuff to play with. 18 megapixels of this camera are more than sufficient for most of my creative needs.

This is in fact my second DSLR camera. I’ve used its predecessor, Canon XSi, for four years, and have been extremely satisfied with it. The primary reason that I chose to upgrade is that T2i is capable of capturing full HD video, and I’ve decided that instead of investing into a separate HD video camera an upgrade to my DSLR would do the trick. There are still some limitations to using the DSLR cameras for video purposes (and I’ll get to a few of them bellow), but these are far outweighed by the positives. So if you only care about taking still photos, and price is an issue for you, then you’ll do more than fine with XSi. However, if you are also interested in video, then T2i is probably the best entry level DSLR camera.

The first thing that you’ll notice with any DSLR camera is its relative size as compared to dainty point and shoots. You can never carry DSLR around as an afterthought. When you take one around you make a conscious decision to take pictures, and furthermore you will be conspicuous when taking them. These might be some of the considerations to think about when deciding on a switch from point and shoots.

In addition to size, you will also notice a very solid feel of this camera. It is not made out of cheap materials, and every part of it has been thoughtfully designed for durability. You shouldn’t casually toss this camera around, but it is comforting to know that it can probably withstand most everyday small bumps if they come its way.

This camera has many features and settings, and all of this might be overwhelming to a first-time SLR user. In addition to automatic settings that are now also a familiar feature of most point and shoot cameras, there are multiple “creative” settings that include various levels of manual control, including a completely manual operation. When you first start shooting I would recommend using these “creative” settings to experiment and play with. However, if you are still unsure of what you are doing and there is shot that you absolutely have to take then the automatic settings would be much more appropriate. One of the main improvements of T2i over XSi is the availability of “Live View” while shooting in the automatic modes. This means that if you are used to looking at the camera’s screen while taking photographs with your point-and-shoot, then you’ll have an easy time adjusting to this DSLR.

The picture quality of the photographs that I have taken has been spectacular. You will notice a clear difference from the point-and-shoot photograph from the very first shots that you take, and so will all of your friends. Just prepare yourself for becoming the “designated photographer.” 🙂 The only problem that I’ve had is that in low light photographs have pretty noticeable orange glow. I’ve been able to avoid this only when fiddling with shooting controls in one of the manual modes.

Another amazing feature of this camera is the speed with which it takes pictures. At 3.7 frames per second, you will be able to capture some pretty amazing shots if you go into the continuous shooting mode. I’ve been able to capture electric sparks on the Van Der Graaf generator and some really neat sports action photos.

The large 3-inch viewing screen allows you to have a good control over the camera settings, as well as increased ability to frame your shots as you like. T2i’s screen resolution is higher than that of XSi, and the screen also appears brighter and with less glare in bright light. The increased viewing resolution helps with ascertaining the quality of the photographs on the fly. It also makes it more enjoyable to view your pictures on the camera itself.

As I’ve mentioned before, this camera has an outstanding video recording capabilities. This is my first experience of shooting video with an interchangeable lens camera, and the difference from the “regular” video cameras is quite noticeable. The image is crisp and clear, and depending on your lens it can almost approach the quality of a professional video cameras. There are several different recording modes, which will cover pretty much all of the possible home video situations that you may encounter. However, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when working with video. 1. When using auto-focusing and image stabilization you will hear noticeable noise coming from the lens’ motors. This will be a serious issue whenever you are recording rapidly moving subjects. 2. The in-built microphone is very feeble, and 3. You can’t use camera’s light for recording in dimly lit settings. These last two issues can easily be dealt with by buying additional equipment. Overall, however, these have not been major issues for me, but you might have different recording needs than I do.

Overall I have been extremely satisfied with this camera. Most manufacturers (Canon included) keep coming up with bigger and better models almost every year, but unless you really need some of the latest top-of-the line features you will be more than well served with this camera. I for one don’t feel like I have even scratched the surface of what this camera has to offer, and based on my experience with Canon XSi it will probably be more than adequate for most of my photography needs for a foreseeable future.