Canon’s EOS 500D – or Digital Rebel T1i as it’s known in North America – is the company’s latest entry-to-mid-level DSLR and the successor to the hugely popular EOS 450D / Rebel XSi. Announced towards the end of March 2009, the 500D / T1i externally resembles its predecessor with exactly the same dimensions and similar weight, but inherits a number of features from the higher-end EOS 50D and EOS 5D Mark II models; it also becomes the company’s second DSLR to feature HD video recording.
The EOS 500D / Rebel T1i features a jump from the 12.2 Megapixels of its predecessor to the same 15.1 Megapixels as the semi-pro EOS 50D; indeed beyond a slower continuous shooting capability, the CMOS sensor in the new model appears to be pretty much the same as that in the 50D.
The sensitivity range of 100 to 3200 ISO with extended 6400 and 12800 ISO options are the same, as are the DIGIC 4 processor and 14-bit tonal range behind the scenes. Like its predecessor and the 50D, there’s also the Auto Lighting Optimiser option which adjusts the brightness and contrast of images with dark areas, and now the EOS 500D / T1i brings Peripheral Illumination Correction to the affordable end of the range.
