By Leonard Goh
12/05/2009
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/digitalcameras/0,39005881,44635505p,00.htm

Shutterbugs looking for an entry-level dSLR these days are spoilt for choice. Not only do they have different brands to consider, the shooters are also peppered with high-end features such as HD video-recording features and tilting LCDs. In such a saturated market, camera makers have to distinguish their products from rivals.

Canon's foray into affordable dSLRs was six years ago with the EOS 300D. This lineup is into its fifth iteration now, and the latest model, the EOS 500D, encompasses high-end features such as full-HD video recording and a high-resolution screen. But how does it fare against competitors such as Nikon and Olympus which recently dished out the D5000 and E-620, respectively, with articulated LCDs?

Design

The design of the EOS 500D doesn't deviate much from its predecessor, the EOS 450D. From the placement of buttons right down to the hand grip, everything feels pretty much the same. A defining feature of the new dSLR is its silver mode dial, first seen on the midrange EOS 50D on top of the camera. On the dial is a new mode--video recording--which is located all the way at one end. Unfortunately, the dial doesn't rotate 360 degrees, so you'll have to turn from one end to other if you want to switch from movie mode to, say, manual exposure.

The grip of the camera isn't too shallow like the Olympus E-450, and there are contours in the right places for a firm, solid hold on the shooter. At 480g for only the camera body, the EOS 500D isn't too heavy to lug around even when we coupled it with the EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS lens.

On the rear of the camera you'll find the record button, which is mapped to Live View. In movie mode, Live View is automatically activated so the button is used for starting and stopping video capture.

As with the EOS 450D, the four-way navigation pad can be used to call up menus for timer mode, white balance, focus mode and Color Style settings. The Set button can be customized to gain quick access to image quality, flash exposure compensation, LCD monitor on/off or menu display. This makes for a good shooting experience as you don't have to access the menus to make changes to commonly used settings such as the size of the image.

Features

What will probably entice consumers to consider the EOS 500D is its full-HD video-recording feature. At the time this review was written, this Canon dSLR was the only entry-level model available which could take 1,080p-quality movie recordings at 20 frames per second (fps). This puts it at a slight disadvantage compared with the Lumix DMC-GH1, Panasonic's second Micro Four Thirds camera, which offers the same resolution video capture at 24fps.

As with other cameras in its class, the EOS 500D is not able to adjust focus automatically when capturing clips. Instead, users have the choice of either triggering the autofocus by pressing the AF/AE button or switching the lens to MF mode and performing manual focusing. A drawback when using autofocus is that the mono microphone picks up the sound of the lens' mechanism moving. But if you're using a Canon USM (ultrasonic motor) glass, there shouldn't be such a problem.

Unlike the EOS 5D Mark II, the EOS 500D doesn't have an option to plug in an external microphone to record audio.

The format of the video files generated is .MOV in H.264 compression. Take note that full-HD video clips can take up a lot of space on your memory card. A 15-second recording will require about 75MB of memory.

Another upgrade the EOS 500D has over its EOS 450D predecessor is the resolution which has been bumped up from 12 to 15 megapixels. Take note that the sensor size remains the same, so the pixel density of the new shooter is higher. Will that affect the image quality, especially since the dSLR has an expanded ISO range of up to ISO 12,800? We will examine this in later sections of this review.

The 920k, 3-inch LCD is also an upgrade from the EOS 450D which has a 3-inch screen but a resolution of only 230k. Using Live View on the EOS 500D is quite an enjoyable experience, and checking for sharpness of images in playback mode is a breeze with the higher-resolution display.

The Canon dSLR has nine autofocus points which are represented by nine dots in the optical viewfinder. When it locks onto subjects, the dots will blink in red very briefly. If you missed them, you'll have to release the shutter and half-press it again to check the part of the frame in focus. This is necessary if you are using a wide-angle lens since everything appears to look sharp.

The EOS 500D has a new Creative Auto (CA) mode which allows you to make limited changes to the shooting settings. This is useful for first-timers who are not too familiar with operating a dSLR.

Performance

The EOS 500D was quick to start up during our Lab tests. It took a zippy 0.1 second to power up from off. As expect of a dSLR, there was virtually no shutter lag to speak of.

We tested the autofocus speed with the EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 IS lens. The shooter was fast to lock onto subjects and the image stabilizer system worked well, too. We were shooting at night with a slow shutter speed of 1/8 second and the picture turned out relatively sharp.

The Canon dSLR employs the LP-E5 rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which is the same cell its predecessor uses. According to Canon, the juice pack will last for 500 shots if you use just the optical viewfinder and 190 shots if you use Live View. After giving the cell a full charge, we shot about 140 pictures (with a combination of optical viewfinder and Live View) and a few full-HD videos, and the battery indicator still showed full bar.

We tested the writing speed of the EOS 500D with a Kingston 4GB SDHC Class 6 card, and found it to be very satisfactory. We had expected videos to take more time to be written to the media, but in our tests it was almost immediate.

The burst mode is rated at 3.4fps, which is similar to the EOS 450D. The D5000 can rattle off at 4fps, which is 0.5fps more than the Canon. This difference is probably negligible for most users, unless they are considering shooting sports or fast-moving subjects.

Image And Video Quality

The EOS 500D did well in our ISO tests. The shooter employs the company's new Digic 4 image processor which claims to offer cleaner-looking pictures even at higher ISO sensitivity, and we think it delivered as promised.

By default, the dSLR offers only ISO 100 to 3,200. If you need a higher sensitivity, you can activate ISO 6,400 and 12,800 via the Custom Function 2 setting.

Looking at the ISO comparison chart on the right, pictures taken at ISO 100 are very pleasing with no signs of noise. Details are well-rendered and color gradation is smooth. It was only at ISO 400 that we spotted slight hints of digital artifacts. However, a non-discerning eye won't be able to see these unless you peek really closely at the darker regions. We noticed that at ISO 800, the noise suppression algorithm kicked in and our picture had a tinge of softness around the edges of subjects. However, most of the details were still retained. We consider shots taken at ISO 1,600 to be still usable for smaller prints, but we figured at size 8R and above, the digital artifacts would be visible.

We won't advise users to tread beyond ISO 1,600 as images snapped at ISO 3,200 and above lacked details and looked soft. Also, color noise started to appear at ISO 6,400 and was very apparent at ISO 12,800.

Video-wise, we compared the clips captured on the EOS 500D with the GH1's. Because of higher frame rates, the Micro Four Thirds camera churned out smoother clips than the Canon camera. But in terms of details in movies, both shooters were almost on par. We also didn't detect noise in the shadow areas from videos recorded with the dSLR.

In terms of color, the EOS 500D produced shots with punchy colors that had just the right amount of saturation. If you want a more faithful reproduction of the scene, you can change the Color Style settings to either Neutral or Faithful.

The onboard flash output was accurate and didn't wash out our subjects. If the lighting situation is tricky (eg, backlighting), you can control the intensity of the flash within the menus to achieve a more natural-looking shot.

Conclusion

The EOS 500D is a good entry-level camera which will satisfy amateurs and first-time dSLR users alike. Although it has minor flaws such as small autofocus indicators, the image quality makes up for it. It's a pity the audio pickup for video recording is in mono only and there are no ports for attaching an external microphone. That said, this shooter will be a good tool for budding photographers who want to advance their skills.

The dSLR is available now for S$1,469 with the bundled kit lens. The camera body alone is retailing for S$1,269.