Canon EOS 500D

DSLR with HD video trimmings, but has Canon sliced off too much?

Tucked away in the front are flash release and depth-of-field preview buttons. Moving from top left, is the pop-up flash, hot shoe, large mode dial, ISO button, on/off switch, control dial and shutter button. At the back are controls for menu, display, viewfinder, AE and FE lock, and AE compensation. Other controls include Live View/Print Share, multi-controller for white balance, drive mode, AF mode and Picture Style with central set, playback and delete buttons.

Screen resolution is now 920,000 dots to satisfy HD users

On the right is a flap covering mini USB and mini HDMI ports, and on the left, a flap hiding the SD/SDHC card slot. The Lithium-ion battery compartment is underneath. Overall, the EOS 500D measures 128 x 97.5 x 61.9mm and the body weighs 480g. Loaded up with an 18-55mm lens, card and battery, it weighs around 750g.

The EOS 500D’s features and accessories suggest Canon hopes for a diverse range of users. The comprehensive software bundle includes Digital Photo Professional and a CD-ROM called Set Up Photography 2, a basic photography techniques interactive guide. In terms of features and specifications, you get Full HD video recording at 1920 x 1080, but the frame rate is just 20fps. There’s also a 720p/30fps mode (1280 x 720) and VGA at 30fps. To avoid falling into the camcorder tax band, a single shot of video footage lasts up to 29 minutes 59 seconds with a maximum file size of 4GB.

The default ISO range is 100-3200 and, in the interests of image quality, the noisier ISO 6400 and 12800 settings have to be user-enabled. Other features include a shutter speed range of 30-1/4000sec plus bulb, RAW and JPEG capture with a maximum resolution of 4752 x 3168, continuous shooting at 3.4fps up to 170 JPEGs or 9 RAW. The EOS 500D also packs a 9-point AF system, sensor cleaning system and a lens-based image stabilisation system.

There are four metering modes – evaluative, partial, spot and centre-weighted – and a dozen shooting modes including portrait, sport macro and landscape, plus six picture style effects, with an option for three user defined modes, which are used for tweaking colour tones.

Easy to handle, even on a hike

In terms of handling, Canon has done a pretty impressive job. The EOS 500D is not the lightest DSLR around, but while it feels solid and robust, you don’t get the feeling that you’re carrying around a large, heavy brick. Let’s put it this way: we took the EOS 500D on a seven-hour trek and never once felt any discomfort.