Pixiq

I think I might need to get someone to hide my credit cards. I’ve been very restrained and left alone Canon’s newest offerings for two years, but I’m not sure my resolve can hold for very much longer. Canon has just announced two new dSLRS that’ll be available from March or April: the EOS 1100D and the EOS 600D. (Or T3 and T3i, respectively, for US togs.) So what do these babies have to offer?

EOS 1100D

Let’s start with the 1100D, which is an upgrade on the 1000D. It’s small, it’s light, and it aims to give first-timers with an SLR an easy transition to at-the-speed-of-light photography. There’s an on-screen feature guide so that all the new-fangled gadgetry isn’t some mysterious, head-scratching puzzle. And just to give Haje conniptions, there’s a host of scene modes which means that you can by-pass manual settings and the camera can choose just what it needs to be doing to get the best out of a picture.

Pretty pictures with the entry-level EOS 1100D?

Every new camera has to have a movie-mode now, and the 1100D doesn’t disappoint. There’s 25 or 30fps HD shooting with automatic exposure control. You can edit your footage on your computer, or if you’ve an HD TV you can watch it directly via the HDMI port.

Basic details? 12mp, APS-C sensor, DIGIC 4 processor, 3.2fps continuous shooting, ISO range 100-6,400, and a nine-point autofocusing system. Starting at around £500 or $600 with an 18-55mm kit lens.

EOS 600D

And on to the 600D. Just like the 1100D, it’s got plenty of making-photography-easy bits – perhaps even more-so – with a scene intelligent auto mode that can analyse a scene and make sure the settings are right for what you’re shooting (blue skies should look blue, sorta-thing) as well as the on-screen guide.

Shiny, shiny? Canon's EOS 600D

Full HD movie-mode lets you control frame rate, exposure, and sound. I’m rather taken by the snapshot capability the 600D has, though. You can shoot clips of video lasting two, four, or eight seconds that can be edited to create a film montage effect.

In case you can’t afford a fish-eye lens, don’t have your soft-focus filter to hand, or don’t want to mess around post-processing to make your picture look as if you took it on a toy camera, there are a glut of filter effects to play with.

For the Speedliting fanatics out there, the 600D comes with a built-in integrated Speedlite transmitter, first time ever on the xxxD/Rebel series, and integrated Speedlite settings, which should make multi-flash shooting that bit easier.

Details? 18mp, CMOS sensor, DIGIC 4 processor, ISO 100-6,400 (extendable to 12,800), 3.7fps continuous shooting, nine-point auto-focusing, vari-angle LCD screen. Around £770 or $900 with an 18-55mm kit lens.

Hmm. Yes. Should I?

You can learn much more from Canon, of course.