Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens,5.0 out of 5 stars Great upgrade, December 23, 2011

My 15 year old Sony MVC CD-1000 was swept out of an overhead bin by another passenger's coat on my return from vacation. I was unable to find a repair shop for such an "old" camera, so I needed a new one. My first 'serious' SLR was a Canon AE-1P, so I naturally gravitated to the Canon product line. I also research the Nikon cameras. After a quick trip to a local big-box store to compare the feel and weight of the Canon and Nikon offerings, I selected the T3i and couldn't be any happier. On a recent trip to Europe, the camera operated flawlessly in sun, rain and snow.

The auto-focus is superb and it takes only 3 or 4 shots to understand how to use the focus points in the viewfinder and get the image focus where you want it. The T3I uses the semi-depressed shutter button to preview the focus and also took only a few shots to be able to use it instinctively.

Since I only had the camera 10 days prior to my latest trip, I stuck mostly to the A+ (point and shoot) and flash disabled modes. Despite this, I came back with over 650 pictures, all of far better quality than my old trusty Sony.

PROS:
- ease of adaptation, within an hour of starting to use it, the camera was instinctively just there';
- instruction manual was actually readable - the final editor and proofreaders appear to actually speak English (thank you Canon!);
- light weight body;
- very good ergonomics - even with my big hands, the buttons and dials do not interfere with each other;
- clear LCD display even without my bifocals (showing my age :).

CONS:
- its taking a lit bit to become comfortable with swapping lenses quickly. I haven't had to swap lenses for 15 years, so practice will probably get me back to the old AE-1 days;
- my old AE-1 lenses don't fit, but they are almost 30 years old, so I'm probably not missing anything.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:
Again, its a new camera, so it will take 6 months or so of experimenting to get familiar with all the features. But at first glance, this camera is certainly a 5-star piece of equipment.

Review by evv_brewer