The Canon EOS T2i: My new dream camera

The Cannon EOS T2i (what a horrible name) has everything I've ever wanted in a camera. It's a great digital SLR with the industry's best lineup of lenses behind it. At 18 megapixels (5184 x 3456 max resolution) it's a beast of a camera with one of the most advanced sensors in the industry. On top of that, it's capable of a range of light sensitivity that has previously only been found in professional (read: multi-thousand dollar) cameras.

Now, if that doesn't make you want one, it can also shoot full HD quality video at up to 30 frames per second. You can even step down to a smaller resolution and get hardware-based digital zoom of 7x that doesn't sacrifice sharpness.

I bought the first Digital Rebel when it came out and I loved it. But I've always envied my friends who bought later models. I think it's finally time for me to upgrade.

CHDK for PowerShot Cameras

A sample of what CHDK can do in a darkened room. From CHDK

Last night I tried out CHDK for the first time. This is a third-party software suite for the Canon PowerShot line of cameras. It allows all sorts of interesting things that the PowerShots don't allow by default. For example, the picture to the right was taken in a nearly pitch-dark room with an 80-second exposure. The PowerShot can only do 15 seconds out of the box.

But there's far more. CHDK includes tools for multiple histogram modes, "zebra" flashing of blown-out regions, and even a scripting language in which you can write your own code to control the camera! For anyone who wants to be able to carry around a small camera that's capable of taking complex shots, this is the tool that will let you do it.