Latest in Canon's hugely successful entry-level digital SLR range is a significant upgrade to the EOS 450D (Rebel XSi) and is obviously designed to take on Nikon's D90. Featuring a 15.1 MP CMOS sensor with 1080p HD video recording at 20fps, it also sports a 3.0 inch LCD with 920,000 dot resolution and an ISO sensitivity range expandable up to 12800 equivalent. It includes a faster Digic 4 processor offering better noise reduction at higher ISO's and continuous shooting speeds of up to 3.4 fps delivering 170 large JPEG images in a single burst.

Just 14 months after the launch of the EOS Rebel XSi (450D), Canon has unveiled its latest model, the Rebel T1i (500D). It's the fifth generation of Rebel and enters the market at a difficult time - in the midst of a global economic downturn and against the fiercest competition we've ever seen in the entry-level DSLR sector. So what has Canon done to make this latest model in the longest-established family in the sector live up to the edgy and exciting image implied by its US naming?

[digitalcamerainfo.com] put the T1i through our lab test regimen and came up with some rather discouraging results. While it performed well in terms of color accuracy and had a good movie mode, it struggled in other areas. The T1i's dynamic range was quite narrow, it struggled with both automatic and manual white balance, and most noticeably had very poor image sharpness. Another major problem was the lack of controls in movie mode, to the point where you can't set the aperture in video mode, which removes much of the appeal of shooting movies with an SLR.

I'm very happy with overall photo quality of the Kiss X3 (500D, Rebel T1i). While I can't explain the weird ISO 100 result in low light, the camera will give you great photos most of the time, there's no doubt about it. The video mode on the Kiss is like on the Nikon 5000D, a real deception and I would have prefered both Nikon and Canon to give me a GPS module rather than a weak video mode.

The still image performance is compelling but we can't help but feel the video is something of a novelty