This is quite a big video, so please allow it a little time to load!I recently saw a deal on the Canon 600D body, from a Hong Kong photo retailer. They're pretty big and very reliable so I had no hesitation in making the purchase. The actual model was the Canon Kiss X5, which is the exact same model as the Canon 600D, or T3i. Different model names for the same camera is one of the ways manufacturers allow "market segregation", so they can charge different prices in different world zones. Honestly, I don't really care what label is on the camera - it makes no difference to the photos I'll take with it. But when the Kiss X5 is significantly cheaper than the same camera with a 600D label, I'll take the saving every time, thank you very much!They've now dropped the price on the Canon 550D and left the Kiss X5, but at the time I bought this Kiss X5/600D it was actually cheaper than the 550D, which was just nuts.I bought it from www.digitalrev.com and I was astonished at just how fast they managed delivery from Hong Kong. I ordered late Saturday and it arrived early Tuesday morning. They give a full warranty and have a local service scheme, so to my mind it's the same as buying locally, just cheaper.The Canon 600D/T3i/Kiss X5 is a superb camera for shooting video. The quality is really high, but even better, you can have full manual control of aperture, white balance, shutter speed and ISO. That means you can set up your videos to have the best exposure and colour accuracy possible. If you take a look at the video around 8:35 you'll see the LCD screen in action. It's a very clear, bright screen and I personally think it's much better than the LCD screen on the Nikon D5100. It certainly has more pixels, so it should be.The Nikon D5100 is a really great camera, but manual control over video settings isn't offered. You can use a clunky workaround, but it's a nuisance. One thing that the Canon does not do as well as the Nikon D5100, in my opinion, is the selection of autofocus point. With the Nikon you just use the rear control pad to change it directly. With the Canon, as far as I've seen so far, you have to hold down a button and then use the front command wheel - it's just not as convenient. In fact I found it downright annoying. Here's the thing though, I'm using the Canon for video. Typically, I'll set it up on a tripod and once the focus is locked in, I don't need to change it. So it's not a big deal. If it is a big deal for you, you can use the Canon EOS utility, supplied free, to control pretty much everything on the camera from a laptop or computer. About the only thing you can't control is the zoom. The EOS utility is a pretty powerful piece of software and I'll be showcasing it in some upcoming videos. For anyone who works alone to make their videos, it can really make a difference to the quality, because you can get absolutely spot-on focus.For one of my viewers, here's the link to DigitalRev camera page:http://www.digitalrev.com/product/can...

タグ: canon, kiss-x5, 600d, t3i