Canon Releases Tiny, Nearly Weightless Rebel SL1 DSLR
All those rumors of a new camera body from Canon have come to fruition in the new DSLR called the Rebel SL1. Boasting a 18 megapixel DIGIC 5 CMOS sensor, 1080 full HD video capture and compatible with STM lenses, Canon’s latest tiny consumer DSLR barely registers on scales, coming in at a lowly 0.8 pounds. How’s that for travel friendly?
The SL1 and the T5i (released simultaneously, with more info here) share a heck of a lot in common when it comes to raw specs. The SL1 trades in 1 frame per second for a ridiculously compact body. Without a frame of reference (like hands), seeing how much space the lens occupies on the body stumps my mind. I’m caught between wanting to believe the sensor is huge and knowing the body is tiny. It is just really, really small for a DSLR. You can see a lot of the buttons many of us are used to have been nixed to make the body smaller. Those functions have likely been relegated to touchscreen options, which some of you may like and others will undoubtably hate.
Specs at a glance:
- 18.0MP APS-C CMOS Sensor
- DIGIC 5 Image Processor
- 3.0″ Clear View II Touchscreen LCD
- ISO 100-12800, Expandable to 25600
- Full HD 1080 Video with Continuous AF
- 4.0 fps Continuous Shooting
- 9-Point All Cross-Type AF System
- Scene Intelligent Auto Mode
- Compact and Lightweight; Weighs 0.8 pounds
- Compatible with Canon EF and EF-S Lenses
Canon will be releasing the SL1 as body only for $650 as well as in a kit with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens for $800.
Just looking at the guts, it appears to be just a compacted T4i/T5i. It has nearly identical specs. What do you think? Would you buy the new SL1? What would you use it for? Let us know in the comments below.
