Canon SL1 Finally Arrived!

[tlabranche]

Today, my Canon SL1 arrived. Albeit, it was four days late thanks to UPS, I will overlook that. Anyways, the SL1 is tiny, and by tiny, I mean barely bigger than a point and shoot. Coupled with the new Canon 40mm F/2.8 pancake lens, this is one hell of a package. The SL1 has the same APS-C sensor found in every other canon crop body, and a digic-5 processor. The camera has the same RAW pixel count as the flagship Canon 1DX. It has all the features I normally use (Remote, Bulb, RAW...), but it is lacking some features that other (more expensive) crop bodies have. But, at the end of the day, it is all about image quality. This is where the SL1 is even with Canon's top crop bodies. I will primarily use this camera for traveling as I am tired of lugging around my 6D. Here are some sample images. You can currently get the body only at Best Buy for $449. The 40mm lens can be had for about $135.

Yeah, the body fits in the palm of your hand - and I don't have large hands.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5537/11714312423_744c1671fc_b.jpg

This is the main reason I bought it. When I travel, I normally take my 6D with the battery grip. That is already a pretty heavy combination. Once you throw on the heavy Canon 24-105mm on the body, your neck will probably hurt by the end of the day. This camera doesn't even weigh one pound without a lens. Here, I have the 40mm pancake F/2.8 mounted. This is an excellent little lens! The optics are stellar.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5518/11714058065_85a9f155cb_b.jpg

Spotting should be entertaining. The lens weighs three times the amount of the camera body. It is weird having all the weight in the glass, and not having the body to balance it. It will definitely take some getting used to. This won't be my primary body for shooting aviation.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7321/11714316573_afb3e36dff_b.jpg

Some berries in my front lawn. Taken at 1/200, F/2.8, ISO 200 - 40mm pancake
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2817/11717700063_150f5da31f_b.jpg

My photo processing man cave. Taken at F/8, ISO 100, 1.8" exposure on a tripod.- 40mm pancake
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7365/11717704303_b2d5af385a_b.jpg

Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Taken at 1/60 handheld, ISO 200, F/2.8 - 40mm pancake
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3690/11718218636_7aedcc33a5_b.jpg

[steve1840]

That actually looks like a badass little camera. May have to look into the possibilities of getting one of those as a walk-around for when I go places with the kids and don't feel like lugging the "big" camera around....Thanks for sharing this review Tim.

[tlabranche]

Steve, you'd look killer with your 300 prime mounted to it!

[steve1840]

That would be awesome!!

[gonzalu]

Jesus that's tiny LOL...

[tlabranche]

This morning, I shot some aviation photos with the 100-400 mounted. Normally, both arms get tired after a while due to both camera and lens being heavy. After 20 minutes of shooting, my left arm was burning. I was holding the weight of the 100-400 all in my left hand. I will post some of the test photos when I get home. It is kind of a cluster here at the airport with the weather in the Northeast today. So far, the camera performs really good.

[gonzalu]

Amateur :tongue:

Try holding a Nikon D2Xs + 70-200mm f/2.8 and a D3 + 200-400mm f/4 all day for three days at a hot airshow while walking or standing... very little downtime. Now THAT sucks big time.