Review on Canon EOS Rebel T3 Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens (Discontinued by Manufacturer): Professional Photography at an Unbeatable Price! by Bryan Fields

Last update 8/27/14 Although this camera was released in early 2011, it's still a great and easy to use camera that delivers excellent image quality in all conditions. Conditions for registration. The camera has a glossy plastic finish that doesn't quite exude quality or feel like a high-end camera. But the design of this camera is very narrow. The plastic is lightweight but not flimsy as you might expect. There is no rubber grip and I think it was a mistake not to use it on this camera. Especially since its predecessor (and competitors) have them. Otherwise, the handle is a very good size. The only result of using lightweight plastic is that the camera feels very light with the lens attached to the kit. One thing to be aware of is that attaching a heavier lens will make the camera feel very unbalanced. The Canon EF-S 18-200 feels too heavy from the front despite its good optical performance paired with the T3. And that goes for many of the professional Canon lenses you mount on the T3. However, this camera's lightweight construction (when using the included lens) makes it the ideal DSLR for hiking. It doesn't weigh you down and doesn't make you feel like you have a boat anchor around your neck. The buttons and menu system have the typical simplicity found on most Canons. Canon's menu system is easy to learn and navigate. This makes the T3 a good candidate for a student or someone who wants to study photography in general and is looking for a camera to grow up with. Sure, it offers a fully automatic mode, but when you're ready to juggle more advanced manual controls, the Canon Rebel T3 is as fearless as it gets. It's also a great entry point into the world of DSLRs for hobbyists who are currently using advanced point-and-shoot (and can be found for almost the same price as some advanced point-and-shoot models). With the exception of continuous shooting, the performance of this camera is excellent. Excellent trigger performance, shot-to-shot and autofocus. It has 9 AF points compared to 7 on its predecessor. I do not recommend this camera as a budget action camera. It has a low continuous burst rate (2.7 fps) and a very limited buffer. The Nikon D3200 shoots at 4fps but currently sells for $200 more than the T3. So you have to decide if this feature is important to you. The camera comes with a gorgeous, massive battery that offers excellent battery life. The viewfinder has 95% coverage and I found it satisfactory, some people say it's really narrow but personally I think it's ok. The screen resolution is pretty low, 230k, but in real life it's not as bad as you might think and it's entirely possible to see it in direct sunlight. I think both the viewfinder and the LCD are of better quality than the Nikon D3100. And overall, the T3 is faster and smoother than the D3100. Having shot with both cameras, I personally find shooting with the T3 more comfortable. despite the D3100's better plastics and more advanced specs. The camera comes with a standard 18-55 lens, but I suggest buying a kit that includes an optional 55-250 lens. The kit lens is fairly sharp, but it might be worth investing in a newer 18-55 STM lens as it's reportedly sharper than the 18-55 lens that comes with this camera. SL1 and Rebel T5i (12 megapixels are still enough for everyday use), the camera has an image quality that almost matches or even surpasses these cameras in most areas. It takes very clean shots up to and including ISO 1600 and has excellent dynamic range, color reproduction and exposure. The camera does a great job of balancing out the noise reduction and retaining detail up to ISO3200. And even though it's 2.5 years old, it still competes well with newer models in image quality. Movie mode, while offering good video quality, is quite limited. It's 1280 x 720 HD and very limited manual controls. This is more in line with what you would use for quick clips than longer videos or movies. I think the Rebel T5i and SL1 are the best choices if you're equally interested in video and photos as they have much better video modes than the T3. But if photography is your main interest, you probably won't mind much. The Rebel T3 might not be the most attractive camera, but it's a simple and fun camera to shoot with that will produce good results with minimal fuss and will appeal to a wide range of people, from DSLR newbies to hobbyists to pros looking for a are looking for easy backup of their more expensive gear. For the current price this is excellent quality and I would highly recommend it. This camera was replaced by the Rebel T5 back in March. The T5 has a number of improvements over the T3. However. Image quality, autofocus performance and battery life are not among them. Also, lately I've seen T3 kits for $300 or less. It's still a great buy even though it's a 3.5 year old camera at the moment.