The intertubes are buzzing this week with the announcement of the Canon Rebel T2i (also known as the EOS 550D in Europe).

In short, it has an APS-C format sensor that is similar to the Canon 7D (which means it’s roughly the size of a motion picture film frame, for “filmic” depth of field), accepts EF and EF-S lenses, and shoots video at a pleasing variety of frame rates and sizes with “full manual control”:

• 1920 x 1080 (Full HD): 30p (29.97) / 24p (23.976) / 25p
• 1280 x 720: 60p (59.94) / 50p
• 640 x 480 (SD): 60p (59.94) / 50p)

The good folks at Digital Photography Review already have online a still-image-focused 13-page preview based on a pre-production unit (if you’re seeing only 1 page, use the popup at the top or the Actions > Previous/Next buttons at the bottom to navigate).

Price? $800 without lens; $900 with.

Of course, some of us early adopters of the 5D mk2 are gritting our teeth, especially as we wait for the promised 24/25fps software update (but at least we have our cameras already, and it has an even larger sensor for better low-light sensitivity and an exaggerated depth of field). Experience will tell if the T2i still suffers from aliasing under some circumstances, or if it can be hacked for 4:4:4 output like the 7D (it has HDMI…). It seems to be still hobbled by the file system on its memory card which limits 1080p clips to about 12 minutes, and it’s still saving video to H.264 format (which means you would really rather light it right when you shoot, rather than try to recover the impossible in post – although Stu Maschwitz’s tips about shooting flat probably still apply). However, Matt Jeppsen would say we complain too much – it seems to be a helluva camera for a helluva price. Go make some art with it!