Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

You're thinking of getting the t4i, reading the reviews, comparing it to the t3i and countless others and pulling your hair out at all the pros and cons? Am I close? I'm a photographer and have used this, the t3i and its sony equivalent. I might be able to help. Here's hoping :) Let me start with an anecdote, (you've read enough technical jargon for now so consider this a breather) I film eagles on the isle of Mull in the Scottish hebrides and the landlady I stay with was telling me about this other photographer who visits her little cottage (it's beautiful by the way, you should visit if you get the chance). So anyway, she is cooking tea , as she does if you ask her nicely. While it's cooking he shows her one of his photos, probably of a sea eagle catching a fish. Everyone wants to photograph one of those even though its on every other postcard in Scotland. Next to a highland cow looking over a gate its the top photo/cliche to get.. Anyhoo, she looks at the photo and says "wow that's great...you must have a brilliant camera" . So they sit down for supper a bit later and its delicious, she is a great cook. He says "This is lovely...you must have some great saucepans!" boom boom. But herein lies the real point of this camera. You know its the person behind the camera that takes the pictures but do you really know it? This and the t3i take pictures so good (if you have the skill) you could blow it up the size of front door but are you going to want to. The thing no sellers want to tell you is that for years, maybe 5 , all of the big names have been making great dslr. Since the nikon d40 perhaps. But you really want to know, if you bought this, would you be happy or buying a pup. Be reassured that neither canon, nikon or sony make chocolate teapots. They know how to make a great camera and this is one. It's biggest difference as you will have read ad nauseum , is the touch screen. is it worth it. It is if you like touch screens (I do). That's not flippant, it's how it is. So the photos will be great and its a great camera, you've read other reviews so I won't duplicate what you have already read but one thing you may not have read is about the video. All the makers have got dslr right. No pups in sight, but video is a relatively new feature and Sony have tbh been leading the way. This camera sets to rectify that by having autofocus. A lot of places on the net, say it's not needed, you should be using manual focus. Nonsense. Manual focus is ok at times but can be a pain. Filming your dog on the beach for example..The autofocus on the t4i is actually pretty good. Not as good as a camcorder but pretty good. The slowest part is for it to get going. But when it's locked on its sound. Well worth having. So thats sorted right..err no, not really. This is the 650d 's killer feature. Trouble is, they left out the killer feature on the 600d. The 3x zoom with "no loss in quality". So here is the choice if you are buying this for video. if you want you're 300mm zoom to be able to zoom to 900mm for filming sport or wildlife. It's the t3i for you. If you love the idea of autofocus (or hate the idea of doing it the old fashioned way) its the t4i for you. In my opinion if you're considering the other makes like Sony, it comes down to who makes the the lens you are likely to want. I know I have focused (blabbed on) about video but hey, there has been thousands of photo reviews already about iso , shutter speed etc etc. Nothing for me to add there! So if you are considering using it for video here are a few "must have" things you will need to go with it. Velbon DV7000 3-Section Ultra Heavy Duty Tripod with Geared Center Column, 2-Way Fluid Head and QB-6RL Quick Shoe, Max Height 64-inch, Supports 9.9 lbs 58mm HMC Ultraviolet UV(C) Haze Multicoated Filter Doesn't have to be this particular one but hey.. Oh and the one that should have gone top of my list Make better videos with your dslr or camcorder (gives details of the counter intuitive settings that actually work best :) ) So now I have spent ten minutes typing away, telling you how I like the t4i for video (I do) do me a little favour and click that you find this helpful. Unless you don't. Either way you will enjoy this camera but do consider the little brother the t3i also. We live in good times to take photos as there are so many great cameras and this is definitely one of them. One more thing I forgot to mention (and yes it is regarding the video) is that to get great video you need to use the right settings in the menu. Unfortunately these are counter intuitive and if you don't use them you may be under whelmed. If anyone wants them, comment and I will try to post a link