Capturing Precious Fall Moments with the Canon EOS Rebel SL1
To say that it’s been a busy few weeks would be an understatement. With winter quickly approaching, we’ve been trying to see and enjoy fall in the interior of British Columbia before the snow flies.
Now that we have our new Canon EOS Rebel SL1, we thought it would be a perfect chance to put this little DSLR camera through its paces.
While falling in love with our new camera, we’ve visited a pumpkin patch and petting zoo with some friends and their kids, walked around the park by Okanagan Lake, hiked along Mission Creek, visited a few wineries and even just taken in the fall colors at our local playground.
There’s a lot to love about this camera, but our absolute favorite thing about it was how fast the shutter was compared to our favorite point and shoot camera. Even with our little ones on the move the images were always nice and crisp.
Since we’re always on the move, we like to keep our gear as light as possible. That said, we love how lightweight this camera is (not only is the Canon SL1 the smallest DSLR in the world, it’s also lighter than a water bottle). In the past we’ve had to trade off portability for quality. With the SL1 that’s no longer the case.
We also love how much fun it is to play with some of the different shooting modes. It totally blows away our favorite point and shoot camera in features. The nice part is that it also does a great job on auto if we don’t have time to compose the shot properly. With kids, that’s a huge plus in our mind.
When we showed the camera to our friends they loved its size and asked more than once for a copy of a picture we just took. They couldn’t believe how clear the pictures were.
Cole (being the little gamer that he is) absolutely loved playing with the touch screen. He loved the touch shutter option so much that he decided to take all his photos just by tapping the touch screen.
We liked how all the camera settings were right there on the screen if we didn’t want to use the traditional buttons. Quickly being able to set the focal point of a shot (like on the Minion and not Jordan in the background) was a huge plus.
We also had a little fun playing with the macro mode, which lets you take fantastic closeups. We’re definitely looking forward to taking more shots of all the delicious meals we enjoy on our travels and the fact that this camera also has a dedicated food picture setting is going to mean a lot more food pictures on this blog in the future.
Probably the nicest thing about getting this camera is that it’s helped cement why we’re currently in the Okanagan in the first place. No matter which way you turn you’re surrounded by lush countryside, lakes, mountains, vineyards, orchards and beaches.
Canada in the fall is always a gorgeous country to be in, but we’re happy that we’re right here, right now in beautiful British Columbia.
Being able to photograph it in all its glory is just icing on the cake. 🙂
For any of you who were wondering, all of the photos in the post were completely unedited (other than being resized to fit this page and cropped a bit), so the colors and clarity are exactly what you’ll see straight out of the camera. You can find out more about the Rebel SL1’s features here at Canon’s site.
Disclosure: Canon Canada supplied us with a Rebel SL1 and lenses for our personal use. As usual, all opinions are completely our own.
In the mood for some more fall photos? Check out the gallery below.
Love the photo of the Minion pumpkin! All great shots though!
Your pictures are beautiful. I’ve been wanting one of these cameras for a long time. Someday I hope to have one!
I love the Minion pumpkin!! It is so darn cute. I have hard a lot of great things about that camera. All of your shots are really good.
Your pictures are fantastic! I love how lightweight is sounds and love the Minion pumpkin! Too funny!
I have a canon rebel, too and I LOVE it. I’m able to do so much more with it, and learning new things all the time!
Nice images, Cole’s photo against the tree rocks, it’s different and cool.
My husband is drooling for a Canon EOS Rebel. I think it will be his Christmas present this year. He is my blog photographer. So I guess it would also be a business investment.
The fall colors are my favorite for getting pictures. Especially the leaves.
That camera takes some gorgeous photos, I’m looking to upgrade my camera and I’ll be looking into this one as a possibility 🙂
Oh I wanted this camera! it would be the perfect travel camera and all of my lenses that i use with my 7D would work with it!
The shots you took are really, really nice! I wonder how this compares to my T3 which I really love!
Super camera envy over here! I want a Canon rebel! Love all of your photos!
Gorgeous photos!!! And I love the little Pumpkin minion!!! So cute!
I’m loving the picture of the donkey! So cute!
I have a Canon Rebel t3i and I adore it. So simple to use and produces great quality!
You captured some really beautiful shots with your new camera! I really like the acorn pic.
I have a cannon rebel, a much older version thought. And I love it.
This looks like a really great camera!! Amazing photos!
I have a Canon DSLR and LOVE it! Your pics are FABULOUS – great job!
I used to have a cannon power shot 10xis but I used it so often I fried the motherboard I had it for 5 years. I am in depeperate need of a new one. I am in love with the rebel cameras. you took some really good shots.
Amanda
I have a cannon XSI and am always needing tips on how to best utilize it. Thanks for the ideas!
The photos that you took are absolutely beautiful. The camera and you are a great team.
Great photos! I have to save I prefer the minion one simply because I love those little guys! 🙂
Those are gorgeous photos. I love the difference a good DSLR makes. Mine is a Nikon and it has been night and day versus my little cell phone images.
Beautiful photos. Our camera is falling apart and we should be looking for a new one very soon. Hmmmm
I looooove Canon! I have been using them since I bought my first ever camera. I am thinking to upgrade soon and maybe I’ll get this one or another of their products. <3
Your pictures are too beautiful.Love it,Gabi
Love the shots! I love the quality of your pictures. I actually like Canon 🙂
Wonderful shot, if this are all unedited its well money spent 🙂 don’t have any DSLR yet hopefully we can include it in our wish list soon.
Perfect timing. I need to get a new camera before we head out in a few weeks. Thanks for sharing this post, I’ll make sure to check this camera out before I make a purchase.
Lovely post and lovely photos. I’m in the market for a new camera and this just might be the one for me! I love that it is small, light weight and portable <3
This camera looks fantastic!
The photos are indeed very clear. I can’t believe they’re unedited.
I just stumbled on your blog and I am so impressed and in awe. I have been on the road for almost 200 running in half marathons across the US… and I’m supposed to end next week. I want to continue and didnt know others were doing this. Your photos brought me in, but I sure hope we can connect!
These photos are beautiful. What a difference from my cheap little camera–amazing!
All great photos! I can’t believe they are unedited. Sounds like a awesome camera.
Great shots! You can tell it’s not a point-and-shoot!
fantastic photos, esp of your kids. <3!
Please, if you will, say something ANYTHING that would fall under a “Con” about the camera for us out here that truly are interested in buying it. You are given the camera to tell us about, right? So, please do. Your article “45 Great jobs….While Traveling the World…”, an article you either did or didn’t get paid to write, could accurately add to its title “…and why you should not try each one.” Nothing is perfect, so, we try and choose things with the least amount of imperfections. Just sayin..
Hi Mimi. I can understand your desire for finding something not to love about this camera however this post was never intended to be a technical breakdown of the camera. We’re also not professional photographers and we don’t have dozens of DSLR cameras or years of experience to tell you about it’s chrome aberration or focus abilities. There are dozens of other sites out there that have done that already and the interesting thing is, the camera is still highly rated on all of them.
After owning it for a few months now, I can tell you a few cons that people might find. If you have large hands, I can see the grip being a little small. I have average sized hands and the grip feels great to me so that isn’t a con for either of us. I also think a WiFi option would have been great so I could easily grab a few pictures from it on the go. We’re considering picking up an Eye-Fi card just for that reason. Finally, an in camera panoramic mode would have been nice as well so we could take panoramic shots on the go as opposed to doing it in post processing.
Besides for those, the fact remains this is the best camera we’ve ever owned. We love that it’s small, fast, takes great pictures and is easy to use for us non professionals. If you have a problem with that verdict you’re welcome to your own.
As to our 45 jobs post, it was definitely not a paid or sponsored post and at over 3000 words it took a lot of time to compile that list. If you have a problem with any of the jobs you don’t have to do them. It was simply created to help give others some ideas of what they can do on the road.
As to your search for perfection, Leo Tolstoy summed it up nicely I think. “If you look for perfection, you’ll never be content.” Just saying..
Did you use the lens that came with the camera? Or something different? I just got this camera and didn’t know about getting a second lens.
Hi Terri. When we wrote this post, there were different camera packages available. The one we got included the pancake lens and the standard one. You probably bought the one with the single lens. Not sure the pancake lens is even offered with the camera anymore however you can purchase it separately. It’s a great all around lens, however you can’t zoom in with it so it’s limited to what you see is what you get.
have a cannon rebel, a much older version thought. And I love it.