Canon has announced today that it will be launching the EOS Kiss X3, a 15.1-megapixel-toting, budget HD-video equipped DSLR camera
The Kiss X3 will be Canon’s first entry-level model to offer full high-def video recording at a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels.
Unfortunately there is one drawback for having high-def quality on a budget and in this case it is the frame rate. When shooting in full HD-video mode the EOS Kiss X3 can only sustain 20fps rather than the normal 30fps. The result of this is that whilst the images will be super-fine they may appear a little twitchy. You can achieve 30fps but to do so the Canon needs to drop from 1080 mode to 720 mode, or below. 
You might need to stock up on high performance SD cards as in full HD mode this camera will get through 4GB in about 12 minutes. Dropping into 720 mode extends this a little to about 18 minutes and switching to standard-definition 640 mode extends it further to around 24-minutes.
The ISO range is incremental from 100-3200, with two further stops at 6400 and 12800 and there’s a no-frills 3-inch VGA LCD screen to help you keep an eye on what’s going on at the business-end of the camera.
With photographic pedigree, full 1080 HD-video (albeit slightly hampered) and a 15.1-megapixel sensor the Kiss X3 will appeal to a huge number of people looking to whet their toes in the HD DSLR waters. All in all this looks like an interesting offering for the amateur market.
The Canon EOS Kiss X3 is looking set to launch in late April in Japan and just a few weeks later in the US where it will cost $800 body-only, or $900 with an 18-55mm zoom lens.
There’s no word on pricing or availability for our fine shores just yet but Canon says that it will be launching the entry-level DSLR in Europe and Asia too, we’ll let you know if we hear any more.
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One thought on “Canon unveil HD-video capable entry-level DSLR”
It is great device what a screen shot function? I suppose you could just take a mini clip whenever you wanted to photo something. Would eat your footage time though. Unless you can get a really small digital camera too so carrying both round wouldn’t be too bulky