The 430EX Speedlite flash was used for some of the images.

Jack has the following remarks on the 18-55 lens:

I was happily surprised by the lens’s performance. I don’t think Canon souped-up sharpness and contrast in the T1i to make up for possible deficiencies in the lens optically, since I also tested it with one of my regular Canon zooms. So I’d have to say, in terms of sharpness, contrast, and color rendition, this lens appeared to hold its own. Another pleasant surprise was the close-focusing limit, at just under 10 inches.

The 500D’s JPEG output is a lot closer to the EP-1’s, but even here the little Olympus has the edge when it comes to pixel-level sharpness – despite the Canon’s higher nominal resolution. There’s really not a lot in it though, and in a print you’d be unlikely to see any difference in detail at all. The 500D’s color and contrast is a little more muted, and again it’s handling the roll-off of highlights a little more gently (and again, the difference would be less at ISO 200), but as both cameras offer extensive control over image parameters this is really only relevant to those who never change a single camera setting.

Lenses used were the Olympus 50mm f/2.0 Telephoto Macro ED on the E-P1, and Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM Standard / Medium Telephoto on the T1i / 500D / Kiss X3.

In low light, the Pentax K-7 did an admirable job of adjusting the Auto exposure, and we loved the ability to zoom in and out. However, noise levels were off the hook in extremely low light environments, but at least the Pentax K-7 provided a visible display. The Canon EOS 500D (Rebel T1i) could not even handle to low light whatsoever, so the Pentax K-7 took the edge there. We feel that the Pentax K-7’s HD video quality suffers from first-generation syndrome, but based on the quality of some of the camera’s top video clips, we can only expect great things in the future.

I have continued to try the all around in one camera for vacations and family outings. I have used more than a few p&s cameras with disappointing results, for me. I know many will disagree but as I said, for me. I just received the rebel T1i and ef-s 18-200 IS lens and tried the combo out today. Although this lens is not USM, it focuses plenty fast as seen in this sequence.

Five of the six shots taken in this sequence, shot in AI Servo, multi shot, single point center focus, wide open, Av mode, ISO 400. I really am initially pleased with this little camera, in fact I plan on having a second prime attached and use as a backup to my 50d when shooting sports.

Great Zurich, Switzerland photos in that post, and SelfMadeMan says this about the T1i / 500D:

Whereas I was rather disappointed of the upgrade from the 300D to the 400D, I am very happy with the step up to the 500D! Focus and metering are much improved on the 500D and the display is a gem. The handling is also generally much better. The combination with my glasses is great and even under difficult conditions all three lenses worked smoothly with the 500D. In short: I’m very happy with this set of gear.

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To the educated observer, this makes the Rebel T1i images look as if they came from a point-and-shoot, with their need for severe noise reduction even at daylight ISOs.

This makes T1i images look slightly weird because the edges are all sharp, but distant bushes will have no texture, similar to cartoons. If you have grass and bushes receding into the distance, the close ones will show all the branches, and as they get farther away, suddenly all the details inside the bushes get smoothed over so they become green blobs, not bushes. Don’t freak out; this is a subtle effect, but annoying once you learn to recognize it. Dealing with raw files instead of image files (JPG) may let you rectify this later in software; my life is too valuable to waste playing with raw files.

Pete4 says:

Metering mode button is gone but simple enough: press SET and you can access most functions by scrolling around, once metering mode is active pressing set again will give you menu to choose the mode. After that if you going back to the menus in the future press SET twice and you’re in metering mode menu. I don’t change metering mode that often and don’t miss separate button for it at all.

According to Macro, selection of a metering mode isn’t on the list of functions that can be directly accessible by pressing the SET button:

The SET button options do not include metering mode.
0: Quick control screen
1: Image quality
2: Flash exposure comp.
3: LCD monitor On/Off
4: Menu display
5: Disabled

If you demand more pixels and count every one, the Nikon D5000 (or equivalent D90 or D300) gives superior technical results from their lack of noise-reduction induced smudging, ability to correct lens defect color fringes and more reliable AF system. If you look at your photos at 100% on-screen, the Rebel T1i images look more like they came from a compact than an SLR.

One of the two sub-$1000 video-enabled SLRs available today, the Canon Rebel T1i does a decent job shooting video, with video color and noise performance roughly equal to the GH1, but at 1080p the Canon only captures 20 frames per second, which doesn’t look smooth. The Panasonic offers far more control over video shooting plus an external mic jack, both major advantages. For shooting stills, the GH1 is far superior when it comes to sharpness, though the Canon reproduces color far more accurately.

(via Olympus E-620 Review at Digital Photography Review)

Jeff Keller notes the following with regards to image quality:

Photo quality has always been a strong point of Canon D-SLRs, and that’s generally true with the T1i. The Rebel T1i takes well-exposed photos, though it does clip highlights a bit more than I’d like. Colors were pleasing the majority of the time, except with the night and indoor church shots, which had noticeable brown color casts. As with other Canon D-SLRs, images straight out of the camera are on the soft side. You can bump up the in-camera sharpening by using the Picture Styles feature if you think so too. The camera keeps noise levels very low — you won’t have an issue with it until ISO 1600 in low light and ISO 3200 in normal lighting. Higher sensitivities are quite usable if you don’t mind shooting RAW and post-processing a bit. Like with its predecessors, the Rebel T1i has a bit of redeye problem, and there’s no way to remove it on the camera. Purple fringing levels were fairly low.

There’s also a gallery of full-resolution image examples for you to assess the output quality of the T1i / 500D with.

Overall, I highly recommend the Canon Rebel T1i to anyone looking for a feature-rich and very capable DSLR on an entry-level budget. There are plenty of great DSLRs on the market – some offer more features and some may be cheaper. However, this is the best Rebel yet. Image quality rivals cameras much more expensive than it and, if you buy something cheaper, you’re going to miss out on some cutting edge stuff that only the Rebel T1i offers.

The respective kit lens for each camera was used for the test: Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS VR on the T1i / 500D, Nikkor 18-55mm AF-S VR on the D5000, and Zuiko 14-42mm on the E620.

Tons of full-resolution images await your analysis.