Providing a low-price option makes sense, though. Draw in first-time SLR buyers and the chances are they might buy lenses and accessories and therefore stay loyal to the brand for decades to come, possibly upgrading to better-equipped camera bodies as their skills advance. Buying a DSLR often means buying into an ecosystem, but is the 1200D a bargain or a false economy?
Canon EOS 1200D Handling and Features
Canon rarely rocks the boat with its designs, and the 1200D is hard to distinguish from its predecessor, the Canon 1100D. A few buttons have been redesigned and the screen is up from 2.7in to 3in, but externally, that's about it. The controls are straightforward and elegant, with a generous allocation of labelled, single-function buttons, plus a Q button to access key settings without having to delve into the main menu. However, it's confusing that adjustments are immediate when using the Q button, but are discarded when accessed via a labelled button unless the Set button is pushed to confirm.
The main upgrades are on the inside. The 18-megapixel sensor and 1080p video mode are significant improvements on the 1100D's 12 megapixels and 720p video, and match the 700D's specifications. Other features remain unchanged. Its autofocus sensor has nine points but only the centre point is cross-type for increased sensitivity. It also uses the same optical viewfinder as the 1100D with a 0.8x magnification, which is slightly smaller than the 700D's 0.85x magnification. It's fitted with Canon's DIGIC 4 rather than the latest DIGIC 5 processor, which means that chromatic aberrations aren't corrected automatically for JPEGs. Meanwhile, its 3fps continuous shooting speed appears to be deliberately hobbled – the EOS 600D used the same 18-megapixel sensor and DIGIC 4 processor and managed 4fps.
Canon EOS 1200D Companion App
As with all basic SLRs, the 1200D lacks built-in Wi-Fi, but yet it still has it's own app. The Canon EOS Companion is available for both Android and iOS and teaches you basic photographic concepts, such as depth-of-field composition. It looks smart, has helpful information for novices and shows you the exact controls you need to adjust on the 1200D to get the effects discussed.
Canon EOS 1200D Video
It's great to see 1080p video recording at a choice of 24, 25 or 30fps. It's backed up with the ability to set the exposure manually, and to adjust the shutter speed and aperture while recording. 50Mbit/s AVC encoding produces huge files, which minimises compression artefacts but also means the camera stops recording after about 12 minutes when the 4GB file size limit is reached. It could at least warn users with a countdown – the on-screen display gives the impression that it can record for 30 minutes, which is misleading.Canon EOS 1200D Image Quality
SLR photo quality tests rarely throw up big surprises, and the 1200D displayed the traits we've come to expect from the EOS range: a sublime colour palette and sharp details in JPEGs, and the ability to extract finer details and an expanded dynamic range from RAW files. We found autofocus to be equally reliable when using the viewfinder and live view, which hasn't always been the case with consumer EOS cameras.
Noise was insignificant across most of our tests, but direct comparisons with the Nikon D3300 at fast ISO speeds revealed that the Canon exhibited significantly more noise in its JPEGs. Processing their output in Lightroom 5 narrowed the gap, but the D3300 still held onto its lead.
Automatic exposures were sometimes slightly over-exposed for our liking, with the Nikon D3300 doing a better job of the same scene. It's not hard to adjust for this manually, but it's not always obvious until you get the photos home for close inspection. Exposure bracketing would have provided a simple workaround, but Canon has chosen to omit it from this camera.
Canon EOS 1200D Conclusion - What to Buy?
The D3300 is more expensive but can now be had for around £489 with a kit lens. It's also worth noting that the 1200D kit we tested doesn't include an optically stabilised lens. An alternative kit with a stabilised lens (part code 9127B032AA) and now costs £319. Without having tested the image quality of the IS lens, we would be inclined to recommend spending the little extra for image stabilisation.There are various other 1200D kits that are also worth considering. Jessops currently lists a twin-lens kit with the non-stabilised 18-55mm plus the 50mm f/1.8 – a superb budget portrait lens that performs far better than its low price would have you believe – now for £340. There's also a triple-lens kit that adds a 75-300mm lens for those looking for more reach on the telephoto end.
This highlights a key decision for anyone taking their first steps in SLR photography. It's worth getting a camera body with the features you need, but the biggest boost to image quality will come from your choice of lens or lenses. The 1200D is a low-cost, no-frills camera, but the triple-lens kit in particular is an amazing deal. We'd argue that it's far more capable than an EOS 700D with its basic 18-55mm kit lens due to its great selection of glass.
This isn't the only low-cost SLR, though. The Pentax K-50 is only a little more expensive now at around £395, and is considerably more upmarket. The Sony A58 is better specified in various respects and costs as low as £289. Then there's the Nikon D3300, which comes top for image quality in this group.
This leaves the EOS 1200D struggling to stand out. Then again, there's nothing much wrong with it, the companion app is genuinely handy for new those buying their first serious camera, and that triple-lens kit might well be enough to clinch the deal. Buy Now from Amazon.
Basic Specifications |
|
|---|---|
| Rating | *** |
| CCD effective megapixels | 18.0 megapixels |
| CCD size | 22.3x14.9mm |
| Viewfinder | optical TTL |
| Viewfinder magnification, coverage | 0.80x, 95% |
| LCD screen size | 3.0in |
| LCD screen resolution | 460,000 pixels |
| Articulated screen | No |
| Live view | Yes |
| Optical zoom | 3.0x |
| Zoom 35mm equivalent | 29-88mm |
| Image stabilisation | Available in lenses |
| Maximum image resolution | 5,184x3,456 |
| File formats | JPEG, RAW; QuickTime (AVC) |
Physical |
|
| Memory slot | SDXC |
| Mermory supplied | none |
| Battery type | Li-ion |
| Battery Life (tested) | 500 shots |
| Connectivity | USB, AV, mini HDMI, wired remote |
| Body material | plastic |
| Lens mount | Canon EF-S |
| Focal length multiplier | 1.6x |
| Kit lens model name | EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 III |
| Accessories | USB cable |
| Weight | 685g |
| Size | 102x130x145mm |
Buying Information |
|
| Warranty | one year RTB |
| Price | £349 |
| Supplier | http://www.jessops.com |
| Details | www.canon.co.uk |
Camera Controls |
|
| Exposure modes | program, shutter priority, aperture priority, manual |
| Shutter speed | 30 to 1/4,000 seconds |
| Aperture range | f/3.5-22 (wide), f/5.6-36 (tele) |
| ISO range (at full resolution) | 100 to 12800 |
| Exposure compensation | +/-3 EV |
| White balance | auto, 6 presets with fine tuning, manual |
| Additional image controls | contrast, saturation, sharpness, colour tone, Auto Lighting Optimizer, colour space, vignette correction |
| Manual focus | Yes |
| Closest macro focus | 25cm |
| Auto-focus modes | 9-point |
| Metering modes | multi, centre-weighted, centre, face detect |
| Flash | auto, forced, suppressed, slow synchro, red-eye reduction |
| Drive modes | single, continuous, self-timer, WB bracket |