When Canon launched the EOS 650D as the flagship of its triple digit range (what the company categorises as the consumer range), it showed that touchscreen monitor functions can complement traditional dials very efficiently. Further, this capacitive touchscreen was added to the articulated screen that we first saw on the EOS 60D, giving the user a lot of flexible and creative control over compositions.

In less than a year, Canon is out with the new EOS 700D, which looks identical to the outgoing EOS 650D. Curious, as we usually are, we try out this new flagship consumer DSLR to see how well it can take on the competition.

Design and build

The moment you take the EOS 700D out of the box, you realise it looks exactly like the 650D. And feels the same too! Not that we’re complaining! The 700D feels solid in the hand and offers sufficient space for 3-4 fingers, and a very confident grip. Even with the kit lens attached, the body feels light and is small enough to swing around the body quickly. Complemented with the screen, this feels like the camera that can be used for a lot of flexible and candid compositions.

This new DSLR comes with the traditional smooth-flowing 12-option shooting mode dial that we’ve seen earlier on other triple digit models. However, the options come embossed on the surface, and the dial has 360 degree flexibility which makes switching between modes extremely fast. Incidentally, the video mode now finds a place along with the power on/off switch.

The vari-angle touch screen LCD monitor is truly a gem for amateur filmmakers and photographers who seek complete creative control in their compositions. It can be twisted and turned in angles in which even advanced semi-pro cameras can’t . It has a brilliant 1.04 million dots resolution which is the best in its class, and at maximum brightness it can be used outdoors on a sunny day without worrying about glare and washed out colours.

Specs and performance

The EOS 700D carries over the same APS-C sized CMOS sensor with a maximum effective resolution of 18 megapixel (5184 x 3456 pixels). It can also record full HD 1920x1080 pixels videos and has a sensitivity range extendable up to ISO 25600 along with a host of creative digital filter effects. In the continuous shooting mode you can shoot up to 5 frames per second in the best JPEG quality.

The image processor also remains unchanged and hence the 700D has the same DIGIC 5 image processor which is quite fast while processing burst mode pictures or RAW files.

The AF system also remains untouched. The 9-point, all cross-type AF points are not very so well-positioned and are mainly concentrated towards the centre of the frame, degrading the quality of images in the continuous subject tracking mode. That said, when the subject is more or less static, the AF is lightning fast to lock in.

But in certain compositions, say macro shots using a kit lens, where the subject somehow falls outside the AF point grid, the touchscreen AF comes into play. Using the Live View mode on the vari-angle touchscreen we managed to take some really good shots that we otherwise wouldn’t have bothered with.

Image and video

After blowing up the images on a big screen that colour reproduction was very balanced, with all hues showing up nicely. However, in some daylight shots (in Manual, Auto, Auto-without-flash and Aperture priority with Auto White Balance) we found that the yellows were a bit washed out and the reds a little muted. The EOS 700D, however, is in its elements in low-light conditions. Even at ISO 3200, we found the images to be very minutely grained. At ISO 6400 some grains show up, and only beyond ISO 12800 do the images get properly noisy. Noise control is really up-to-mark on this one. The images also retain extremely good amounts of sharpness under all shooting conditions. We did see some traces of chromatic aberrations, but nothing serious enough to put us completely off.

The videos too were decently lit, although videos tended to get a bit grainy indoors in spite of decent lighting. The fast AF was complemented by the silent kit lens, and the twin stereo microphones near the pop-up flash assembly pick up sounds without much distortion.

We say

The 18-meg Canon EOS 700D has everything and more to keep an amateur happy, and at a competitive price, it offers a little more value for money than the Nikon D5200 (which, however, trumps the EOS 700D in colour reproduction). More than that, the amount of flexibility that it offers might tempt enthusiasts to buy this as a backup camera. Only, we wish that there had been more significant improvements over the EOS 650D.

Rs 59,995 (with EF S18-55 IS STM kit)

Love – Creative flexibility, brilliant low light images

Hate – No significant updates, poor AF tracking

sabyasachi.b@thehindu.co.in