Canon EOS 1200D Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 III Lens

Product Information

The EOS 1200D's top-mounted shooting mode dial has a multitude of letters and icons. The so-called Creative Zone features Programmed Auto (P), Shutter Priority (Tv), Aperture Priority (Av), and Manual (M) modes. Canon's unique A-DEP (Automatic Depth of Field) mode has quietly been dropped from the EOS 1200D. Image: Shooting in raw and processing images using subtle noise reduction will achieve much crisper results than shooting JPEG files For the first-time DSLR photographer, this is a fantastic app. It provides information about the fundamentals of photography and clears up any confusion they may have about what certain settings or buttons do. Canon EOS 1200D review – Build and handling Whether you're an amateur or a professional, to most photographers a new digital SLR means a straight choice between Nikon and Canon. For comparison, the Nikon D3300 body measures 124x98x76mm and weighs 460g with battery, while Sony’s Alpha A3000 measures 128x91x85mm and weighs 411g with battery; so all three are roughly in the same ballpark, and thanks to its traditional DSLR styling, you wouldn’t be choosing the A3000 over its rivals on the grounds of space or weight-saving.

The EOS 1200D has been a long time coming and given Canon’s engineers have had three years to refine the EOS 1100D, we were expecting a few more developments to challenge its rivals in the market slightly harded. The addition of the 18MP sensor and wider sensitivity range should see it offer improved image quality to those who choose it over the EOS 1100D, but we were anticipating a higher resolution screen in addition to a more advanced AF system. The 9-point AF array has been synonymous with the entry-level EOS models for so many years it leaves us guessing when we’ll ever see more introduced. Perhaps our expectations were a little high, but we half suspected the camera to feature the company’s newer DIGIC 5 or DIGIC 6 image processor as opposed to the older DIGIC 4. Had it used either the DIGIC 5 or latest DIGIC 6 image processor, the 1200D might have had a standing chance of competing against the Nikon D3300 in terms of the speed at which it shoots. As it turns out the EOS 1200D shoots 2fps slower. For my review Canon supplied the T5 /1200D with the unstabilized EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 III; note that the product shot at the top of the review shows the EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 IS II kit lens. Canon EOS T5 / 1200D shooting modes Historically, Canon has produced some fantastic entry-level DSLR cameras tailored to the first-time buyer. This type of camera is aimed at someone who is upgrading from a compact camera or smartphone, who may find the functionality of a DSLR a little daunting, and the new Canon EOS 1200D has been targeted at these photographers. Interestingly, shortly after the camera’s announcement at CP+ in Tokyo, Japan, a new EOS Companion app was released that is designed to be a learning aid for users of the EOS 1200D, so it’s clear that Canon is committed to helping people make the step into the world of DSLR photography. Overall, the EOS 1200D excels in its rendering of colour, giving true-to-scene tones. In landscapes, skies are vibrant and punchy without appearing oversaturated, while tungsten light and skin tones are rich in colour. Focusing Brightness Range (EV 0 - 18 (Center AF Point), EV 1 - 18 (other AF Points) with One-shot AF at Room Temperature, ISO 100), Brightness Metering Range: EV 1 - 20 (at Room Temperature, ISO 100)

Specifications

There's a host of scene modes including Flash Off, Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Portrait and, oddly enough for an interchangeable-lens camera, a close-up mode as well. The majority of these scene modes allow users who do not want to fiddle with shutter speeds, f-stops, white balance or ISO settings to let the camera know what type of photo they are about to take, which helps the EOS 1200D / Rebel T5 to optimise these settings for that particular subject. We struggled to see the point of the close-up mode though, as the quality of one's close-up shots depends more on the use of the right kinds of accessory - such as a macro lens and possibly a ring flash - than any camera setting. The now established Feature Guide option in the EOS 1200D’s menu system usefully provides a brief description of each setting and its effect. The T5 / 1200D’s 18 Megapixel APS-C-sized sensor produces images with a maximum size of 5184×3456 pixels. Images can be saved as JPEGs with one of two compression settings. Large Fine JPEGs are typically around 6-10Mb in size. The T5 / 1200D can also save RAW files in Canon’s .CRW format. The shutter speed range is 30 to 1/4000 plus B and the ISO sensitivity range is 100 to 12800 ISO. In addition to One Shot, there are Al Servo and Al Focus modes. Al Servo is a continuous AF, which is in a constant state of focusing, while Al Focus is halfway house between Al Servo and One Shot. This mode finds focus and won’t focus again until something in the frame moves, which is particularly useful for wildlife photography. In terms of stills the Canon is no slouch either, with colours veering toward the warm straight out of the camera. A 'kit' zoom this may be, but it's sharp from corner to corner and the lens' maximum aperture of f/3.5 is still sufficient to achieve the professional-looking shallow depth of field effects that we'd expect of a DSLR. Canon EOS 1200D: Verdict

Improving the sharpness of the JPEG images is relatively easy. Picture Style has a default sharpness value of +3, but setting it to +5 improves the results. However, far more detailed images can be achieved by processing the raw files using the supplied software or Adobe Camera Raw. The metering modes offered by the camera include Evaluative, Centre-weighted and Partial, which uses 10% of the frame area - the 1200D doesn't have a spot metering option. In use, we found that the Evaluative metering mode provided fairly good exposures with a variety of subjects, thanks to the 63-zone metering sensor. When shooting contrasty scenes, it is worth using the Evaluative mode in conjunction with the Auto Lighting Optimiser feature, accessible by hitting the Q button and using the interactive status panel. With no external microphone port, the EOS 1200D replies on its own internal microphone. However, it is possible to manually adjust the audio level in the menu. Canon EOS 1200D review – The competition

The out-of-camera JPEGs are quite soft and at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes via the Picture Style options. The T5 / 1200D’s built-in flash is popped up using a button just behind the main dial on the top of the grip. It’s not as odd a place for it as you might think because it’s programmable and can be assigned to ISO sensitivity. The flash is the same unit as on the earlier T3 / 1100D with a Guide Number of 9.2 in metres at 100 ISO. That’s a little less powerful than the Nikon D3300’s built-in flash which has a Guide Number of 12 and also offers wireless control with compatible Nikon units. With a GN of 9.2 the Sony A3000’s built-in flash has the same power output as the T5 / 1200. Both the T5 / 1200D and D3300 have a hotshoe, as does the Sony A3000, but the latter is Sony’s multi-interface shoe which can take an external flash as well as other accessories. The Canon EOS 1200D produced images of very good quality during the review period. This camera produces noise-free images at ISO 100 up to ISO 800, with some noise appearing at ISO 1600. The faster setting of ISO 3200 is still usable, although we'd suggest avoiding ISO 6400 and especially 12800 if possible. The 18 megapixel images were quite soft straight out of the camera at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting. The built-in pop-up flash worked well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure. The night photograph was very good, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds and Bulb mode allowing you to capture enough light in most situations. One major advantage of the body construction is that it weighs just 480g with battery and card included, so the camera is light and portable. This is 100g lighter than the EOS 700D and 15g lighter than the EOS 1100D. Measuring 129.6×99.7×77.9mm, the EOS 1200D is almost the same size as its predecessor, being just 0.3mm smaller along its width.

Overall, the EOS 1200D preserves excellent detail in the shadow areas and I found that, providing the ISO sensitivity wasn’t set too high, I was able to maximise the dynamic range by shooting slightly underexposed and lightening the shadow in post-production. As on its predecessor, you can focus before recording, you can also refocus during a shot by half-pressing the shutter release, providing you first enable the AF w/ shutter button feature from the movie menu, but it’s a single-shot process which can take a few seconds at a time and is quite distracting if recorded in the video.Turn the shooting mode dial to the video setting, press the dedicated rear plate Live View button and you're ready to shoot video on the 1200D via a squeeze of the shutter release button.

The Canon EOS 1200D's maximum shutter speed is 30 seconds and there's a Bulb mode for even longer exposures, which is excellent news if you're seriously interested in night photography. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds, aperture of f/8 at ISO 100. Like all Canon APS-C-sized-sensor cameras, the EOS 1200D features an EF-S lens mount, which is compatible with Canon EF and EF-S lenses. There is an enormous range of excellent lenses to choose from, with an option to suit most people’s budgets. Canon has made significant improvements in the area of video, with the camera now featuring 29.97fps, 25fps or 23.976fps at 1080p resolution video shooting, with an option for video snapshots. This being a DSLR, however, we also have an eye-level viewfinder via which the lion's share of composition happens. This smaller yet sufficiently bright viewing window, with the camera's nine AF points highlighted, offers 95% frame coverage and a magnification factor of 0.80x. This contrasts with 100% frame coverage when using the LCD; so what we see is what we get. Canon EOS 1200D: Battery Shortly after the announcement of the Canon EOS 1200D, Canon released a free Companion app for the camera in both Android and iOS. On a practical note, the eye relief for the optical viewfinder doesn't jut out that far from the body, meaning that every time we pressed our eye close to it, our nose inadvertently bumped up against the LCD directly below. Inevitably you'll be rubbing the screen free of smears and prints after a while.A flap on the left side of the T5 / 1200D’s body conceals the camera’s ports – a mini HDMI connector and USB port plus a remote control terminal compatible with the RS60-E3 cable remote, but the T5 / 1200D isn’t compatible with Canon wireless remote controllers.