Canon EOS 1200D Review

Canon EOS 1200D review: Canon has upgraded its entry-level DSLR.

Canon EOS 1200D Review: Features

The new Canon EOS 1200D is the successor to the EOS 1100D and situs just below the 100D as the first camera in the line-up.

The Canon EOS 1200D isn’t a huge upgrade over its predecessor, the 1100D. One of its key selling points is a new app for iOS and Android, which is aimed at beginner photographers.

The Canon EOS 1200D app walks photographers through the camera’s key functions, providing tips and short tutorials that explain how to use them. The app also incorporates tutorials aimed at inspiring photographers to try different types of pictures.

In terms of specifications, it seems like Canon has played it relatively safe with the EOS 1200D.

The camera features an 18-megapixel sensor and a Digic 4 image processor, which although it is not Canon’s most recent imaging engine, it has proven to be a decent performer in previous Canon cameras we have tested.

The Canon EOS 1200D is aimed at beginner photographers I the entry-level market, and as such the camera offers several automatic modes, including Scene Recognition Auto and some Creative modes to give images a different look.

Canon has offered this before with the EOS 100D, but the difference here is that on the EOS 1200D these creative filters can only be added after you’ve taken a picture.

The Canon EOS 1200D also features a 3in, 460k-dot LCD screen on the back, which unfortunately isn’t neither touch-sensitive. Nor does it tilt or articulate. This is joined by an optical viewfinder offering a 95% field of view.

Other features include full HD video recording, with the added bonus of having full manual control during the recording – something rare for an entry-level DSLR.

The camera’s native sensitivity range runs from ISO 100 to 6400, which is expandable up to ISO 12800.

Like the EOS 1100D, the Canon 1200D offers 9 AF points, with just the central point being cross-type for extra sensitivity.

What’s more, the camera can shoot at up to 3fps, which doesn’t compare particularly well with the Nikon D3300, which can capture 5fps.

One feature we would have liked to see on the Canon 1200D is built-in Wi-Fi or NFC connectivity, but the camera is compatible with Eye-Fi cards.

The EOS 1200D uses Canon’s EF/EF-S lens mount, which is compatible with hundreds of different lenses. The size of the sensor (APS-C), makes for a 1.6x crop factor. What’s more, the Canon 1200D comes with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS kit lens, offering an equivalent 28.8 – 88mm.

Canon claims the 1200D’s battery lasts up to 500 shots, which falls a little short of the Nikon D3300′s 700 shots per charge.

That said, the Canon 1200D has one important advantage over the Nikon D3300: it is much cheaper.