Canon EOS 1300D

Canon EOS 1300D: full review

Reviewing Canon 1300D is like talking about a little legend among the so-called entry level digital cameras. As in any other field, in fact, there are products which are more or less fortunate. And among the cameras for beginners, this one has been a huge success.

Handy, easy to use and with high quality image: what more can you ask of an entry level camera that, by the way, is sold for an absolutely affordable price? But let’s see in details what are the reasons of the success of a little big myth called Canon 1300D.

Camera body

Size: 129 x 101 x 77 mm, weight: 485 grams, battery and memory card included. It is a definitely small camera, plasticky to the touch and not particularly solid (it’s not tropicalized). These are common flaws in entry level cameras, not a big deal.

Among its pros, though, it is quite light and has good usability, with buttons fit also for big fingers. Almost all the controls are on the back side, to the right of the screen.

On top, beside the on/off button and the flash control there are:

• The control ring.
• The shoe mount for the optional external flash (under which there’s the incorporated flash)
• The small wheel for the aperture or the exposure time.

The 7.5 cm not touchscreen LCD display is fixed (if you want an adjustable display, I suggest you Nikon D5600) and of decent quality (921K dots). It is well-readable in the sunlight as well.

Technical features

The sensor is 18 megapixels APS-C, with 1.6 Crop factor (for crop factor, see the article about focal lengths). What are you saying? Nikon D3400 has 24 megapixels? Don’t pay too much attention to this high-sounding feature, sometimes it’s just marketing strategy. Plus, until a couple of years ago, 18 megapixels were unimaginable for an entry level with such a price…

On a DX format, in fact, having less pixels means having a better control on digital noise. In this sense, the sensor of Canon EOS 1300D, in my opinion, is more flexible than the Nikon one. And actually… the ISO range is between 100 and 6400, not very grainy.

Canon EOS 1300D autofocus is quite basic, with 9 AF points. In full light conditions, it’s not bad through the viewfinder. Sure, when the light turns low and there are moving subjects, it has some gaps. Even worse if you decide to use the LCD display. The autofocus definitely isn’t a strength of Canon EOS 1300D.

The DIGIC 4+ processor of Canon EOS 1300 D is not up to the entry level cameras of its “forever enemy”, Nikon, which reserves to its basic reflex models the processor of D750, a professional camera. Consequently, the burst mode is affected, not being faster than 3 shots per second.

Canon EOS 1300D videos are not particularly impressive and have shots at 1080/30 fps. Very social is the “snapshot” mode that gives you the chance to shoot 4 seconds videos sequentially.

Bright spot in connectivity: Canon EOS 1300D has an integrated system that connects it with your mobile in Wi-Fi, for real time sharing. And with the NFC system, it has simplified, energy efficient connectivity to your smartphone.

Minimum time of shot 1/4000 seconds; Maximum time of shot 30 seconds

Not exciting battery life: between 400 and 500 shots.

11 meters capacity Incorporated flash.

Canon EOS 1300D: image quality and shot

I’ll be quick: in the same price and level range, the quality of the pictures taken with Canon EOS 1300D is superior than the other cameras. Can this be the reason for its success? Probably, because in the end – apart from all the technical data – what matters in a camera are the images.

I’m talking about Jpeg, since this type of format is more practical for entry level camera than RAW (which, btw, it’s not supported by Canon EOS 1300). Those who approach for the first time a reflex camera would hardly dedicate time to post production on RAW, the “purist” format that records more information.

Besides automatic shot mode, Canon EOS 1300D has all the typical feature of the reflex cameras: aperture and shutter priority, completely manual mode.

Among the “scenes” – very useful for beginners to get acquainted to basic technique – there are Portrait (also at night), Close-up, Landscape, Sport, Food.

There are also several effects for the shot: vertical, horizontal, neutral, faithful, black and white.

My opinion on Canon EOS 1300D

Compared to its main rivals, my personal opinion is that EOS 1300d is slightly lesser than Nikon D3400, but also than its equivalents from Sony and Fujifilm. It’s not a misstep by Canon, but a precise strategy to offer an aggressive price, definitely more affordable than the competitors. Indeed, Canon EOS 1300D is the best seller entry level camera in Italy (and probably the best seller reflex in the world).

But if you think for a second that many famous pictures were taken with cameras much lesser than this Canon EOS 1300D, there’s nothing left but compensate such small technical gaps with the passion of those who approach the first reflex camera in their life.