In summary
Canon has produced a compact, lightweight and easy to operate DSLR for novice users of all kinds, particularly those looking for better image and movie quality than they can obtain from a digicam or smartphone. While not spectacular, the 1300D’s image and movie quality are good enough for most users, including keen photographers who want a lightweight alternative to their main DSLR.
Although JPEG files print up nicely, provided they have been properly exposed, we’d recommend shooting raw files for images that will be enlarged to A4 size or bigger. Good results can be obtained in prints up to A3+ (420 x 297 mm) in size.
The kit lens is an adequate performer and works well over its focal length range. We’d recommend paying extra for stabilisation if you add a telephoto lens to the basic package.
Snapshooters concerned that a DSLR cameras might be too difficult to use can simply leave the camera on the default Scene Intelligent Auto setting and be confident the camera will be able to detect the type of scene the lens is pointed at and select exposure parameters accordingly. It’s equally easy to playback photos or movies on a HD TV set via the Type C HDMI mini-connector which automatically switches to support displays with anywhere from 480p to 1080i resolution.
The 1300D also offers a Wi-Fi facility (with NFC) supporting easy sharing of photos and videos online via compatible smart devices.
Full review
Canon’s EOS 1300D, which was announced in March, is a relatively minor upgrade to the previous entry-level DSLR, the EOS 1200D. The most noteworthy upgrade in the new camera is sure to be the addition of Wi-Fi (with NFC), which supports easy sharing of photos and videos online via compatible smart devices. Otherwise, although the image sensor is unchanged, the processor has been updated to DIGIC 4+ and the resolution of the LCD monitor is doubled.
Angled front view of the EOS 1300D with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 III kit lens. (Source: Canon.)
Physically, the EOS 1300D has barely changed and like its predecessor, its body is made from carbon-fibre reinforced polycarbonate, making the camera relatively compact and light in weight. Despite some very minor cosmetic adjustments to button design, the control layout is the same as the1200D’s, the only new addition being the Wi-Fi indicator between the card access lamp and the playback button.
Top and rear views of the EOS 1300D. (Source: Canon.)
Like its predecessor, the EOS 1300D is being sold in kit format, bundled with the EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 III lens, which we reviewed with the EOS 1200D in March 2011. This lens isn’t stabilised but our tests on the 1200D showed it provided above average performance for its price tag.
What’s New?
The addition of Wi-Fi with NFC is the highlight of the new camera since it brings the 1300D into line with modern expectations. Although the Wi-Fi supports both iOS and Android devices, users of the latter will appreciate the easy connectivity through near field communication (NFC). The 1300D supports with iOS versions 7.1/8.4/9.0 and Android smartphone and tablet versions 4.0/4.1/4.2/4.3/4.4/5.0/5.1.
Canon’s Camera Connect App must be installed on the smart device to enable the camera to be connected wirelessly and allow image data to be passed between them. The camera’s Live View image can be viewed on the smart device From the smart device a few taps will take you to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for quick and easy image sharing.
Remote shooting is for still pictures only and operates in the P mode, which provides a limited range of controls. The interface provides a shutter button and touch icons for adjusting aperture, ISO exposure compensation and drive settings (but not time-lapse). Touch controls let you zoom in and focus and select where the image will be saved. Raw file capture is supported, although if they are saved on a smartphone they will be resized to S2 size.
Users can upload images directly from the camera to cloud services such as Canon’s irista, which provides 10GB of free photo storage and allows users to create online galleries for sharing. Connection to the optional Canon Connect Station CS100 provides a handy way to save, view and share images and movies from a central device, while the CANON iMAGE GATEWAY web service makes it easy to share images across a variety of social networks.
The Wi-Fi system supports the regular 802.11b/g/n wireless networks and can operate either in access point or infrastructure modes. Canon claims it has a working range of up to 15 meters provided there are no obstructions between the camera and smart device.
Another update is the new DIGIC 4+ processor, which was first introduced in 2014 and has been mainly used in mid-range compact cameras. Canon claims it provides a 60% improvement in processing speed over the DIGIC 4 chips used in the EOS 1200D.
The new processor enables the 1300D to expand its continuous shooting capabilities, although only for JPEGs, where the buffer capacity has risen from 69 to just over 1100. For raw files, the buffer capacity remains at five RAW+JPEG pairs or 6 CR2.RAW files and the frame rate is still only three frames/second.
Canon has increased the resolution of the LCD monitor screen from 460,000 dots to 920,000 dots, a change that will be particularly welcomed by anyone who shoots in Live View mode. The more detailed display makes it easier to see what’s sharp when focusing as well as when reviewing the photos you’ve taken.
A Food scene preset has been added to the camera’s mode dial. It’s designed to make shots of food ‘look bright and appetising’ and starts by switching the auto flash off. The white balance is tweaked to suppress the red cast produced by incandescent lighting but users can adjust the colour tone to ‘warm’ or ‘cool’ the colour bias.
A new Auto (White priority) mode has been added to the white balance sub-menu to enable users to reduce the intensity of warm colour casts produced by artificial lighting. Other white balance settings are unchanged.
Who’s it for?
Canon is attempting to attract keen photographers who have hitherto used smartphones as their main imaging device into investing in the EOS 1300D; hence the focus upon the camera’s new wireless connectivity. In a press release from its US subsidiary it states: Smartphone users passionate about photography and ready to take that next step to creating their best images and videos ever will appreciate the ease-of-use and affordability of the new EOS “¦ camera.
Like previous models in this series, the EOS 1300D is relatively compact and affordably priced. It shares many features with the previous model, including the 18-megapixel sensor, 9″point AF system, optical viewfinder and easy-to-set controls.
Snapshooters concerned that a DSLR cameras might be too difficult to use can simply leave the camera on the default Scene Intelligent Auto setting and be confident the camera will be able to detect the type of scene the lens is pointed at and select exposure parameters accordingly. It’s equally easy to playback photos or movies on a HD TV set via the Type C HDMI mini-connector which automatically switches to support displays with anywhere from 480p to 1080i resolution.
Unchanged Features
There’s still no built-in sensor cleaning mechanism that vibrates the sensor to shed particular of dust than might have accumulated when lenses were changed. Instead users have to rely upon the Dust Delete Data acquisition function, which detects dust particles on the sensor and attempts to fill them in with data from surrounding pixels. If that’s unsuccessful, manual sensor cleaning is the next best solution.
The default Auto ISO range for the Basic shooting modes (auto and Scene pre-sets) is ISO 100 to ISO 3200, although users can increase it to ISO 6400 matching the default range for the ‘Creative’ (P/A/S/M) modes and manual exposures settings in Movie mode. The maximum ISO setting for Bulb and flash exposures is ISO 800. A selectable H (high) ISO mode provides an extension to ISO 12800 for still shots, although the user manual warns of potential noise and irregular colours.
The 9″point AF system is the same as the EOS 1200D’s, although the centre point has an expanded working range of 0-18 EV. However, like the1200D’s, it can struggle in dim lighting and with low-contrast subjects, particularly when shooting in live view mode.
There’s still no dedicated AF assist lamp. Instead, the pop-up flash ““ which hasn’t changed since the EOS 1200D ““ is used to fire bursts of flash while focusing, which can cover up to four metres from the camera.
Front view of the EOS 1300D with the pop-up flash raised. (Source: Canon.)
The viewfinder is the same eye-level pentamirror with 95% field-of-view coverage, a magnification of 0.8x and a 21mm eye relief. It provides dioptre adjustment of -2.5 to +0.5 m-1 and has a non-interchangeable focusing screen.
The EOS 1300D uses the same LP-E10 rechargeable lithium-ion battery as its predecessor and has the same CIPA rating of approximately 500 shots/charge when the viewfinder is used for shot composition or 180 shots/charge with Live View. In Live View mode, autofocusing switches to contrast detection and users can choose between FlexiZone single or Face-Detection AF, both relying on sensors that cover roughly 80% of the sensor area. Magnification of 5x or 10x is available for checking sharpness.
Shutter speeds, exposure metering and shooting modes are unchanged (save for the addition of a Food pre-set). Also unchanged are the built-in flash and drive modes as well as the movie recording options.
Playback and Software
Nothing much has changed in the playback settings since the EOS 1200D. The 1300D offers all the standard options, including single and index (4 or 9 shots), jump (10 or 100 shots), display by date, folder, file type or rating, magnified view (1.5x to 10x), rotate, protect, delete, rate (1 to 5 stars) and movie playback.
There have been updates to the bundled software, which must now be downloaded from Canon’s support website at www.canon.com/icpd. Instruction manuals available for downloading in PDF format from this site include the full instruction manual, the wireless function (Wi-Fi) instruction manual, a basic instruction manual for camera and wireless functions, lens instruction manuals and software instruction manuals.
Software downloads include EOS Utility, Digital Photo Professional and Picture Style Editor, all available in Windows and Mac versions. EOS Sample Music is also provided.
Performance
Overall performance from the test camera was similar to the results we obtained from the EOS 1200D. Test shots were acceptably sharp but improved by a little unsharp masking in an image editor. Colour accuracy was generally good and Imatest showed saturation was mainly modest, with the expected boost in warmer hues that marks entry-level cameras.
Although our test shots were taken on a day when Sydney’s skies were smoke filled due to hazard-reduction burning, shots taken in bright sunlight retained a decent dynamic range. Blue skies were well balanced with respect to foregrounds and backlighting was handled well.
Imatest showed the camera-plus-lens combination to be capable of meeting expectations for the sensor’s resolution with raw files converted with Adobe Camera Raw. As before, resolution fell a little short of expectations with JPEGs. Resolution declined steadily as sensitivity was increased, as shown in the graph of our Imatest results below.
The decline in resolution wasn’t as steep as for the EOS 1200D, which is probably due to the new DIGIC 4+ processor, although in-camera noise reduction still tends to make JPEGs a little soft. Interestingly, test shots showed much less softening at the highest ISO settings than similar shots taken with the EOS 1200D.
Long exposures in low-light levels were noise affected at ISO settings of 6400 and above, although colour fidelity was maintained throughout the camera’s ISO range (including at ISO 12800). Flash output was well-balanced and exposures were relatively even throughout the camera’s ISO range, with the warm bias of ambient lighting apparent in shots taken at the highest ISO settings. As with long exposures, little noise was evident up to ISO 3200, although shots taken at higher sensitivities were slightly soft.
Autofocusing was fast and accurate in dim lighting, particularly when the viewfinder was used. Focusing was slower in Live View mode, although there was no loss of focusing accuracy in low light levels. Overall, we’re pretty confident there have been improvements in autofocusing speed and accuracy, both of which will be welcomed by potential purchasers.
Auto white balance performance was somewhat better than the EOS 1200D’s, although the default Ambience priority setting failed to completely remove the warm cast of incandescent lighting in our test set-up and the alternative White priority setting over-corrected and added a slight blue cast. Interestingly, in ‘real life’ settings, the White priority setting delivered natural-looking results in indoor conditions with mixed lighting.
Shots taken under both fluorescent and flash lighting were effectively free of colour casts. Both the pre-sets over-corrected slightly but manual measurement produced neutral colour rendition.
When shooting movies, composing shots on the monitor screen was almost impossible in bright outdoor lighting. This is a major disadvantage of shooting movies with a DSLR. The 1300D also offers only four recording options: 1920 x 1080 at 25 or 24 frames/second (fps), 1280 x 960 at 50 fps or 640 x 480 (VGA) at 25 fps.
The camera’s microphone can only record monaural audio. Users can set the audio recording level and we found the default setting tended to pick up traces of noise from the AF motor while re-focusing and mechanical noises due to zooming.
The wind filter, which is located in the Sound recording sub-menu, delivered similar results to the 1200D’s. Overall, soundtracks were much as you’d expect from the camera’s monaural microphone; adequate for family videos but you’d probably want to over-dub to get a more professional-sounding result.
Our timing tests were conducted with an 16GB Panasonic Class 10 SDHC UHS-1card, which boasts a read speed of 90 MB/s and a write speed of 25 MB/s. The review camera took roughly one second to power up ready for shooting, which is a little faster than the 1200D. When the viewfinder was used, we measured an average capture lag of 0.2 seconds, which was eliminated when shots were pre-focused. In live view mode, autofocusing lag extended to an average of 1.3 seconds, with pre-focused capture lag averaging 0.18 seconds.
Shot-to-shot times averaged 0.4 seconds with the viewfinder but extended to 2.8 seconds in live view mode. High-resolution JPEGs took an average of 1.6 seconds to process, while CR2.RAW files were processed in 2.4 seconds and RAW+JPEG pairs in 2.7 seconds.
In the continuous shooting mode the review camera recorded 20 Large/Fine JPEGs in 6.6 seconds, which is close to specifications. It took 3.7 seconds to complete the processing of this burst.
With CR2.RAW files, we could only record seven frames in 2.1 seconds before the camera paused. It took 7.2 seconds to process the burst. For RAW+JPEG pairs, the buffer had filled by five frames, which were recorded in 1.4 seconds. Processing was completed within 7.4 seconds of the last pair of frames recorded.
Conclusion
Once again, Canon has produced a compact, lightweight and easy to operate DSLR that effectively targets novice users of all kinds but particularly those looking for better image and movie quality than they can obtain from a digicam or smartphone. While not spectacular, the 1300D’s image and movie quality are good enough for most users, including keen photographers who want a lightweight alternative to their main DSLR.
Although JPEG files print up nicely, provided they have been properly exposed, we’d recommend shooting raw files for images that will be enlarged to A4 size or bigger. Good results can be obtained in prints up to A3+ (420 x 297 mm) in size.
Build quality is also good enough to withstand normal usage, although neither camera nor lens is weatherproof. The kit lens is an adequate performer and works well over its focal length range. We’d recommend paying extra for stabilisation if you add a telephoto lens to the basic package.
At Canon’s listed price (on the Canon Store) of AU$649, the EOS 1300D is certainly competitive. Discounting has already begun in local re-sellers websites, with the average online price across five sites we visited being AU$549, which is $1 less than the US MSRP figure. So it’s not worth shopping off-shore for this camera.
SPECS
Image sensor: 22.3 x 14.9 mm CMOS sensor with 18.7 million photosites (18 megapixels effective); fixed low-pass filter
Image processor: DIGIC 4+
A/D processing: 14-bit
Lens mount: Canon EF/EF-S
Focal length crop factor: 1.6x
Image formats: Stills: JPEG (Exif Ver.2.3), RAW (14-bit Canon original), RAW+JPEG Large ; Movies: MPEG 4 with H.264 compression
Image Sizes: Stills ““ 3:2 aspect: 5184 x 3456, 3456 x 2304, 2592 x 1728, 1920 x 1280, 720 x 480; 4:3 aspect: 4608 x 3456, 3072 x 2304, 2304 x 1728, 1696 x 1280, 640 x 480; 16:9 aspect: 5184 x 2912, 3456 x 1944, 2592 x 1456,1920 x 1080, 720 x 400; 1:1 aspect: 3456 x 3456, 2304 x 2304, 1728 x 1728, 1280 x 1280, 480 x 480; Movies: 1920 x 1080 (29.97, 25, 23.976 fps), 1280 x 720 (59.94, 50 fps), 640 x 480 (30, 25 fps); Max duration: 29 min 59 sec, Max file size 4 GB
Image Stabilisation: Lens based
Dust removal: Manual cleaning and Dust Delete Data acquisition
Shutter (speed range): Electronically-controlled focal-plane shutter (1/4000 sec. to 30 sec. plus Bulb; X-sync at 1/200 sec.)
Exposure Compensation: +/-5 EV in 1/3EV or 1/2EV steps (+/-EV for movies)
Exposure bracketing: +/- 2EV in 1/3- or 1/2-stop increments (can be combined with manual exposure compensation)
Other bracketing options: White balance: 3 bracketed images per shutter release; Selectable Blue / Amber bias or Magenta / Green bias; Flash exposure bracketing with external flash
Self-timer: 2 or 10 seconds delay plus 10s + remote, 10s + continuous shots (2 to 10)
Focus system: TTL-CT-SIR with a CMOS sensor; 9 AF points (f/5.6 cross type at centre)
Focus modes: One-Shot AF, AI Servo AF, AI Focus AF; Multi-area, Selective single point, Tracking, Face Detection available, manual focus if selected on lens
Exposure metering: 63-zone TTL open-aperture metering with Evaluative (linked to all AF points), Partial (approx. 10% of viewfinder at centre) and Centre-weighted metering patterns
Shooting modes: Scene Intelligent Auto, No Flash, Creative Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Food, Night Portrait, Movie, Program AE , Shutter Priority AE, Aperture Priority AE, Manual
Custom functions: 11 Custom Functions with 33 settings
In-camera effects: Creative Filters (Grainy B/W, Soft focus, Toy camera, Miniature effect, Fish-eye) during image playback only
Picture Styles: Auto, Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful, Monochrome, User Defined (x3)
In-camera processing: Highlight Tone Priority, Auto Lighting Optimizer (4 settings)Long exposure noise reduction, High ISO speed noise reduction (4 settings), Auto Correction of Lens Peripheral Illumination, Basic+ (Shoot by ambience selection, Shoot by lighting or scene type)
ISO range: Auto (ISO 100 – ISO 3200 set automatically), ISO 100-6400, expansion to ISO 12800 available
White balance: Auto (Ambience priority), Auto (White priority), Preset, (Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten light, White fluorescent light, Flash), Custom White balance correction (Blue / Amber +/-9; Magenta / Green +/-9)
Flash: Retractable, auto pop-up flash. GN: approx. 9.2 (ISO 100/m), coverage: 17mm lens angle of view. Recharge time: approx. 2 sec.
Flash modes: Auto, Manual Flash On / Off; red eye reduction lamp available
Flash exposure adjustment: +/- 2EV in 1/3- or 1/2-stop increments
Sequence shooting: Max. 3 shots/sec.
Buffer capacity: Max. ‘unlimited’ JPEGs, 6 RAW files or 5 RAW+JPEG pairs
Storage Media: Single slot for SD, SDHC, SDXC cards (UHS-I compatible)
Viewfinder: Eye-level pentamirror with approx. 95% FOV coverage, eye-point approx. 21 mm, magnification 0.8x, dioptre correction of -2.5 – +0.5 dpt, fixed, Precision Matte focusing screen
LCD monitor: 3-inch, TFT LCD with 4:3 aspect ratio, approx. 920,000 dots, manual brightness adjustment (7 levels)
Live View: Contrast detection AF (FlexiZone-Single, Face detection Live mode), Phase-difference detection AF (Quick mode), Manual focus (approx. 5x / 10x magnification possible). Brightness Range: EV 1 – 18 (at room temperature, ISO 100); Real-time metering with image sensor, Brightness Range: EV 0 – 20
Playback functions: Single Image with information (2 levels), Index Display (4 / 9 / 36 / 100 images), Jump Display (1/10/100 images, by Date, by Folder, Movies only, Stills only, by Rating), slide show (All Images, by Date, by Folder, Movies), histogram (brightness/RGB), highlight alert (shooting information display only), Erase: Single image, all images in folder, checked images, unprotected images; Protection: Erase protection of one image at a time
Interface terminals: USB 2.0, HDMI Type C (Auto switching of resolution)
Wi-Fi function: IEEE 802.11b/g/n with NFC
Power supply: LP-E10 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery Pack; CIPA rated for approx. 500 shots/charge with viewfinder; 180 shots/charge with Live View
Dimensions (wxhxd): Approx. 129.0 x 101.3 x 77.6 mm (excluding protrusions)
Weight: Approx. 485 grams with battery and card
TESTS
Based on JPEG files.
Based on CR2.RAW files processed with Adobe Camera Raw.
SAMPLES
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting (Ambience priority).
Auto white balance with incandescent lighting (White priority).
Auto white balance with fluorescent lighting.
Auto white balance with flash lighting.
ISO 100, 30-second exposure at f/4.5; 34mm focal length.
ISO 400, 20-second exposure at f/5.6; 34mm focal length.
ISO 1600, 8-second exposure at f/7.1; 34mm focal length.
ISO 3200, 5-second exposure at f/8; 34mm focal length.
ISO 6400, 4-second exposure at f/11; 34mm focal length.
ISO 12800, 2.5-second exposure at f/13; 34mm focal length.
Flash exposure at ISO 100; 1/60 second at f/5.6; 55mm focal length.
Flash exposure at ISO 400; 1/60 second at f/5.6; 55mm focal length.
Flash exposure at ISO 1600; 1/60 second at f/5.6; 55mm focal length.
Flash exposure at ISO 3200; 1/60 second at f/5.6; 55mm focal length.
Flash exposure at ISO 6400; 1/60 second at f/5.6; 55mm focal length.
Flash exposure at ISO 12800; 1/60 second at f/5.6; 55mm focal length.
18mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/250 second at f/10.
55mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/160 second at f/8.
191: 20mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/200 second at f/9.
55mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/250 second at f/10.
Crop from the above image enlarged to 100% to show negligible coloured fringing.
47mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/80 second at f/6.3.
18mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/100 second at f/5.6.
36mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/100 second at f/6.3.
47mm focal length, ISO 1600; 1/60 second at f/5.6.
28mm focal length, ISO 400; 1/40 second at f/4. Auto white balance Ambient setting.
36mm focal length, ISO 640; 1/60 second at f/4.5. Auto white balance White setting.
18mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/6 second at f/3.5.
18mm focal length, ISO 800; 1/30 second at f/3.5.
18mm focal length, ISO 12800; 1/160 second at f/8.
From CR2.RAW file; 18mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/50 second at f/4.
From CR2.RAW file; 55mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/160 second at f/5.6.
55mm focal length, ISO 100; 1/100 second at f/5.6.
51mm focal length, ISO 200; 1/250 second at f/5.6.
Still frame from movie clip recorded at Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution with a frame rate of 25 fps.
Still frame from movie clip recorded at Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution with a frame rate of 24 fps.
Still frame from movie clip recorded at HD (1280 x 720) resolution with a frame rate of 50 fps.
Still frame from movie clip recorded in VGA (640 x 480) resolution at 25 fps.
Rating
RRP: AU$649; US$550 (as reviewed with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II kit lens)
- Build: 8.8
- Ease of use: 9.0
- Autofocusing: 8.5
- Still image quality JPEG: 8.5
- Still image quality RAW: 8.8
- Video quality: 8.5
