Canon EOS 600D review

With even entry-level DSLRs boasting enough megapixels for poster-sized prints, camera manufacturers are being forced to find new ways to tempt upgraders. HD video recording is the current teaser.

The EOS 500D first introduced 1080p video recording to the Canon DSLR stable, but the standout new feature of the 600D is a 3in camcorder-style flip-out screen. It’s bright enough to see what you’re shooting even in the fiercest of sunlight, and you can overlay a grid on the screen to help you keep the horizons perfectly level on those sun-drenched beaches.

However, the 600D is far from the perfect camcorder. Although the Full HD footage (recorded at 24fps) is perfectly sharp and well exposed to start with, there’s no continuous autofocus. Instead, you have to semi-depress the shutter button to force the camera to refocus, or test your skills with manual controls.

Using the autofocus creates an awkward, blurry second or two as the camera struggles to lock on to the subject, but that’s not the worst of its crimes. The integrated microphone picks up the screeching whine of the autofocus motor, making it sound like your idyllic beach scene is under attack by a flock of pterodactyls.

An external microphone (connected to the 600D’s 3.5mm microphone input) or a willingness to substitute the soundtrack are a must for anyone relying on autofocus.

Creative camera

The video features disappoint, but the 600D really begins to shine in conventional camera mode. The flip-out screen isn’t only a bonus for videographers: it encourages photographers to experiment with creative angles too, allowing you to accurately compose a shot with the camera held above your head amongst the crowd at a wedding, for example, or down at ground level.

For those who prefer to leave the creativity to the camera, there’s a new Scene Intelligent Auto mode that hands full control of the autofocus points, exposure, flash and other settings to the camera. It did a remarkably good job in our tests, automatically adjusting focus with a group of children running towards the camera, and adeptly balancing exposures in shots containing both sun and shade.

Indoor shots were sometimes a half-stop under-exposed in this fully automatic mode, but it was nothing that couldn’t be corrected in photo-editing software, especially as the 600D allows you to shoot in RAW, even in automatic mode.

Those who crave a little more artistic input, but don’t fully understand the theory of aperture settings and shutter speed, can head for the Creative Auto mode. This allows users to choose the tone of the shot (warm, cool, intense and so on) as well as determine the amount of background blur on a sliding scale. The usual selection of automatic and manual modes can also be found on what has now become a rather overcrowded settings dial.

One final creative flourish is the addition of Creative Filters, allowing users to apply in-camera effects to pre-taken photographs, such as grainy black and white, a fish-eye simulation or the now ubiquitous Lomo toy-camera effect. These filters provide surprisingly good results, and adjusted images are saved as a copy to avoid harming the originals. They offer little, however, that you wouldn’t find in even the most basic, free photo-editing packages, such as Google Picasa.

Core specs

Aside from the new screen and the revamped automatic and creative modes, there’s little difference between the core specification of the 600D and its predecessor. They share the same 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, nine-point autofocus and 63-zone metering system; the same 3.7fps maximum burst speed for up to 34 JPEG frames, or six RAW frames.

This, naturally, means the 600D is capable of the same richly detailed, accurately exposed photographs as the 550D. It also means it suffers from the same small flaws: most notably the occasional lack of punch in brightly coloured scenes, although that’s easily rescued in post-production.

The ever-so-slightly revamped 18-55mm kit lens which came with our review unit shares the same super-fast autofocus and image stabilisation as its predecessor, and is a highly capable multipurpose lens.

For those who find themselves shooting indoors without a flash, the 600D’s ISO settings range all the way up to an effective 12800 in manual modes, although noise really does start to become intrusive at 3200 or above. One advantage the 600D holds over its predecessor, however, is support for wireless flash guns.

Verdict

Ultimately, the Canon 600D makes a far better camera than camcorder. But with the price starting at £680 for the body and kit lens, photographers are being asked to pay a high premium for that flip-out screen: a feature that will benefit videographers far more than photography buffs.

If you’re serious about recording HD video, you’ll be much better served by the dedicated camcorders on our A List. If, on the other hand, you’re serious about photography, the 600D is a superb, increasingly user-friendly camera; but you’ll find a near-identical feature set on the cheaper 550D.

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