Canon EOS 300D

At last, a 6megapixel digital SLR at under £1,000.

Price: £739.99

Manufacturer: Canon

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Verdict

Pros:

Only affordable Digital SLR.

Cons:
Plastic; lacks EOS 10D's custom functions.

Verdict:
A milestone in digital photography at the right price.

Ken McMahon, Personal Computer World 27 Feb 2004

The Canon EOS 300D is what the world's amateur photographers have been waiting for: a digital SLR that provides all the benefits and functions of a film SLR at an affordable price.

The 300D is an 'economy' version of Canon's EOS 10D Digital SLR, but if you've been hankering after a 10D the 300D's specification will come as no disappointment, as the economies have been made with few compromises on features and performance.

Most importantly, the 300D uses the same 6megapixel Cmos sensor as the 10D. Canon has modified the sensor production process and switched manufacturing of the camera to Taiwan, enabling it to be produced more cheaply, but the images it produces are every bit as good as those from the 10D.

The major differences between the two models could be described as largely cosmetic. The substitution of plastic for the 10D's magnesium alloy body means the 300D will take more looking after, but it's less weight to carry around. The other differences are as minor and likely to be inconsequential for those trading up from a prosumer fixed lens digital camera.

The 300D takes Canon's EF mount lenses - significant for anyone currently using a Canon Film SLR. The 300D comes in two forms: a body only or, for an extra £90, the kit version, which includes the Canon EF-S 18-55mm zoom lens. This lens has been designed for the 300D (it won't fit any other Canon film or digital SLR). It projects further back into the camera body than conventional 35mm SLR lenses and uses more compact, lighter lens elements to produce a smaller field of view for APS-sized sensors - like that in the 300D - which are smaller than a 35mm film frame.

This lens produces great results and is such good value there seems little point in passing it up, but new digital SLR lenses, such as the 18-50mm f3.5 DC and 55-200mm f4/5/6 DC from Sigma could be even better value.

The 300D is comfortable, responsive and easy to manage, whether using one of the point-and-shoot 'basic zone' exposure modes or the advanced 'creative zone' exposure modes.

Exposure modes are selected using the dial on the top right of the camera body. There are seven basic modes, including full auto, portrait, landscape, macro, sport and night flash. The autofocus system uses seven AF points - rectangles with an LED at their centre - arranged in a cross pattern covering the field of view. When one or more of the AF points gets a lock, the LED flashes and an indicator LED turns on in the viewfinder. The AF system is accurate and fast, working well in low light, though the built-in flash can be raised for AF assist - firing a rapid burst to illuminate the subject and aid auto focus.

Manual focus is achieved by sliding a small switch on the lens barrel and rotating the front section of the lens. While this isn't the same as focusing with a conventional lens - there are no distance markings, for one thing - just looking through the lens makes all the difference, and accurate manual focusing can be achieved easily. The 300D uses a pentamirror, rather than the more usual pentaprism arrangement, to divert light entering the lens from the film plane to the viewfinder. Pentamirrors cost less to produce than pentaprisms and they also transmit less light, but the 300D's viewfinder isn't noticeably dimmer than the 10D's.

Although useful, basic exposure modes are not why people buy a digital SLR. In addition to the usual Canon exposure mode line-up - program AE, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual - the D300 includes a fifth: A-DEP, or automatic depth of field. This cleverly uses the Autofocus system to identify the nearest and furthest objects from the camera and sets the aperture to provide sufficient depth of field to keep everything sharp.

Storage is provided through CF (Compact Flash) cards or Microdrive. There are three image size settings up to 3,072 x 2,048, each offering two levels of jpeg compression and Raw, which produces 7MB files. Four post-processing parameters provide control over contrast, saturation and sharpening, and colour balance.

The 300D is the digital SLR that signals the turning point for serious photography enthusiasts. It will be interesting to see how manufacturers such as Nikon and Minolta respond to Canon's opening bid for dominance of this end of the market.

Contact: Canon 0800 616 417
www.canon.co.uk

Price Details:
RRP Body only £739.99 (£629.78 ex VAT)
Kit £829.99 (£706.37 ex VAT)

Specifications: