News: Canon EOS 200D – Is it Time to Put your Phone Down?

In 2017, nearly everyone owns a camera.  If you own a smartphone, you own a camera, and most, are very good cameras! There are ranges of products now, designed to protect your phone and let you use and take it places you would have once used a camera, while travelling or being adventurous!

But there are still some, who stay loyal to their cameras, and indeed there is possibly even a return to the stand alone DSLRs as Canon hope with their new offering!

Canon EOS 200D

Firstly, a confession! When it comes to DSLRs, in my house, my understanding is dwarfed by that of my wife, who is a professional photographer.  Why does this matter? Because as a ‘techie’ person I have an understanding of each setting you will find on a DSLR but I’m not competent enough to maximise the power of the high end models, nor be sure enough to adjust the settings to suit my needs; and it is for this reason the 200D is worth a moment of your time!

Why is the 200D Different?

What Canon have set out to achieve with the 200D, is create an entry level DSLR camera, with the user interface of a smartphone.  This is done via a sizable touchscreen used to configure the settings, and more importantly, a tutor feature which guides you through the settings until you have it geared to the subject you are about to capture!  This removes the single biggest barrier for a novice picking up a DSLR for the first time and, with a touchscreen control, provides a user interface we are all used to!

Features

If you are upgrading from a smartphone or point and shoot camera then the big difference will be size and weight.  The good news is Canon claim the 200D to be the lightest DSLR on the market at just 453g.  Although, the size will be bigger than what you may have used before, this should not be an issue as you move up into the high-end of the market.

The strongest argument for sticking with a smartphone as your main camera, is the ability to take a picture, edit quickly, then share across social media in just a few taps.  Canon have developed a free to download app (Android | iOS) that works with the 200D.  Connecting via Bluetooth, you can view, download, edit and share your images with just an additional tap or two!  This feature alone should have the mobile bloggers sitting up and paying attention.  Go out, create content, seamlessly move the images over to a tablet, a quick edit and post!

This is a Canon, a Canon DSLR! This means you will now have access to over 80 different lenses (and probably more via third parties) which you can add to your camera over time, giving you even more power to capture better images.

Specifications

The 200D comes in three colours; Black, White and Silver.  Interestingly, they are all different weights (B 453g/W 456g/S 454g) despite being identical specs!  You can read the full details specification list on the Canon website, but the highlight ones are:

The Canon EOS 200D + 18-55mm lens is £679 and Body Only is £579 both from Amazon and are Prime Eligble.