Canon bills the EOS 100D as the world's smallest digital SLR. There's no arguing about that; it's impressively small, making Canon's standard 18-55mm zoom lens look positively huge in comparison. It comes with an 18-megapixel sensor and is thus a top option if you want a really compact D-SLR. For this review, we also loaned the device to two professional photographers in the UAE, for their comments on the Canon EOS 100D. You will find the videos embedded in this review below.
The EOS 100D measures 3.6-by-4.6-by-2.7-inches and weighs just 408-gms. Yes, it's amazingly small, but I would still like just a little bit more of a handgrip; it extends only to the same depth as the lens mount. The front of the pop-up flash juts out another half-inch or so. Adding a little more depth to the grip would make the camera a bit more comfortable to hold, but shooters with smaller hands will likely feel right at home.
With this D-SLR, you get a surprising number of physical controls packed into the svelte body, but you'll still be using the touch screen to adjust certain settings. On the top panel you'll find a three-stage power switch—it has settings for off, on, and video recording; that's integrated with the mode dial, which has scene settings in addition to more advanced shooting modes. In front of that is a dedicated ISO button, the lone control wheel, and the shutter release.
The Menu and Info buttons are around back, to the left of the eyepiece. To its right, there's the button that enables Live View for stills, or starts video recording when the camera is set to video mode. On the far right you'll find an AF point selection button and the exposure lock button. EV compensation gets its own button, as do image playback and delete. The 4-way pad on the device lets you navigate through menu options.
At the center of the directional pad is the Q Set control; it activates a rear menu from which you can adjust the bulk of available settings. These include aperture, ISO, shutter speed, exposure compensation, flash compensation, image effects, white balance, bracketing, brightness and contrast, the metering pattern, the drive mode, the self-timer, the autofocus mode, and image quality. You can adjust these using the control wheel and navigate from setting to setting via the directional pad, but touch control is also supported. Touch is not active without first pressing the Q Set button, which prevents inadvertent changes to settings.
The 3-inch rear LCD is very sharp and supports touch input. But it's not a hinged display. The fixed display helps to minimize the 100D's size, and can be used to adjust the focus point or even focus and fire the camera when working in live view mode. This is a feature that Canon offers in its D-SLRs that competing brands haven't yet been able to match.
There aren't a lot of bells and whistles. Wi-Fi, which is becoming more common in interchangeable lens cameras, is absent here. Having wireless capability would be nice, as the 100D's size is clearly intended to be a carry-everywhere SLR. Though you can add an Eye-Fi Mobi memory card to transfer photos over to your phone for immediate Instagramming, Facebooking, and Tweeting.
The 100D is impressively speedy, starting and shooting in just 0.6-second. The camera manages 0.1-second shutter lag in good light, and can fire off JPG shots continuously at 4 frames per second. If you shoot Raw or Raw+JPG you'll still be able to keep this pace up, but only for 8 and 4 shots, respectively.
The autofocus system has 9 selectable focus points, but by default the camera will select the active points automatically. The focus speed slows a bit in dim light; it takes about 0.8-second to lock onto a shot in dim conditions. Live View focus is slower; in good light you'll wait about 1.3 seconds for focus to lock and for a shot to fire, this extends to 1.9 seconds in dim light.
The image sensor does have phase detect pixels on about 80 percent of its surface area. The 100D though still needs to hand off to contrast-based focus before firing a shot, which slows down performance in Live View mode. Video on the 100D is recorded in 1080p30, 1080p24, or 720p60 quality in QuickTime format.
With the EOS 100D, Canon has opted to include a mic input port, a boon to anyone who is considering the 100D for more than just home movies. There are also connectors for a wired remote control, a mini USB cable, and a mini HDMI cable. The SD card slot is located in the battery compartment at the bottom of the body, and also supports SDHC and SDXC cards.
If you prefer your digital cameras on the smaller side, there's not another D-SLR on the market that can match the EOS 100D's s size. The video focus is impressive and still image quality is just as good. If you want a tiny camera, find the EOS 100D comfortable to hold, and are married to the idea of an optical viewfinder, the Canon EOS 100D should be on your short list.
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