Canon EOS 200D (Rebel SL2 / Kiss X6) [Review] : Perfect Beginner Camera

The EOS 200D (known as the Rebel SL2 in North America and Kiss X9 in Japan) is Canon’s second-generation ultra-compact digital SLR. It’s largely packed with Canon’s latest tech, including Dual Pixel AF, a DIGIC 7 processor, Wi-Fi with NFC and Bluetooth, and a new user interface for beginners.

The Rebel 200D also gets Canon’s new graphical user interface, which is designed to help new users get to grips with their camera and its various shooting modes; this can be turned off in the menu to be replaced by Canon’s more traditional interface.

The inclusion of built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth also helps enable sharing shots from camera without the need to extract the SD card. The Canon Camera Connect app (for Apple and Android devices), works as mentioned. Once the app is connected, it’s easy to reconnect again in the future.

The SL2 / 200D is made entirely of composite material, yet it doesn’t feel cheap in any way. Despite its size, the grip is good-sized and the faux leather ‘grippy,’ so it feels secure in your hand.

The polycarbonate resin and carbon-and-glass-fibre body is adequately strong enough to shake off the occasional bump or knock it might receive in day-to-day use. Don’t expect it to be as robust as more expensive models in Canon’s range, though – pick up the EOS 77D or EOS 80D after handing the EOS 200D and you’ll immediately feel the difference in build quality.

I should also point out that it is smaller than Canon’s EOS 1300D.

People with large hands are most likely to find the grip too small, but those with small hands won’t have any complaints. If you have medium-sized hands you may find your little finger has a tendency to drop off the bottom of the grip.

The 200D main controls are well-placed. The one and only control dial is right next door to the shutter release and doesn’t require a stretch. The power button is easily accessible, as well.

As for the build quality of the EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 IS STM lens that comes with the camera as part of the basic kit, it’s about as good as one would expect for a kit lens that’s designed to get you photography started.

Canon’s new Feature Assistant makes the 200D very easy to use. If you’re in Scene Intelligent Auto mode, the camera offers just two settings on its touchscreen display: drive (how you access continuous shooting and the self-timer) and flash mode. Switch into P/A/S mode and the camera gives you visual representations of how exposure, aperture and shutter speed effect your photos. The Feature Assistant teaches you what buttons you’ll need to press when using the traditional Canon interface, so you’ll be ready to go when you want more control over the camera.

It’s this Dual Pixel AF system – the same as you’ll find in the EOS 80D – which works to deliver quick autofocus. The focus types in the 200D aren’t as complex as something like the Nikon D5600, but it’s still a fast and efficient system in live view mode.

For viewfinder-based autofocus the system is as basic as Canon now offers: it’s a 9-point autofocus setup, arranged in a diamond pattern to the centre of the capture area, which can be used in its full arrangement or a specific point can be user-selected. It’s just as quick, if not quicker, than when shooting via the screen – it’s only the low number of focus points that make this system less versatile than Canon’s higher-end DSLR models. In this instance, for the beginner level, that’s really no problem.

Another issue is with the viewfinder’s limited field of view. When pressed to the eye you’ll see 95 per cent of the shot you’re about to take, with the outermost five per cent edge not visible. What you shoot, therefore, will show a little extra than what you can see in advance. This is typical of more affordable/beginner DSLR cameras, as you’ll need to pay more to find one with a 100 per cent field of view. It’s not as big a problem as it may sound, you can always crop the extra area.

The EF-S 18-55mm f/4-5.6 IS STM lens that you can buy with the camera is as good a place to start as any for a beginner, however it won’t take long before you reach its limitations. If you’d prefer a bit more to zoom in closer to distant subjects you may want to settle for the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM.

The stepper motor (STM) allows for perfectly smooth transitions of focus when shooting. Not only is that but the motor completely silent, removing any threat of a noisy focusing affecting video audio.

As for video, the 200D does the job but is light on controls. It captures 1080/60p video with manual exposure controls, and Auto ISO can be used with exposure compensation. The touchscreen makes focusing easy, and Dual Pixel AF means that it’s responsive as well. The quality of its 1080p video is excellent for a camera in this price range.

The only thing you’ll want to remember about attaching long and heavy lenses to the compact body is that it can upset the feel of the camera in the hand. Coupling the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM lens to the front during testing did make it feel rather front heavy.

The image quality results from the EOS 200D are very similar to those generated by the recently reviewed Canon EOS 800D and EOS 77D. This isn’t a huge surprise given that the EOS 200D uses the same sensor alongside the same DIGIC 7 image processor.

Detail is preserved well as the sensitivity is increased, up to ISO 6400. Detail does start to deteriorate with the introduction of more noise same at ISO 25,600 and ISO 51,200 respectively. Users won’t want to push above ISO 6400 often if they’d like to retain the highest level of detail in their images.

Saturation starts to reduce at ISO 12,800 onwards, with ISO 25,600 and ISO 51,200 producing a level of noise that you’ll want to avoid.

The extra variable of a subject moving erratically puts a camera’s AF systems to the test. We weren’t expecting miracles from the 200D 9-point AF system, and sure enough, we didn’t witness any. More often than not, the camera missed focus, especially when the object is in motion near the edges of the focus area.

Something worth noting is the drop in continuous shooting speeds when using continuous autofocus: it’s about 3.5 fps instead of 5 fps in single AF mode.

The new Canon EOS 200D represents a big step forward from the 4-year-old 100D / SL1 model, with a deeper hand-grip, vari-angle LCD screen, faster Dual Pixel Live View auto-focusing system, 1080p movies at 60fps, Bluetooth connectivity and longer battery life.

Even though Canon have decided to stick with the basic 9-point AF system, the EOS 200D is much faster and more accurate than its competitors when focusing during Live View or movie recording, which together with the vari-angle LCD screen makes it more appealing to beginners and videographers alike. But then the EOS 200D is meant to be an entry-level product into the vast EOS system, and is therefore specked and priced accordingly. Available in 3 attractive colours – classic Canon Black, White, and Silver & Tan, but in India we have only the Black variant available.

The new Canon EOS 200D is both a compelling first DSLR camera for beginners, and an attractive proposition for more experienced users looking for a smaller, yet still very capable second EOS body.