The obvious mirrorless comparison would be to the EOS M50… or am I missing something?
Jeffrey
June 24, 2018 9:56 am
Nice review. I have a question, though. Does this camera have bluetooth? And if so did you get a chance to test out the camera with its phone app? thanks.
Thank you, Jeffrey! The camera does have bluetooth and WiFi, although I didn’t use the app and cannot say anything about it one way or another. Personally, since I don’t use apps like this for my own photography, I thought it would be a bad idea just to turn it on briefly and give a flippant description in this review. Any particular things you were wondering about, though?
Richard Wright
June 22, 2018 12:36 am
“Awful Auto ISO implementation, without any ability to change minimum shutter speed or maximum ISO” Where do you get the idea that you can’t change maximum ISO? I’ve just checked with mine, and it can be changed anywhere between 400 and 25600 (on the Shoot 2 menu). Several times you mention this as one of the weakest points, but you seem to have it totally wrong. I suggest you check again.
Being a small camera, inevitably there is less room for buttons and more has to be changed by menu. But once you get used to using the Set button to access the quick menu, all of the main things you might want to change are easily available.
It’s not really an action camera, true, but I must say that I find I use it more than my bigger bodies, APS-C or FF, simply because it’s so much lighter. Works very well with light prime lenses such as the 24 mm F2.8 pancake, 50 mm F1.8 STM and the 35 mm F2.8 macro as a great carry around camera.
Hi Richard, thanks for catching that. Not sure what happened – I could have sworn that I could only set ISO 1600 or ISO 3200 for the Auto ISO limit at one point, but I am clearly mistaken! I deleted those references from the review. The bigger issue with Auto ISO is that you can’t select a minimum shutter speed, which makes it much less useful in aperture-priority mode.
I definitely came away with the impression that the SL2 was a good option for typical, day-to-day photography where light weight is a priority. The lack of buttons is to be expected from this sort of camera, true. But some other cameras at this price still do a somewhat better job in that department, like the two command dials on the Sony A6000 or the Fuji X-A5. Then again, I prefer the grip and ergonomics on the SL2, so it’s arguably a net even.
Frederic Slight
June 21, 2018 10:42 am
Spencer, thank you for this review!
I would like your opinion on whether the features of the SL2 are worth an upgrade for someone who currently owns a SL1. I use my SL1 as a second camera, and as a travel camera, thanks to its small size. Ever since the SL2 came out, I have been wondering if it would be worth selling my SL1 and buying one. I would like to experiment a bit more with video, and my attempts with the SL1 have been disappointing: when the subject is moving, it keeps up with it for a while, but at some point the camera just starts hunting for focus like crazy. I think this is typical of contrast-detect focus. The SL2’s Dual Pixel autofocus is really appealing in this regard, and combined with the ability of setting the focus point by touching the screen, I have a feeling it would be a joy to use for video.
One question though: you mentionned in your review that the SL2’s autofocus wasn’t great at keeping up with subjects that move relatively fast. Does this limitation apply only when shooting with the viewfinder, or also when using live view for video? I believe viewfinder shooting and live view shooting use separate autofocus, hence my question. I am not worried about the autofocus performance with the viewfinder, as I have another camera for fast action shooting.
Thank you again for the review. As a Canon user, I appreciate the increase in Canon-related articles, although I enjoy virtually every article that comes out on the site. Keep up the good work!
Sure thing, glad you like the review! We are trying to create some more Canon content going forward (and Fuji, Sony, etc.), since we already do so much with Nikon.
I think the SL2 would make sense in your case, mainly because of the dual pixel autofocus, though also because of the improved 24 mp sensor. You’re right – when I referred to the SL2’s autofocus, I was only talking about the 9-point viewfinder system (which is a separate system). That’s one area where there is no difference at all between the SL1 and the SL2 – so, if you are disappointed by the viewfinder autofocus system and need an upgrade, you have to jump up to something like the T7i instead.
But if live view/video autofocus is the main thing you want to improve, the SL2 will be a definite step above the SL1. There is no perfect video autofocus system on the market, so it’s not a good idea to expect perfection. But Canon’s dual pixel AF is as good as it gets today, especially at this price point.
Hope this helps!
EXkurogane
June 21, 2018 2:15 am
Bought a silver one like, just last week. The only reason to get one is the dual pixel AF, for selfie/vlogging. I’d trust that live view AF tracking more than any nikon at the moment. I think it’s the only reason to buy the 200D. The 9 point AF system is really dated. And for just about another $40 (in where i live) you can get a Canon 750D if you don’t need dual pixel AF and get 19 AF points. For not much more, there’s Nikon D5300 with 39 AF points.
In terms of ergonomics i have issues with the Iso button placement being so near to the rotary dial on top. It’s impossible to hold on the iso button while flipping though the dial to change values with the same hand, especially when I’m looking through the viewfinder. For photos, I’ve not used the camera enough yet to have a final say on image quality.
I’m a nikon user otherwise and my other camera and equipment, lenses etc are for nikon, because for photography i almost always use manual focusing exclusively when in live view mode.
Agreed, the dual pixel autofocus in live view is one of the SL2’s biggest strengths. I can see it being a huge seller in the vlogging world for that reason, as well as the tilt-flip screen.
I didn’t really mind the ISO button while testing the camera, since you don’t need to press and hold it in order to change ISO. But now that you mention it, that was a strange place for Canon to put it.
The obvious mirrorless comparison would be to the EOS M50… or am I missing something?
Nice review. I have a question, though. Does this camera have bluetooth? And if so did you get a chance to test out the camera with its phone app?
thanks.
Thank you, Jeffrey! The camera does have bluetooth and WiFi, although I didn’t use the app and cannot say anything about it one way or another. Personally, since I don’t use apps like this for my own photography, I thought it would be a bad idea just to turn it on briefly and give a flippant description in this review. Any particular things you were wondering about, though?
“Awful Auto ISO implementation, without any ability to change minimum shutter speed or maximum ISO” Where do you get the idea that you can’t change maximum ISO? I’ve just checked with mine, and it can be changed anywhere between 400 and 25600 (on the Shoot 2 menu). Several times you mention this as one of the weakest points, but you seem to have it totally wrong. I suggest you check again.
Being a small camera, inevitably there is less room for buttons and more has to be changed by menu. But once you get used to using the Set button to access the quick menu, all of the main things you might want to change are easily available.
It’s not really an action camera, true, but I must say that I find I use it more than my bigger bodies, APS-C or FF, simply because it’s so much lighter. Works very well with light prime lenses such as the 24 mm F2.8 pancake, 50 mm F1.8 STM and the 35 mm F2.8 macro as a great carry around camera.
Hi Richard, thanks for catching that. Not sure what happened – I could have sworn that I could only set ISO 1600 or ISO 3200 for the Auto ISO limit at one point, but I am clearly mistaken! I deleted those references from the review. The bigger issue with Auto ISO is that you can’t select a minimum shutter speed, which makes it much less useful in aperture-priority mode.
I definitely came away with the impression that the SL2 was a good option for typical, day-to-day photography where light weight is a priority. The lack of buttons is to be expected from this sort of camera, true. But some other cameras at this price still do a somewhat better job in that department, like the two command dials on the Sony A6000 or the Fuji X-A5. Then again, I prefer the grip and ergonomics on the SL2, so it’s arguably a net even.
Spencer, thank you for this review!
I would like your opinion on whether the features of the SL2 are worth an upgrade for someone who currently owns a SL1. I use my SL1 as a second camera, and as a travel camera, thanks to its small size. Ever since the SL2 came out, I have been wondering if it would be worth selling my SL1 and buying one. I would like to experiment a bit more with video, and my attempts with the SL1 have been disappointing: when the subject is moving, it keeps up with it for a while, but at some point the camera just starts hunting for focus like crazy. I think this is typical of contrast-detect focus. The SL2’s Dual Pixel autofocus is really appealing in this regard, and combined with the ability of setting the focus point by touching the screen, I have a feeling it would be a joy to use for video.
One question though: you mentionned in your review that the SL2’s autofocus wasn’t great at keeping up with subjects that move relatively fast. Does this limitation apply only when shooting with the viewfinder, or also when using live view for video? I believe viewfinder shooting and live view shooting use separate autofocus, hence my question. I am not worried about the autofocus performance with the viewfinder, as I have another camera for fast action shooting.
Thank you again for the review. As a Canon user, I appreciate the increase in Canon-related articles, although I enjoy virtually every article that comes out on the site. Keep up the good work!
Sure thing, glad you like the review! We are trying to create some more Canon content going forward (and Fuji, Sony, etc.), since we already do so much with Nikon.
I think the SL2 would make sense in your case, mainly because of the dual pixel autofocus, though also because of the improved 24 mp sensor. You’re right – when I referred to the SL2’s autofocus, I was only talking about the 9-point viewfinder system (which is a separate system). That’s one area where there is no difference at all between the SL1 and the SL2 – so, if you are disappointed by the viewfinder autofocus system and need an upgrade, you have to jump up to something like the T7i instead.
But if live view/video autofocus is the main thing you want to improve, the SL2 will be a definite step above the SL1. There is no perfect video autofocus system on the market, so it’s not a good idea to expect perfection. But Canon’s dual pixel AF is as good as it gets today, especially at this price point.
Hope this helps!
Bought a silver one like, just last week. The only reason to get one is the dual pixel AF, for selfie/vlogging. I’d trust that live view AF tracking more than any nikon at the moment. I think it’s the only reason to buy the 200D. The 9 point AF system is really dated. And for just about another $40 (in where i live) you can get a Canon 750D if you don’t need dual pixel AF and get 19 AF points. For not much more, there’s Nikon D5300 with 39 AF points.
In terms of ergonomics i have issues with the Iso button placement being so near to the rotary dial on top. It’s impossible to hold on the iso button while flipping though the dial to change values with the same hand, especially when I’m looking through the viewfinder. For photos, I’ve not used the camera enough yet to have a final say on image quality.
I’m a nikon user otherwise and my other camera and equipment, lenses etc are for nikon, because for photography i almost always use manual focusing exclusively when in live view mode.
Agreed, the dual pixel autofocus in live view is one of the SL2’s biggest strengths. I can see it being a huge seller in the vlogging world for that reason, as well as the tilt-flip screen.
I didn’t really mind the ISO button while testing the camera, since you don’t need to press and hold it in order to change ISO. But now that you mention it, that was a strange place for Canon to put it.