A small step forward

The Canon EOS 700D is the successor to the 650D and is also known as the Rebel T5i. Considering that the 650D was launched only last year, the 700D represents a quick replacement.

Design & Build Quality

The Canon EOS 700D body is well designed, with smooth corners and a very comfortable grip (much better than that on the 100D). The chassis is made from metal and the exterior is made from tough polycarbonate. Though Canon describes the camera as the flagship of its entry-level models, it looks and feels like a semipro body. The physical size of the camera body is just perfect – neither too large, nor too small. The LCD offers touch-screen technology and the display can be adjusted to almost any angle. Like in all Canon D-SLRs, the viewfinder is covered with soft rubber to prevent scratches on eyeglasses. The camera body is made in Japan and its dimensions ( WxHxD) are 133.1x99.8x78.8mm. The camera weighs 560g with battery and card.

Key Features

The EOS 700D has enough features for an entry-level model. At first sight, the 700D appears to be identical to the 650D except for a different kit lens and some very few changes. The EOS 650D was the first Canon APS-C D-SLR to feature a hybrid CMOS AF system, using both Contrast and Phase Detect AF. The focussing sensors on the 650D

are placed directly on the CMOS sensor to speed up AF performance during Live View mode. With the addition of an STM lens on the 700D, Canon is offering an even better deal, allowing users to exploit the full advantage of improved Live View mode AF, coupled with a kit lens that is designed to offer smooth and nearly silent AF. This system works in conjunction to give a wonderful movie recording experience to first-time users, by allowing faster, more accurate and smoother AF coupled with the absence of focus-motor noise in the recording footage. Further changes in the 700D are improved Creative Filters added to the Quick Control Screen, a new SCN mode on the Mode dial that contains advanced shooting modes like Hand-held Night Scene, HDR Backlight Control, and Night Portrait. The Mode dial on the 700D rotates 360 degrees for quicker switching between shooting modes. The Mode Dial at the top right includes Creative Zone (for advanced users) and Basic Zone for beginners. The Creative Zone offers Program ( P), Shutter Priority ( Tv), Aperture Priority (Av) and Manual (M) shooting modes. The Basic Zone has A+ (turns your camera into a sophisticated pointand-shoot model), Flash Off (very important in places where using flash is banned), and Creative Auto (allows you to choose the ambience you wish to convey in your images, and allows you to change the depth of field, drive mode and flash firing). Then come the 4 Image Zones – Portrait, Landscape, Close-up and Sports. These are followed by Special Scene Modes – Night Portrait, Hand-held Night Scene, and HDR Backlight Control. After selecting a shooting mode, you can select the Shooting Functions (displayed on the LCD screen). This is best done by pressing the ‘Q’ button (Quick Selection button) and navigating to the desired function using the cross-keys to the right of the LCD screen. To assist you in this selection is the Feature Guide that describes in very simple terms, what each feature does. The LCD screen is also touch-sensitive. The touch-control can be disabled if you wish to. Except in certain basic modes, you can also create your desired ambience. The ambience settings available are Standard, Vivid, Soft, Warm, Intense, Cool, Brighter, Darker and Monochrome. You can also set the desired ambience effect, example, Low, Standard or Strong. Further, when shooting in Portrait, Landscape, Close-up and Sports, you can shoot as per the lighting condition or scene type. The settings available here are: Default, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent and Sunset. The user can opt for one of the 10 image quality settings. Here is the guide showing the image quality setting and the corresponding file size: * Figures for the file size, number of possible shots, and maximum burst are based on Canon’s 8 GB card and testing standards (3:2 aspect ratio, ISO 100, and Standard Picture Style). These figures will vary depending on the subject, card brand, aspect ratio, ISO speed, Picture Style, Custom Functions, and other settings. * Figures in parentheses apply to a UHS-I compatible 8 GB card based on Canon’s testing standards Four types of exposure metering are available on the EOS 700D: Evaluative ( linked to all AF points), Partial (covers approx. 9% of viewfinder, at center), Spot (covers approx. 4% of viewfinder, at center) and Center-weighted Average. You can fire off a single frame or fire continuously at a maximum of 5 frames per second. You can also use a 2 or 10sec delay self-timer or use the self-timer to shoot a set number of shots (maximum 10) continuously in 10 seconds.

To ensure proper colours, you can set the White Balance as

required; select from Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten light, White fluorescent light, Flash and Custom. You can further fine-tune and select from the following Picture Styles: Auto, Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful, Monochrome and User Defined 1-3. ( Just like you would select a different type of film to get a particular ‘look, Picture Styles help you take photos in colour tones best suited for the particular subject). ISO sensitivity can be set between 100-12,800 but can be expanded to ‘H’ (equivalent of ISO 25,600). Autofocus makes taking pictures easier. The EOS 700D offers One-shot AF (for still subjects), AI Servo AF (for moving subjects) and AI Focus AF (when the camera automatically switches between One-shot AF and AI Servo AF depending on whether the subject is stationary or moving). In P, A, S, and M modes, the user can select the AF point by pressing the AF Point Selection button (near the thumb grip) and then using the cross-keys to select the AF point. Tip: The central AF point is the most accurate, and hence consider using this point to autofocus. You can always recompose your picture if you need to ( but don’t forget to keep the shutter release button halfpressed during this time). In Basic Zones, AF point is automatically selected by the camera, depending on the shooting mode. The 700D offers a maximum firing rate of 5 frames per second and a maximum burst of 22 JPEG Large/Fine or 6 Raw or 3 Raw+JPEG Large/Fine shots. The 700D offers a built-in flash with a Guide Number of 13m (43 feet) at ISO 100, and covers a field of view of 17mm equivalent. External EXseries Speedlites can be used. The flash metering is E-TTL II and flash exposure can be compensated by +/- 2 stops in 1/3 or 1/2 stop increments. PC terminal is not provided. Aspect Ratio in Live View can be set to 3:2, 4:3, 16:9 or 1:1. Here, the camera uses a Hybrid CMOS AF System ( Face+Tracking, FlexiZone Multi, FlexiZone Single). Manual focussing is possible during Live View (approx. 5x/10x magnification possible). In Live View, Touch-Screen focussing and Touch Shutter is provided. Movie recording format are MOV and MPEG-4 AVC/H.264. Maximum resolution for video is 1920x1080 ( Full HD) at 30p/25p/24p. Exposure control is Program AE for movies and manual exposure. Exposure can be compensated by +/- 3 stops (+/- 5 stops for stills). ISO can be set between 100-6400.