Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-09-13)

42 7 September 2019I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113

Testbench CAMERA TEST

Canon’smostcompactDSLRstillmanagesto

squeeze in plenty of useful and creative features

Focal points

122.4mm

92.6 mm

69.8mm

Contrast,Saturationand

ColourTonesettingsforeach

individualPictureStylepreset.

The250Dalsocomesequipped

withCanon’sAutoLighting

Optimizer,whichis designedto

boostshadowdetailin darkerareas

of animage.Therearethree

settings– Low,StandardandHigh

• tochoosefrom,alongwiththe
  optiontoturnit offaltogether.
  Canon’sHighlightTonePriority
  tool,whichis designedtopreserve
  highlightdetail,comeswithtwo
  strengthsettings:Enable(D+)and
  Enhanced(D+2),althoughit too
  canbeswitchedoffshouldyou
  wish.In addition,the250Dalso
  providesLongExposureNRfor
  exposuresof overonesecond,plus
  HighISOnoisereductionin three
  strengthsettings:Low,Standard
  andHigh.Lastbutnotleastis a
  built-inLensAberrationCorrection
  toolthat’sdesignedtocorrect
  vignettinganddistortion,anda
  DigitalLensOptimizertoolthat
  helpstoincreaseimagesharpness.

Bodyanddesign

Intermsof itssizeandweight,the

EOS250Dis allbutidenticaltoits

predecessor,albeita coupleof

gramslighter.Giventhatthe200D

wasalreadythesmallestDSLRon

themarketat thetimeof itslaunch,

Canonwouldhavebeenhard-

pressedtomakethe250Dany

smaller.Takeawaythe250D’s

opticalviewfinderandpop-up

flashhousing,andyou’releftwith

somethingthat’scomparablein

sizeandweighttomanymirrorless

cameras.Forthoselookingforan

entry-levelDSLRandforwhom

portabilityis a priority,the250D

certainlyticksalltherightboxes.

Buildqualityis verymuchona

parwithotherDSLRsat thisprice

point,andwhilethepolycarbonate

outer shell isn’t as robust as the

magnesium-alloyconstruction

foundonmoreexpensiveCanon

DSLRs,it doesfeelsolidenoughto

withstandtheoccasionalknockthat

canoccurin everydayuse.Note

thatthe250Dalsolacksanyform

of weather-sealing,meaningyou’ll

needtotakecarewhenusingit in

wetweatheroraroundwater.

Aswithmostentry-levelDSLRs,

physicalbuttonsandcontrolshave

beenkepttoa minimum,witha

singlecontroldiallocatedjust

behindtheshutterbuttononthe

top-plate.Buttonplacementis all

butidenticalto the200D,although

theForcedFlashOffandCreative

Autopositionshavebeenremoved

fromtheexposuremodedial

altogether.It’sstillpossibletouse

CreativeAutoonthe250D,butit

nowresideswithintheScene

IntelligentAutomode,witha panel

ontheright-handsideof the

touchscreenprovidingaccessto

itsvariousguidedfeatures.Should

youwanttoforcetheflashonor

offyoucanstilldoso,butyou’ll

needto enterthein-cameramenu.

Aswiththe200D,the250Dis

equippedwitha 3in,1.04-

million-dottouchscreendisplayon

theback.It’sa high-qualityscreen

thatrenderscapturedimagesin

gooddetail,withanoptionto zoom

in andcheckimagesharpnessvia

a simplepinch-to-zoomgesture.

Touchscreencontrolalsomakes

thecameramoreintuitiveto

operate,especiallywiththeaidof

thephysical‘Q’buttonontheback

of thecamera,whichbringsupa

neatlyarrangedgraphicalmenu

providingdirectaccessto the

camera’skeysettingsfroma single

screen.Aswiththe200D,the

250D’sdisplaycanbesetto either

GuidedorStandardmode.The

formeraimstohelpnewcomersto

DSLRphotographybyprovidinga

more intuitive graphical interface

BluetoothandWi-Fi

UsingtheCanonCamera

Connectapp,youcan

transferimages

automaticallytoa paired

smartphoneorbrowse

thecameraandselect

specificonesyourself.

Imagescanbe

transferredateither

theiroriginalsizeor a

reduced size.

In-cameraimageediting

Ageneroussetofin-cameraprocessing

toolsallowyoutoedityourimages

withouttheneedfora computer.You

canadjustcontrastandsaturation,

crop,applyCreativeFilterstocaptured

JPEGs and convert raw files in-camera.

Vari-angle

touchscreendisplay

The3in,1.04-million-dot

touchscreendisplayis

hingedatthesideofthe

camerawhichallowsit to

bepulledoutby180°.It

alsorotatesthrough270°,

meaningyoucaneasily

positionit toshootat

extremeanglesor take

selfies with.

Built-inpop-upflash

Witha guidenumberof9.8metres

atISO100,the250D’spop-upflash

canbecalledupontoilluminate

nearbysubjectsin poorlight.A

hotshoeallowsyoutoattach more

powerful flashguns, too.

Creativefilters

The250Dprovidesten

CreativeFiltereffects

thatcanbeusedtojazz

yourimagesupwith.

WefoundtheHDRArt

Vividfiltertobequite

goodforcapturing

sunsets.

Optical

viewfinder

Thepentamirror

viewfinderprovides

95%coverageat0.87x

magnification.It’s

brightandclearand

displayskeyshooting

settings,butis small

comparedtothoseon

more expensive DSLRs.

Awildhorseroamsthe

cliffsaboveBoscastle

harbourin Cornwall

CanonEF-S18-55mmf/4.5-5.6IS

STM, 1/250sec at f/8, ISO 100