Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-09-13)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 7 September 2019 43

Noise

SettoISO 100 in raw,the250Dis

abletoresolve3,700l/ph.This

dropsasthesensitivityis raised,

butatISO 1600 it stillachieves

3,000l/ph.Thereafter,resolution

dropsfalloffmorerapidly,with

ISO 6400 registering2,600l/ph.

ThehighestnativeISO25,600

settinggives2,400l/ph,while

ISO51,200gave just1,900l/ph.

Resolution

FEATURES 8/10

BUILD& HANDLING 7/10

METERING 8/10

AUTOFOCUS 7/10

AWB& COLOUR 8/10

DYNAMICRANGE 7/10

IMAGEQUALITY 8/10

VIEWFINDER/LCD 8/10

+Excellentimagequality

+Generouslyfeatured

+Exceptionallysmalland

lightweight

+Capableof4Kvideocapture

• 9-pointAFsystemfeelsdated


• Lacks any weather-proofing

For and against

Canon’sJPEGprocessingprovidesexcellentresultsatlow

ISO,withnovisiblenoise.ImagescapturedatISO 1600

remainprettygoodwhenviewedatregularsizes,butthe

softeningeffectsofnoisereductionbecomemuchmore

pronouncedbyISO6400.ISO12,800canbeconsideredthe

tippingpointabovewhichimagequalityquicklydeteriorates,

withthehigher ISOsettingsbeing‘emergencyuseonly’.

RAW ISO 100 RAW ISO 400 RAW ISO 1600

RAW ISO 6400 RAW ISO 25,600 RAW ISO 51,200

RAW

ISO 51,200

RAW

ISO 6400

RAW

ISO 100

Belowaredetailstaken
fromourresolutiontest
chartpattern(above).
Multiplythenumber
belowthelinesby 200
to calculate resolution.

The250D’sbuilt-inHDR

ArtVividdigitalfiltertakes

threeconsecutiveimages

atdifferentEVvaluesand

thenblendsthemtogether

EF-S18-55mmf/4-5.6ISSTM,

1/640sec at f/9, ISO 200

THECANONEOS250Dis a

generouslyfeatured,easy-to-

useentry-levelDSLRthathas

plentygoingforit. Overallimage

qualityis verygood,delivering

vibrantcolourimagesand

enoughfinedetailtomakelarge

prints.The250Dis equipped

witha rangeof novice-friendly

featuresincludingitsbuilt-in

GuidedMode,andbeyondthis

there’splentyformore

advancedphotography.Our

onlyrealgripeis thecamera’s

9-pointAFsystem,whichwhile

perfectlyfunctionaldoesfeela

bitdated.Thankfullythisis

somewhatoffsetbythe250D’s

excellentAFperformancewhen

usedin liveviewmode.Withthe

older200Dstillwidelyavailable

andcosting£50-100less,the

questionis whetherit’sworth

payingtheextraforthenewer

model.Thatdependsonhow

muchyouvalue4Kmovie

recording,althoughthe250D’s

enhancedliveviewAFand

improvedbatteryperformance

arealsoworthbearingin mind.

Overall,if youhavethebudget,

we’drecommendchoosing the

250D over the 200D.

thatincludesdescriptionsof the
varioustools,modesandfunctions
andhowthesecanbeusedto
affectthelookof captured images.

Performance
The250Dprovidesnineindividual
AFpointsarrangedin a diamond
shapeacrossthecentralportionof
theviewfinder.ThecentralAFpoint
is of thecross-typevariety,therest
beinglinear.Framecoverageisn’t
themostcomprehensive,andthe
250D’sviewfinderAFsystemdoes
feela bitdated,especiallywhen
comparedtotheNikonD5600’s
moreadvanced39-pointAF
system.Whilethiswon’tbetoo
muchof anissuewhenfacedwith
staticsubjects,thelargegaps
betweenindividualAFpointsmean
thatthe250Dcanstrugglewith
movingones,especiallyif some
distance away or moving erratically.

Thisisn’tthecasewhenthe

camerais usedin liveviewmode.

Likethe200D,the250Dinherits

Canon’sexcellentDualPixelAF

technology,whichusesphase-

detectionpixelsonthesensorto

improveAFperformancein live

viewmode.Theresultis thatfocus

acquisitionin liveviewis speedy

andprecise.Betterstill,Canon

hasuppedthenumberof these

phase-detectionpixelsfrom 40 to

3,975points,whichimproves

accuracygreatly.Whenfacedwith

movingsubjectswefoundthe

250Dtoperformmuchmore

consistentlyandaccuratelywhen

setto TrackingAFin liveview.If

anythingthe250D’sstellarAF

performancein liveviewonly

exacerbateshowdatedthe9-

pointviewfinderAFsystemfeels.

The250D’smaximumcontinuous

shooting speed is a useful 5fps –

exactlythesameastheNikon

D5600.Thecameraalsoprovides

a Silentshutteroption,andwhile

thisis slightlyquieterthanthe

regularshutterit’sfarfromsilent.

In testing,therewasnoupperlimit

tothenumberof FineJPEGswe

wereabletocaptureat the

maximum5fps;wewereableto

shootforwellover 10 secondswith

noslowdownoccuring.Switching

torawcapture,wemanaged

approximately 12 consecutive

imagesbeforetheframerate

dropped,whilein JPEG+raw

capturethisdroppedtoaround

eightconsecutiveimagesbefore

thebufferfilledandtheframerate

slowed.Batteryperformancehas

alsobeenmuchimprovedoverthe

200D,withthe250Dcapableof

around1,000imagespercharge,

comparedtoaround 650

images on the 200D.

Verdict

Recommended