Nice little camera but build quality is questionable.

I've had the 100D for about an year and decided I could write a short review.

First the good:

1. It's small but still easy to handle.

2. It has a good AF system (especially the central point)

3. The viewfinder is dim but bigger than on most rebels.

4. The touchscreen is great to operate and made of tough glass - no need for screen protector.

5. The sensor, while still the old 18mp is improved and the banding issues don't exist. I'd say ISO 3200 could be usable in some situations.

6. Live view AF is pretty fast and accurate. There is a face recognition feature which is very nioce for portraits and actually works.

7. The colors an dJpeg quality are really good.

8. Silent shutter

Now the bad:

1. The rubber grip is peeling already and the rubber eyecup falls off very easily (I lost mine).

This is unacceptable. All other issues are more of a nitpick and not so relevant, as it's an entry level camera after all. But this is unacceptable - only after a year of use! Come on Canon.

2. The AF, while generally very good, is nothing special and the outer AF points are unusable with fast lenses.

3. The controls are lacking - it's easy to bump them on the touchscreen unntentionally and the lack of dedicated dials and buttons is really annoying, but that's am amateur camera. Pentax has those dials on their lower end cameras though.

4. The dynamic range of these sensors is rediculous. Period.

5. The small RAW buffer and slow continuous shooting speed.

6. The battery life is pretty bad.

7. SD card slot is in the batter compartment (some decisions were to be made for the size to stay small)

8. Dust gets easily on the sensoe and someteimes cannot be cleaned, but I swap lenses very often.

9. No way to turn off exposure simulation - a real pain for studio work!

THAT's why I'm changing my rating to 3.5 stars - I'm sorry, but even with all the good sides that camera has, the build quality is a major flaw for me. I know, it's just rubber, but now I'll have to send it in for repair and be left my eos-m as my only camera.

rjjr wrote:

axlastro wrote:

1. The rubber grip is peeling already and the rubber eyecup falls off very easily (I lost mine).

This is unacceptable. All other issues are more of a nitpick and not so relevant, as it's an entry level camera after all. But this is unacceptable - only after a year of use! Come on Canon.

I've used my 100D for over a year with no such issues.

You didn't use it enough. I know a guy with the same issue. Don't worry - you get there.

2. The AF, while generally very good, is nothing special and the outer AF points are unusable with fast lenses.

I mostly use center point only, a holdover from decades of split center/microprism collar VFs on film cameras.

Me too. But that doesn't mean that the uter points are garbage, right?

3. The controls are lacking - it's easy to bump them on the touchscreen unntentionally and the lack of dedicated dials and buttons is really annoying, but that's am amateur camera. Pentax has those dials on their lower end cameras though.

A minor annoyance to me is that the LCD doesn't automatically shut off when put my eye to the VF. Since I mostly use live view (for magnification) at work on the tripod or copystand it's only an annoyance when I hand-holding for my own work.

Are you sure - mine does. Especially when I lost the rubber eyecup. It tends to get in the way of the proximity sensor sometimes, when it starts to come off.

4. The dynamic range of these sensors is rediculous. Period.

Hence my addition of a Sony A6000.

So you got another, more expensive camera to compensate for the sensor on the Canon.

5. The small RAW buffer and slow continuous shooting speed.

I don't have a need to spray and pray.

Really? There are times where you don't have to - you NEED to. The fact, that your shooting style doesn't require more adequate RAW buffer doesn't mean I'm not right.

6. The battery life is pretty bad.

I carry spares. I get about 4 hours of fairly continuous shooting at work so I change it at lunch and charge the removed battery during the afternoon. I charge the afternoon battery overnight or the next morning...or use my second spare.

I carry spares too, but still pretty annoying. I must admit there's not much they could do though - it's a small camera...

7. SD card slot is in the batter compartment (some decisions were to be made for the size to stay small)

Another minor annoyance when I have to shoot on the tripod and want to transfer images from the card to the computer.

Minor - yes. But it must be pointed out.

8. Dust gets easily on the sensoe and someteimes cannot be cleaned, but I swap lenses very often.

I've never had this particular issue.

Probably you don't change your lenses or live in dusty environment. That might not be a big issue for most people.

9. No way to turn off exposure simulation - a real pain for studio work!

I make use of exp sim.

Well, I make use of it too. But when you shoot in M with non-TTL flashes - that's when it becomes an  annoyance.

THAT's why I'm changing my rating to 3.5 stars - I'm sorry, but even with all the good sides that camera has, the build quality is a major flaw for me. I know, it's just rubber, but now I'll have to send it in for repair and be left my eos-m as my only camera.

Every time I write an OBJECTIVE review, someone like you comes in and tries to prove me wrong. I'm not trashing the 100D as I said, it's a nice little camera. But it has it's flaws and I'd better pont them out instead of blindly praising Canon.

Digirame wrote:

Sorry to hear about the rubber peeling off etc. I've had problems with two Olympus and Tamron lenses but so far all of my Canon DSLR cameras and lenses have been good. I'm using three Canon T2i (550D) and Canon T3i (600D) cameras. They are pretty solid and reliable. Why do you find that the Canon SL1 (100D) camera does not do well with action or sports photos?

It's buffer for RAW files is tiny and 4 FPS is slow for sports - I find 6 FPS good enough, no need for 10 FPS like the 7D MKII, but 4FPS is slow. It's an entry level camera. For sports they make the 1D series, or 7D MKII. Not really an issue - just pointing it out.

when it falls apart, I'll get an upcoming SL2.

rjjr wrote:

scarlet knight wrote:

when it falls apart, I'll get an upcoming SL2.

I'm probably getting an "SL2" anyway.

Well, at least the price is good for a camera that falls apart. I also hope that canon wil cover the repair.

axlastro wrote:

rjjr wrote:

scarlet knight wrote:

when it falls apart, I'll get an upcoming SL2.

I'm probably getting an "SL2" anyway.

Well, at least the price is good for a camera that falls apart. I also hope that canon wil cover the repair.

Mine hasn't fallen apart, neither has my almost 11 year-old 20D. Interestingly enough there aren't any other complaints being posted that validate your assumption.

One of my friends hast he same issue. Maybe the North american SL1 version doewn't suffer from the issue. Or you don't use it so often.

The 20D reference is irrelevant. I have a 40 year old Pentax spotmatic that looks like new.

EDIT:  It apologize in advance.  This message is kind of rough, but I can't take time right now to make it nicey nice.

I know axlastro is posting his own opinions, but once in a while a review is so ill-considered that a reply is called for.

The title of this review is "Nice little camera but build quality is questionable." I agree with the "nice little camera" part, but the complaint about build quality seems overblown. Most of the review concerns personal preferences and failure to read the manual, but nothing to do with build quality.

Peeling rubber was mentioned, but it might be pertinent to see what other cameras are similarly affected. Here's a search: https://www.google.com/search?q=rubber+peeling+camera that seems to indicate no special problem with the SL1. In any case it's not a functional problem at all, but just a minor (and easy!) cosmetic repair. I would be far more interested in any functional defect.

I suspect that the rubber eye cup comes off "easily" only after rough treatment or using the cover a lot. I agree the cover is not an ideal design, but in any case the is very easy to replace.

As for lack of buttons, the controls seem beautifully designed to me, and I actually like the lack of buttons. It seems to me that Canon has placed just the right buttons in the right places for fast access to any features that I use. Too many buttons seems like a design problem on many cameras.

I could go on, but it seems to me that the OP has simply bought the wrong camera for his purposes.

Like one or two others here, I have to largely disagree with most of the OP's points.  I bought the SL1 in Jan 2014, when it became evident that Canon was not ready to take mirrorless seriously and announced their next versions would still not have eye level EVF's.  The SL1 was to be a stop gap in my downsizing.  I also have in the cabinet a 5D2 and 7D, either of which bodies weigh almost as much alone as the SL1 with a Tamron 16-300mm lens!

Note.  I did not expect the SL1 to have all the capabilities of a larger, more expensive camera.  If I had, I'm sure I'd have been as disappointed as a couple others here.  Instead, I'm impressed still with what it can do with such a small, light camera.  Yes, I do not shoot bursts of photos, as I still have a bit of a film mindset plus I get sick of spending hours deleting pictures at the computer.

Dislikes.  I don't want the back screen on.  Period.  But I've found the process of keeping it off a bit odd, although it does stay off now unless I hit the display button or the playback button.  Since the display is mostly off, I have no battery life issue.  Battery/card door is blocked by the quick release plate I have on the bottom of the camera.  OK, it's a small camera, so that is a tradeoff.

I have not had anything peel off.  I have, however, dropped the camera twice without damage.  A side effect of the small size is the reduced handholds.  I don't consider this a first line wildlife or bird camera, nor is it a studio camera.  For those things, you need a different body.  Full frame for the studio, faster AF for wildlife.  This is not for those things, except in a pinch.  What it is, is most of the capabilities of a full size DSLR in a package not much larger than a compact digital and at a lower price.

The SL1 is still my favorite digital camera, even though I have the workhorse studio camera in the 5D2 (preordered when it was announced), the 7D (also preordered), and coming next month, a 5DSr (also preordered the day it was announced).  Lots of serious cameras, but only one that is always fun!

axlastro wrote:

I've had the 100D for about an year and decided I could write a short review.

First the good:

1. It's small but still easy to handle.

2. It has a good AF system (especially the central point)

3. The viewfinder is dim but bigger than on most rebels.

4. The touchscreen is great to operate and made of tough glass - no need for screen protector.

5. The sensor, while still the old 18mp is improved and the banding issues don't exist. I'd say ISO 3200 could be usable in some situations.

6. Live view AF is pretty fast and accurate. There is a face recognition feature which is very nioce for portraits and actually works.

7. The colors an dJpeg quality are really good.

8. Silent shutter

Now the bad:

1. The rubber grip is peeling already and the rubber eyecup falls off very easily (I lost mine).

This is unacceptable. All other issues are more of a nitpick and not so relevant, as it's an entry level camera after all. But this is unacceptable - only after a year of use! Come on Canon.

Pretty bad, but if it's under warranty they should be able to fix it for free.

2. The AF, while generally very good, is nothing special and the outer AF points are unusable with fast lenses.

So it's good AF, bad AF?? Make up your mind.

3. The controls are lacking - it's easy to bump them on the touchscreen unntentionally and the lack of dedicated dials and buttons is really annoying, but that's am amateur camera. Pentax has those dials on their lower end cameras though.

But you knew this before you bought it, the small size is the whole point about the SL1.

4. The dynamic range of these sensors is rediculous. Period.

No it isn't, your stance is. Why buy it if DR is so very bad? Were you forced at gun point?

5. The small RAW buffer and slow continuous shooting speed.

But you knew this before you bought it.

6. The battery life is pretty bad.

But you knew this before you bought it. Get another two extra batteries and stop complaining.

7. SD card slot is in the batter compartment (some decisions were to be made for the size to stay small)

But you knew this before you bought it.

8. Dust gets easily on the sensoe and someteimes cannot be cleaned, but I swap lenses very often.

Part of life with DSLRs, can't be a negative if compared to similar products.

9. No way to turn off exposure simulation - a real pain for studio work!

THAT's why I'm changing my rating to 3.5 stars - I'm sorry, but even with all the good sides that camera has, the build quality is a major flaw for me. I know, it's just rubber, but now I'll have to send it in for repair and be left my eos-m as my only camera.

So removing your false negatives it's a 5 star product. It seems like you didn't buy the right camera for you, should have gone with one with "better DR". Or tell the guy who made you buy this at gun point that there are other options.

SUPERHOKIE wrote:

I'm a Nikon user but got the SL1 out of curiosity, along with the 10-18, and I must say that for the price, especially used, its a very good camera. I mainly got it for the hybrid CMOS II live view AF and it's night and day better than any live view and video AF from Nikon.

Nice to hear that.  How do you like the 10-18?

The average score is 4.2. I gave it 3.5, someone gave it 5 star. That's how things are. What do you want me to do - blindly say it's the best camera ever made? It's not. And it's not the worst either.

I'm pointing out the negatives as I see them. I knew most of the things before I got the camera, but still they could try to improve some of the things I mentioned, even in entry level cameras. I know it's not typical for Canon to load entry level DSLR's with top-range features (pentaprism VF, AF adjustment, bigger buffer) and if some other brand does it, they probably take out something else (expensive glass, other features). I'm using it heavily and it has given me lots of good images, but I'm trying to be as objective as possible, so sory if I offended some of Canon's die hard fans here.

I love canon as much as I have two canon cameras and quite a lot of lenses, but I'm not a blind follower.