Thoughts on the SL2

Nice photos and a great review!!! I really love this camera, which I use entirely in my kayak and other small boats for birds and wildlife.

RLight wrote:

I tried the SL2 out this Winter. As a long time Canon shooter I was looking to get back into lenses having taken a PowerShot only hiatus with the G1X III. The SL2 does not disappoint.

Some notable thoughts:

1. AF is largely improved over former 9-pt AF offerings even though it's still 9-pt AF; the SL2 for example is much smarter than the slightly cheaper T6; it's very noticeable as I shot the two side by side and the SL2 easily bests it. For this alone I'd recommend the SL2 for anyone considering an entry level DSLR over the cheaper T6.

2. Live view and the fully articulating screen work really well. The tack sharp focus from live view is a nice bonus.

3. The handling of the SL2, is really good. The grip is perfect, weight/balance is perfect, placement of the controls, shutter release, etc. It's a very, very fun camera to shoot.

4. The image quality is a huge step up from former Rebel's I've had (XTi, T3i, SL1).

Bang for buck, this is it folks.

Ultimately I moved up to the M50 and EF-M's and then R, going right back where I started with full frame, but I still have my PowerShot G1X III for when I don't want to bring along the beast (EOS R and lenses). The M50 offers better low light performance, more buffer (if shooting RAW, I do, but new DSLR owners are just fine JPEG only which I use 98% of the time myself), more FPS and even smaller footprint/weight but the total system (SL2 + EF-S glass vs M50 and EF-M glass) is twice the cost. You do get what you pay for, but, it's really hard, arguably impossible to beat an SL2 paired with EF-S glass in terms of what you pay for and what you get.

The SL3 is rumored to be coming soon. Should it improve on low-light AF and include some new features the M50 has (compressed RAW, more buffer, 4K video, auto-transfer to smartphone) I can see it being quite successful. However, the SL2 alone, I can recommend to virtually anyone considering entering into DSLR photography due to it's price-performance ratio. It's a huge step up from smartphone photography and is an easy to use, very smart (in auto mode) which most folks being new to DSLRs will be using, fun camera.

Live view used

Nice shots and review.  Yes, the SL2/EOS 200D is a bit of a hidden gem in Canon's DSLR range, as not only is it by far the lightest and most compact, but it's also the lowest point in the price range that has three valuable features: Dual Pixel AF in live view, a fully-articulated screen and a touch screen.  Its reflex finder is also somewhat larger (surprisingly) than both the models below it AND those immediately above it, even though all of them are larger cameras.