Customer Reviews

Canon EOS 600D Digital SLR Camera (Incl. 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II Lens Kit)

5 star:		(131)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

To be fair, there isn't a great deal of difference between this and the 550d, but I went for it for the articulated screen.
This has proved useful for taking shots of small children as you can place the camera down at their height and compose the shot without laying on the floor. Rather than looking through the view finder you can switch to 'live view' where the photo you take will be shown on the lcd panel. This is also good for taking photos of flowers in meadows etc, you can get some quite fresh looking viewpoints.

I got this camera to take me to the next level, from a Canon Ixus 800 point and shoot (which in itself is a very good camera).
As I wanted to really step up the quality of my photos I didn't get the kit lens, but instead started off with the Canon 50mm 1.8 II lens, which is around £85. This lens is notorious for taking very high quality photos for little money. (Be aware that serious lenses for these cameras are usually hundreds of ££ each). I also got a Trascend 16GB class 10 memory card which can handle photos and video capture very quickly.

I took the camera down to family and friends and took plenty of photos inside and out. To begin with I just used the Scene Intelligent setting and let it do it's thing. Well the photos the camera / lens combination took were outstanding, much better than I have taken before. The sharpness and detail is really amazing when you zoom in to look at the detail. The photos look professional quality, whereas I am an amateur, so very pleased. Shots inside the house, which was not well lit look brilliant even without using the inbuilt flash.

The 50mm lens is really a bargain, but is probably best used as a portrait lens, as on this body it is more like an 80mm. This means you can't really get group shots in a confined space. I have just ordered the 15-85mm EFS lens which will cater for wide angle and mild telephoto, and be a good general walkaround lens. But I will keep the 50mm, as it's low light performance is brilliant, being a 1.8 lens.

I had a quick go at videoing with the 50mm lens, but the result wasn't great, because it is a bit of a telephoto, the results were jerky handheld - but I've no doubt with some practice/tripod and a different lens the results will be great (especially one with inbuilt image stabilisation like the 15-85). But my gut feeling is this isn't going to be as convenient to use as a mini camcorder - but I don't mind I bought it for the photos.

In terms of weight, this is a very light camera to walk around with and fairly small. With the 50mm lens on it was quite inconspicuous and I carried it around on my neck all day without any neck-ache problems. I think the Canon bigger brothers are more like bricks to carry.

There are an array of different modes to use apart from the simple point and shoot mode. I have been learning about things I never knew about with my Ixus, for example varying the depth of field by changing the aperture. In fact, this is probably one of the reasons why the photos I took of people are so good, the 50mm lens allows just the face to be in focus while the background is soft and fuzzy - really makes a difference to the quality of the shot.
These other functions bring a lot more creativity to taking photographs and I feel that this camera will give me a lot of pleasure as a hobby for many years. You can be confident that with a good lens or two the quality of the photos will never disappoint. I think with 18 megapixels, this is honestly as much, if not more than enough detail I will ever need. Photos can be printed at a large size at top quality. Also, with a sharp lens and 18 megapixels, you can easily crop the photos quite hard and still have a great result.

For even more creativity, you can shoot photos in RAW mode. This means no processing is done in the camera. For this, you can use the included Digital Photo Professional software. This allows you to set the colour balance, saturation etc AFTER the photo is taken, rather than you being stuck with the settings you chose when you originally took the photo. Cleverly, you can tell the camera to take both a normal photo and a RAW photo at the same time. The RAW files are very large, but if you do happen to take a really fantastic shot you can edit it just how you like it, while deleting all the RAW files for the average photos to save space.

I think that the 600D is capable of taking photos as good as it's bigger brothers, but at a fraction of the cost. However, it isn't built like a tank or weatherproof etc, so will need to be looked after.

So this was my first step to taking my photography to a hobby level, instead of just my touristy point and click at everything mentality. I was moving from a Sony Nex 5, which I had used for around a year in total. That had taught me a few things about photography but it just didn't cut for me if I wanted to be able to take better photos. So I bought the 600D.

I had been looking at the few other cameras around this price range, including the Nikon D5100 and the Sony SLT A55, but I felt that the features the 600D had and the lenses available to purchase were more appealing.

I have been using the camera on both manual and automatic modes and it can produce some excellent results. The automatic options include an a range of modes from sports to creative auto. The creative auto gives you the control over the depth of field and other options. These are great if you just want to fire of some shots without having to worry about the light settings.

The manual settings are just as easy to work around and you will find yourself using them more and more. This is partly due to the easy menu options and the placement of the manual buttons around the camera. You can quickly change the ISO and many other settings from the click of the finger and the scroll wheel above the grip.

The autofocus works great and is extremely fast, I have compared this against a friends Nikon D7000 and the 600D is always quicker and more responsive. Manual focus is easily turned on by a flick of the switch on the lens.

Many people say they don't think the articulated screen is much to sing and dance about, but I love it. It is great to use when you want to get a funny angle or hard to reach shot. It also provides protection for the screen when you have the camera in your bag as you can turn the screen inwards. The screen itself is lovely and sharp, with great colours, so you really know what the photo looks like when you review it afterwards.

If you are looking to take your photography that little bit further when you are a beginner like me, then I fully recommend this camera.

I currently have the 600D, 18-55mm lens, 55-250mm lens, and 50mm lens. These cover all the situations I have come up against so far and all at great price. I do fancy some of the higher end lenses, but they start getting very expensive.

Been looking for years for a DSLR, something always put me off.

Took the plunge and boy what a difference, no problems with contrast (I take photos of coloured horses), plenty of speed (they don't go as fast as a Ferrari) and I can now make HD videos!

Almost 57 and I feel like I did when I had my first SLR, a Zenith, then a Ricoh, then a Pentax and the last film SLR is sitting on the shelf, a mint EOS1000FN if anybody wants it, no better not now that my daughter is into 'retro' pictures, no idea why. Oh, she is doing photography at college so that could be why.

If you are in any doubt about buying one of these DON'T BE!!

Update: I took some absolutely stunning pics and videos at an indoor horse show, poor lighting and fast action still didn't catch this camera out. I was going to buy the 60D but now I'm glad I didn't, the video zoom is essential and according to Canon will not appear on the 60D because it is a hardware enhancement, nothing to do with firmware.

Another update: I had the new and old USM lenses with my film camera and noticed all the comments about 'silent' focusing so I stuck them on the 600D, yes they are quieter but they are also far heavier and seem to eat up the battery a bit quicker. What surprised me was the superior image quality from the new lighter plastic (yes plastic!) lenses on the newer IS kit, distortion is far less of a problem and of course there is the advantage of image stabilization. If you have a couple of grand to spend you can certainly get better lenses than the 'kit' variety but until someone proves to me the prosumer that it is worth the extra I am happy with the results. I also bought a 55-250 zoom and a 50mm 1.8, I hardly use them because the kit zoom meets most of my needs and I can always crop to my heart's delight, the bigger zoom is better than my by old 'big' USM zoom, smaller, lighter and most importantly has IS, better pics too, less flare etc. Just can't be bothered to take the extra lenses out of the Lowepro bag, done it at shows and missed some pics my kids caught with their Panasonic TZ, now that beautiful little camera is another story altogether, advancing technology could make DSLRs obsolete... er NO, I like the viewfinder, don't need my glasses and no squinting at a screen in sunlight. AND a DSLR is a bit more future proof, it also annoys the 'pro' at shows when I'm getting shots he misses while he flits back and forth to his mobile studio carrying his six foot long lens..

Overall I can't fault this camera, reliable, good battery life, consistent results and terribly easy to use... just grab it and shoot, bliss. Recently paid to have an image put on a big canvas for the wall, WOW! I feel like Bathit Daily now.

As far as autofocus on movie mode is concerned I would rather use manual any day, you can create movies with a bit more 'atmosphere'.

This is not going to be a full review but just a series of notes about points that other reviews have mentioned about this camera.

1) Being a SLR camera the cameras autofocus operates when the mirror is down and then it flips up to take the photo. When operating in live view mode the mirror is held up so the normal autofocus cannot be used. Instead the camera uses image processing to focus in and out to detect an edge in the focusing area and then adjust the focus to make that edge as sharp as possible. This means the focusing is much slower.

2) It is not a replacement for a camcorder. Like in live view the mirror is held up when recording and due to the time it takes to focus the autofocus feature is disabled during video recording. You can flip the mirror and use the autofocus but this causes the video recording to record a still image for a second while this happens. If you want a camera for taking pictures and video recording then perhaps look at the Sony alpha range which uses different mirror technology which means it can use the standard autofocus while video recording.

3) Seriously consider buying the bare camera and a higher quality lens as the stock ones wont enable you to get the best pictures the camera is capable of. The 28-135 EF IS USM canon lens is very good but perhaps lacking slightly in the wide angle.

4) If you buy additional lenses then be aware of the difference between EF and EF-S lenses. The 600D is a APS-C crop camera so the sensor is smaller (like other cameras in this price bracket). If you buy a EF-S lens then you will find it wont be compatible with a full frame camera such as the 5D MK II. However if you want a good wide angle lens they you will probably be looking exclusively at EF-S senses.

5) A 50mm lens is generally regarded as being a standard lens. If you want to buy a good prime lens (basically a prime is a non zoom lens) then you probably want to look for something around 30mm so that on the 600D it becomes effectively a 50mm lens.

6) Buy a USM lens. The stock lenses have a noisy autofocus while the USM is quiet and also these lenses are better quality anyway so a worthwhile investment.

7) Image Stabilization works very well. If you want to see how well it really works just fit a zoom lens and zoom to max and switch to live view and zoom that in fully to 10x. Now half press the shutter button to focus and activate the IS and you will see the picture is pretty steady. Now let go of the shutter button and after a second or so the IS will switch off and you will notice the image suddenly start to shake. If you are using a tripod you may wish to turn off the IS feature. If you are video recording in a quiet environment you may wish to turn off IS aswell as it does generate a little noise.

8) Buy a UV filter for the lens and fit it as soon as you take the lens out of the box and never remove it. If you bump the front of the lens on something then a new filter is much cheaper that a lens repair.

This is a great camera for starting dslr photos and videos. The camera is light which makes it more portable than larger cameras although it is not weather sealed and feels a bit too compact in your hand.
The flip out screen is great for recording video and taking photos over peoples heads in a crowd. There are a lot of other features that I haven't used yet but I am very happy with it so far.
The cheapest part of any camera is the body, so just be prepared to set aside money for your lenses. Depending on what you intend to use your camera for you may need several zoom lenses and one or two prime lenses. There is no perfect lense that does everything.

Brilliant new SLR camera from Canon. I love using it. I upgrated from the 350D and wasn't sure that I wanted the articulated screen but I have found it very useful. I haven't really used the video as yet but I haven't had it very long and there is a lot to learn. To anyone hesitating about an SLR they are great and they are instant - no delay on the shutter and together with a standard & telephoto lens - what more could you want. Canon supply a very easy to follow instruction book with their SLR's. No need to read the lot in one go, just dip in and out to find out what you need to know. I spent the first 12months using the 350D on fully auto and then started to learn all the other modes and eventually started shooting in RAW as there is more control when adjusting anything. At the moment I use Photoshop Elements 8 but it doesn't recognise the 600D RAW files. If anyone knows if Elements 9 does, please let me know.

This is so close to a professional camera it's untrue.
Having lots of fun using it, with honestly startlingly good results.
People now think I'm a photographer :-).

Fabulous service.
Ordered and arrived within 12 hours - amazing.
This was the best price I could find at the time for the body and Canon EFS lenses.
Except now a few weeks later and Canon are offering £50 cash back - and more on some sites so check out those deals.

It's a great start, accessories available for everything both OEM and spurious.
Budget beware, once bought you'll be hankering after more stuff to buy for it, the list is endless.
Have fun ;-)

So a year down the line with this fabulous camera - to clarify it is not a full frame chip like the professional range but I've not found that to be an issue and this is reflected in the price difference.
What I would advise is - don't get the lense kit, save a little longer for the better EF lenses, you can't use 2x Converters with the EF-S lenses and keep automatic functions.

Up until this camera came along I used an hd camcorder for my video and a dslr for my bird photography. This camera along with the 70-300mm lens means "one camera does all".
The video is great but you need to work at it. Its certainly not as easy to use as a dedicated camcorder but the results can be better.
You're thinking of getting the 650d, reading the reviews, comparing it to the 600d and countless others and pulling your hair out at all the pros and cons? Am I close. I'm a photographer and have used this, the 600d and its sony equivalent. I might be able to help. Let me start with an anecdote, (you've read enough technical jargon for now so consider this a breather)
I film the eagles on Mull and the landlady I stay with was telling me about this other photographer who visits her little cottage (it's beautiful by the way, you should visit if you get the chance). So anyway, she is cooking tea , as she does if you ask her nicely. While it's cooking he shows her one of his photos, probably of a sea eagle catching a fish. Everyone wants to photograph one of those even though its on every other postcard in Scotland. Next to a highland cow looking over a gate its the top photo/cliche to get.. Anyhoo, she looks at the photo and says "wow that's great...you must have a brilliant camera" .
So they sit down for supper a bit later and its delicious, she is a great cook. He says "This is lovely...you must have some great saucepans!" boom boom.
But herein lies the real point of this camera. You know its the person behind the camera that takes the pictures but do you really know it? This and the 600d take pictures so good (if you have the skill) you could blow it up the size of front door but are you going to want to. The thing no sellers want to tell you is that for years, maybe 5 , all of the big names have been making great dslr. Since the nikon d40 perhaps. But you really want to know, if you bought this, would you be happy or buying a pup. Be reassured that neither canon, nikon or sony make chocolate teapots. They know how to make a great camera and this is one. It's biggest difference as you will have read ad nauseum , is the touch screen. is it worth it. It is if you like touch screens (I do). That's not flippant, it's how it is.
So the photos will be great and its a great camera, you've read other reviews so I won't duplicate what you have already read but one thing you may not have read is about the video. All the makers have got dslr right. No pups in sight, but video is a relatively new feature and Sony have tbh been leading the way. This camera sets to rectify that by having autofocus. A lot of places on the net, say it's not needed, you should be using manual focus. Nonsense. Manual focus is ok at times but can be a pain. Filming your dog on the beach for example..The autofocus on the 650d is actually pretty good. Not as good as a camcorder but pretty good. The slowest part is for it to get going. But when it's locked on its sound. Well worth having. So thats sorted right..err no, not really. This is the 650d 's killer feature. Trouble is, they left out the killer feature on the 600d. The 3x zoom with "no loss in quality". So here is the choice if you are buying this for video.
if you want you're 300mm zoom to be able to zoom to 900mm for filming sport or wildlife. It's the 600d for you
If you love the idea of autofocus (or hate the idea of doing it the old fashioned way) its the 650d for you.
In my opinion if you're considering the other makes like Sony, it comes down to who makes the the lens you are likely to want. I know I have focused (blabbed on) about video but hey, there has been thousands of photo reviews already about iso , shutter speed etc etc. Nothing for me to add there!
So if you are considering using it for video here are a few "must have" things you will need to go with it.Hoya 58mm UV FilterReplacement Battery for Canon LP-E8 / suitable for Canon EOS 550D / EOS 600D / EOS 650D
Oh and the one that should have gone top of my listMake better videos with your dslr or camcorder
So now I have spent ten minutes typing away, telling you how I like the 650d for video (I do) do me a little favour and click that you find this helpful. Unless you don't. Either way you will enjoy this camera but do consider the little brother the 600d also. We live in good times to take photos as there are so many great cameras and this is definitely one of them. One more thing I forgot to mention (and yes it is regarding the video) is that to get great video you need to use the right settings in the menu.Unfortunately these are counter intuitive and if you don't use them you may be under whelmed. If anyone wants them, comment and I will try to post a link
I have done lots of tests and made quite a few films with this camera just do a search on youtube for alex sally and you'll find my channel. I have also found what I think is the best setting to use to get a natural look.
If you intend using it for video you will need a tripod for sure and probably an external mic. if you want to get the best from it.
I'm joking that as a camera "it's ok" . The camera part has been reviewed fully on here and lets be honest no dslr in this price bracket by any make isn't capable of producing great results and this one is no different.
Happy shooting..
Since writing this review I have also added (written) a book on amazon kindle on how to get the best from its video capabilities...Make better videos with your dslr or camcorder
alex sally

bought this as my first SLR, had never used one before but was so impressed with how user friendly it was, the lens i have learned is very basic and doesn't give you allot of zoom but is ok to start off with. would definitely recommend this camera to anyone looking to get into photography at any level.

Wow! That's really the best way to describe my experience with this camera so far!

As a keen gardener, I regularly trawl through gardening blogs and publications and wanted to try and recreate some of these beautiful horticultural shots myself. Having never had a 'proper' camera before, I thought it was probably a bit of a far-fetched desire, which would take me years to perfect. But I started researching cameras and, after much reading and watching of reviews, thought this one would be perfect - there to hold my hand through my amateurishness, but have the possibility for more control as I (hopefully!) get better!

Well, the camera turned up, I put the battery on charge and when it was charged popped it and my camera card (bought separately) in. Couldn't have been easier - all self-explanatory. I gave a cursory glance at the (very fulsome and helpful) guide, discovered a couple of the basic shooting modes, then I headed straight out into the garden. It was immediately wonderful! So easy to use and the results...exquisite! I'm basically beside myself with glee at the pictures it's taking! My garden has never looked so wonderful! I bought the camera body and lens kit, and wasn't sure whether it was the best lens for what I was after. But the macro (for my purposes anyway) is simply great! And the quality when you zoom into the shots...wow Wow WOW!

I've had the camera for a few days now and, as I figure out more, the pictures are getting even better. But I still can't believe how good they were essentially straight out of the box (apart from charging the battery!). If you're an amateur looking to get into photography, then I'd say this is the camera for you. Easy to use and great results...what more could you want!?!