Canon EOS 1100D review

The 1100D is undoubtedly impressive, and a welcome upgrade over the 1000D. However, the competition is much fiercer than that the 1000D had to contend with. The Pentax K-r is a much faster performer and its screen and live view operation are significantly better, although lens upgrade options aren’t as plentiful or affordable. The Nikon D3100 is faster than the 1100D in RAW mode, too, and it comes top for video with its 1080p resolution and marginally more successful video autofocus. It’s cheaper, too, at around £420. Its controls are a little cumbersome, though, and some functions such as exposure bracketing are conspicuously absent.

It’s hard to separate the three for image quality, with remarkably little noise, sharp details and excellent automatic exposures across the board. On balance we find the Canon’s JPEG colour processing to be the most flattering, but the Nikon’s automatic chromatic aberration removal gives it an advantage for sharpness and detail, particularly with their kit lenses.

Weighing up these pros and cons, the D3100 remains our top recommendation. Still, we have no doubt that many readers will go on to buy a 1100D, and that’s certainly far from a bad choice.