Canon EOS 650D review

Another important development for video is that clips are no longer constrained by a 4GB limit. This meant that the 600D’s videos stopped without warning after about 15 minutes, but the 650D can span videos across multiple files to a maximum of 30 minutes. You’ll need video-editing software to stitch the files back together, but there were no glitches to the picture or soundtrack when we did so.

Our video quality tests gave similar results to the 600D. Details were impressively sharp but not quite as crisp as from our Panasonic GH1. The difference is pretty subtle, though – keen videographers will appreciate it but most people won’t care in the slightest.

Both of these frames from 1080p video clips look pixel-sharp, but the Panasonic GH1 (right) reveals more definition in texture in the wood, the thinner strings and markings on the knobs – click to enlarge

We also experienced the same problems with moiré interference that we’ve seen from countless other SLRs’ video modes, where dense repeating textures exhibit swirling interference. We shouldn’t dwell on the negatives, though. Colours in videos were sumptuous, noise at fast ISO speeds was impressively low and shallow depth-of-field effects gave footage a beautiful film-like quality.

We struggled to find anything to complain about the 650D’s photos. The 600D sets an extremely high standard but the 650D fared even better in our studio tests. The CA removal not only eliminated halos but generally tightened up focus towards the edges of frames. Meanwhile, the improved noise reduction maintained slightly crisper details at ISO 1600 and 3200 and exhibited less chroma noise at ISO 6400 and above. Noise in unprocessed raw files appeared to be a little heavier than from the 600D, though. Regardless, the 650D is arguably the best performer at this price for image quality. Automatic exposures were expertly judged and JPEGs displayed gorgeous colours.

There’s no hint of noise, just rich colours and delicate textures in this ISO 640 shot – click to enlarge

The 650D performs superbly in low light – there’s a fair amount of noise in this ISO 6400 shot but still plenty of detail too – click to enlarge

As a video camera, the 650D has come on a long way since the 600D. It hasn’t shed all its foibles, with moiré interference and still far-from-perfect autofocus, but it performs superbly in manual exposure and focus modes. For photography, the 650D builds on extremely strong foundations. There’s something about EOS cameras’ colour output that makes our spines tingle that little bit more than with rival cameras. The controls are straightforward and elegant, and the increased speed, extra shooting modes, in-camera CA correction and improved live view autofocus mean there are four less reasons to look elsewhere. Slightly iffy autofocus with the 18-55mm and 40mm lenses is our only remaining bugbear, but it’s pretty subtle, and something we could live with until we’d saved up for a better lens.

Conclusion

At launch the Canon was an excellent choice for people who want to get creative with both still and moving images. It’s looking a little old in the tooth now and sensor technology has certainly improved but with secondhand models selling for around £250 it’s still a good entry point into SLR photogrpahy though if you’re on a budget.