Canon EOS 1100D

Whereas the EOS 600D sits at the top of Canon's entry-level SLR range, the 1100D is designed to tempt users to upgrade from point-and-shoots. As a result it costs a mere US $654.

The EOS 1100D looks and feels its price when studied closely. The body of this camera is created using plastic and thus looks quite basic and doesn't feel sturdy. The lack of rubber grips and the plastic mode wheel also ram home the camera's budget nature.

Due to the camera's compact (for a SLR) size the 1100D is more suitable for those with smaller hands. Users with larger hands may struggle to comfortably hold on to this Canon camera when shooting.

One issue we had with the design of the 1100D is that its battery bay and memory card slot share one compartment, which is located on the underside of the camera. If you plan to use a tripod this could pose a problem because if you need to replace your memory card, you'll have to dismount the camera to gain access to the card slot.

When it came to grabbing photos we found the camera competent. Colours on photos appeared natural and when shooting at different ISO settings the camera never let us down. The best results were, expectedly, at lower ISO settings where there was no sign of noise and decent detail. That said photos were slightly soft in terms of overall crispness.