Canon EOS Rebel T7i / 800D Review

The Canon EOS Rebel T7i, or 800D as it is known outside of the US, was released as an entry-level DSLR which has a polished design and a lot of features which make it ideal for someone who wants to have an all-around camera or someone who is beginning to learn about photography.

General Features

Among the things for which the Rebel T71 stands out is the 24,2MP APS-C CMOS Sensor which has been overhauled from the one present in the T6i model so that it has the same technology as the EOS 80D.

Aside from the efficient sensor, a DIGIC 7 image processor has been installed and according to Canon this can handle 14 times as much data as the DIGIC 6 so the noise performance when shooting at high ISO or the general autofocus performance should be greatly improved.

The sensitivity ranges from ISO100 to ISO25,600 and you have acces to a Hi setting that is equivalent to ISO 51,200 if you really need it. The LCD in the back has three inches and comes with a vari-angle touchscreen display with a resolution of 1,040,000 dots.

The 4K video capture isn’t something present for the T7i / 800D and this can be seen as a serious drawback for a modern camera. Still there is some improvement from the features you got on the predecessor as the Full HD capture can now get up to 60p and for recording you also have the 5-axis image stabilization system that permits a steadier video when you hold the camera by hand. You have a jack for a microphone but no headphones to monitor the audio can be added.

When it comes to connectivity, the T7i / 800D has Wi-Fi and NFC support and you also have acess to the low-energy Bluetooth connection that can prove really useful in certain situations. You can also wake the camera, operate it or browse the photos remotely and the Camera Connect app will provide you with all this functionality.

With the release of the new Rebel T7i / 800D Canon also offered the new 18-55 mm kit lens as a starter kit for the camera and this lens comes with a maximum aperture of f/3.5-5.6 as well as up to four stops of image stabilization.

Design and Handling

The T7i / 800D is made of a combination of aluminum alloy and polycarbonate to reduce its overall weight to 532g if you include the battery and card. The quality of the material and construction are really good but it does look kind of cheap while also being a bit harsh to the touch if you use it for extended periods of time.

From a design standpoint there isn’t much change from its predecessor, the indent which will release the display is next to the viewfinder and some of the curves are made to be easier to handle but the control layout and look are almost the same as the ones on the T6i / 750D but this doesn’t mean it is bad since the predecessor had a lot of functionality.

The controls on the top plate give you access to the ISO controls, autofocus, display and you also get a command dial. The rest of the settings used frequently are on the rear and you also get access to a Quick menu which allows you to adjust the most important settings on the fly.

The touchscreen really helps you control the details of the camera and everything is really intuitive so that is definitely something that is worth using. The viewfinder is optical instead of electronic and the designers went for a pentamirror instead of pentaprism to reduce the price of this model.

Autofocus and Performance

The previous model used the 19-point phase detect AF system but now Canon moved to a 45-point model and all the points are cross-type so the AF is a lot more accurate as these are sensitive in the horizontal and vertical plane at the same time.

The focusing is sensitive for down to -3EV and the phase-detect system does its job without problems. The focusing speed was sufficient for most tasks and the subject-tracking performance has been significantly improved from the T6i / 750D as the metering sensor helps the AF system.

Canon didn’t implement a dedicated joystick for AF point selection but the four-way button arrangement on the rear does the same job at a reasonable speed. You get four AF modes: selectable single point, Zone AF (with 9 AF points in a block), Large Zone AF (you can select the 15 central AF points or the 15 ones on each side) and Auto Selection AF (this one used the entire coverage and the camera will select the AF points).

The Dual Pixel AF for Live View photography and video capture is something that is also a plus of the T7i / 800D and this combined with the 7 x 7 AF grid will deliver a much better performance. The DIGIC 7 processor also managed to boost the continuous shooting speed to 6fps and the battery life has now reached 600 shots which is huge but if you use the rear display this will drop to only 270 shots.

Image Quality

The resolution will be the same as in the predecessor but the added improvements from the rest of the components will bring a much better image quality. The noise is handled a lot better and the images will be very clean.

Raw files that are edited look great even at ISO6400 and the noise will hardly be spotted but this does grow more significant at ISO25,600 where saturation and detail will suffer. With the JPEG output the colors are nice but there is a visible difference when it comes to clarity and color accuracy.

The 18-55mm lens appears to bring the camera down as it adds some distortion so it might be a good idea to replace it with something that will take better advantage of the sensor.

The ones looking for a lot of video recording should look elsewhere as there are much better choices at this price but if you want a well-rounded and easy to use camera which will teach you what DSLR photography is about then you can get all this from the T7i / 800D.