Canon SL2 Field Test

Introduction
The Canon SL1 was released in 2013 and at the time was the smallest and lightest DSLR camera available. This summer, Canon released the successor, the Rebel SL2, and while the SL2 is slightly larger than the SL1, it is still the smallest current generation DSLR available. Despite the similarly compact shape, the Canon SL2 has essentially been redesigned from the ground up. The compact entry-level spirit lives on, but the SL2 is a very different camera from its predecessor.

We will be tackling the SL2 in a two-part Field Test to see how its new features work in the real-world. The highlights include a redesigned camera body, new sensor, Dual Pixel CMOS AF and DIGIC 7 image processor.

As I discussed in my first Field Test, the camera offers a very good user experience thanks in large part to its touchscreen and user-friendly interface. There's more to the experience of shooting with a camera than that, though, things such as exposure metering and shooting modes.

Metering
On the exposure metering side of things, the SL2 performs quite well. It is not as adept at handling complex scenes as a higher-end Canon DSLR, but it does a good job with most scenes and doesn't often miss the mark. With that said, in lower light, the SL2's metering accuracy drops off, particularly with respect to white balance, which often trends on the cooler side as it is and especially so when working in lower light. This is not unusual performance and is not a large concern. It is important that a camera meters consistently, such that you can adjust as needed once you're familiar with how the automatic exposure metering behaves, and the SL2 does well in that regard.