Canon EOS Rebel SL3 compact DSLR brings 4K video to its entry line

Just in time for Mother's Day gifting, Canon rolls out a refresh of its compact DSLR for newbies. The EOS Rebel SL3 follows the two-year-old SL2, aka the EOS 200D in the UK and Australia, bringing some of the perks bestowed by the latest version of Canon's imaging processor, Digic 8. At the top of the list is 4K video, which makes its debut in the entry-level Canon DSLRs.

The SL3 will ship by the end of April, at $600 for the body or $750 for the kit with the 18-55mm f4-5.6 IS STM lens. We don't have pricing or availability for other regions, but the US prices directly convert to about £460/£575 and AU$840/AU$1,050. It still comes in black or silver variants.

Given that it's very much like its predecessor, the SL2 is looking like an attractive alternative to the new model. The comparable kit currently goes for $600 (£580, AU$900), and it will likely be one of Canon's traditionally aggressive holiday sale offerings at the end of the year.

In addition to 24p 4K video, the SL3 gains eye-detection autofocus, though only when you're shooting via the back LCD, not the optical viewfinder. Since the sharpest spot in the photo of a person should be their eyes (unless you get artsy), eye AF improves the quality of portraits over simple face-detection AF. 

The SL3 also offers a smooth-skin mode so your people photos can look like they were shot on a phone. 

The AF system in Live View mode now covers a larger percentage of the frame. Unfortunately, when you use the optical viewfinder you're stuck with the ancient, slow, please-kill-it-already 9-point phase-detection AF system.

The body is pretty much the same as before. There are just a few design tweaks on the top: A simplified mode dial, no Wi-Fi button and some aesthetic changes to the buttons and switches. Canon did make it easier to connect to Wi-Fi and added automatic file transfers, so it's possible we won't miss the dedicated button.