Head To Head Canon 1300dvs Nikon D3400

We pitch the cheapest Canon SLR against the cheapest Nikon.

Both of these cameras are aimed at beginners or photographers on a tight budget, so you won’t find cutting-edge specifications here. But you do want a camera that delivers good performance across a wide range of everyday subjects – and is also a little future-proof, so you don’t outgrow it too soon as your skills evolve.

Canon’s EOS 1300D and Nikon’s D3400 both have APS-C format sensors. The Canon’s is very slightly smaller – only by a millimetre here or there, but it explains why the Canon has a crop factor of 1.6x and the Nikon’s is 1.5x.

You need to multiply a lens’s actual focal length by each number to get the effective focal length. So an 18-55mm kit lens on the Canon corresponds to a 29-88mm lens, whereas on the Nikon it’s equivalent to 27-83mm. In practice, you’ll hardly notice the difference. Both cameras are backed up by a big choice of lenses.

The EOS 1300D uses an 18-megapixel sensor that’s served many of Canon’s SLRs well, but is a step behind the 24MP sensors in its latest (and more expensive) EOS 750D and 760D. The Nikon D3400 has an up-to-date 24MP sensor, like those found in Nikon’s more advanced cameras. It’s not just about the megapixels, though: each new generation of sensor tends to be a little better at noise control and dynamic range.

The D3400 edges ahead for ISO range, too. It can shoot at sensitivities from ISO 100 to 25,600, whereas the EOS 1300D only goes from ISO 100-6,400, although it can go up to ISO 12,800 in ‘expanded’ mode.