Canon has announced a new, smaller, DSLR camera in its EOS line, the Canon EOS 100D.

It is Canon’s smallest and lightest APS-C digital SLR yet, with the company looking to compete with smaller and lighter models from rival interchangeable lens systems.

The Canon EOS 100D positions itself between Canon’s smallest EOS model, the EOS M and looks like it upgrades the Japanese company’s entry-level DLSR, the EOS 1100D, pulling some of the EOS M characteristics into a more conventional DSLR design.

More conventional it might be, but the EOS 100D does carry that badge of being the smallest and lightest camera in its class. Canon isn’t highlighting this by accident, it’s fully aware of the fierce competition from the likes of Sony NEX line, Samsung NX and Panasonic and Olympus’s Micro-Four Thirds systems.

The EOS 100D measures 116.8 x 90.7 x 69.4mm and it weighs 407g, but of course you have to add the size and weight of the lens to these figures, which might be about 200g.

However, unlike the slimmer and lighter EOS M, it sticks to Canon’s existing EOS lens mounting system, meaning it’s compatible with the EF or EF-S lenses both new and old.

Sitting at the heart of the camera is an 18-megapixel sensor backed by the DIGIC 5 processor. It offers manually selectable sensitivity up to ISO 12,800, with a 25,600 if you really need that picture in low light, and a capture speed of 4fps.

Like the EOS M, the EOS 100D has a 3-inch touchscreen on the back, expanding your control options over those on the body itself. But not only do you get that display, but there’s a conventional optical viewfinder in place too, giving you 95 per cent field of view, typical of an entry-level DSLR.

The controls on the body look pretty conventional too, with a top-mounted mode dial giving you quick access to the major shooting modes, and the body buttons letting you access the most pertinent shooting settings.

You’ll get creative functions with a range of filters, an in-camera guide to help budding photographers start, as well as Full HD video capture, all bundled together in a package that will cost you £569.99 (body only) or £699 with EF-S 18-55mm IS STM lens.

We’ll bring you more on the Canon EOS 100D when we get our hands on the new compact DSLR model.