Canon bills the EOS Rebel SL1 ($649.99 list, body only) as the world's smallest digital SLR. There's no arguing about that; it's impressively small, making Canon's standard 18-55mm zoom lens look positively huge in comparison. The 18-megapixel camera uses the same size APS-C image sensor as the EOS Rebel T5i, but sacrifices the hinged screen and some physical controls. It's a top option if you want a really compact D-SLR, but it doesn't do quite enough to oust our Editors' Choice, the more versatile Nikon D5200.

Design and Features
The Rebel SL1 measures 3.6 by 4.6 by 2.7 inches and weighs just 14.4 ounces. Yes, it's amazingly small, but I would still like just a little bit more of a handgrip; it extends only to the same depth as the lens mount. The front of the pop-up flash juts out another half-inch or so. Adding a little more depth to the grip would make the camera a bit more comfortable to hold, but shooters with smaller hands will likely feel right at home.

Despite its size, the SL1 uses the same image sensor as the Rebel T5i, which is larger at 3.9 by 5.2 by 3.1 inches and heavier at 1.1 pounds. If you opt for a mirrorless camera you can get the same sensor size in a smaller package; our Editors' Choice, the Samsung NX300 is just 2.5 by 4.8 by 1.6 inches and 11.5 ounces, but it doesn't have any sort of viewfinder aside from its rear display.

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You get a surprising number of physical controls packed into the svelte body, but you'll still be using the touch screen to adjust certain settings. On the top panel you'll find a three-stage power switch—it has settings for off, on, and video recording; that's integrated with the mode dial, which has scene settings in addition to more advanced shooting modes. In front of that is a dedicated ISO button, the lone control wheel, and the shutter release.

The Menu and Info buttons are around back, to the left of the eyepiece. To its right, there's the button that enables Live View for stills, or starts video recording when the camera is set to video mode. On the far right you'll find an AF point selection button and the exposure lock button. EV compensation gets its own button, as do image playback and delete. You don't get the four directional controls like you do on most D-SLRs, including the Pentax K-50; instead the 4-way pad is only used to navigate through menus.

At the center of the directional pad is the Q Set control; it activates a rear menu from which you can adjust the bulk of available settings. These include aperture, ISO, shutter speed, exposure compensation, flash compensation, image effects, white balance, bracketing, brightness and contrast, the metering pattern, the drive mode, the self-timer, the autofocus mode, and image quality. You can adjust these using the control wheel and navigate from setting to setting via the directional pad, but touch control is also supported. Touch is not active without first pressing the Q Set button, which prevents inadvertent changes to settings.

The 3-inch rear LCD is just as sharp as the 1,040k-dot screen on the T5i, and supports touch input. But it's not hinged like the T5i's screen. The fixed display helps to minimize the SL1's size, and can be used to adjust the focus point or even focus and fire the camera when working in live view mode. This is a feature that Canon offers in its D-SLRs that competing brands haven't yet been able to match; if you buy a Sony Alpha 58 or Nikon D5200 and attempt to touch the rear display, all you'll end up doing is adding a fingerprint.

There aren't a lot of bells and whistles. Wi-Fi, which is becoming more common in interchangeable lens cameras, is absent here. Having wireless capability would be nice, as the SL1's size is clearly intended to be a carry-everywhere SLR. Though you can add an Eye-Fi Mobi memory card to transfer photos over to your phone for immediate Instagramming, Facebooking, and Tweeting.