Canon EOS M: hands-on preview of Canon's first mirrorless EOS

Cr@p. Glad I've switched from Canon some time ago.

Really quite suprising there is no innovation in this new camera. Can see the appeal to point and shoot moving up but not to existing EOS users - yet another lens mount needing an adapter and why would you buy this rather than a DSLR body?

No onboard flash... folks, it's no XZ-1.

This is so disappointing - and they don't even give a roadmap of lenses and bodies to come, to keep the odd enthusiast interested.

Only thing i like is that they completely drop the view finder.

But then: no thumbwheels, no swivel-screen (from Canon at that), no integrated flash, and the old-lens-adapter obviously a 200 USD surcharge.

Well, thanks.

Canon have haughtily taken Samsung's NX200 route (no viewfnder) and Sony's with ludicrously large lenses for a compact system. Not April the 1st, is it? Because this has to be some sort of joke...

Canon and Nikon have to join the m43 community!
Otherwise they will find themselves on the Nokia's today's position.
Times when every camera's company develop their own mount's system are over. Imagine to yourself that each computer's motherboard company will develop their own PC extension connections, instead use the PCIe and the USB. And using this way try to limit their customers to chose extensions (lenses) from the only one manufacturer. These times are over! We are in the 21 century now!
Wake up, make better products and customers will choose you. Don't limit a customer by "inventing" new mounts!!!

Looks like Canon's trying to minimize canibalizing its DSLR sales by going APS-C with backwards compatibality.

I think this is great for guys with existing canon gear looking for a secondary camera. But for people looking at Mirrorless cameras as their primary camera - I still think IMHO that M43 is the way to go.

NEX bodies are great but there is not enough lenses and the lenses are significantly larger. I think the same case will apply to the EOS-M.

And while compatability with existing ef and ef-s lenses are great, it doesn't make much sense if you're thinking of using the EOS-M as your only camera.

my 2 cents

What you have here is a consumer camera, not an enthusiast camera.

It's missing some key enthusiast features: no eye level viewfinder, no thumbwheels, and no image stabilization.

What I found with an early Pen: Once the novelty of the size wore off, LCD framing is vague. LCD framing at arm's length is unsteady, so you lean on IS even more, if it had IS. The lack of thumbwheels means adjusting anything is a pain. The Pen had IS and two thumbwheels, and it was still a pain to use.

You can put EF glass on it. I could use the fast HG ZD zooms on the Pen, but it was a clumsy handling affair. Try to work the zoom ring on that 70-200: the tiny body will pivot out of your right hand, not enough to grip.

You enthusiasts will likely find this particular setup interesting, for about a month. Then, you'll put it aside or give it to a family member like I did.

Anybody noticed that the M series has a phase detetection autofocus? Or am I the only one? Is there any other mirrorless in thtat size with this feature?
For judging I need to shoot some photos with it.

Really unimpressed ... with the rants & uninformed whines.

I, too, wished it was full-frame 36MP, with EVF, in-body IS, universal lens mount for any brand, brain-wave thought reading capability etc.

Wished it had more DSLR knobs & dials, but er... wouldn't it be juz ... bigger?

Here's my take. I've been wanting to upgrade my derelict Canon DSLRs.
I've seen friends who like me aren't as free to shoot seriously due to work (& age/maturity related laziness) give up their DSLR systems to downgrade to M4/3. But I've got my L lenses & EFS10-22mm, EX580IIs etc.

The thought of having to get all the new lenses & flashes to go with a new system would have been a royal pain. Plus, I did not want to give up on DSLR quality images.

EOS-M would allow me to use it with small prime or STM lenses if minimal size/weight was everything. Yet I can selectively bring any one of my heavy artillery glass if need be without bringing my DSLR with vertical grip.

There... the raison d'etre for the EOS-M?

The stripped down nature of this model will mean it does not appeal to enthusiasts.
The lack of a zoom kit (in the US) will mean it does not appeal to the P&S crowd.
I think it must be designed for Asia, where P&S mirrorless is strong, while avoiding cannibalizing the US DSLR market.

but why is it so ugly?

What a boring new camera...such a long wait for a very basic product !!
Will not wait for the upcoming & upgraded models...bye bye Canon, hello Panasonic/Olympus you will get my money for my needed backup mirrorless camera, your models are much more exciting,innovative...
Cheers !!

Canon is afraid to miss the mirrorless camera boat on one hand, on the other hand they don't dare to create a competitor to their low end DSLR cash cow. Thus a P&S camera with a high sticker price -- planned failure?
There is a moment in every successful company history when they have to kill their cash cow and risk doing something new or face inevitable technological death. The longer Canikons keep defending their DSLR market the more difficult it will be for them to compete in the mirrorless future.

Give me an EVF and a built-in flash or give me death.

I have to agree with most of the comments on here. Yes it's a perfectly capable camera but where's the innovation?

It's expensive and offers nothing that isn't available already from other manufacturers.

I feel totally unimpressed and unsurprised. Canon had to do this at some point, they got dragged into it I guess. But it's so consumery and blah. Where is the innovation, daring, and excitement? All I see here is a late entry that is basically a copy of several other brands.

Here's some predictions: Just as with the Nikon release, Canon fans will set themselves up for disappointment. First of all, the price will likely rival the entry level Rebels with less capability. And fans will lament that it is not as versital as Canon DSLRs. But, as with Nikon, Canon will not want to cannablize their DSRL market by developing a too elabaorate mirrorless unit. Don't expect a Leica rangefinder clone.

I think we will move a situation in the near future where these mirrorless cameras will start to crowd out the entry level DSLR base models (if prices drop to reasonable levels)---especially for the "legacy" camera companies such as Canon and Nikon. And, I think these units will be a testing ground for new and innovative technologies.

If the pointless mode dial was a customisable control wheel, I could set Aperture to that and exp comp to the back wheel, and use the touch screen fro focus point. SOLD.

Instead, it's a redundant mode dial. Why not allow movie recording all the time like NEX, and put A+ along with The other modes?

VERY big mistake for such a large company - obviously would rather make IXUS people feel at home rather than make a decent user interface.

I shoot Nikon DSLR and Canon G12. I was hoping that Canon would bring a serious contender that is fast and has an Electronic View Finder to the market. I am puzzled why Nikon and Canon aren't taking the mirrorless market seriously. They seem to be happy to leave this space to Sony, Olympus et al. They should stop worrying about cannibalising their own DSLRs or they will lose out. The Nikon 1 is actually pretty good, but it has flaws. It was overpriced, but you can get great deals on it now. This Canon leaves me completely confused what they were trying to do. Slow focus, no EVF. A real missed opportunity. All I can hope is that Nikon has learnt out of the 1 series and releases a professional grade model at Photokina. My wish list: Bigger sensor (very unlikely), V1 spec with built in flash, better quality lenses (faster lenses), higher res sensor, better low-light performance.

reading the comments is so fun, as always.

but the white one sure looks sexy, will consider if they drop the price

"Based around the same 18MP APS-C sensor as the recent EOS 650D/T4i..."

Now THAT is a very nice chip.

But... it seems this foray of Canon into the mirrorless CSC arena is but a mere reaction to the the growing interest and profitability of the genre. The features here have been done and dealt with: by the leading edge pioneers.

One thing going for this new kid on the block is the array of available lenses.
Now that leaves the competition struggling on a flat tire.
.

WHAT A WASTE!!!!!

No surprise, a 650D in mirrorless guise ; seriously I think too many are asking for too much, they ask for Large sensor, they ask for compact body, they ask for lightweight, they ask for a zillion zoom or extreme fast speed in the lens , but they want all these altogether.

Its basically asking for too much ...,

And keep asking just for a small camera defeat the whole purpose and limit the capability of mirrorless. There is school of photographer needing a compact setup, they can choose to have pocketables like the RX100 or Rioch GR-D, they have mirrorless with slim lens like the M4/3 with their pancakes ( or that of Samsung or ... )

In short, there is no way a single system that can deliver all the required in only a single setup. People just had to take the what is and figure which is for them and which is not.

Good for a start, Canon, but might be its too much the same as the 650D though .

@ Simon

"if you spent less time _________ maybe you could do more _________ (fill in your own blanks in either section from: writing reviews, adding pointless features, fixing the server, writing previews, talking about iphones, replying to comments)"

You know, I'd love to use this reply on a daily basis in the forums for those who'd love to insult for __________ reason rather than ________, if that's ok with you?

Btw, love it.

On topic, I think being the first camera from Canon in this segment, its obviously hitting the priority of the average consumer. Kinda cool even for enthusiasts wanting a smaller camera that enjoy what Canon offer.

For me, I'd like to see another model made with more advanced controls and possibly a built in EVF. Pretty sure Canon's got one on the drawing board.

C

Well, it's not for me, but then Canon didn't design it for me. If they had, it would have two or three dials, a tilting screen and an EVF. But I'm sure that's coming in future models so this is potentially a very good competitor for the competition. And the ability to mount old Canon lenses on it will be huge.
If what Imaging Resource says about the autofocus speed is true though, and Canon don't fix it before launch, this will sadly be as big a dud as Canon's large-sensor compact is.

Another DOORSTOP camera from can not . So now we understand why can it did not make a profit last year. This year they plan to do the same. 230 pictures per battery charge?? J U S T 2 3 0 !!!!! Really???? !!!! W H Y ????? W H Y SO M A N Y ?? Did I miss something ??? No view finder,, why would you want to see what your taking a picture of in bright light?? A new lens mount,, another excuse me W H Y ?? Slow auto focus ,, or RUSSIAN ROULETTE and slow focus !! Maybe I missed a shot,, or all shots,, w H y?? give me a New Nikon J 1 or a Sony Rx 100 any day over this over priced can not perform DOOR STOP !!The Sony has more MEGA PIXELS , built in flash faster AUTO Focus , 10 frames per second smaller camera at less money.. You know what I DID NOT MISS ANYTHING !!!!! I will get a SONY or a Nikon !!!!! What is WRONG WITH cAnNot ,, are they DRUNK on Saki ???????

FYI AF Speed is currently about the same as a 2009 M43 system camera (Source IR).

If you have a 650D it's the same as that camera in "live view".

That makes this camera somewhat of a "mixed bag" even for the mom and pop looking for better IQ than their P&S camera.

True high ISO will be better but they will miss a ton of shots due to the slow AF speed.

I like what Canon did - people were screaming "give us mirrorless". So Canon made one, for what mirrorless is: no VF of any kind, no knobs or buttons, no built in flash - basic sensor+LCD which disappears when attached on the big lens. They can't defy the physics and make big sensor with a small glass at the front- yet they demonstrated it can be "small-ish" with prime pancake. But Canon did make a statement which may dent the whole market: Canon is a camera name and this is a decent mirrorless system."How BAD are the others, should I bother with the whole moirrorless concept at all or should I just go safe route and buy DSLR, at least knowing what I'm buying? So, it REALLY can't be small after all?" these will be the questions average consumer would ask themselves making a purchase decision. We already know this, don't we?If one wants fully featured big sensor camera with fast focus and all things big and small, mirrorless is NOT the final answer and will not kill DSLR as we know it.

These forums are full of people with childish agendas. This camera is probably just the first of a line of new ef-m mount cameras. I’m sure they will bring out something for the geeks (like me) later. The real issue though, is this argument that the camera doesn’t bring anything new and is a NEX rip off. First, it’s a camera, with a body shape, a screen and place to stick a lens, just like every other camera before it. What exactly did you expect? Of course it looks something like a NEX, but remember Samsung’s NX came out before the Sony, so is Sony a rip off? If you have Canon glass you now have the start of a range of true live view cameras to use it on, surely a good thing. Please note that these comments are made by a non-Canon shooter, who is being positive about a new camera no matter who makes it.

D.O.A

Nice looking camera. Dunno why so many negs, guess can't make people happy. I do like the EF lens adapter and now I can use my 'L' lenses on this camera. At least Canon saved it's user's some dollars by adapting the EF lenses so you don't have to buy a new line of lenses. Congrats Canon!

Love: HOTSHOE!!!
Hate: Everything about it

> Some of the mirrorless brands are smiling now..."Nothing to be alarm about"
> Canon saying "Stick to our DSLR's please" Canon EOS M is a greedy marketing plan.

Im expecting the best since the rumor came out many months ago. having to see this today makes me want to go out and punch somebody.

im utterly dissapointed Canon.
What have you done Canon?

Total Nex ripoff (but sensor probably not as good).
Just confirms that Sony had it right from the start.

I am jealous of the 35mm equivalent pancake though. Sony needs a 23mm pancake, stat.

Just as I expected, $800, basically an OVF-T4i, and while solid, offers nothing compelling or innovative

canon, if you're gonna arrive late, you better have something good. this isn't it.

I don't see a real need for this camera now. There was a time, where Canon was a photographic leader, now they seem to be playing catch up.

But then, since they seemed unable (unwilling?) to add a dedicated mirror lockup button to their D-SLRs, this development seems only logical.

Lol - this camera is not designed for you lot. They will naturally come out with a consumer model first - that is after all the biggest market.

If you are an enthusiast shooter: settle down, stop moaning and wait for the next one ;-)