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EOS M fast focus

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Chepe Nicoli

Chepe Nicoli

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Yes, it´s slow if you use the shutter button but if you use the touch (the screen) and shoot, focusing is very fast. Hopefully slow focus with the shutter button will be fixed with an update.

Very happy with the M

Here are some images:






















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www.nicoli.com.mx
 

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You are not the first to claim this, but my controlled tests suggest otherwise.

I have tried this with both the 22mm pancake, as well as with the EF adapter + 24-105L. Mounted the camera on a tripod, defocused completely, then focus (and capture!) by either pressing and holding the shutter button, or touching the screen.

Completely as expected, after doing this test several times, there is no noticable difference in focus speed between the shutter button and the touch screen. It takes slightly over a second to focus in each test.

I would love for this to be true (as well as other claims regarding the focus not being as slow as some suggest), and to be able to replicate this behavior, but I'm not convinced ...
 
I don't have the pancake lens or the adaptor (mostly because I'm a Nikon user and have very little Canon glass) but the 18-55 is not slow and it's, IMO, as the original poster said, fast to focus and shoot using on screen tapping. I find it quite acceptable seeing I'm saving time not moving focus points around with a joystick or 4 way controller, or dial. Just a tap and you are done!


And focus is very, very accurate and razor sharp, it seldom misses the mark.


I don't doubt that the pancake is much slower, several users confirm this. Dont know why.


I really think this is a fantastic camera to use, silent, great size, 5 star image quality. If you'd told me 5 years ago I'd get 18Mp APC images with full control off a camera not much bigger than a compact I'd naver have believed you. Cameras have come a long way. I like it a lot more than the Nikon V1 I owned briefly.
 
While it's obviously great that you enjoy your camera (and I'm surprised to hear you like it better than the Nikon V1 - which I have personally never used), I'm not questioning any of the details you mention here, or whether or not focus speeds are acceptable.

What I am questioning is if the focus speed (and only the focus speed, not the speed of your flow) is truly any different between using the touch screen and the shutter button. I would find it hard to believe this is the case - and my tests say otherwise on both the pancake as well as adapter+24-105. I don't have the 18-55 (yet) but I'll certainly repeat this test when I do ... (it's not currently in stock anywhere in my country outside of the kit)

As you seem to have the lens, please but it through the same test. Mount on a tripod, defocus, capture with shutter, defocus, capture with touch screen. Repeat a few times. Is there really a difference in focus speed ?
 
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focus speed seems to be an issue - I do have not purchased the EOS-M, I want too - but comments like your post, and reviews like the one below have me hedging my bets... I don't want to be in "point and shoot h@ll" due to slow performance of the camera...

 
Thats great - it sounds like you have put some effort and time into the tests. Have you done a write up with samples etc? In the absence of the DPR detalied write up, id be interested in reading yours. Also, I like seeing images of the EOS-M with EF lenses attached (your list in the other post was quite impressive)!

Thanks!
 
Atoche said:
focus speed seems to be an issue - I do have not purchased the EOS-M, I want too - but comments like your post, and reviews like the one below have me hedging my bets... I don't want to be in "point and shoot h@ll" due to slow performance of the camera...
Click to expand...
I wrote about the greater speed of the 18-55mm f/2.8 IS M-Lens when I handled it for the first time. I find that the speed of the lens (and the rate of shots taken in "burst mode") is entirely dependant on the lens used. With native M-Lenses the burst mode is something like 1.7 fps but with EF-Lenses, the speed is greatly increased to an enjoyable 4.3 fps. But AF speed, whilst not quite as fast as a DSLR with an OVF, it faster with some lenses than others. And the focus accuracy is impressive.


http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50172551

I purchased the EOS-M (body only with EF-Lens Adapter) after handling it. So far I'm very happy with it although I'd sure like to get that 18-55mm M-Lens when it becomes available by itself. I find the focus speed to be better than most compacts with the right lens.
 
I am waiting the adapter to be available in my country (2 weeks) to use my EF lenses, I am not sure to buy the 18-55 and wait for more options.
 
I never focus from infinity... therefore I would also be interested in understanding better what the actual behaviour of the EOS-M is with touch focus combined with continuous AF; continuous AF helps to get shots quickly, it shaves off time while the composition is being made. In theory the shot can be quickly taken if the camera has good enough focus on the subject already.

On the 650D, pressing the shutter button in live view causes the camera to refocus, even if the image is already in focus during continuous AF. It is nice to know the camera does its utmost to get accurate focus but is a bit too much too my taste. It kind of makes sense on the 650D - if you want ultrafast focus you can use the viewfinder. But I would like to have a setting for this alongside the continuous AF mode.

On a mirrorless however, relying on continuous AF would make sense in a kind of sports/kids/animal mode since you have no ultrafast viewfinder... Since I have no EOS-M around to test this, does the EOS-M skip this refocussing when using touch shutter mode? If so that would explain why touch is faster than using the shutter button... If not, I hope Canon guys reading this take notice :-)

Regards,

10s
 
If you want DSLR focusing performance, you need to buy a DSLR. So far the camera makers have not come up with a non-DSLR that will. My M arrives today and have no expectations that it will equal my D4. Maybe one day but not today.
 
This doesn't seem to be the case for me, but interesting thought, it may be related. Even with continuous AF on and everything seemingly being in focus the EOS M refocusses the same when you touch the screen as when you press the shutter button, at least for me. Maybe I'm doing it wrong :)
 
Thanks for confirming.
I observe the same behaviour on T4i using touch shutter.
Useful feature though when mounted on a tripod to get a correctly focussed shot.

Regards,

10s
 
It's fair to expect an EOS-M to focus as fast as a Sony NEX. It would be interesting to see a head to head comparison in that area.
 
Great hardware but I just can't stand the Sony menu system. It took good images but even at lower ISO the jpegs had that "smeared" look. I could live with that as I did a lot of RAW but the menu system was horrible in my opinion.

My M just arrived and the battery is charging and even though the input on the menu is via touch screen, it should be straight forward in comparison to Sony.

Hope Canon has some plans for more lenses, but for what I am going to use the M for, the two will work fine.
 
Greg Gebhardt said:
Greg Gebhardt wrote:

Great hardware but I just can't stand the Sony menu system. It took good images but even at lower ISO the jpegs had that "smeared" look. I could live with that as I did a lot of RAW but the menu system was horrible in my opinion.

My M just arrived and the battery is charging and even though the input on the menu is via touch screen, it should be straight forward in comparison to Sony.

Hope Canon has some plans for more lenses, but for what I am going to use the M for, the two will work fine.
Click to expand...
 
As of right now they only have two lenses, the 22mm is quite outstanding. Sure I would like it faster but it is doing the 35mm focal length and focuses down to 6". 35mm is my favorite focal length and I am afraid the zoom M lens will see little or less use on my M. I am a Leica user and learned how to make what is on the camera work.

I am really hoping that Canon populates the M lens selection, but fear they are going to depend on the adapter and existing Canon lenses. This will be A disappointment to many.

After 2-3 days with my M, I have found it to be more than worthy for what I use it for. It is mostly left in the full auto mode for occasional snaps and Canon did a great job letting the camera decide on what settings to use. The images are sharp, sharp, sharp! Focusing is not as fast as a DSLR, but I never expected it to be. I have found it to be VERY accurate. Will post some images after the holidays.
 
Greg Gebhardt said:
Greg Gebhardt wrote:

As of right now they only have two lenses, the 22mm is quite outstanding. Sure I would like it faster but it is doing the 35mm focal length and focuses down to 6". 35mm is my favorite focal length and I am afraid the zoom M lens will see little or less use on my M. I am a Leica user and learned how to make what is on the camera work.
Click to expand...
Greg, I thought that the native M-Lenses were not acting as cropped lenses... so the 22mm should not be a 35mm lens. It should be a 22mm lens. You can even see the distortion in the images (pincushion) due to the wide view of these lenses.

Since the EF and EF-S lenses require the adapter ring to mount them, it seats their rear elements further from the sensor, resulting in the crop on these bodies. Obviously they won't fit without the adapter and Canon don't want to release a "full frame" sensor for this type of camera just yet but my understanding was that the two native M-Lenses were not crops themselves.




Can anyone else confirm?
 
Marco Nero said:
Marco Nero wrote:
Marco Nero said:
Greg Gebhardt wrote:

As of right now they only have two lenses, the 22mm is quite outstanding. Sure I would like it faster but it is doing the 35mm focal length and focuses down to 6". 35mm is my favorite focal length and I am afraid the zoom M lens will see little or less use on my M. I am a Leica user and learned how to make what is on the camera work.
Click to expand...
Greg, I thought that the native M-Lenses were not acting as cropped lenses... so the 22mm should not be a 35mm lens. It should be a 22mm lens. You can even see the distortion in the images (pincushion) due to the wide view of these lenses.

Since the EF and EF-S lenses require the adapter ring to mount them, it seats their rear elements further from the sensor, resulting in the crop on these bodies. Obviously they won't fit without the adapter and Canon don't want to release a "full frame" sensor for this type of camera just yet but my understanding was that the two native M-Lenses were not crops themselves.

Can anyone else confirm?
Click to expand...
 
Marco Nero said:
Marco Nero wrote:
Greg, I thought that the native M-Lenses were not acting as cropped lenses... so the 22mm should not be a 35mm lens.
Click to expand...
The focal length of a lens is always just what it is. An EF-M 22mm gives the same view as an EF-S 22mm on the Canon adapter, as does an EF 22mm, and a Pentax or Nikon 22mm on a suitable adapter... It's the sensor size that creates the "crop", just like what you get if you take an image with a large sensor and trim it to a smaller size.


More info in the Lenses section of the unofficial Rebel Talk FAQ.
 
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