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Good, but just..not impressive, and does not compete.

Started Jul 30, 2018 | User reviews thread
Rock and Rollei Senior Member • Posts: 2,899
Re: Good, but just..not impressive, and does not compete.
7

rz64 wrote:

FallenLeaf Photography wrote:

I loved my M3 dearly, and it is definitely a great camera. However, it is just so underwhelming compared to so many other mirrorless and generally similarly priced cameras on the market today. The low light capture is quite poor, the dynamic range is unimpressive with much contrast, it's definitely not a performer for fast subjects, and I had two of these crap out in less than a year each (electrical flaws) so I'm not impressed with the build quality. To me my M3 is like your teddy bear, I love it to death no matter what, and want to keep it with me forever, but as a piece of equipment, there are just such better options for any purpose you might have, at comparable price points.

Overall the image quality is good, the physical controls are great as far as I'm concerned, I enjoyed the ergonomics, the level of customizability in buttons and overall control is good, the size and weight are delightful. The lens options are somewhat limited, depending on what you need, and the battery life is fairly poor.

So to keep it simple, I love the M3 and the M line is certainly just getting better, but I would not buy another one because there are many better options for any attribute you are considering.

Although you don't want to buy another Canon product, I would recommend one of the two things:
- EOS M6
- EF-M 22 mm
Half a year ago, I switched from a compact camera to the M6, and I really love it. I also tried the M3 before, but the following points are (to my mind) better with the M6:
- handling (speed, screen, settings),
- colours in general.
I began with the 15-45 mm, which I also do like, but for two weeks now, I use the 22 mm, which is a great lens (despite of some cons, see below):
+ great sharpness (from 2.5 and above)
+ good for close-up shots (not macro)
+ small size
- sharpness at 2.0
- no IS.
Below I have added some photos (which I like, althout they are not spectacular) as examples.
These are just my personal recommendations, it's up to you to decide.

Enjoy shooting,
rz64

Can't argue with that. I've been using Ms since The Firesale, and both the M and the M3 were delghtful in many ways, capable of wonderful pictures, but deeply frustrating in others. But the M6 - well, I've not found any frustrations at all. Now it's important to understand that my use of an M is as a backup to my full frame kit, and as a travel camera; as such, the available lenses meet my needs very nicely. What matters to me is image quality, and for the record, I like shadows, I really don't like the aesthetics of extracting too much shadow detail, and the handling and way a camera feels. And the M6 is close to perfect in this area for when I want a small camera. It just seems to improve on all the M3's weaknesses, and build on the strengths - the on/off switch is improved, and the extra dial is handy and makes the exposure compensation dial harder to adjust by accident. But the real improvement is the focusing - the number of times the M3 let me down in poor light with non-static subjects was beyond a joke.
Are there cameras with better specifications for the price out there? Yes.  Are there better cameras for me? Honestly, for what I want it for, no. I used to be apprehensive taking the M3 to an interesting destination as only camera, I'm really looking forward to using the M6 in Lisbon this weekend.

 Rock and Rollei's gear list:Rock and Rollei's gear list
Canon EOS 5DS R Canon EOS 5D Mark IV Canon EOS R Canon EOS M6 II Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM +29 more
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