Focussing m6 vs m100

jbent1 wrote:

hi I have an M100 and find the focussing speed rather slow except in daylight. I heard that the M5 and 6 are faster but have not tried either. Does anyone have experience with the m6 or 5 compared to the 100 in a variety of lighting situations? I know the m50 is faster but not by how much in more challenging situations. --
JDW

I haven't done a side by side comparison of each camera but I've handled the M5 and M50 and the M6 and all three perform in virtually the same manner. The M100 should be more accurate and more capable than the original EOS M and I found that camera to be a joy to use. All four of the latest models (including the M100) have the same APS-C sensor inside. The only notable difference is that the M50 uses a newer DiGiC 8 processor which is said to be "faster" with a slight increase in lowlight performance with the -EV... but even the best critics are quick to point out that the difference in speed/performance is so marginal that most users wouldn't notice a difference. The increase in sensitivity is not from the sensor but from the way that the DiGiC 8 processor handles data. 
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The speed of AF lock on a target is often influenced by the lens you've selected.  I find that using a darker, slower lens with a smaller aperture (eg EF-M 11-22mm f/4+) will result in a struggle to lock focus in extremely low light environments.  This applies to any camera.  But using a faster f/2 or f/1.4 lens is a very different experience when it comes to trying to lock focus in a dark location.  You a can always illuminate a super-dark scene with a tiny LED light (even the one on your phone) to enable AF lock in near pitch black.  And you can use Manual Focus as well, especially with tripod-locked shots.  But the faster lenses are brighter, so they allow much, much more light to strike the sensor, thus speeding up the image registration process and allowing the contrast detection to perform as it does.
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Now my understanding of the M50 was that it was supposed to have a small increase in low-light performance. This difference would apply to extreme lowlight conditions (think single candle-light and/or moonlight).  Of course, when shooting in such low light, a tripod and longer exposure settings tend to be preferred.  And you need an area in the scene with a small amount of contrast for the camera to lock onto.  For normal and even creative shooting, the M100 is the nearest thing to the original EOS M in terms of design, but it's virtually and M6 (no EVF) but without a hotshoe mount.  I think the M100 is a very desirable model, especially as a backup camera or even as a standalone.  It looks very nice and sleek... and it should produce results no different to the M5/M6/M50.