Anyone own both M100 and M200?

nnowak wrote:

Mirfak wrote:

nnowak wrote:

Mirfak wrote:

Wanting to pick up a small camera for the wife. Trying to access whether the M200 is worth the additional price over the M100, which I can pick up (barely used) with kit lens for $150. Are the additional AF points, Eye EF, etc. on the M200 going to make a big difference in shooting experience?

For $150, the M100 is a great bargain. The AF differences between the two are pretty inconsequential.

According to thunder storm, there is a difference in AF in low light. Can you confirm?

Yes, there is a difference in specifications, but I am not sure it really matters in practical use. With the original M and M2, I could already achieve AF in situations where there was not enough light for a decent photo. The M100 is rated two stops better than those older cameras, and the M200 is another 2 stops better than the M100. Is the M200 rated better than the M100? Yes. Does it matter? Probably not.

The difference between the M100 and M50 matters. In back lit situations the M100 always picks the borders of the subject in stead of the front of the subject. For persons this means it will focus on the ears in stead of the eyes. When shooting with narrow apertures it will probably be fine, however, if you do plan to shoot with large aperture lenses this is really annoying.

Take the savings and put it towards the EF-M 22mm which will do far more for your wife's photos.

My wife can borrow my 22mm.

A word of warning.... there are a LOT of optically defective 15-45mm kit lenses out there.

My understanding is that there is a defocus problem. Is there an easy way to test the lens to see if it has this issue?

The problem is decentering. One side of the image will be much softer than the other side. The problem is most apparent at 15mm and f/3.5. You need to shoot a wide open expanse with a lot of detail throughout the frame. A flat grassy field is a good example. Keep the camera tilted down so that the sky consumes no more than 1/4 of the frame.

It will be a bit tough to evaluate using the rear LCD, but a bad lens will be noticeably softer all along one side of the frame. If you want a second verification step, shoot the same image with the camera held upside down. The soft side if the frame should now be on the opposite side.

Any used copies of this lens need to be thoroughly tested.

I will be meeting the seller face-to-face: hence my previous question.

Based on recent comments, it appears Canon may have improved quality control on this lens.

I remember reading a post where a user disagreed with this assessment, having recently bought a camera (can't recall if it was the M6ii), and experienced the defocus issue. Could be he got older stock, or perhaps quality has improved, but not to the point where some bad lenses won't slip through.

Buying this lens new with the M200 would give you a warranty and a higher likelihood of getting a good copy. You may want to also consider buying one of the heavily discounted new M100 kits.

Will take into consideration. Thanks.