Earlier we finally get to meet Canon’s entry to the world of mirrorless cameras, or interchangeable lens cameras, the gorgeous EOS-M. While some brands already have their line of ILCs for a few years, Canon took their sweet time coming up with their first-ever digital single lens non-reflex camera.
The Canon EOS-M looks simple yet beautiful with its thick magnesium-alloy body without too much fuss and dials. It looks quite compact for an interchangeable lens camera but still packs a big 18.1-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor. It also uses Canon’s DIGIC 5 image processor which is also being used by the EOS 650D DSLR.
Canon users won’t have any problem digging right into the thick of things with the EOS-M as it features the familiar menus and dials of other Canon cameras. It even has an intuitive multi-touch 3.0-inch widescreen Clear View LCD II monitor for added ease in navigating this camera.
No built-in flash on this one but it has a hotshoe so you can use your own flash (I tried my Nikon Speedlight and it recognizes it) and other camera accessories.
Like its point-and-shoot brothers, the Canon EOS-M also has the usual photo shooting modes including HDR and creative filters like Toy Camera, Water Painting, Art Bold, Fish-Eye, etc. What’s missing is live panoramic shooting.
You can also capture Full HD videos with the EOS-M at an ISO as high as 6400. It has a Movie Servo AF that allows for continuous smooth focusing.
I took this beauty for a brief spin with its 18-55mm kit lens and was happy with the ease of use when using Manual, and its speed in focusing. It outputs really nice color gradation and beautiful bokeh even with the kit lens.
What I’m not impressed about is its rather slow performance when using Canon EF lens. There’s a unit with a 24-70mm Canon lens attached to it via an EF mount adaptor and we found auto-focusing really slow and frustrating. I was told that it’s better to use manual focusing when mounting an EF lens on it.
Canon produced the EOS-M in four colors: Black, White, Silver, and Red. Suggested retail prices are as follows:
- With EF-M 18-55mm STM ““ Php35,998
- With EF-M 22mm STM + EF Mount Adaptor ““ Php40,998
- With EF-M 22mm STM + EF-M 18-55mm STM + Speedlite 90EX ““ Php47,998
| Canon EOS-M Specs: |
|---|
| 18MP APS-C ‘Hybrid CMOS’ sensor |
| 14-bit DIGIC5 processor |
| ISO 100-12800 standard, 25600 expanded |
| 4.3 fps continuous shooting, 3 fps with autofocus tracking |
| 1080p30 video recording, stereo sound (with 25p or 24p options) |
| New EF-M lens mount (optimized for APS-C sensor size) |
| External microphone socket and adjustable sound recording level |
| 1040k dot 3:2 touch-sensitive ClearView II LCD (capacitative type, multi-touch support) |
| Standard EOS hot-shoe for external flash (no built-in flash) |
| ‘Creative Filters’ image-processing controls, previewed live on-screen |
| USB 2.0 |
| HDMI In |
| 298 grams including battery |
| SRP: Starts at Php35,998 |