Almost four years since the first mirrorless interchangeable lens camera came to the market canon has introduced its first mirrorless camera EOS M. from Panasonic’s Micro Four Thirds Lumix DMC-G1 to the Canon’s EOS M introduction we had quite a bit of competition in that space. Most famous are Olympus PEN, Sony NEX-7 and Fujifilm X-Pro1. When Nikon recently introduced its 1 J1 and 1 V1 models, Canon had real competition to deal with. Different camera manufacturers have targeted their mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras to different kinds of users – be they serious enthusiasts looking for a small, highly capable camera, or compact-camera up-graders looking for SLR-like image quality in a smaller, easier-to-use package.
Canon’s EOS M is a slimmed down mirrorless version of the recently-announced EOS 650D, but with a simpler interface that’s designed to be more approachable for novice users, and obviously much more compact in size. It’s based around a new ‘EF-M’ lens mount, and two matched lenses will be available at launch: the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM zoom, and the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM ‘pancake’ prime. But it’s still very much part of the EOS system, and all of the company’s existing EF and EF-S SLR lenses can be used via the co-announced ‘Mount adapter EF-EOS M’. I would love to see my behemoth 300mm f/2.8 lens weighing 2.5 Kg on this miniscule body ;-).
The EOS M features a compact, magnesium-alloy body, and will be available in four colors – black, white, silver and red. It has no built-in flash, but instead a hot shoe on the top plate, and in many markets it will come bundled with the new AAA-powered Speedlite 90EX unit. There’s neither a built-in viewfinder, nor connector for an external unit – composition is solely using the camera’s rear screen (which is fixed, rather than articulated).
Canon EOS-M Highlights
- 18.0 MP CMOS (APS-C) Sensor
- DIGIC 5 Image Processor
- Full HD Movie with Focus Tracking
- 3.0″ Touch Screen LCD with 1040K-dots
- Touch AF and Multi-touch Operation
- Hybrid CMOS Auto-focus for Photo & Video
- Compatible with Canon EF and EF-S Lenses
- ISO 100-12800, Expandable to 25600 (H)
- Canon’s First Mirrorless Camera
- Includes Canon EF-M 22mm F/2 STM Lens