Canon go mirrorless!! “EOS M” system announced

The death of the DSLR in its current form is inevitable. I am not trying to be controversial. It’s simple logic and it’s clearly the way that technology is moving forward. It’s not going to be today or tomorrow, but at some point there will be no need for it. It’s a 130 year old system after all!

We all like a nice mirror, right? How else does one get one’s make up right before partying on the the town? 🙂 But seriously the mirror or pentaprism that has formed the single lens reflex system for over 130 years is now on its way out…albeit not in professional cameras… yet (unless you count the Fuji X-Pro 1 as Pro. I have one, love it, but I wouldn’t call it a pro camera though) Nikon have their 1 system, Sony have the NEX 5 and 7 and Panny have the GH2 that not many people have heard about 🙂 All of these are effectively consumer cameras, as in not meant for pros.

This is a first for Canon. An interchangeable lens APS-C camera with no mirror. Fewer moving parts means less to go wrong, potentially faster operation and (big deal for me), the ability to stick any lens that can cover APS-C on it with an adaptor. That is the best thing about the Sony E-mount, not the lenses that have come out, but the flexibility to use other lenses.

At the moment the camera is an unknown quantity. Just a list of specs. As always it’s video that is my priority, but stills are important to me, and not just for timelapse. The video function seems to have all the features of the current crop of DSLRs (no sign of the ALL-I, and as the new T4i/ 650d does not have it either, I am not surprised) but as it’s not using AVCHD 2.0 there is no 1080p 60p. 720p again for that, I am afraid. BUT it is a world camera, so 24p, 25p, 30p, 50p, 60p. This is confirmed as the same sensor as the 650d. So same issues as that camera has. Not the fixes that the 5d3/ 1dx offer. Disappointing.

So what is there to be excited about? At the moment…not a huge amount. It’s good that Canon are finally getting in on the act…it’s not a revolutionary camera though. We have had APS-C cameras in this form from Sony for some time, and their NEX 7 is more groundbreaking due to its SLR-like controls and incredible OLED viewfinder on a very compact body, It’s just a shame that I found the video on that camera to be somewhat disappointing. But it really is an amazing camera for the size…bit pricey though!

I for one am VERY happy they went with APS-C not a smaller sensor as some rumours said it would be. A smaller sensor like in the Nikon 1 and GH2 is a bit of a pain if you own lots of glass made for larger sensors. It’s also an aesthetic that I am not as happy with. Personal preference and utterly subjective of course! It had to be a new lens system, and I can see myself buying maybe just the F2 22mm pancake version rather that the slow kit zoom. You can buy a package with the pancake and an EF adaptor. That’s the one for me. I have no interest in buying up yet ANOTHER set of lenses that only work on one system…although I wonder if this new lens mount is what we may find on the rumoured EOS C100…the baby brother of the C300…whoops! Rumours! I don’t do rumours. Sorry!

There is no EVF. A big disappointment. For anyone who has used the NEX5N add-on EVF or the built-in NEX 7 one then they will know what I mean. A real shame. I don’t know if one can be added via a hotshoe or whether it’s down for a higher end model, but I need a viewfinder for stills and even video…after all we have lost the mirror, again, that is what is so great about the NEX 7.

Anyway, time to cut my ramble. I am on the last day of my holiday and wanted to stick this up. I don’t normally post news here as loads of smashing news sites like Planet 5D, Nofilmschool, EOSHD etc who do that very well. What I try to do here is something different, but every now and then I do post a bit of news if it is big enough…and although the camera doesn’t get me at all twitchy down below right now, this is a first step and hopefully it will lead to bigger and better things. After all smaller, lighter cameras with the same features is a good thing…especially if they cost the same or cheaper…now if only Canon would be a little bit bolder and bring out something to blow our socks off! Then again this is a 650d for same ish price and half size. Pretty damn cool!

Mic input! Hoorah! No Headphone! Boo!


43 comments

  1. Hi Philip, thanks for the review!

    This is all about better optics and ergonomics and …money.

    The rest (a general camera speed, even better software full of third party apps, touchscreen resolution and quality) is even better developed by the smart phones market.

    Despite of having 5D Mk2, Mk3 my fav Canon small camera was for long long time a Canon IXUS 100 IS. Also I was having more fun doing pictures even using Sony Experia Mini Pro. Because it was really really small android phone.

    Off topic – but Canon IXUS 100 IS is the best minimalistic camera body ever in my opinion!
    I do not get why next IXUS series cameras are far from this model in terms of ergonomics.

    1. Wee bit harsh! A big sweeping statement! The c300 is the best camera I have ever owned. I have also heard great things about the 1dx. Trying it this weekend. I don’t subscribe to all the Canon hate. Let’s not forget what they have done for us just a very short time ago!

      1. I agree Philip! I think the point at this time in history is, that we as film makers or photographers should be happy to be around at this point during this big sensor and camera revolution! Amazing cameras are coming out all the time and we can achieve so much now for so little money. These companies are in the business to make money, that’s a given, but bravo for finally giving us a choice!!!! Keep them coming and I’ll decide what equipment I’ll use!!! As always thank you Philip for all you do!!!

        1. “I think the point at this time in history is, that we as film makers or photographers should be happy to be around at this point during this big sensor and camera revolution!”

          I wish we were done with this revolution so we could actually focus on shooting something for a change!

      2. “There is absolutey nothing in this mirrorless cam thats revolutionary and thats is telling of what Canon has become.”

        +2

        Personally I find it funny all the boyish defending a company that makes money of things no one wants.
        Year after year, the only interest this big company have is….wait for it…. making money! :O
        This market is over 4 years now, and Canon waited, because they want to….make money.
        This camera is so “not news” when we see a Sony Nex7, Panasonic’s GH’1 (2009!) and GH2 (Zacuto anyone), Olympus Unique EM-5 (OM-D series, pro model coming this year), Nikon and even samsung! All the kids playing this game for some time now, enough for some pro’s trade all for this new Age.

        Defending blinding a company’s conservative and profit approach only puts Canon further down the path they already are, not pushing anything at all.

        Like others have said (SteveHuff, Mike Johnston…to name a few) if we are honest, this kid is late to the party. It should be noted more since this model is so for the masses…..to make more money of a 200$ camera selling it for (+700$) offering nothing to the existing market, just check any EVIL similiar to this one….oh right, no viewfinder on this one :P! Just M, EOS M.

        Canon is great, great history, great products…. not in 2012 -2000$ segment.
        More Black Magic&Digital Bolex Style of treating pro’s and less Canon’s consevative view on the market/world…
        Harsh?
        Let’s be harsh if we push it we can get it. We have to be harsh, and show what we really want to see in this century.
        Just look at other small guys, pushing way better and further. Let’s support them instead.

        “A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.
        …Innovation has nothing to do with how many R amp&; D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R & D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it. – Steve Jobs”

        Sorry, great fan of your site and work! Not hate, just a clear view on things.

        Kind regards

        João

        1. My friend. I don’t do fan boy or hate on my site. Your comment to be howat is very ranty! A bit like something straight out of eoshd to be honest.

          I am no fan boy. No paid employee but what canon has done in the past 3 years has changed everything. So they are conservative…so what. They are a big business I get it. Sony are being aggressive after a very slow start. We saw nothing affordable or usable until the 5n. Panny are a much smaller company and their inroads have been mostly down to the hackers not their innovations remember! Canon have lead the way, Sony are running with it in camcorder terms.

          I don’t want any bashing here. Opinion is fine but it’s crazy how some people react. It’s like Canon have shagged your girlfriend and you just found out. get some perspective here! Please!

          There is NOTHING wrong with Canon making money. It’s what business is about. I honesty think this is pretty cool. It’s a 650d in a body and a cheap price. Sound great to me!

          1. Maybe i’m a bit rusty on english, but i dont recall calling you a fanboy, quite the contrary.
            My comment is quite normal, like the other before. (that was the point)
            If you feel that way please do delete it. No one needs that kind of vibe.

            I guess when Canon is the Top player (1st in market share) in the market it’s normal people and professionals expect more.
            About EOSHD, it’s a good site also, like yours and others. Don’t feel the hate though.
            Just disappointed Canon couldn’t deliver the real product now, but I guess we’ll see it in a few years and we wil all be happy about it.
            Again if you felt ranty/ hated after reading a constructive critical comment about a product that enters a 4 year market with so many (+brands) and terrific tools for us, delete my comment.

            “It’s a 650d in a body and a cheap price. Sound great to me!”

            We both agree, except the price, exactly what my post was about P.Bbloom.

            We live in interesting times, specially in the photography/Cinema world no need to get personal about one brand though.

            Peace, and good work.

            Best regards

            J.

            1. “Let’s be harsh if we push it we can get it. We have to be harsh, and show what we really want to see in this century.”

              That was the point P.Bloom, shame the lack of communication.

              Best wishes

              J

              1. Again we agree.

                Philip B. I think your expectations, your deep ones regarding cinema/video are what most people want from a camera (including EOSHD ;D). I was expecting a better camera, regarding the event of full frame models coming late this year and the advances made by black magic.
                Guess Canon will make us all wait for it. All brands are guilty though….don’t understand why they can’t give us the final package today (viewfinder (body in general)/codec/Sensor).

                Fanboys don’t have sites like this one Philip, don’t worry about, no need to justify your position.
                The site does it for you.

                I just work with the most practical tool in the market, be it Canon, Panasonic, Sony, Olympus whatever.
                It’s the end that matters to me, not what got me there. All about the pictures.

                Best wishes

                J

              2. Hey JOAO,

                Okay, we get it. Let me go ahead and stroke your ego. You know so much!! The point is if the film maker is any good, it does not matter what camera he or she shoots on, Mirrorless or not… We can finally get beautiful images for cheap prices and the creativity sort the lot… Philip Bloom freely gives his time to help so many by getting the best out of their equipment. He has personally saved me so much money by reviewing equipment I feel as though I owe him a fee. I don’t believe Philip is laying about not being paid and he has said time and again he is not, but I don’t really care if he is or not. If you watch his videos clearly you can see he not biased. I don’t understand why people have to so negative about certain things… I chalk it up to insecurity… Mr. Bloom please keep doing your thing and I once again thank you, all the way from deep south Louisiana!!

                1. I clearly don’t know what are talking about Kevin. My reply was and is for the Gerald post.
                  Please read before posting replies like this one.
                  No one is calling Phill Biased that’s quite presumptuous on your part given it is his site and his opinions, anyone is free for not reading or seeing them.
                  Kevin the discussion is “is this the product Canon should launch at this stage?”
                  I’m sure you to are waiting for a real M product not just a downsize 650d, Just think ahead and you’ll see what some canon users (like myself in the past) expect from this big company.If your happy with this product, pre-order one, I prefer pushing with other consumers/profissionals and ask for a better thing, go figure if that is a bad thing!

                  Regarding Ego’s and knowing, guess your onto something mate but not necessarily photography or cinema.
                  Be polite please.

                  Best regards

                  João

                  P.S And no, I didn’t read your post. I was replying to Geral and Bloom. And respect both.

              3. Philip,

                You know, There was a time, when Nokia was also very conservative, and We know, where is Noka now…:)for us, people, who will never buy, rather, C300 🙂 (Greetings from Poland, first time as a user )

      3. Hi Philip quick question. You spoke about the probability of a baby c300, most likely to be a c100.
        I presume it will have a similar form factor, but obviously it will cost significantly less. What do you see them handicapping it with to reach, let’s say, the $10000 mark, and then, let’s say, the $8000 mark?

      4. Phillip, you might think Im one of those drooling gh2 fanboy who hates canon with passion like eoshd but I dont (I hate that site’s opinion on most things , i think he loves his gh2 too much ). Im more of a sony fanboy…well not teally. But for mirrorles cams..they are the one to beat. They have set the photo (nex 7) and video (5N) standards so much that its ridiculous that a company like canon is still putting out these immensely inferior products (to compare) at those ridiculous prices. I think its an insult to consumers that they are launching this but ugly camera, with those meh specs at 700USD?!?! Ridiculous. If that was like 250$ it would have been ok…but 700?!?! And you also would think, that being canon..the biggest dslr brand..they would have tried to make a splash in the mirrorless world with their first entry into it. But this is only what they came up with. Im just pissed at how they insult consumers like that.

        And I know you love the C300 being a 50mbps, super sharp 1080p BBC approved camera…but I hope BMCC kicks its so everyone realizes the reality that it is such an overpriced 1080p camera.

  2. Believe it or not there are a few pro photographers using mirrorless cameras here are two of them.

    Giulio Sciorio uses Olympus micro 4/3 cameras. Giulio Sciorio runs these two sites.

    http://www.giuliosciorio.com/

    http://www.smallcamerabigpicture.com/

    https://vimeo.com/giuliosciorio

    http://www.youtube.com/user/gsciorio?feature=watch

    Mike Kobal uses the Sony Nex 7 for paid jobs.

    http://www.mikekobal.com/

    http://www.youtube.com/user/mike24p/videos

    https://vimeo.com/user958381

  3. I’ve bet on Canon, have an xf305,105 and 7D with full kit of lenses. I’d be a perfect candidate for this camera, but I am amazed that Canon still doesn’t get it that anyone serious about video using this needs headphone jack. I hope that they at least have taken the step to show audio levels in the viewfinder. If not, I’m not likely to buy it. The GH2 has them. Looking forward to the upcoming firmware upgrade to the 7D for just that reason.

  4. If it can rival the NEX 7 video (or beat it, as you weren’t happy with the video quality), give us a mic jack (thank you!), and be $400 cheaper, then it doesn’t have to be revolutionary to beat the crap out of the competition.

    Now I’m crossing my fingers for some enterprising folks to come up with an EOS M to FD adapter that works (unlike all the EF-FD junk) so I can finally put all my cool FD glass to use. I’ve got a 50mm f/1.2 that’s aching to be used with this new camera.

  5. Philip,

    As usual thanks for sharing!

    New camera on the market…isn’t that what camera companies are supposed to do?

    I really do not get all this love/hate thing. It either fit your needs or it doesn’t. It is that simple.

    Indeed Canon is the reason many of us have jobs! So if after the 5DMk2, 7D, 5DMK3, 1D C, C300 etc., they are coming out with anything that resembles a camera I might just listen and take a look.

    This might just turn out to be a fun camera to carry around that can still give you quality footage. What’s wrong with that?

  6. I personally don’t feel an urge to upgrade my trusty/rusty 550D, but for anybody upgrading from a pocket camera to something ‘more’, this little camera will have a lot to offer! I’ve heard that the new lenses (STM) that are being launched are great value for money too. That new prime lens (EF-M 22mm F2) will kick some ass, I’m sure of it!

  7. Cool, but nothing revolutionary. I’ve always thought that it would be cool if they just made a video-dedicated large sensor camera in the price range of the 5d mark iii. Kinda like that sony nex-vg10 only not crap. I think they could probably fix a ton of problems. Push all that development that goes into the photo side of DSLRs into things like xlr inputs, 1080 60p recording, HDMI (Possible 3g-SDI) out, an uncompressed format, and a proper viewfinder, maybe a ccd. I hope this is a fore-runner to that happening. It would be killer.

  8. Thanks a lot for the review. I’m in agreeance that the current crop os DSLR’s is out dated and will be replaced sooner or later. This is a start but like you say, not a game changer quite yet. I’ve just read your comment about the C300 and more specifically your impending play with a 1DX….I’ve been saving for almost a year solely for 1 of these 2 cameras so im desperate to see which one is the best option. Obviously the 1DX with a list price half that of the C300, thats kind of taken a front row seat in my mind. Please post some screen shots/video review when you can….I can;t wait much longer!

    Big fan by the way. Muchos Gracias

  9. I do not think SLR will be replaced by mirrorless cameras all together. We still have ranger finders today.

    One of the problems with mirrorless cameras for the still photographers is TTL has little bit of lag. Maybe it will get better in the nextgen of cameras.

    I would this write up on the TTL being slower here.

    http://m43photo.blogspot.com/2011/02/ttl-flash-metering.html

    GH1 and GH2 flash delay

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9sPhw1kkfiw

  10. I guess we’ve expecting from Canon something like 5D Mk2 at mirror less market few years ago.
    So this is little disappointment.

    What about this guy
    http://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/blackmagiccinemacamera/

    http://www.markertek.co.uk/Catalog/Video-Editing-Equipment/Blackmagic-Design-BMD-CINECAM26KEF-Large-Sensor-Cinema-Camera

    Is it game changer? Price below £ 2K. EF lenses compatible. Wow, would love to read a good honest review of this camera.

  11. As a Panasonic fanboy I must QQ about all these small sensor no inroad statements. They have made great in roads in the past and still have superior fidelity compared to competition- I could point out things but it’s a waste of time. I’ve used every brand of camera and they are my favorite by far FAN BOY!!!! End! He he, jking of course, but this new Canon thing get a thumb down from me. Tiny cameras big lenses are a joke, the Nikon’s should be more popular than this… consumers confuse me.

  12. I’ve been reading a lot about the Sony RX-100 and I was wondering what your thoughts were on it. How does it compare to the EOS M? I know all we have to go on is specs. Do you think the RX-100 will be a game changer?

  13. Finally, Canon released this mirrorless camera but seem it came in too late compare with others. Again, again, again, Canon team remains as moron because they never listen to customers’ wishes.

    This camera used APS-C instead of full-frame sensor and still lower resolution. Nowadays, technology advaced enough to provide higher resolution full-frame sensor and advanced electronic circuits enough to meet our need.

    Secondly, Canon made a smart move to release EOS-M to EF lens adapter but remain moron because they refused to design EOS-M to FDn/FD/FL/R lenses. With their technology knowledge would not take that expensive to provide no correction lens because it will work well with this camera. Seem we have to wait for the third-party to design the adapter to allow superb designed FD/n/FD/FL/R lenses. In fact, my years of experience showed EF lenses were not reliable designed as often breakdown and short-lived circuits. The old lenses remain in service for so many years and still working like Day One….

    It is very sad to see this camera uses APS-C sensor because it will not allow to have a perfect circular fisheye from EF 8-15mm and ultra superb fisheye as known as FD 7.5mm fisheye. The picture will have cropped and shame to see lack of pure circular images.

    Canon team, go back to drawing and build new mirrorless camera that will use FULL-FRAME sensor with higher resolution and also build most advanced design to allow fit with FDn/FD/FL/R lenses!!!!

    Thanks

  14. What can I say… This camera specs really are underwhelming… It seems to have the same sensor as the older canon cameras so I dont have high hopes for video quality… I guess we’ll see once some people start putting out videos using it. For stills its going to be great but a small camera with a large lens doesnt exactly make it pocketable which is why I think I’d rather have a m43 camera with a tiny lens than a slimmer camera with lenses as big as the ones on dslrs. Those large lenses add up quickly when you go out on a trip. As for the camera you usually only bring 1 or 2.
    Just my opinion.

  15. I really can’t justify the cost of this camera.
    You can get a t3i with a swivelling screen for $100-$200 less than this camera brand new.
    It will probably have the same sensor as well.
    And will be difficult to grab a hold off once you attach something like a 17-40mm zoom lens.
    I want to like it but I just can’t wrap my head around this cameras price vs features.

  16. Why does mirror-less have to mean a tiny camera when will canon get their collective heads around making a camera the size that has good form factor and economics which doesn’t mean making it as small as you can possibly go and shaped like a brick .
    The hump on DSLR to me looks cool if you drop the mirror out leave the sexy bump but maybe drop in a stereo microphone in the cavity problem solved.
    If the bodies had little bit more air room could alleviate some of the heating issues also.

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