In a press release today, Canon announced a new camera, the Canon EOS M, which will be their first mirrorless camera. Using the APS-C CMOS sensor like you can find on the Canon EOS T4i/650D camera, this new Canon EOS M will feature a great sensor in a much smaller body.
Canon will also be selling an EF-EOS M mount adapter which will let you attach your favourite EF and EF-S lenses on the new Canon EOS M camera.
They also announced two new lenses, a EF-M 22mm f/2 STM kit lens and the optional EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM.
The Canon EOS T4i / 650D introduced the STM lenses, that feature a new AF motor which allows for smoother and more accurate auto-focusing while using the LCD to take your pictures. The new STM lenses will be even more important for the Canon EOS M since it does not contain a mirror, which means you will be relying exclusively on the LCD screen to frame your pictures.
So what are my thoughts?
I believe that mirrorless cameras, or Digital Single Lens Mirrorless (dSLM) cameras as some are starting to call them, are the future, and I’m very excited to see Canon go down that road. I think it is great that Canon will use a great sensor and that it will be an ASP-C sized sensor.
The problem with competing dSLM systems is that most have smaller sensors. Smaller sensors offer greater magnification at the cost of image quality and very noisy ISO performance. By using their newest 18 megapixel ASP-C sensor which is already included in the T4i/650d, Canon is finally offering an option where you do not need to compromise on image quality in order to get a portable camera.
The new M-Mount is great and will allow for some good quality lenses to be manufactured at a cheaper price point. Since the EOS M does not have a bulky mirror, Canon was able to place the back of the lenses closer to the sensor, allowing for smaller lenses to be built, while retraining great image quality. And with the EF-EOS M adapter, you can still use all the EF and EF-S lenses you have, and preserve the auto-focusing abilities of those lenses.
The downside of the EOS M camera is the lack of manual controls. While making the camera easier to use towards the general population who are not photographers and have no intention of becoming one, the EOS M will be harder to use for the more professional users, which is a shame since it will come in a smaller size and offer great quality at an affordable price, which could have piqued some photographers’ interest. If not as a primary camera, the EOS M could’ve been a great second camera for their leisure time, but with the manual controls not present on the body itself, the pros will have to skip at least this first generation.
To read the press release yourself, follow the following link:
http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/about_canon?pageKeyCode=pressreldetail&docId=0901e024805d7bdb
More information on the Canon EOS M can be found on the Canon webpage:
http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras/eos_m_ef_m_22mm_stm_kit
