Thread: The Canon EOS M Rises................

From my blog post.............

I'm not quite sure what to think of it. As I write this, there is only rumor and speculation, but with the reported release just around the corner (July 23rd, 2012), the rumors seem quite solid. Will it allow Canon to make up for lost time in the market, being that they are the last ones of the majors that have jumped into the mirror-less segment? It just might. Picture quality is king, and if the performance (image quality wise) is at least on par with the G1X, I would say yes. Given that the rest of the competition has already shown their colors, Canon has two distinct advantages - their reputation, and they already know what they need to aim at.

So, here are my first impressions, for what it's worth;

1. At first look, it looks too much like a point and shoot, albeit with interchangeable lenses. From some of the other images seen online, the sensor appears to be the same size, or darn close, to the G1X sensor. This implies a crop factor of at least 1.6.

2. The fact that the lens has an "EF-M" designation indicates a new lens mount, although the physical looks of it sure looks very similar to the standard EF mount. Could it be that the lens will be interchangeable with standard EF lenses? It would be unwieldy, not to mention weird, to have a full blown EF lense like an EF 70-200mm L sticking out on this thing.

3. The 22mm lens pictured here looks very similar to the recently released 40mm STM lens. Most likely there will be several lenses announced at the same time. With the reported quality and high marks for the 40mm STM, wouldn't it be great if the mounts were similar so we could use all of the upcoming STMs on our full size DSLRs?

4. Looks like it also has a hot shoe, therefore we can expect complete compatibility with all of our EX speedlights - cool!

5. Conspicuously missing is a viewfinder of any sort, optical, electronic, or otherwise. But I happen to think this will only be the first of many models, therefore I think it's safe to bet that we will soon have other EOS Ms with upgraded features like an electronic viewfinder, articulated screen, etc. Time will tell.

Well, that's enough speculation for now. Who wants to take a stab at pricing? Judging from Canon's recent history on price increases, I'll wager that this will start at $899 body only, and $1099 with the 22mm as a kit.. If it does, well, count me out. I'm done throwing gobs of money into this hobby.

Yeah right. :)

*** Info on Canon Rumors ***

Looks very interesting.

43mm filter on the lens, which would make the lens about 6cm in diameter. Judging from the pictures that makes the sensor around 20x15mm which fits very well with the G1X sensor (19x14mm).

Hopefully Canon will give us a good standard user interface, but they might be tempted to go the NEX/Nikon 1 direction and make it more "intuitive for regular people".

no viewfinder means no interest from me

Originally Posted by Landshark

no viewfinder means no interest from me

Yep, same for me. BTW, love the implementation of your website, and your photography is superb!

Originally Posted by Landshark

no viewfinder means no interest from me

Likewise... Though if there were an external EVF option it would be OK, for me.

arg..... I love your avatr dude taking the pic.....is that a GIF?

Originally Posted by Luke

arg..... I love your avatr dude taking the pic.....is that a GIF?

Thanks Luke. Yes, it's an animated GIF. It's been with me from the early days of the Net, when you could actually find websites that posted clipart for free use.

I'm gonna try to make a photo one just like it of me taking a photo. We'll see how it goes.

No 1 consideration for me in this camera, or any camera for that matter, is that the fundamental sensor/lens/processor combination can do the job. As long as the price being charged isn't unreasonable, I can deal with most design compromises required to achieve a particular size of camera. An APS-C E-PM1 sounds good to me if the price is right and the lenses are (or soon will be) there.