Canon's first mirrorless camera Canon EOS M : Hands on review

http://www.wildphotomag.co.za/wordpress/?p=407

Thanks for the head's up. The system interrests me, but this camera doesn't suit my needs sadly and is way too expensive. I refuse to use any camera with touchscreen controls only. But the system has promise. Mirrorless systems can be made both smaller and lighter, ideal for long treks and expeditions. I also prefer a good EVF over an optical viewfinder. It's just superb in low light. Sony even had night vision modes on their EVFs years ago. That was a stunning feature that made composition easy during Aurora Borealis shooting in the middle of the night.

On a side note, I really don't understand why they made this a consumer camera? Canon allready has the G1X which I would recommend over the EOS-M any day.

More data here:http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canon-eos-m

If it had a viewfinder and real controls i would buy it, guess i am stuck backpacking with my 5dII

It seems pretty "Ho-Hum" to me. Nothing very compelling that I've seen so far in the reviews. They certainly did not want to make a big splash.

I'm a little confused by this sentiment (which I've seen a couple of other places too). There are other mirrorless offerings that DO have viewfinders and real controls; So why not buy one of them and give up your 5DII for backpacking? It's not like this uses the same lenses as your current Canon - it's a new mount.

Because no other mirrorless is APS-C sized yet. While I can make some decent images with my Lumix M43 system it has some flaws that larger sensors might remedy. Dynamic range being one area I hope the Canon EOS M system can do better.

Sony Nex line up is APS-C size mirror-less camera and less expensive too.

When I was younger, there were folks saying: "...I refuse to use a phone that has touch screen controls only..."

Ah, those were the days!

As Son pointed out, the Sony NEX line is APS-C... also the Samsung mirrorless line, and the Fuji X-Pro line.

And my guess would be, given how close they actually are in size, that any short-comings you see with the Lumix is more because of that particular sensor design, and not because of the size of that sensor specifically. It will be interesting to see if Canon has a better sensor than the NEX models, but Sony has been ahead of Canon for a little while now.

Yes of course! The Sony NEX. Never heard about the Samsung though. Are they any good?

The Fuji is a traditional rangefinder design and isn't exactly small. Too big for me anyway.

Well the Fuji is sort of a non-traditional range finder, in that you can use the viewfinder in optical mode, EVF mode, or a hybrid. So you could use it in EVF mode as a non-rangefinder camera.

As far as the Samsung goes, I've only read a couple reviews (like this on DPReview). They seem competitive with the other mirrorless offerings.

The EOS M is an interesting camera but, like most mirrorless systems except Micro 4/3, the lenses just aren't there. With a minimum equivalent focal length of 29mm and a max of 88mm it's just not that useful as a system camera. I'm sure other lenses will follow but with nothing wide and nothing longer than the shortest telephoto focal length it's just not there. I would have expected a behemoth like Canon to offer a fuller system initially. Sure you can mount EF lenses via the adapter but that pretty much makes getting a mirrorless compact system camera pointless.

At this point, still the only mirrorless system that offers everything most photographers need is Micro 4/3 with focal lengths from 14mm to 600mm in 35mm equivalents.

The same problem is true for Nikon, Pentax, Sony, Samsung, etc. If they want these things to be successful, they need a full range of lenses.

Yep EJ. Sony struggles with selection of lenses for their NEX system, Nikon has gone for a small sensor and Samsung will need to prove themselves in the prosumer market as the new kid on the block.

I really applaud Panasonic and Olympus for making their lenses interchangable. No doubt part of the M43 success. If the new GH3 from Panasonic delivers in terms of dynamic range and IQ, and Pana/Oly makes a decent 300mm M43 prime tele, I'll be selling all of my remaining Canon gear. The small size and weight of the M43 system has won me over, although the new Nikon 800 is tempting as a landscape only camera.

Oh, oh, already first gripes about the very slow focusing in LiveView.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/canon-eos-m/canon-eos-mA.HTM