23Jul Canon EOS-M, just a t4i without the mirror?
The Canon EOS-M announcement has been leaking out since Friday and it basically falls in line with everything people have been expecting. An 18mp APS-C sensor with AF detection, no mirror, not many control buttons, and a touch screen in a smaller package. If those specs sound familiar, it’s because the Canon EOS-M is basically a Canon t4i without the mirror, buttons, or audio inputs. 
Although Canon has removed a number of parts, it only accounts for a savings of about $50 and what you loose requires you to buy more Canon products to get it back. The most obvious thing you’ll be missing is lens selection. As of right now the new EOS-M mirrorless mount only offers two AF lenses, the Canon EF-M 18-55mm and the Canon EF-M 22mm f2. In a few months adapters will probably start coming out and people will finally be able to take advantage of old FD mount lenses, but if you’d like to use EF or EF-S lenses you’ll need to buy a $199 EF adapter. With the cost of the adapter added, suddenly the $50 savings turns into a $149 cost.
Another thing to consider is audio inputs. The Canon t4i has a 3.5mm audio input jack with volume control, while the Canon EOS-M has a built in stereo mic with volume control. Sure you could drill a hole in your shinny new compact camera and mount a 3.5mm input jack to the case, but chances are you’ll end up using dual system sound. So add another $80 minimum to the price tag.
The Canon EOS-M body provides almost no advantage over the Canon t4i or the Canon t2i for that matter other then size. The same 18mp APS-C sensor means no improvement in low light, no HDMI output means no field monitor can be used, lack of physical controls requires mostly touch screen setup, and adding the $199 EF adapter means no real price advantage.
If the Canon EOS-M had been announced two years ago or the price was closer to $450, it might have been a novel idea. But as of right now it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for film makers. If, on the other hand, you would simply like to use this for photography, size is the only advantage. Is that enough of an advantage for the reduced lens selection? I would be interested to hear arguments for buying the Canon EOS-M, but as of right now I’m not very positive on the subject.
UPDATE: Just wanted to post this correction. The Canon EOS-M does have an mini HDMI ouput as well as a 3.5mm audio input. I missed both of these functions when scanning through the list of Canon specs. This makes the EOS-M a better buy, but still a bit overpriced. Thanks to manfesto for pointing this out.
July 23rd, 2012 at 8:23 pm
Lots of great points DeeJay, I too think this thing is over priced.
I do like the size and think I could find room for it in my camera bag, but not at that price.
I think we will see the price drop a ton before the Christmas season.
July 23rd, 2012 at 8:36 pm
The $799 price includes the 22mm F/2 lens (a nice fast moderate-wide), versus $849 for the T4i body only.
The EOS M does have both HDMI and a 3.5mm nput jack, not sure where you read these things were absent.
It also is not limited by the 29:59 recording limit for a single clip, unlike the rest of the EOS still camera line.
It’s not a perfect camera, (clearly it’s aimed at point-and-shoot upgraders more than experienced enthusiasts or pros) but it does have some advantages that are being overlooked.
In fact, I’d say if your intent was to use a T4i with adapted glass and shooting long-form documentary stuff where you may have longer-than-a-half-hour takes, this EOS M may actually be a better bet.
July 23rd, 2012 at 9:32 pm
Thanks for the heads up. I didn’t actually see those two features when I was looking over the specs. For some reason they are mentioned in the Features section but not the specs.
July 23rd, 2012 at 9:42 pm
No problem!
Cheers!
July 23rd, 2012 at 9:56 pm
Post has been updated!
July 24th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
Great points. For me, the camera would be a good second body. I have a T3i (the touch screen and autofocus in video aren’t enough for me to upgrade). If I had this, I could use it with my current glass to shoot longer form stuff like weddings, graduations, etc., and fill in with the T3i. I’ve read it will shoot 44 minutes uninterrupted on a 16gb card, but no one has said if that’s also 88 on a 32 and 176 on a 64 card. If so, it has a use. If not, I’d need two to cover longer stuff and then I’m starting to get to the point of saying “screw it” and getting a Panasonic GH2 instead.
July 24th, 2012 at 2:11 pm
According to the chart you still have a max recording time of 29 min 59 seconds. The 44 min for 16gb label just expresses the amount of footage that can be recorded onto a single 16gb card. But I could be reading the chart incorrectly.
July 24th, 2012 at 3:48 pm
I’m seeing this as a not very impressive first step from Canon to move from the bulky dSLR format to a more compact form.
Dunno if prices will go down, but it could be.
The lack of a swivel screen is a real downer though.
But it kinda makes sense for those with extensive Canon lens looking for a smaller body to carry around – at the cost of the extra adaptor.
For everyone else looking for a smaller sized interchangeable lens camera with full APS-C sensor, it seems Sony has a better offer at lower cost now.
At first, I thought this was the first camera with an APS-C sized sensor, which would be a big deal. But Sony NEX 5 and 7 already offers that.
I was expecting to see something that stood out… like the stabilization system Olympus OM-D E-M5 offers.
But yeah… can’t justify something like this while already owning a T2i.
July 24th, 2012 at 4:27 pm
I think if Canon announces and releases a good set of pancake prime lenses for the EOS-M, like a 35mm f2, 50mm f1.4 and 85mm f1.8 to go along with the 22mm f2 lens and the prices was around $200 a lens I might change my mind about this camera. That would give you a good prime lens set in a compact body for under $1600 which would suddenly make this type of setup a lot more attractive.
I guess if you were willing to go to all manual and wait for an adapter to be released you could buy a whole set of Canon fd lenses for around $500. That would make the EOS-M a little more attractive. Maybe go with the Canon Fd 28mm f2, 50mm f1.4, 85mm f1.8 and 100mm f2. But you could already do that with the Sony NEX5n or NEX7, both of which have more controls and better low light capabilities then Canon’s APS-C sensor. On top of that a used NEX5n goes for around $450 if you don’t mind silver.
July 25th, 2012 at 12:43 pm
My once grand excitement has died down. The more I read about it the more meh I am about it.
I was hoping for a mirrorless camera to integrate into my canon package. This is more like a bastard stepchild with limited work flow.
I would need them to release a set of fast cheap primes to make this camera work but then all of a sudden I’m now buying another set of primes. I understand they need the new mount. Fine. Include the fucking adapter into the mix. Or build the thing to accept all the canon mounts.
July 25th, 2012 at 3:35 pm
I agree.
November 7th, 2012 at 10:52 am
[…] I mentioned the EOS-M camera announcement awhile back, you might remember me saying that the best reason to buy an EOS-M camera would be the […]
January 23rd, 2014 at 10:00 am
As of today, 1/23/2014, the price had come down for me to
get both 22mm and the 18-55mm zoom lens and plus EF lens adaptor and camera body for around $500.
Now it had become a good deal compare to bulky T4I and the even heavier 7D that I currently have.
it’s a small camera, you can’t have buttons everywhere and still be not blocking this or that or accidental hitting buttons.
It’s all going to the touch screen unless it’s used often.
Who change from AF to P that often and can’t spare a few seconds to do touch screen?
And flip open screen? that will incrase size of the camera. go buy a video cam if you need those that badly. it’s primary a still photo camera and a video cam as secondary.
Easier to carry is the point..while give you 90% DSLR pic rather than handheld or cell phone camera.
I am not going to put the giantic L lens I have on it…but rather I can use smaller FE/EFS lens and it won’t look strange.
Indoor photo is great even without flash. This is a day to day camera, not for extreme situations.
January 23rd, 2014 at 10:35 am
Andyoo, you might want to check out some of my more recent posts about this camera. The EOS-M is an excellent deal now that the price is down around $230 new and magic lantern is working on it. Though I wouldn’t buy this camera as a primary stills camera unless your subjects are mostly stationary as the AF system is pretty slow.