If you are in the market for a really low price camera, second camera, or danger cam for filming, the EOS-M body is now down to $234 on ebay
and $237 on amazon. The EOS-M can be adapted to just about any lens including old FD lenses like the Canon FD 35-105mm f3.5 and the Canon FD 55mm f1.2. It has the same sensor as the t2i through t5i and you can even get Magic Lantern working on it.
I used to recommend a used Canon t2i for beginning filmmakers
, but with the ultra low prices of the EOS-M and the better compatibility with cheap FD lenses, the EOS-M is now my number 1 recommendation for filmmakers on a budget. If you want to shoot photography and video, get a t2i, but if you main goal is shoot video only and you’re on a tight budget, get the EOS-M.
Tags: Canon EOS-M, FD lenses, Magic lantern
January 21st, 2014 at 11:49 am
I recently bought this camera and it feels well built, easy to carry,, and the video quality is quite nice. Found a lense adapter and now can use my existing lenses. Great backup camera, and to use in situations in public where you don’t want to attract attention when using a full size rig.
This camera is an excellent buy, but there is one draw back. I can’t use the DSLRController app with it like I do now with my 60d.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:09 pm
That part is unfortunate, also doesn’t seem to be fully compatible with eos utility.
January 21st, 2014 at 12:49 pm
From what I read it’s removed via firmware. It would be possible to enable it with ML, but you would have to use a different controller app (I believe there is one that has ML features enabled on it, but it misses other things that DSLRController has).
That’s my speculation anyway. Still a nice cheap video camera.
January 21st, 2014 at 5:33 pm
For EU
http://www.ebay.es/itm/Canon-EOS-M-Systemkamera-schwarz-Gehause-Erweterungs-Set-4-FULL-HD-3-Zoll-/121259285361?pt=DE_Foto_Camcorder_Digitalkameras&hash=item1c3b9ddb71&_uhb=1
January 22nd, 2014 at 3:17 am
Thanks for the tip. Ive tried to look for some nice video samples from this camera but they all look kind of bad. How is the video quality of this, might use it as a larger pocket cam instead of the Sony RX 100. And why do you not recommend it for taking photos? Slow autofocus?
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:11 am
I would guess the reason you see a lot of poor quality footage from the EOS-M is because it’s a really affordable entry level DSLR. A lot of people pick it up and start posting videos who are new to filmmaking. As for Photography, the AF system on the EOS-M is really poor for photos, but the same speed as any other canon dslr in video mode.
Right now my EOS-M is out on loan. Should have it back next week, when I get it back i’ll shoot a little bit of test footage and post it.
January 22nd, 2014 at 8:04 am
That makes total sense, will the video improve in magic lantern mode? Can you shoot 720p raw video or something with eos – m? Thanks for all your help and would love some test footage from someone experienced as you.
January 22nd, 2014 at 8:28 am
Haven’t tried any raw shooting on the EOS-M with the new 2.02 firmware, but others have. The camera has the exact same sensor as the 7d, 60d, t5i, and so on. So any “amazing shots” you’ve seen with the t2i, 60d, or 7d could easily be shot with an EOS-M and the right lens.
January 22nd, 2014 at 10:32 am
Raw video on the M is so/so. The SD card is faster and can actually write up to 40mBs, so 720p is possible. The bummer is it has pink dots (from AF points on the new sensor) that have to be interpolated around in post and you have to use crop mode which crops even further in raw (all raw shots are very very close up). The best feature for the M in ML is the 3x crop zoom, gets rid of aliasing and turns your normal 22mm lens into more of a portrait style.
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:20 am
Thanks Deejay, I’ll that up as well. Thank you
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:52 am
You can find some nice footage shot with this camera over at Vimeo. Here is one of NY. https://vimeo.com/55604121
January 22nd, 2014 at 8:03 am
Thanks John, I presume thats wasn’t bad at all when he was using medium quality setting in compressor.
That was the best one so far!
January 22nd, 2014 at 10:34 am
Look for any videos with t(2/3/4)i or 60/70d footage. Sensor quality is pretty much exactly the same across the cameras. More than useful for me (web distributed mini-docs), and the small form factor and price made it a really great buy.
January 23rd, 2014 at 3:15 am
Thanks Jordan, its a steal for that money. I do need at least 35mm for what I do so the crop stuff might be tricky. But its almost that with the bmpcc anyway so here I get better battery life and both photos/video
January 22nd, 2014 at 7:06 pm
Damn that’s 170euros. I have the T2i but damn it I want that little guy as an extra! Or maybe sell my T2i and stay with the small guy.
February 22nd, 2014 at 9:54 pm
I have been looking for something to use for video and have been torn between why people buy these high end cameras vs. camcorders for a while. So, went shopping today and remembered hearing B&H recommend it for video and because it was cheap. Will this provide for better video than a $1000 camcorder? And does it have an articulating screen and most important MIC INPUT? Oh, and AF?
Thanks,
Gigi