I know this is an ALT forum but I think EOS-M is really an ALT Camera and fits better with other mirror-less bucket under ALT than under EOS mount.

Just received EOS-M with 22mm and handled it for an hour or so before placing battery for full charge. Here are my first impressions mainly from handling prospective

Build Quality:
One word Superb! Camera feels solid, strong. I would rate is build quality above Panasonic GF/X series, Sony NEX 6/7 Series or even better than earlier Canon EOS Rebels. Fit and finish, buttons and dials is really good quality just feels right.

Size/Handling:
It’s much smaller than I thought somewhere like GF3. Even with 22mm, size will nearly equal GF3+20mm. No one will imagine it an EOS D650 in a small box. When you hold it in one hand you can nearly touch and change any controls with your thumb. Handling wise, I am finding it much better than Olympus PEN series and about same as GF1 (which I still like)

Lack of Buttons/Touch Screen:
After using EP3/NEX for short period I was very skeptical of touch screens on Cameras. But to my surprise this is one area which I think Canon really got right. You can change any control (ISO/WB/Metering/Image Size ro anything you can imagine) in one or two "touches". Its like an Apple design. Considering Camera does not have an EVF, I think once you are used to it you will be able to change the controls at equal speed if not faster than dedicated buttons. You really need to play with it for an hour or two to get used to it. This is like Blackberry to IPhone transition.

Screen Quality and touch sensitivity itself is excellent probably best in class in current cameras.

Auto Focus:
AF of camera is already beaten to death in many online forums and so called review sites. AF speed is not as good as EM-5 or Nikon V1. I would say its similar to GF1/EPL2 in good light as light falls lens hesitates a bit more before settling.

Probably because of online chatter, my expectations were very low and I just wanted to check how Canon can go so wrong. But I was pleasantly surprised and Now my opinion has changed. I think issue is, online chatter is mostly originated from Amateurs and Gear Enthusiasts, but that's not the market which Canon is targeting with this model.

I think Canon is onto something BIG, they are just creating a market space between Compacts and Rebel so it has minimum impact to Rebel in short term. The moment they fix AF Speed and release few primes, it could be serious threat to smaller players.

I have not taken any photos yet, but will share photos and actual shooting experience in couple of days

sounds good and i agree this belongs here in the alt forum.

will you by any chance be trying any adapted lenses on it?

i'm curious how manual focus will work and also to what degree rangefinder wides will work with it.

sebboh wrote:

will you by any chance be trying any adapted lenses on it?

i'm curious how manual focus will work and also to what degree rangefinder wides will work with it.

This is also what I am interested in knowing.... particularly RF wides and how the sensor toppings might degrade peripheral image quality vs. an optimized sensor as found on the GXR.

Also what I think has been overlooked is that this is the first camera in the series.... it will get better, IMO.

sebboh wrote:
sounds good and i agree this belongs here in the alt forum.

will you by any chance be trying any adapted lenses on it?

i'm curious how manual focus will work and also to what degree rangefinder wides will work with it.

+1

I'd also be interested in how Conurus converted Contax N, and especially Contax 645 lenses through NAM-1 works on The EOS-M. We'll soon know I guess...

+1 here too, very curious how easy it is to focus manually, does it have a zoom in mode for focusing? Really wish it had an EVF.
If IQ is as good as my 40D, I'd be happy.
Looking forward to pics.

I am also curious for manual focusing and planning to get some nice manual focus lenses.
It does have very easy zoom in mode direct touch button to 5x and 10x and you can zoom in in Auto Focus as well.

My primary idea is get EFM mount so I can use Canon Primes and build "ONE" system around EOS mount. Camera is making more and more sense to me when coupled with EOS DSLR.

Also, after handling it for couple of hours more, I am finding controls VERY fast to operate. Within hours my operating speed (changing common settings WB, ISO, Metering and son) is much faster than m43 with cramped buttons. I am also realizing buttons are more useful in viewfinder shooting but not much when shooting at arms length

Really? better built and with better ergonomics than the all magnesium bodied, tri-navi featured NEX-7?
I will have to go handle one tomorrow.

Kaz from DigitalRev showed the AF failing him in practice shooting street, maybe he had a pre-production unit. Having no scale focusing nor peaking functionality I don't imagine manual focus is as capable.

I find that on my 7 the zoom in and focus is more accurate than just focus peaking, but together it's deadly accurate.

LightShow wrote:
I find that on my 7 the zoom in and focus is more accurate than just focus peaking, but together it's deadly accurate.


Absolutely, given the time I would shoot with magnification and peaking on a tripod any day.
When shooting street if you can't wait for AF, peaking is a great approximator, especially with the tilt screen since you can shoot at waist level.
Street shots are usually stopped down a reasonable amount anyway.

I have used NEX-7 for couple of months and ended up selling. Yes NEX is durable Magnesium alloy but it "feels" delicate much like Apple Laptops which are all metal but still feel delicate than HP/Dell higher end boxes.

I saw Kai's video and think he is AF test is totally flawed. He is trying to AF while running not sure even D3 will be able to focus that way. I am not saying AF is fast, it is slow but in good light it is not as slow as Internet chatter leads you to believe.

To be honest I was very skeptical and just ordered it to "try" and see what canon has done. But now I am thinking if I shall keep it. Except Auto Focus Speed Canon has done everything mostly right (in my opinion).

Brw there is also a first look at lens rental:

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/10/eos-m-first-impressions
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One thing that I am curious about is how the EOS-M and Nex-7 compare to the om-d with regards to managing dust (if you tend to change lenses frequently)

Thanks for the report. There are some things you mention, though, that make it hard for me to understand where you're coming from:

Sagar wrote:
I would rate is build quality above Panasonic GF/X series, Sony NEX 6/7 Series or even better than earlier Canon EOS Rebels.


I'm confused by this statement, as I would rate the build quality of the Panasonic GX1 and the NEX-7 as both significantly better than earlier Canon EOS Rebels, and you seem to be saying the opposite, so it's hard to figure out where the EOS-M fits in.


Auto Focus:
AF of camera is already beaten to death in many online forums and so called review sites. AF speed is not as good as EM-5 or Nikon V1. I would say its similar to GF1/EPL2 in good light as light falls lens hesitates a bit more before settling.

Again, confused. The GF1 AF is very nearly as fast as the E-M5, and is much, much faster than the E-PL2...so saying the EOS-M is similar to both of those makes no sense to me. Similar to the E-PL2...I get that. but the GF1 is way faster than the E-PL2 in AF...especially in dimmer light.

Videos I've seen put the EOS-M's AF as noticeably slower than any current m4/3 body or NEX body. If it's the same as the E-PL2, then that's still pretty slow.

Here's another review of the EOS-M from Cnet Asia

http://asia.cnet.com/product/canon-eos-m-46728081.htm

It would be fun if Magic Lantern could be made to work on it. This would be an indirect route to a peaking feature. And I imagine having the internals opened up for hacking could encourage tweaks for alt lens users.

Magnification is always more accurate than a focus assist, since you're seeing actual focus.

The early EOS Rebels were built like toys, much like the current ones, worst built DSLR's out there. If the EOS-M feels similar, it's not a patch on the better mirrorless cameras in build.

My NEX-7 feels as solid as my D300 did (there is some hint of delicacy, but it's in the size and weight, not the build). The NEX-7 is very light but very much not fragile.

jonrock wrote:
Here's another review of the EOS-M from Cnet Asia

http://asia.cnet.com/product/canon-eos-m-46728081.htm

Thanks for the link, Jon. The video of the AF performance was very informative. I think the AF, while slow, is not catastrophic, and would handle 90% of my casual shooting. It seems similar to my E-LP1 and E-P2. The touch screen feature more than makes up for the slow AF.

Gunzorro wrote:
jonrock wrote:
Here's another review of the EOS-M from Cnet Asia

http://asia.cnet.com/product/canon-eos-m-46728081.htm

Thanks for the link, Jon. The video of the AF performance was very informative. I think the AF, while slow, is not catastrophic, and would handle 90% of my casual shooting. It seems similar to my E-LP1 and E-P2. The touch screen feature more than makes up for the slow AF.


But there are good touch screens on mirrorless cameras that HAVE good AF (GX1, GH3, OM-D, E-PL5, NEX-5R, etc)

Robert from Lensrentals who is member here also confirmed that AF "could be" as good as E-M5 depending on the lens. 22mm seem to be the slowest lens to AF

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/10/eos-m-first-impressions


Jman13 wrote:
Gunzorro wrote:
jonrock wrote:
Here's another review of the EOS-M from Cnet Asia

http://asia.cnet.com/product/canon-eos-m-46728081.htm

Thanks for the link, Jon. The video of the AF performance was very informative. I think the AF, while slow, is not catastrophic, and would handle 90% of my casual shooting. It seems similar to my E-LP1 and E-P2. The touch screen feature more than makes up for the slow AF.


But there are good touch screens on mirrorless cameras that HAVE good AF (GX1, GH3, OM-D, E-PL5, NEX-5R, etc)

Well, I hope they get it to a good spot. If you read closely, though, he said that the EOS-M with 18-55 was close to the OM-D with the 20/1.7. So, acceptable, but not fast. The 20/1.7 is one of the slowest focusing lenses available for m4/3. Put the 45/1.8 or 12/2, or Leica 25/1.4, or even the kit zooms, and you'll see that speed increase dramatically on the OM-D (and I think that Panasonic's AF is even better than the OM-D's, especially in dim light).

While I'm not really in the market to switch, I think that good competition in this space is a good thing. It will really push the innovation for all parties. I think that the threat of the NEX is what finally pushed Olympus to get in bed with Sony on the sensor side, and to really push their tech on the IS side. Panasonic's video work has pushed all the other players to really try and step up their game on the video side.

Of course, then there's Nikon...which...well, really haven't done much.

It seems to me that it would have been a GREAT camera if it had come out two or three years ago, but people's expectations have been raised by the newest mirrorless cameras from Sony, Panasonic, and Olympus. It doesn't seem to offer anything you can't get from another brand except for slow focusing of Canon legacy lenses, but you give up a lot more than you get.