The Original EOS M was extremely popular despite how sluggish the Auto Focus System was. It was also the only Camera of it's series that is Available in the United States which has now been discontinued. Prices have raised slightly but you can still get you're hands on one with Amazon. The Canon EOS M2 released in December 2013 which offered a few new features like faster Auto Focus and even Wifi but still lacked an actual grip on the Camera and because it was only available in Europe and Asia, Did anyone even know the EOS M2 existed?
The Newly born Canon EOS M3 has Arrived as of April 2015 to most retailers including Amazon and Digitalrev and it's already lacking reviews despite having a ton of promotion thrown at you over the past few Months. There was a lot of buildup to this Camera which was Announced on February 6th, 2015 along with the new Rebel Line and 5DS.
Design:
Inside, The EOS M3 includes a 24MP CMOS APS-C Sensor and when comparing the two camera i can already tell you Image Quality is much better in most cases with not only Stills being Sharper but Video too. Also very noticeable is the Grip which improves hand holding extremely well when compared to the original EOS M which barely had anything.
The Camera also features a Flip out screen for Low angle Photography or for just taking Selfies. On the top of the EOS M3 you can see it also includes a Mode Dial and Compensation Dial as well. On the sides you get the standard inputs including Mini HDMI, Mini USB and Mic Input. Sorry Videographers, No headphone Jack. The Original EOS M supported a LP-E12 Battery but the EOS M3 now uses an LP-E17 Battery which may look exactly the same but upon close exception, It is slightly different in size and will not fit in any other Camera but the EOS M3.
This is a real disappointment because if you had any spare 3rd Party EOS M batteries laying around, You cannot use them. The Canon EOS M3 does however supports an EVF which is a nice plus in my book considering every now and then it can be tough to grab focus on Subjects. Like the Original EOS M, The EOS M3 still rocks the standard SD Card Slot and brings us a newly attached on board Flash that Pops out. This is a nice add on and it does Flip Up to bounce off a wall or ceiling but the problem is, You have to hold it up? I don't know what they were thinking but it will not stay attached upwards so you are stuck losing some Stabilization trying to hold the flash up.
The Thumb Grip now Features a Quick Movie Record Button whether your taking Pictures or Capturing Video. Also on the Grip is your Image Preview Button which is very hard to push in my opinion quite often actually. I understand there reasoning behind it but i would prefer it underneath the Thumb grip like the Original EOS M. The Compensation Dial is also very hard to Change but i found some quick back and forth maneuvers with your Thumb will wear it in and make it much easier to turn.
ISO Performance
ISO performance is slightly better but i have noticed it can be hard to tell a difference however in my low light test at 6400 ISO posted below, The EOS M3 had a slightly cleaner Image than the Original EOS M. This is a good thing but don't expect a big difference because we all know Crop Sensors lack good Low Light Performance.
You can easily get usable Images up to 3200 ISO with 6400 pushing the limit in my experience. In the Photo above at Fresh Market, I was able to easily get a usable shot at 3200 ISO with the EF-S 10-18mm IS STM lens. Colors held up well and blacks weren't far off either. These Shots are Noisy but people need to understand 3200-6400 ISO for a Camera this size is Huge. Most Point & Shoots cannot even handle 800 ISO and because there is a DSLR Sensor inside, We are able to push the ISO more because of the Sensor size.
Auto Focus
The EOS M3 gives photographers and even Videographers something amazing and that is Focus Peaking. This tool is here to assist you while Manual focusing. It highlights the areas that are in focus so you are able to quickly focus the camera and not miss crucial shots. It’s also great for those of us with poor eye sight who need a little assistance to determine if something is “perfectly” in focus. This feature works great and as you can see in the image above, I used Focus peaking to gather focus through the grass to take the picture. Having owned a 7D Mark II for a Month, I can easily tell you i would of dealt with the same issues and probably never even gotten the shot because it lacks Focus Peaking.
Auto Focus is quick and accurate and does offer much better performance than the Original EOS M but still struggles to gather focus sometimes. I think this is more of an issue with the type of Camera it is versus the actual Camera itself. People will compare it to other Mirrorless Cameras and tell you its better than the EOS M3, But for me, I am willing to take a slightly slower Auto Focus System and have a nice lens choice as my Option. If your into Landscapes, Portraits, Video or Night Photography, The EOS M3 or even EOS M should be in your Camera Bag.
However in my testing experience with the EF-S 55-250mm IS STM, The combination of the Lens, Camera and Adapter was very sluggish and slow when focusing on bright subjects. This was so frustrating i returned the lens the next day because it was almost useless for wildlife Photography. When it worked, it Worked very well but when focusing on Bright Sunny Grass or a bright green Iguana, The Auto Focus System in the EOS M3 struggled and the lens Hunted for focus.
Other lenses like the 85mm or 50mm worked perfectly with the EOS M3 and EF Adapter which offered Quick focus and Accurate overall Sharpness. I was quite disappointed with the Performance of the Zoom lens but i am glad to know it's a lens issue more than the camera. Lets just hope it's not a Zoom issue. I will further test this issue with other zoom lenses like the 70-200mm in the coming weeks.
Testing the EOS M3 at night using the EF-M 18-55mm STM, I was struggling to gather focus using the AF to MF override feature. While holding the Shutter down and turning the Focusing ring, The camera will zoom in and when you hit the correct spot, Focus Peaking will highlight what is in focus. You can then take the picture. This Method works very well however every shot i took was out of focus. I found that using Auto Focus or setting it to full Manual Focus worked much better. I never tried this on the Original EOS M but heard it had the same issues, So focus Peaking does not help with this Feature sadly.
Image Quality
Image Quality is great and sharp with 24 Megapixels of room to crop if needed. The Sensor offers decent Noise Performance but lets go into more depth about how the Sensor is Different from a typical Canon sensor. Canon is known for having great Skin tones and the EOS M3 does a decent job but i did have issues color correcting Portraits in most situations where with the EOS M, I barely had to touch any Color Correction.
I have taken over 5,000 Images with the EOS M3 including various lenses which are listed below and with that said. The Sensor does have a Green Tint in the corners. This is definitely more visible on a cloudy day or looking at an under exposed image in post. On bright Sunny Days it's almost non existence unless you look for it. This issue could easily be caused by Canon Software or it's simply just the Sensor itself. I do not believe this is a faulty camera as Gordan Laing at camera labs also noticed this issue.
Another Issue that i noticed about the Senor is the Blacks are crushed like in the comparison to the Original EOS M above. You can clearly see on the left that the EOS M3 has much Darker Blacks and the Highlights are also blown out. All settings were captured exactly the same and the RAW files are posted below to judge for yourself. Turning Highlights Down and boosting the Blacks up in Camera RAW made the Images much more even therefore this is not much of an issue for me as i always shoot RAW but it can be if you're shooting at High ISO and you want to recover the blacks. This will just increase the noise even more than usual. Again, I really hope this is a software related issue because it could easily be a deal breaker for most people.
White Balance is also handled differently with the EOS M3 struggling with Greens and Blues while Reds and Yellows are okay despite what i said above about Skin Tones. Blues look more like Cyan and Greens looks more like Yellow. I'm nitpicking here but for someone who has never shot anything but canon, These are the differences i am noticing and i do find myself spending more time Editing EOS M3 Files versus The Original EOS M.
Editing Workflow
My Editing Workflow is kept simple although with the EOS M3, I am spending more time editing photos whether its fixing White Balance or tweaking the overall look of an image. The Photo above was taken at sunset with the sun shining on the Grass and trees. The Camera was set to Auto White Balance and didn't do a very good job in my opinion. This is easily fixable in any Editing Software but the point is the amount of extra work needed to get the shot i want. Even though i Shoot RAW, I think a Kelvin Option under White Balance would help a lot. I have also found out that the EF-M 22mm f2 STM lens has the worst vignetting tint when compared to the other lenses i tested. So far the EF 50mm f1.4 USM had the least amount of vignetting tint.
Cornerfix Correction
With Cornerfix Software, Fixing the Vignetting Tint is actually pretty easy however it is based off of lens correction meaning different lenses need different profiles. Also Different Apertures may provide different results too. Using the software is easy, You make a reference image just like you would with Custom White Balance, than insert the image into Cornerfix after converting to DNG because it doesn't recognize CR2 files. After opening the reference image you create a Lens Profile and your done. Now you can open a single image to correct or batch process several images at the same time. I did a quick test which is shown above and i'm hoping i don't have to correct for different apertures.
Conclusion
The EOS M3 offers an improvement with a dedicated Flash and Flip out Screen. It also features great Image Quality with usable Images up to 3200 ISO but i have to ask myself this simple Question, Is it worth the Upgrade? In my opinion no and this is mostly based off of the Price point being at $600-$1,000 depending on the kit you get. The real winner here is the EOS M2 Kit on Digitalrev which includes three lenses, Flash and EF Adapter for $769. They also offer the Original EOS M with Two lenses and the Flash for $389. Both are great deals as Amazon prices for the Original EOS M are all over the place right now because it got Discontinued.
If you were one of those people to grab The EOS M3 EVF kit at $590 off Amazon Japan than consider yourself very lucky as the EVF alone is $250 Retail but seeing that the Demand for the Camera is high, Prices have shot back up and a lot of Sellers on Amazon Japan are currently on Back Order. Overall this is a great Camera and much improved over the Original EOS M. If you can find the right price that fits your budget, I would easily pick one up.
Gear Used:
Canon EOS M | Canon EOS M3
EF-M 18-55mm IS STM | EF-M 22mm f2 STM
EF 85mm f1.8 USM | EF 50mm f1.4 USM | EF 40mm f2.8 STM
EF-S 10-18mm IS STM | EF-S 55-250mm IS STM | EF 50mm f1.8
RAW Files can be downloaded here:
http://www.johnniebutters.com …ew-vs-original-eos-m.html
