My Eos M at work...

[verysimplejason]

Thanks for the great review and trust you have in the M.
I originally bough it as a backup camera for candid general shooting.
However, after reading your blog, i'm actually thinking of leaving my 5D3 at home and only bringing the M with a 24-70ii lens for my upcoming trip to the UK. I was worried i might miss my 5D3 too much if i didn't bring it but i know i wouldn't miss the weight of tugging it around.
And since i'm not needing the high iso or higher mp or RAW quality of the 5D3, the M might just be all i need for the trip..
Would you bravely do the same if it were me or should i still bring the 5D3 just in case….i really am not looking forward to tugging it around London...

Just a suggestion...  why not leave also the 24-70 also and just bring a 22mm and 18-55 EF-M lenses + a small external flash?  It'll make your trip more fun.  I believe those 2 lenses are enough to cover most of your needs and they're good optically though not as good as your 24-70. 

[Ivan Muller]

Would you bravely do the same if it were me or should i still bring the 5D3 just in case….i really am not looking forward to tugging it around London...

Roy, thanks for the kind words!

I firmly believe less is more. I also firmly believe that there is nothing like shooting for a long period, at least a year or more with only one camera and one lens combination to clarify ones vision and to really find out what sort of photography one would like to do and which other lenses, if any, is needed.

I used a Leica X1 for two years almost exclusively for my personal photography. What I learned during this time was that the 35mm lens is really all I need 90% of the time. Occasionally I thought that perhaps a 50 or an 80 would have been nice although certainly not essential...

( I also found out that I like a mixture of people and landscapes and structures in a documentary and austere sort of way...)

But that's just me but that is also the only perspective from which I can answer your question...

Thus the short answer:

All I would need is the Eos M and the 22mm f2 lens....

The long answer:

But London and the European cities also have stunning architecture and structures and for that I would also need a tripod and my shift lenses. My all time favorite lens camera combination is my Mamiya ZD with the 50mm shift, equivalent to a 32mm lens, close to 'ideal' 35mm, which I have found is almost perfect for the lower European structures and churches etc, like the Duomo in Milan. The Medium format camera, although old technology, still gives me superb image quality with more dynamic range than the 5D2, although resolution is close as both are 22mp, and I actually prefer the 36 x48 ratio more than the 24x36 of the 35mm format...

So on a typical trip I would take the 5d2 plus 40mm pancake ( close to the 'ideal' 35mm) 24mm TS and my 70-300L ( just in case for architectural details  that are far away - although generally I never use it).  Also my Mamiya with 50mm shift and then the Eos m with 22mm. Plus Tripod.    No wonder I have a lower back problem!

But if I take all this stuff I have a rule to only use one lens and camera at a time. So for instance, I would take the Mamiya combo on a  tripod, put it on my shoulder and just walk down the street until I see something to photograph. Viewing and seeing with one lens is just so much easier and after a while you just know whats going to be in the viewfinder...

Having more than one lens and camera slows the whole process down and involves too may decision making processes.

.....and sometimes I just leave all the cameras behind and just soak up the experience without a camera

some examples of a one lens one camera combo can be found on my blog
here....http://thelazytravelphotographer.blogspot.com/2013/02/hofmeyer.html

and here.... http://thelazytravelphotographer.blogspot.com/2013/02/12-minutes-in-booysens.html 

But of course rules are meant to be broken and sometimes I ignore everything I have said above!

Goodluck with the decisions, enjoy the trip and share your images with us!

[spinworkxroy]

Thanks man..
Actually, i'm not too bothered about architectural photos and stuff because this is my 3rd visit to the UK in 4 years so..i think i've covered pretty much what i needed to..the only difference, the past 2 times, i didn't own the 5D

Honestly, i've been using the M these 2 days for my event shooting..and i absolutely hated it..i guess for studio and still work it works fine but for faster action in variable lighting, it failed miserably.
The fact that 80% of my shots had wrong exposure, 90% of the shots failed to focus and the servo mode 100% of the time couldn't keep up. It was a good thing I wasn't the main photographer, i was just there to "test" the M...and i compare with the Sony Nex series, it fails miserably for fast event shooting. I tried the 22stm, 50f1.4,85f1.4 with the M and they all failed.

The only time it worked was when i set EVERYTHING to full manual, Aperture,shutter,iso,MF...only then i could get everything right..but without peaking, manual focusing was also a pain.

So to me, somehow this camera might make an ok backup and fun camera to carry around for candid and random shooting...but i think even for the UK, i will still bring along my 5D..just in case...because when the M fails, it REALLY fails

[spinworkxroy]

Just a suggestion...  why not leave also the 24-70 also and just bring a 22mm and 18-55 EF-M lenses + a small external flash?  It'll make your trip more fun.  I believe those 2 lenses are enough to cover most of your needs and they're good optically though not as good as your 24-70. 

Because the only lens for the M i own is the 22mm..i bought from the B&H fire sale..
And the only flashes i own are the 600ex so they've even bigger than the camera haha..

[Ivan Muller]

Thanks man..

So to me, somehow this camera might make an ok backup and fun camera to carry around for candid and random shooting...but i think even for the UK, i will still bring along my 5D..just in case...because when the M fails, it REALLY fails

....well at least you have got your answer!

[Chosenbydestiny]

It gets bad press because people still think something in that price range is supposed to perform as good or better than something that sells for up to 5x more. I actually want one. Eos m plus adapter is the best backup camera for field work that you can buy right now ^^

[spinworkxroy]

It gets bad press because people still think something in that price range is supposed to perform as good or better than something that sells for up to 5x more. I actually want one. Eos m plus adapter is the best backup camera for field work that you can buy right now ^^

Not really..i never expected it to match something 5x more expensive. The fact i had so much trouble with it not because it couldn't keep with with the 5D..the fact is, it couldn't even keep up with the Nex5N or the FujiX100s. I have friends shooting the same event using those cameras while i was using the M...they has alot more luck than i did and that's what got me disappointed in it. So i borrowed their cameras and true enough..they were way better.
the only reason why i bought it is because i could use my canon glass and also because it was cheap....but if given a choice, i would've gone with a nex anyday after that weekend of shooting and deleting over 80% of my photos because of wrong exposure or bad focusing...

[bholliman]

Honestly, i've been using the M these 2 days for my event shooting..and i absolutely hated it..i guess for studio and still work it works fine but for faster action in variable lighting, it failed miserably.

I can't replicate your experience, but I used my M with 22/2 lens today at a birthday party for my neighbors 5-year-old daughter and it did OK.  It performed better when the kids were semi stationary than when they were running around, but overall it performed better than I expected.

The image quality was really good, even at 3200 ISO.  My biggest issue was recovery time between shots rather than AF performance. I missed some shots waiting for the camera to write to the SD card at times.  I was pretty pleased with the video as well.

After 5 days with the M+ 22/2, I'm very happy with it.  I've mostly used it for landscapes and shots of the kids around the house and it has performed very well in my opinion. 

[spinworkxroy]

I can't replicate your experience, but I used my M with 22/2 lens today at a birthday party for my neighbors 5-year-old daughter and it did OK.  It performed better when the kids were semi stationary than when they were running around, but overall it performed better than I expected.

The image quality was really good, even at 3200 ISO.  My biggest issue was recovery time between shots rather than AF performance. I missed some shots waiting for the camera to write to the SD card at times.  I was pretty pleased with the video as well.

After 5 days with the M+ 22/2, I'm very happy with it.  I've mostly used it for landscapes and shots of the kids around the house and it has performed very well in my opinion.

Well, the event i was shooting at is a yoyo competition indoors so the lighting was variable throughout the day..the ISO was at least 1600, and the players moved about the stage very quicky and in quick succession..so that's why the AF failed..by the time it caught focus, the player already moved..even in video mode, it just refuses to track and keep focus..
well, the cameras we usually use to shoot are the 1dx and 5d3 so i just tried out the M for fun since we already had main photographers shooting anyways.. the off stage photos turned out great with the M..as long as there are no super quick movements, the camera is great..
i was just slightly irritated that other brands at similar pricing performed better at the same event..i wasn't the only M user there and the other guy also gave up

[comsense]

It gets bad press because people still think something in that price range is supposed to perform as good or better than something that sells for up to 5x more. I actually want one. Eos m plus adapter is the best backup camera for field work that you can buy right now ^^

Not really..i never expected it to match something 5x more expensive. The fact i had so much trouble with it not because it couldn't keep with with the 5D..the fact is, it couldn't even keep up with the Nex5N or the FujiX100s. I have friends shooting the same event using those cameras while i was using the M...they has alot more luck than i did and that's what got me disappointed in it. So i borrowed their cameras and true enough..they were way better.
the only reason why i bought it is because i could use my canon glass and also because it was cheap....but if given a choice, i would've gone with a nex anyday after that weekend of shooting and deleting over 80% of my photos because of wrong exposure or bad focusing...

I had the same experience. It is really a great camera for prepared stills and studios. If you want to shoot something unexpectedly or something moving, it sucks. The time to capture shots (including time to AF) and time between shots is unacceptable for camera of this 'class'. I wonder how bad it was before firmware update??? Its poor sales are completely justified. I believe at $300 its still a good deal but not the 'deal of the year' some people are claiming. 
Fan boys on other thread were not happy......

[bholliman]

...the cameras we usually use to shoot are the 1dx and 5d3 so i just tried out the M for fun since we already had main photographers shooting anyways.. the off stage photos turned out great with the M..as long as there are no super quick movements, the camera is great..

I agree, its a great camera for stationary or slow moving subjects... but I'll use one of my DSLR's if I want to shoot something moving quickly!

I don't have access to any competitors ILC's, so my only point of comparison was my 6D/7D and point & shoot S100. 

[Ivan Muller]

I agree, its a great camera for stationary or slow moving subjects... but I'll use one of my DSLR's if I want to shoot something moving quickly!

I don't have access to any competitors ILC's, so my only point of comparison was my 6D/7D and point & shoot S100.

Compared to the Leica X1, at four times the price, its got faster AF and a decent screen and a more solid feel...and altogether a much more responsive camera. The Nex's, are great cameras but , personally I think, let down by somewhat mediocre lenses. I make a living from photography and there is a tool for every job...and sometimes one tool can do almost everything...from that perspective my Eos M can do almost everything that I do with my 5D2, studio, interiors, architecture, people so its the perfect backup camera, small and inexpensive.  But because its so small I also carry it with me everywhere, something that I am loathe to do with my 5D2...so yes the Eos M is pretty flawed but its got some very strong points, price and quality images being top of the list...and the AF, well I knew that it was slow before I even looked at it, so no disappointments there, but quite a few nice surprises that I have discovered along the way...