Hands-on with the Canon EOS M3

[vjlex]

Thanks for your review. Was this a pre-release version? My pre-order from Amazon.co.jp says it will not ship until March 31st.

Can you comment on the pop-up flash - did the mechanism seem well built?

Thanks!

The Canon Stores around Japan have basically an ongoing open house event where you can come in and play with all their current offerings (including the new releases such as the M3, 5Ds, 5DsR, and 11-24L). So it may be a pre-production version, I'm not sure, but if so, I don't imagine there being any differences to the final product.

As for the popup flash, no it doesn't seem very sturdy or well built at all. It felt quite flimsy as a matter of fact. But given the size constraints and the fact that none of the predecessors had an onboard flash, I think this is forgiveable. I'm glad that it's there, and from what I recall of the few shots I did with it on, it didn't seem too harsh. Either way, love it or hate, I do believe it's much better than nothing.

Thanks for sharing Shunsai. Did you get any sense as to how much faster the AF was? I've read reports that it is ~6x faster than the M1 which should put the shutter lag at ~0.1-0.15 seconds.

Was the AF fast and responsive?

Yup, I found AF very fast and responsive compared to the M and M2.

Hello shunsai, thank you for your feedback, it's greatly appreciated!

One thing I have wondered is whether the new M3 (or older M/M2) make any "shutter" sound or other noise when taking a photo?
Personally I'd love a camera that's completely quiet for discrete street photography in public places, without the annoying clicking my SL1 makes - even in quiet mode.

That can just ruin the whole atmosphere when you take pictures of someone completely oblivious, or skittish animals...

thanks

Sorry, I don't actually remember if the shutter made a sound or not. Nor did I check if sound could be turned on or off. If I get a chance to try it out again, I'll report back here.

 

[MJ]

Thanks shunsai!

 

[vjlex]

Thanks shunsai!

No problem. I happened to be downtown today, so stopped by the Canon store to play around with the M3 again. It definitely makes a shutter sound when you take a picture. I couldn't really find anywhere in the menus to turn it off.

@docsmith
Regarding autofocus speed, while I didn't time it, autofocus was very fast and there was no shutter release lag as far as I could tell. It seemed virtually instant to me.

 

[MJ]

Alright. Thank you for checking again!

 

[koenkooi]

The M1/M2/M3 all have a physical shutter, so you can't turn the sound off. Magic Lantern supports so called 'silent pictures', which are either lower resolution (720p) or full res with a capped minimum shutter (1/30s).

 

[untenchicken]

No problem. I happened to be downtown today, so stopped by the Canon store to play around with the M3 again. It definitely makes a shutter sound when you take a picture. I couldn't really find anywhere in the menus to turn it off.



Hi Shunsai!
Could you be so kind as to tell me where that shop is you can play around with the new M3? I'll be in Osaka next Monday (I live in Kobe BTW) and am kind of interested in handling it myself (comparing it with my M at the spot)
Also, could you please advice me where to go for some street photography in Osaka? I like downtown areas (used to shoot in Nippori / Tokyo all the time) so if you could give pointers I would really appreciate that! (Sorry to the rest of the CR community for this rather selfish post :-[

 

[vjlex]

Hi Shunsai!
Could you be so kind as to tell me where that shop is you can play around with the new M3? I'll be in Osaka next Monday (I live in Kobe BTW) and am kind of interested in handling it myself (comparing it with my M at the spot)
Also, could you please advice me where to go for some street photography in Osaka? I like downtown areas (used to shoot in Nippori / Tokyo all the time) so if you could give pointers I would really appreciate that! (Sorry to the rest of the CR community for this rather selfish post :-[

No problem. The more firsthand user experiences, the better!

Here is the address for the Canon store (the service center, gallery and experience store are all in the same plaza). If you follow the link, it will show a map of how to get there. That being said, it can be a little complicated to find. For one, on the street level, you're not going to necessarily see it because it's on the basement floor of one of the many tall buildings in Osaka. The best way to get to it is walking underground from Umeda or Osaka station towards the Herbis Ent building. If you're taking Hanshin from Kobe, it's about a 5 minute walk from Hanshin Umeda station.

Canon Service Center Umeda
Address: Umeda Dye Bldg. B1 floor, Umeda 3-3-10
Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan 530-0001
〒530-0001大阪府大阪市北区梅田3-3-10　梅田ダイビルB1F
Phone: (06) 4795-9100
Fax: (06) 4795-9103
Web site: http://as.chizumaru.com/canon/detailmap?account=canon&accmd=0&bid=411
Hours: 10:00-18:00, closed Sun. and national holidays
Directions: Canon Showroom is also adjacent. Near JR Osaka Station (Sakurabashi Exit) and Umeda Station.

For street photography, Umeda (north Osaka) is a great area for seeing lots of people coming and going. There is a bridge that connects Osaka JR and the other train stations. Lots of people pass there, some performers set up there- it's easy to find a spot to just stand and people watch. I also like going to Osaka Castle (especially since the park itself is free; central Osaka). Dotonbori (near Namba; south part of the city) is also a really good place for photographing, sightseeing, and eating. There you also have tons of opportunities for taking pix of shops with great displays (some even animatronic). Even further south is Tennoji. They recently erected the tallest building in Japan there (from what I hear), and it is linked to the station by a pretty cool walkway above the main intersection there.

 

[untenchicken]

Hi Shunsai!
Could you be so kind as to tell me where that shop is you can play around with the new M3? I'll be in Osaka next Monday (I live in Kobe BTW) and am kind of interested in handling it myself (comparing it with my M at the spot)
Also, could you please advice me where to go for some street photography in Osaka? I like downtown areas (used to shoot in Nippori / Tokyo all the time) so if you could give pointers I would really appreciate that! (Sorry to the rest of the CR community for this rather selfish post :-[

No problem. The more firsthand user experiences, the better!

Here is the address for the Canon store (the service center, gallery and experience store are all in the same plaza). If you follow the link, it will show a map of how to get there. That being said, it can be a little complicated to find. For one, on the street level, you're not going to necessarily see it because it's on the basement floor of one of the many tall buildings in Osaka. The best way to get to it is walking underground from Umeda or Osaka station towards the Herbis Ent building. If you're taking Hanshin from Kobe, it's about a 5 minute walk from Hanshin Umeda station.

Canon Service Center Umeda
Address: Umeda Dye Bldg. B1 floor, Umeda 3-3-10
Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan 530-0001
〒530-0001大阪府大阪市北区梅田3-3-10　梅田ダイビルB1F
Phone: (06) 4795-9100
Fax: (06) 4795-9103
Web site: http://as.chizumaru.com/canon/detailmap?account=canon&accmd=0&bid=411
Hours: 10:00-18:00, closed Sun. and national holidays
Directions: Canon Showroom is also adjacent. Near JR Osaka Station (Sakurabashi Exit) and Umeda Station.

For street photography, Umeda (north Osaka) is a great area for seeing lots of people coming and going. There is a bridge that connects Osaka JR and the other train stations. Lots of people pass there, some performers set up there- it's easy to find a spot to just stand and people watch. I also like going to Osaka Castle (especially since the park itself is free; central Osaka). Dotonbori (near Namba; south part of the city) is also a really good place for photographing, sightseeing, and eating. There you also have tons of opportunities for taking pix of shops with great displays (some even animatronic). Even further south is Tennoji. They recently erected the tallest building in Japan there (from what I hear), and it is linked to the station by a pretty cool walkway above the main intersection there.

Hi Shunsai,


Thanks very much! Appreciate it.

 

[pete vella]

Can you please comment on shot to shot cycle time. My eos m has a long lcd blackout between shot roughly 2sec.

 

[HaroldC3]

Assuming the M3 has wifi you could transfer images to your smart phone I imagine

 

[tgara]

Glad to have these insights. Still on the fence between adopting the M3 or abandoning the M system to get a xxxD second body. If Canon would release a down-scaled 17-55mm f/2.8 for M, or a couple more small, fast primes, that might make the biggest difference. Or a compact macro. Much as I like the 22mm, the 18-55 is just too slow; the 11-22 is too pricey; and the 55-200 is physically too long and way too slow (and just about useless unless AF really is worlds faster on M3).

With a tiny body that lacks a truly substantial grip, the handling of any zoom lens (other than maybe a theoretical power zoom) is going to be dicey because the torque applied to the zoom ring can be enough to destabilize your grip on the camera body--particularly when holding the camera out from your body to compose on an LCD. A stiff ring like on the Tamron 24-70mm VC makes it useless in combination with the M. Primes just handle better.

I think I may be convincing myself to bag it and just go with a Rebel T6s (760D).

Not trying to hijack this thread, but have you considered the Canon SL1/100D? That's what I use as a smaller, lighter alternative to my 5D3. For me, the SL1 had more advantages and was a better fit than the EOS M. All my L lenses fit on it, no adapter needed (although I have the 18-55 and 55-250 lenses as well). Handling is very good, much like a regular SLR. Image quality is superb. And the whole kit fits into a small Crumpler bag that is easy and light to tote around.

To me, if you already own a larger Canon camera and accessories, the SL1 is a perfect addition if you are looking for something smaller and lighter.

It also makes a great easy-to-use camera for a wife or girlfriend.

 

[docsmith]

@docsmith
Regarding autofocus speed, while I didn't time it, autofocus was very fast and there was no shutter release lag as far as I could tell. It seemed virtually instant to me.

Much appreciated. You may have just helped Canon sell at least one M3 in North America.

 

[Act444]

The SL1/55-250 combo is great and has served me well when a larger setup wasn't practical. However, I recently handled the M with the EF-M 55-200 and the size difference is significant. In fact, the M/55-200 can even be crammed into my small belt bag while I still need a regular size camera bag for the SL1 and 55-250. Also, while the 55-250 is not a big white lens, I've still had it draw (some) attention on occasion. Strongly considering swapping it out for the M/55-200...of course when I want to go all out there is the big white lens that is the 100-400

 

[Rocky]

Glad to have these insights. Still on the fence between adopting the M3 or abandoning the M system to get a xxxD second body. If Canon would release a down-scaled 17-55mm f/2.8 for M, or a couple more small, fast primes, that might make the biggest difference. Or a compact macro. Much as I like the 22mm, the 18-55 is just too slow; the 11-22 is too pricey; and the 55-200 is physically too long and way too slow (and just about useless unless AF really is worlds faster on M3).

With a tiny body that lacks a truly substantial grip, the handling of any zoom lens (other than maybe a theoretical power zoom) is going to be dicey because the torque applied to the zoom ring can be enough to destabilize your grip on the camera body--particularly when holding the camera out from your body to compose on an LCD. A stiff ring like on the Tamron 24-70mm VC makes it useless in combination with the M. Primes just handle better.

I think I may be convincing myself to bag it and just go with a Rebel T6s (760D).

Not trying to hijack this thread, but have you considered the Canon SL1/100D? That's what I use as a smaller, lighter alternative to my 5D3. For me, the SL1 had more advantages and was a better fit than the EOS M. All my L lenses fit on it, no adapter needed (although I have the 18-55 and 55-250 lenses as well). Handling is very good, much like a regular SLR. Image quality is superb. And the whole kit fits into a small Crumpler bag that is easy and light to tote around.

To me, if you already own a larger Canon camera and accessories, the SL1 is a perfect addition if you are looking for something smaller and lighter.

It also makes a great easy-to-use camera for a wife or girlfriend.

M with 22mm is poscketable. SL1 with 24mm is not, plus the 24 m is slower than the 22mm

 

[Vikmnilu]

When isit going to be released in Japan? A couple of friends are going there 2 weeks in March and I may force them to pull the trigger

Although I have some other lenses/cameras as a priority... hard to choose!!!

Thanks shunsai for the update and accurate info!!

Greetings from Finland

Victor

 

[vjlex]

When isit going to be released in Japan? A couple of friends are going there 2 weeks in March and I may force them to pull the trigger

Although I have some other lenses/cameras as a priority... hard to choose!!!

Thanks shunsai for the update and accurate info!!

Greetings from Finland

Victor

Hi Victor, according to Canon, the M3 is supposed to arrive at the end of March. I haven't heard an official release date yet, but Amazon Japan says March 31st. Hopefully it will be sooner than that though.

 

[vjlex]

I've been eagerly watching for a date. According to yodobashi.com and amazon.co.jp, the M3 should be available Thursday March 26, 2015. Just one more week to go! ;D

 

[vjlex]

Well, I picked up my M3 this afternoon (a day early). As soon as I walked out the camera store, I walked around town a bit and took some shots. A few notes about these shots: I shot them using my Tokina 16-28mm. It's quite a big lens to put on such a small camera, but so far I'm quite pleased with the picture quality.

I definitely have to work on my manual focusing. I'm not sure why, but I had some trouble getting the M3 to autofocus the Tokina. It's hopefully just a setting I overlooked. It seemed to autofocus fine when I had the camera set to continuous focus, but once I turned it off, the back-button focus didn't seem to respond. So I ended up just manually focusing. Anyway, it's still early and I didn't have time to get familiar with all the settings.

One thing I will say is that the menu button is in a really annoying corner of the camera. Being that there's not much space for your hands, I kept on mashing the menu button with my palm. That was a little annoying. I'm glad it's not the delete button! Other than that, so far, so good.

I'm gonna post quite a few shots, so I'm gonna break it up a bit.

f/4.0 1/125 ISO800 28mm

f/4.5 1/100 ISO640 20mm

f/2.8 1/60 ISO200 28mm

 

[vjlex]

Here is the second batch:

f/2.8 1/80 ISO200 28mm

f/2.8 1/60 ISO200 16mm

f/2.8 1/60 ISO200 16mm

f/2.8 1/50 ISO200 16mm

 

[vjlex]

And one more for good measure!

f/2.8 1/25 ISO200 16mm

f/2.8 1/160 ISO400 28mm

f/2.8 1/60 ISO400 20mm

f/2.8 1/6 ISO400 18mm