Hands-on with the Canon EOS M3

Ooh, lots of interesting going ons in this thread - Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts and pics! Let's see if I can remember what posts I wanted to comment on...

EOS M Black-out: I believe this delay was greatly improved upon from M to M2, to such an extent that it was highlighted in the M2 video promos on YouTube - or if I'm mistaken, users at least made comparison videos of that and also the increased AF speed - so I imagine the M3 can only be further improved with the next gen sensor (2 gens from the M1) and processor!

Pop-Up BOUNCE Flash!: I'm disappointed to hear it feels a little flimsy BUT... It tilts up for bouncing, right?! This is an AMAZING feature - has anybody tried it out with any success? If people remember it's there this could save a lot of opportunities being lost vs leaving a bulky flash at home!

SL1 People!: I'll join you in hijacking this thread, just a little ;)
Here's a wildcard and I hope you consider it: "EF 100mm f/2 USM" - I don't think a (relatively) petite, sexier SL1/Lens combo exists, and given the choice I'd probably rather crop a 4.5mp image from it than shoot a much slower 200mm lens. It's fairly compact, fast and to me is possibly the pinnacle of APS-C shooting speed/reach/portability compromise (and prior to the new 24mp and DPAF sensors, the M2 and SL1 sensor was/is Canons best, beating the 7D!)
Also, the 50mm 1.8 (mk1 for me) is also small and awesome on the SL1/100D :)
 
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another underrated wildcard for either the M series (adapted) or SL1/100D:
Tamron's 55-200mm lens, has no IS but weighs next to nothing, goes on eBay for next to nothing and squishes down to just a few inches - the optics are wonderful in real-world use (the 18-200 is apparently poor but the 55-200 is rarely mentioned but is ace!)
Weighs nothing, takes up no space, costs pennies... Consider it, maybe? :)

Back on the M3: Any thoughts on sensor performance* yet?! I'm very curious how this might resolve details for birding/wildlife and if ISO performance is going anywhere anymore :)
*does the 760D thumb-twiddle, suppressed excitement dance*
oh, is the 760D on display then?!

*modified from autocorrect asking about 'Sensor Repentance'?! oh, well...
 
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vjlex

EOS R5
Oct 15, 2011
514
430
Osaka, Japan
East Wind Photography said:
Looks really good to me. Can you take some high ISO shots when you get a chance? In a low light situation? Please also post the ISO and camera settings if you can so we can put this awesome quality into perspective.

I'd like to see if it holds up to ISO 1600, 3200, 6400.

Here is a ISO1600 & 3200. Forgot to take one at 6400, because I was hungry and my food came. ;D

f/8.0 1/8 ISO1600 28mm
IMG_0081.JPG


f/7.1 1/8 ISO3200 28mm
IMG_0083.JPG


Btw, if anyone comes across the manual in English, please let me know. Mine only came with Japanese and the Canon Europe website hasn't posted it yet. Haven't figured out how to access the camera's wifi capabilities.
 
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1600 looks pretty clean but the 3200 is starting to look a bit spongy in the shadows. Might be the jpg compression and then the re-compression done by the forum. Not bad though. Would still like to see 6400 sometime in low light with something in the background that's really dark, almost black.

Thanks for taking the time to show us what it can do. I'll be looking to upgrade my M1.

shunsai said:
East Wind Photography said:
Looks really good to me. Can you take some high ISO shots when you get a chance? In a low light situation? Please also post the ISO and camera settings if you can so we can put this awesome quality into perspective.

I'd like to see if it holds up to ISO 1600, 3200, 6400.

Here is a ISO1600 & 3200. Forgot to take one at 6400, because I was hungry and my food came. ;D

f/8.0 1/8 ISO1600 28mm
IMG_0081.JPG


f/7.1 1/8 ISO3200 28mm
IMG_0083.JPG


Btw, if anyone comes across the manual in English, please let me know. Mine only came with Japanese and the Canon Europe website hasn't posted it yet. Haven't figured out how to access the camera's wifi capabilities.
 
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shunsai said:
East Wind Photography said:
Looks really good to me. Can you take some high ISO shots when you get a chance? In a low light situation? Please also post the ISO and camera settings if you can so we can put this awesome quality into perspective.

I'd like to see if it holds up to ISO 1600, 3200, 6400.

Here is a ISO1600 & 3200. Forgot to take one at 6400, because I was hungry and my food came. ;D

f/8.0 1/8 ISO1600 28mm
IMG_0081.JPG


f/7.1 1/8 ISO3200 28mm
IMG_0083.JPG


Btw, if anyone comes across the manual in English, please let me know. Mine only came with Japanese and the Canon Europe website hasn't posted it yet. Haven't figured out how to access the camera's wifi capabilities.

Thanks for the shots!

I'm very curious to if they've improved shadow performance and dynamic range at low ISO's. Would you be able to take a dark ISO 100 shot in RAW and bring up the shadows and see if that's improved over the 7d mk ii? Thank you!!
 
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Typically with digital cameras, low ISO is used to preserve highlight detail and high ISO to preserve shadow detail. I doubt there will be much improvement over the 7d2.

Most people don't realize this fact and expect the sensors to perform equally well at all ISOs.

Magic Lantern dual-ISO deals with this issue by using high and low ISO to record images then combining the best of both to create a low noise high dr image. However ML only works with the M1 right now.

We typically expect more and more from new cameras but if we keep the above ISO rule in mind when shooting subjects we can compensate for DR issues by selecting the proper ISO first.
 
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That's certainly true, but there are times where having that dynamic range is really useful. For example, if you have a back-lit landscape shot where you don't want the highlights to be overexposed because they tell an interesting story. In this case, it would be best to expose such that the highlights aren't maxed, and bring up the details in the shadows. And it's disappointing that the sony sensors are capable of better dynamic range.

Sure, magic lantern does help, but there are certainly artifacts from the trick they are using to increase dynamic range. Plus, I prefer to run my cameras in stock mode.

East Wind Photography said:
Typically with digital cameras, low ISO is used to preserve highlight detail and high ISO to preserve shadow detail. I doubt there will be much improvement over the 7d2.

Most people don't realize this fact and expect the sensors to perform equally well at all ISOs.

Magic Lantern dual-ISO deals with this issue by using high and low ISO to record images then combining the best of both to create a low noise high dr image. However ML only works with the M1 right now.

We typically expect more and more from new cameras but if we keep the above ISO rule in mind when shooting subjects we can compensate for DR issues by selecting the proper ISO first.
 
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Marsu42

Canon Pride.
Feb 7, 2012
6,310
0
Berlin
der-tierfotograf.de
ydnality said:
That's certainly true, but there are times where having that dynamic range is really useful. [...] And it's disappointing that the sony sensors are capable of better dynamic range.

You're new 'round here, so let me put it to you in a civil way :) ... CR experts have determined if you need more than [insert spec of current Canon sensors here] than you're not capable enough as a photog, and you certainly don't need [insert spec of current Sony sensors here] !

Btw ever though of using a Sony sensor with Magic Lantern's dual_iso? This would result in a 17ev dynamic range in a single shot...
 
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Marsu42 said:
ydnality said:
That's certainly true, but there are times where having that dynamic range is really useful. [...] And it's disappointing that the sony sensors are capable of better dynamic range.

You're new 'round here, so let me put it to you in a civil way :) ... CR experts have determined if you need more than [insert spec of current Canon sensors here] than you're not capable enough as a photog, and you certainly don't need [insert spec of current Sony sensors here] !

Btw ever though of using a Sony sensor with Magic Lantern's dual_iso? This would result in a 17ev dynamic range in a single shot...

I agree. I use ML dualiso now to shoot sports when the games are outside in mid afternoon or I have to be on the other side of the field with the sun In my eyes. In both of those instances most photogs would give up.

Another application I use it for is shooting wildlife. Dualiso allows me to shoot animals in the mid day sun and recover the shadow detail for a more natural looking photograph.

I think either would be difficult with a Sony, regardless of the dr.
 
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dcm

Enjoy the gear you have!
CR Pro
Apr 18, 2013
1,088
846
Colorado, USA
Jamesy said:
Totally missed the email from Amazon Japan. My M3 shipped on Mar 24th and arrived today at Tenso moments ago (so says Amazon tracking). The Tenso portal is still not registering the package on my behalf.

So, did it arrive? Initial impressions? I'm considering this route if it doesn't appear on DigitalRev in the near future.
 
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