New EOS M Body Coming in October? [CR1]

[Bob Howland]

An entry level body is fantastic news, it will shift loads of 18-55mm lenses, increase the sales of the current range and build the case for higher quality and esoteric lenses in the EF-M range. Bring it on I say.

I fail to see the link between an entry level M and the demand for "higher quality and esoteric" EF-M lenses. Any EOS camera lower than the M3 would be a shame in 2015. no need for a M more entry level, just reduce the M3 price by €/$ 200 and bring a kick-ass M4. No need for freakin' "esoteric" lenses like f/1.2 crap .. all that's missing is a compact, optically good, and highly affordable medium/portrait tele ... EF-M 85/2.0 IS STM @ €/$ 300.
no need for fisheyes, tilt-shifts, 800mm teles in EF-M mount. No need for multiple 18-200mm f/6.3 consumer dark-zooms. No need for yet snotjer 60mm macro lens. Use the Ef-s or the 100mm Ef lenses.
It really really comes down to one fully competitive EOS M4 body.

If there is no need for more native M-system lenses, why even bother with an M-system at all? Why not just make a slightly upmarket, perhaps mirrorless SL2 that can use all the EF and EF-S lenses you propose using with the M4?

At the very least, I want a tiny 15-85 f/3.5-5.6 M-mount lens.

 

[Hillsilly]

I fail to see the link between an entry level M and the demand for "higher quality and esoteric" EF-M lenses.

I don't think there is a real demand for higher quality EF-M lenses. I can't reconcile somebody wanting to spend a lot of money on high quality lenses wanting to shoot with a Canon APS-C based mirrorless camera. And given that the EF-M mount won't (at Least, easily) support a FF sensor, this rumor, if true, just reinforces that Canon are not going to compete for the enthusiast mirrorless market.

 

[Haydn1971]

I fail to see the link between an entry level M and the demand for "higher quality and esoteric" EF-M lenses. Any EOS camera lower than the M3 would be a shame in 2015.

Because it generates a larger installed user base - odds on that most of us on here started our digital camera adventure with an entry level Canon, without those sales, Canon wouldn't have had the cash flow to invest in the advanced cameras we have now... If the EF-M range is here to stay, numbers of users need to increase and that's done by volume - small margins on high volume movers is what keeps Canon in business, the low volume products like the 7DII, 5DIII etc serve to provide confidence and trickle down technology for the money making cameras.

no need for a M more entry level, just reduce the M3 price by €/$ 200 and bring a kick-ass M4.

So now the M3 is great ? Just expensive... A paragraph ago you claimed that anything less would be useless

No need for freakin' "esoteric" lenses like f/1.2 crap .. all that's missing is a compact, optically good, and highly affordable medium/portrait tele ... EF-M 85/2.0 IS STM @ €/$ 300. no need for fisheyes, tilt-shifts, 800mm teles in EF-M mount. No need for multiple 18-200mm f/6.3 consumer dark-zooms. No need for yet snotjer 60mm macro lens. Use the Ef-s or the 100mm Ef lenses.
It really really comes down to one fully competitive EOS M4 body.

In your opinion ! The EF-M range has the potential to expand, it needs a greater selection of kit lenses, the pancake zoom, the 15-85 or 18-135 type consumer lenses. It also needs some iconic fast primes and a high end standard zoom. It's early days, the market is getting larger, the recent Samsung exit just made things even healthier than before, Fujifilm are blazing a great product range, M43's seems to be quietly just getting on with sales, Nikon haven't a clue and Sony are shouting like a demanding toddler at how great their A7 is. Mirrorless is here to stay, but you ain't going to get a full range of products from day one, start small, grow... Fujifilm really have dropped lucky, but then their future is all mirrorless, they can't afford to fail at mirrorless, Canon have other lines, so can flow with the growing market.

 

[Haydn1971]

I don't think there is a real demand for higher quality EF-M lenses. I can't reconcile somebody wanting to spend a lot of money on high quality lenses wanting to shoot with a Canon APS-C based mirrorless camera.

Yeah because it's really not working for Fujifilm is it ??? /sarcasm ;-)

 

[Hillsilly]

Except its not really working for Fuji - their sales numbers aren't that great.

Still, the thing I like about Fuji is that they only have one sensor. Every camera in their range produces the exact same image quality and that takes away a lot of anxiety and concern about gear. They aren't getting big sales numbers, but the customers they attract tend to be experienced photographers who want quality gear and don't mind paying for it.

But Canon has a problem. After more than a decade of marketing aimed at convincing people to step up to FF, how do you convince them to step down to an APS-C mirrorless camera? That's a tough sales job. Hence the focus on entry level and the difference between Fuji and Canon.

 

[Loswr]

I fail to see the link between an entry level M and the demand for "higher quality and esoteric" EF-M lenses. Any EOS camera lower than the M3 would be a shame in 2015.

Because it generates a larger installed user base - odds on that most of us on here started our digital camera adventure with an entry level Canon, without those sales, Canon wouldn't have had the cash flow to invest in the advanced cameras we have now...

...or the user base with an interest in buying them as upgrades.

Canon seems to have done a good job of planning for the future of the market (although global economic issues often transcend such planning). Fortunately for us, Canon doesn't fail to see these links.

 

[Sporgon]

But Canon has a problem. After more than a decade of marketing aimed at convincing people to step up to FF, how do you convince them to step down to an APS-C mirrorless camera? That's a tough sales job. Hence the focus on entry level and the difference between Fuji and Canon.

Ten years of trying to convince people to 'step up' to a FF camera ? I don't see that at all, in fact Canon seem to be giving more support to crop; look at the quality of the crop lenses they are producing now, and introducing a heavy weight camera like the 7DII.

And as far as APS mirrorless, when you say this I read compact system mirrorless, looking at latest generation high end compacts such as the G1XII makes me wonder what the point is.

 

[Ivan Muller]

the reality is than on the BCN website this week the M2 outsold the M3, so there is a demand in Japan for a body plus lens in the 72000 yen price range. the m3, 130 000yen included an extra lens over the M2 kit but still if you look at the price difference the Japanese this/last week prefered the much cheaper M2....

well I have the M3 now and the EVF makes a huge difference, but it is still massively flawed in many ways, but perhaps if we complain enough many could be fixed via a firmware update...

 

[Haydn1971]

Noticed today that the Leica T now has a reasonably faster 55-135mm 3.5-4.5 tele zoom than the EOS-M offering, plus a similar 11-23mm wide zoom. Whilst I'm not convinced there's a market yet, it would be interesting to see a faster standard and tele zoom than we have now, even if they were just something random like a 15-40mm f2.8 and a 40-135mm f4, albeit a higher quality than the current offerings - that said, the 18-55 EF-M is pretty good anyways

 

[Mr_Canuck]

Doesn't jive with recent interview with Canon CEO, who said an enthusiast M was on the way.

Canon may be slow in the mirrorless world, but they aren't stupid. Look at the recent raft of top quality lenses. Just wait and a better M will come...

 

[scrup]

I don't see the point of a lower specced M. What can they take away? They should just continue building the M2 and sell that at the M1 firesale price if they are trying to hit a price point.

The next M should be the M4. Same ergonomics with improved autofocus and responsiveness. Price needs to be thought out as Sony currently gives better bang for buck.

EF to E mount adapters are getting cheaper and focusing is getting faster with them. This time next year adapters will have quite comparable speeds to that of some native canon bodies. It be one less reason to get a canon body.