Eos_m_white_body_back_cl-224x136The Canon EOS M was only just announced, but there are some hands-on impressions already floating around. The camera marks Canon's first attempt at a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera, and they've gone with a very subtle design both in the body and the new EF-M lenses. Sebastian over at cinema5D was invited by Canon to a pre-announcement event last week, and was able to play with the camera a bit. He gives some of his impressions and his overall feel of the camera below.

In terms of the sensor inside, it looks like it's going to suffer from aliasing and moire just like the previous Canon cameras (with the exceptions being the new 1D X and the 5D Mark III):


Most significant for HDSLR people is the fact that the EOS M incorporates the same sensor the Canon EOS 7D & 650D also share. Yes the EOS M has the 7D sensor again meaning it also has the same aliasing & moiré issues.

Eos_m_front_sensor-visible-616x384

The camera shares the same 5184 x 3456 full resolution and 18mp sensor as many other Canon cameras, but it's configuration is much closer to the T4i thanks to the Digic 5 processor. It also seems like the image stabilizer in the new mirrorless lenses, unlike previous Canon lenses, is not as ideal for video:

The image stabilization of the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM standard zoom lens is not ideal for video. During the little time of testing we had the stabilization seemed to not smooth enough and shift the image too quickly...I can recommend IS for video, but I wouldn’t use the EF-M 18-55mm for that.

He found the AF to be very silent, which is a good sign, since it's possible that the new lenses are designed from the ground up to be as quiet as possible. They also are made of of less physical parts, so there's a lot less that has to be kept quiet, especially in a zoom lens. If Canon does ever release a lower-end digital cinema camera, and they use this mount, these new mirrorless lenses might actually be able to get some passable autofocus during video mode (which I know many of you would prefer not to even think about -- but there are situations where it could be useful).

It's looking like this will be a perfect B-camera for anyone shooting on the Canon cameras that share the 18mp sensor -- and you should expect similar video quality. For some people it's also useful that this camera will fit into even tighter spaces than the other Canon DSLRs. It might be slightly disappointing that aliasing and moire aren't really improved, but if you've been happy with your Canon 7D or 60D, then there's a pretty good chance you will find the image quality acceptable. Bit rates should also be similar to those cameras, but the huge positive is that we'll be able to record much longer takes. This may end up turning into an A-camera for some documentary folks thanks to the record times. Dual-system sound would be necessary (as audio quality won't be great in-camera), but the ability to continue rolling is a major plus for many people.

To read the rest of Sebastian's impressions, head on over to cinema5D.

[via cinema5D]