EOS M autofocus

[BernardLanguillier]

I had the chance to play with an EOS M mirrorless camera this weekend.

I thought it could potentially be an interesting plarform for some applications (winter mountaineering since the battery life of the Sigma DP2m makes it unusable in cold weather)... until I tried to auto-focus.

Frankly, I could not believe my eyes. The AF performance of the body I tried is worse than anything I have seen in the past 10 years (that would include early digital compact cameras). Using the central AF sensor, it was unable to focus in store (pretty bright conditions but not overly so) on very contrasty static subject located 2-3 meters away. That is after having hunted for a few seconds. I did the test a few times and the body only managed to lock focus at the 4th attempt. There was a S110 next to it and it snapped to focus in a fraction of a second on the same subject...

It could have been a bad sample/lens issue, but I would urge anyone interested in the M to try one first. I have done a quick web search though an it seems that the AF speed is widely mentioned as the #1 issue of the M with its current firmware.
 
Cheers,
Bernard

[Bernard ODonovan]

I had the chance to play with an EOS M mirrorless camera this weekend.

I thought it could potentially be an interesting plarform for some applications (winter mountaineering since the battery life of the Sigma DP2m makes it unusable in cold weather)... until I tried to auto-focus.

Frankly, I could not believe my eyes. The AF performance of the body I tried is worse than anything I have seen in the past 10 years (that would include early digital compact cameras). Using the central AF sensor, it was unable to focus in store (pretty bright conditions but not overly so) on very contrasty static subject located 2-3 meters away. That is after having hunted for a few seconds. I did the test a few times and the body only managed to lock focus at the 4th attempt. There was a S110 next to it and it snapped to focus in a fraction of a second on the same subject...

It could have been a bad sample/lens issue, but I would urge anyone interested in the M to try one first. I have done a quick web search though an it seems that the AF speed is widely mentioned as the #1 issue of the M with its current firmware.
 
Cheers,
Bernard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO7rxitFLZg

Canon late to ''The Mirrorless Party'' - Feat Pentax Q  

[jerryrock]

I bought the camera two weeks ago to use as a carry around camera with great image quality. Not satisfied with a point and shoot sensor, I was impressed with the image quality from this APS-C sensor, especially in low light. I am getting usable images at ISO 5000 with great color reproduction and no need for noise reduction! It is much better in low light than my Canon EOS 7D. This a great inconspicuous camera that doesn't really need a flash. I have used the Canon 580 EXII flash on the EOS-M and although it is twice as big as the camera, it produces well balanced flash exposures with full flash control available on the camera's touch screen. The touch screen interface takes some getting used to if you are coming from the 35mm SLR world. This camera is not designed to be all things to all people or the only camera one should have; but the ability to use full sized Canon lenses with the adapter is a compelling factor.

For those complaining about the slow focusing, turn off the continuous autofocus feature in the main menu and it focuses much faster. Focus modes are AF/MF/AF+MF, continuous/off, one shot/servo, face+tracking/flexizone area/flexizone spot. Finding the right combination of focus modes is critical to your shooting style. The 22mm f/2 lens is slower to focus with it's very narrow depth of field but it is a sharp lens. Focusing is much faster with the 18-55 3.5-5.6 IS STM lens. With my vision I find focusing easier with the touch screen than with viewfinders.

I have not fully tested the video capability with the EOS-M but it does feature HD video with continual autofocus and focus tracking during video. It has a 3.5 jack for external microphones.

There are several auto scene modes basically available for jpeg only shooting like HDR backlight control that will take a 3 shot bracketed series and blend them in camera into one image. You can use auto bracketing in RAW mode and process the images yourself. There is also a multi-shot noise reduction mode available for jpeg shooting along with handheld night scene mode (multi-shot). I have tested these modes and they work as advertised. I prefer RAW shooting and process my own bracketed images.

The naysayers are wrong concerning this camera. They either haven't taken the time to learn the camera or haven't tried it at all. It is a great portable camera with excellent image quality. If I had to criticize one feature it would be the battery life. A touch screen camera uses a lot of power and to keep this camera small, a small battery was needed. You will want to buy a second battery for a full day of shooting.

[scooby70]

Not wishing to start any fan boy type kit arguments but as far as I can see the biggest and perhaps only thing in favour of this camera is that it allows the use of Canon EF (And EF-S?) lenses. That's something that I myself wouldn't be considering but if it's the only point (other cameras offer the same, near enough the same or even arguably better image quality) I'm sure I read somewhere that there are adapters available for Nex now that allow the use of Canon lenses with AF and if so it'd be interesting to see if the focus performance with Nex+Canon lens is any better.

[Gary Brown]

... until I tried to auto-focus. Frankly, I could not believe my eyes. The AF performance of the body I tried is worse than anything I have seen in the past 10 years (that would include early digital compact cameras).

FWIW, Thom Hogan recently posted his review of the EOS M, and he concurs. A couple of excerpts from his “Autofocus” section:

One would think that with phase detect points embedded in the imaging sensor, you'd get Nikon 1 like focus performance out of the EOS M. You'd be wrong. Indeed, I'd have to say that, of the current generation of mirrorless cameras I've got, the EOS M is the most languid in its focusing. …

Whatever the case, the autofocus performance is decidedly compact-camera-like on the EOS M. And not one of the fast compact cameras. More often than not I can watch the EOS M do a full hunt for focus, going beyond and then back and forth until it decides where the focus point is.

[gullevek]

This weekend I went to the Canon Salon in Ginza and tried the M, I didn't think the M AF was so horrible bad. Nothing special, but nothing bad either.