Canon EOS M, Canon First Mirrorless Camera

Canon has definitely not stayed idle on the photo and video capture device market, but it has never competed on the MILC sector, something that has finally changed.

MILC stands for mirrorless interchangeable lens camera and is a type of photo/video capture device that lies between DSLR and compact cameras. DSLR cameras have interchangeable lenses, large sensors and a through-the-lens (TTL) optical viewfinder: light enters through a lens, reaches a light box and then reflects off a mirror and pentaprism/pentamirror (successively) before exiting through the optical viewfinder. Compact cameras sacrifice quality for size. They lack the TTL viewfinder and interchangeable lenses and rely on smaller sensors, which cannot capture as much light as those employed in DSLR, usually resulting in poor low-light performance. MILC cameras lie somewhere in the middle of that. They are compact or DSLR-like, but all get interchangeable lenses and a small enough frame to fit a pocket. The TTL is replaced by an electronic one or a semi-transparent, fixed mirror.

Canon is finally shipping its first MILC product, called EOS M Digital Camera and featuring the specs of the Rebel T4i in a smaller package. It can use all Canon EF and EF-S lenses through the optional Mount Adapter EF-EOS M, but it ships with the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM kit lens and the optional EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens. An 18.0-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, a DIGIC 5 Image Processor and an SD/SDXC card slot are part of the spec sheet as well. All in all, shooting everything up to 1080p movies should come naturally to the device. "The EOS M includes a unique feature set making it an ideal movie-making tool, while also offering incredible still image quality on its APS-C-sized CMOS sensor,'' said Yuichi Ishizuka, executive vice president and general manager, Imaging Technologies & Communications Group, Canon U.S.A.

''The camera’s size, image quality, advanced video capabilities and the versatility of Canon’s full lineup of lenses make the EOS M another great option to help our customers record and capture their creative vision."   Canon will ship the product starting in October, for $799.99 / 660.70 Euro. EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens ($299.99 / 247.76 Euro), Mount Adapter EF-EOS M (165 Euro) and Speedlite 90EX (124 Euro) will ship individually too.

Canon EOS M DSLR Camera
Image credits to Canon

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