EOS M thread

[Al Bergstein]

Is this the first post on the M? I can't seem to find another. Picked one up today. Shall we start a bit of a discussion on it? First impressions are very positive, with a few caveats. It's not an HDSLR, that's for sure. but the image quality and features are quite impressive.

[Chris Hurd]

We have an EOS M discussion thread in our news forum at http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/digital-...-c-camera.html

No reason why we can't start another, though. I was very close to picking up one of these cams but there seem to be quite a few complaints about how slow the auto focus response is. Has that been an issue for you at all yet?

[Donald McPherson]

Those smart guys at Magic Lantern have already cracked it. And are working hard to incorporate ML to improve the M.

[Al Bergstein]

Yes, the autofocus is pretty poor. I manually focus everyhing so it's not an issue. It's an odd camera, and i think that ML would be a huge upgrade to it. I have liked having a large sensor camera in my backpack, and with the 22mm pancake lens, it is very small. Given my large amount of Canon glass, it's a good fit. But if i didn't have canon glass or didn't care, i would likely have looked elsewhere. Not a replacement for a 7d but an addition. Cover photo at Olympic Peninsula Environmental News this month is one i shot, with the 22. Cropped it by 1/3rd, and the image is beautiful. No color correction done.

[Rob Katz]

anyone ever shoot video with the canon eos m?

[Al Bergstein]

Yes, what do you want to know about it? Like a 7d.

[Jon Fairhurst]

I just ordered a Fotodiox EOS to EOS-M adapter.

Looking closely at the photos, I'm wondering if the Fotodiox and Canon adapters aren't made by the same supplier. Aside from the printing, the two devices look identical. The Fotodiox costs about 40% of the Canon price. Once I receive mine, I'll be curious to take it to the camera shop to compare with the official version.

BTW, I don't buy non-Canon batteries. Mine are nearly five years old now and seem to hold a charge as well as when they were new. That said, I've purchased a Fotodiox adapter before and it worked a charm. I'll see if it was the smart purchase...

Given that my other cam is a 5D2, I'm looking forward to having a crop B-cam. My longest lens is a 100. I'll now get close to the 200L that I sold. I don't own a fast 85 right now but the 50/1.4 will now be a great interview lens. And my 16-35 is an ultrawide to wide zoom on one cam and a wide to normal zoom on the other. It's almost like doubling my lens collection. :)

[Rob Katz]

Originally Posted by Al Bergstein

Yes, what do you want to know about it? Like a 7d.

after a VERY helpful phone chat with Al, I decided to purchase the Eos-M from B&H.

i find it remarkable that we are "just" virtual on this forum, and then after a real live conversation, we "re-vert" back to actually being...well, real!

thank you Al for being real.

as I said on the phone, if you are ever in NYC i owe you a cup of coffee or a beer, your choice.

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions
nyc

[Jon Fairhurst]

Hi Rob,

Any particular points from Al that convinced you to purchase the EOS-M?

(And if you're ever in Camas, WA, I'm happy to share a beer or coffee too. :) )

[Al Bergstein]

Thanks for the kind words Rob. I'll let him talk to what he appreciated in our call. (so nice to actually talk to one of us over the phone! and I will take you up on the offer of coffee if I get to NYC). And Jon, I do get down near Portland sometimes, so I'll make a note to give you a call. Feel free to email me if you are headed up to the Olympic Peninsula.

My point is that for less than $400 you get a B cam or travel camera that is essentially a 7D in a small form factor with great ability to do shallow DOF shooting. It has limitations, no headphone jack (needs to be added in the next "pro" version), no real time audio monitoring, but from what I gathered from Rob, and from my needs, it's a great cheap camera, that uses all my 7D EFS lenses. Video has the same limitations of the 7D, meaning moire, and I don't care about autofocus and can usually set and forget my audio meters, as my subjects don't usually vary a great deal in the kind of circumstances I'd use my M for. I always have more professional cameras for those situations.

Obviously, if you can wait for the new model, and pay the almost $800 it likely is to come in at, I would wait, as it likely will have the audio headphone jack and maybe a working viewfinder, which I would prefer for 22mm pancake shooting.

But I did find that for the Grand Canyon 8 days with 2 batteries it worked great, no complaints, other than I could have used one more battery for all 8 days. My second battery ran out the 7th day.

Another great Canon cheap camera is the Powershot G15. I traveled all over the world with a powershot, in the years just prior to getting "back into" video production. I took some shots with that camera that I still use in my professional portfolio. I highly recommend it. It actually has a viewfinder too!
This is one such shot reduced in size from the original. The best camera you have is the one that's with you when you see the shot, as they say!

http://www.mountainstoneproductions....f%201%29-S.jpg

[Rob Katz]

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst

Hi Rob,

Any particular points from Al that convinced you to purchase the EOS-M?

(And if you're ever in Camas, WA, I'm happy to share a beer or coffee too. :) )

jon-

al offered some real-world experience as to the eos-m with the just released upgraded firmware.

i believe most of the scorn that this camera generated was due to "turtle-like" autofocus speed and the $800 price tag.

i bought via the $299/b&h sale, i couldn't help myself!

the eos-m should arrive today.

having NEVER used a canon dslr, i'm looking forward to seeing if the eos-m is a capable pocket still shooter AND a small, very portable one-person interview camera.

since the af speed is a wee bit better thanks to the firmware update and the price is now 67.5% of the original list, along with a capable 3.5mm audio port, i figured i'll take a flyer.

fingers crossed.

ymmv

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions
nyc

[Rob Katz]

the eos-m arrived as promised.

i do love those guys at b&h!

(I also love the folks at abel cine!)

camera feels small but solid.

it looks smaller than my sony nex 5n and the canon 18-55mm zoom doesn't look as silly as the 18-55mm kit lens looks on the nex 5n.

this being my first canon eos camera, i spent the afternoon reading blogs and watching operational vids about canon dslrs till i was bleary.

after i unboxed and charged the battery, i went thru the menu settings.

i then discovered that the eos-m already came with the updated 2.0.2 firmware!

yeah, man :-)

and sure enough, in my very unscientific manner, in still mode the eos-m autofocused as quick as the sony nex 5n that was sat right alongside and was aimed at the same objects.

i'm excited.

ymmv

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions
nyc

[Jon Fairhurst]

I expect mine to arrive Monday...

As an interview camera, you'll want an adapter and 50mm prime. The 22mm field of view is my favorite general purpose view, but it's not long enough for interviews and the zoom isn't fast enough to really blur the background. I expect to receive a Fotodiox adapter next week and will share a quick review.

For audio, take a look at the juicedLink preamps. Crank it up and run the camera one tick over the minumum and you'll get very good results without needing to sync. Combine that with a wired lav and you're set for interviews. (With a wireless setup, you can likely skip the preamp if the receiver has a hot enough output.) For walking around, the Rode Video Mic Pro is a good match with DSLRs, though an on camera mic is only so good.

We will see about auto focus. Hopefully, it's usable as I also plan to use the M for video and stills.

One thing I just realized is that this camera might not be loupe friendly. At home, I have a Hoodman 3x loupe and a RedRock mount that should work with the M. But it would block the touch screen, so the loupe idea could be a fail. We will see...

Best of luck with your new camera!

[Rob Katz]

jon-

2 day ship vs 4 day ship = east coast versus west coast.

c'est la vie.

nice to see we are thinking along the same lines.

when i put the order into b&h, i then ordered via amazon a cheapo pentax pk mount -> canon ef-m mount adapter. i started out in high school as a pentax guy and still have all those mf lenses. their crummy kit lens from the 70s, the m50/f2 is one of my standard interview lens with my fs100. funny, huh? (i found that older women look great to my eyes when i use the older pentax glass!)

i hope the canon ef-m mount sticks around long enough for 3rd parties to jump in and create adapters in the same way the sony e mount managed to get some interest.

as for sound, the BIGGEST drawback the eos-m has is the lack of a headphone input thus the inability to monitor sound. my workaround was going to be wiring my sound devices mix pre 3.5mm out to the eos-m 3.5mm input and rely on the mix pre's battery power, to employ several xlr mics. that does mean adding a device to the food chain, albeit the mix pre is smallish and can be operated at waist level.

if i want to get REALLY skinny, i have used a real cheap, battery powered lav-Audio-Technica ATR3350 Omnidirectional Condenser Lavalier Microphone-and darn, if this junky $20 mic hasn't gotten the job done. The only issues with this mic is build quality, size and it chews batteries. That said, I treat it gentle, my talking head shots often have the lav just south of frame, and the batteries are really cheap. I would test the levels via playback with the lav directly into the eos-m and pray (not a situation that makes me feel comfortable but that is tomorrow's headache not today's)

I haven't mounted a mic on my camera in a really long time. I have read that folks like the rode. I have both the ntg2 and the ntg3 so i am a fan of their products. which rode do you have, the update "pro" or the original? and can it really do a decent job as an interview mic less than 6 feet from the subject?

lastly, i also spent a moment wondering about how to "see" the lcd in bright sunshine. a sunshade might be the best solution. on my nex 5n, i have a vello glass overlay that has been great about scratches but just decent as a sun guard. i do realize that i will need step-up rings or another vari nd if i want to use the eos-m outside.

another tool in the bag.

i just need to find ways to work this camera into my efforts.

i look forward to your thoughts when you unbox and play.

is the eos-m a tool or a toy?

ymmv

be well.

rob
smalltalk productions
nyc

[Al Bergstein]

Glad you liked it! Great that it came with the new firmware, to save you a step. I'm just sorry I bought it at the original price, but it's served me well already. And yes, if in a pinch I needed to run this for my primary interview camera, I would hook up my Mixpre-D and monitor directly. Now if Canon reads this and sends me the new model to review on their behalf, I'd be quite happy (not likely that will happen, and just to be clear, I certainly had no financial stake in any of this, other than to see more people shooting with this camera.

Happy shooting. Have a great weekend.