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What I expect from the Canon EOS M5

Canon EOS M5 guy looking throu
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This morning I woke up to a series of pings announcing that the Canon EOS M5 had arrived. Could it be that Canon had finally taken the world of CSCs seriously and launched a proper competitor that would rival the Sony Alpha 7-series? No, it seemed it was just another EOS M, with a bit of retro styling.

That may be a bit harsh, but after the previous M’s it’s hard to see how Canon will make up ground when compared to the latest offerings from Fuji, Panasonic, Sony and Olympus. The Canon EOS M5 however could be the camera to do it.

canon_eos_m5_015As with everyone else who has been eagerly awaiting the full frame Canon CSC, there was an initial wave of disappointment at seeing another APS-C format CSC from Canon, but then that’s really to be expected. Why would the company aim a new format into the pro market now when the enthusiast CSC market has taken hold and is expanding at speed?

It’s a savvy move on Canon’s part, wait for the market to establish and then launch something proper into it. Not with something ground breaking, but something refined. OK, let’s forget the original M, even with the firmware updates.

Sony is making inroads into the full frame CSC pro market with its Alpha 7 range, but it’s taking time. Fuji, Olympus and Panasonic have found great success in the enthusiasts field, Pentax / Ricoh has struggled and Samsung got bored and left. Maybe then I’ll just have to wait another year until the Canon F1-D finally arrives (That’s what I want it to be called).

The Canon EOS M5 is launched and it looks completely different to the other Canon EOS M’s with some interesting new features, you can check those new features of the Canon EOS M5 here. Here’s a quick rundown of some of my initial thoughts when I heard about the launch.

SEE MORE: Hands-on Canon 5D Mark IV review

Who’s is the Canon EOS M5 aimed at?

Canon EOS M5 frontDefinitely one for the enthusiasts. It’s small size and weight will appeal to those who want an SLR’s image quality and performance, but don’t want the weight and bulk. A look at the specifications highlights that with the 24.4 million pixel sensor and Digic 7 image processor we could be looking at a camera that performs as well as, if not better than, the Canon EOS 80D.

With a launch price of £1,049 in the UK for the body only, the camera sits firmly at the top end of the enthusiast scale, but then again this is the launch price and looking through the specifications I would imagine by the end of the year we’ll see a significant price drop that will put it at sub £900. This would be in direct competition to the Canon EOS 80D, and could mark a major turning point in the battle between CSC and SLR formats.

Is the Canon EOS M5 full frame?

Canon EOS M5 front no lensNo, it’s APS-C format which again reinforces the enthusiast level. This may disappoint many, but then this level of camera is a more popular sector of the photographic market, so really commercially makes sense.

A CSC that can provide the performance of an SLR is something many people have been after from Canon for a long time, and although there have been hints of it with the later M’s, Canon has really lost out to Fuji and Olympus on this front.

Inside is a 24.2 million pixel APS-C CMOS sensor and this features Dual Pixel CMOS autofocusing. We’ll just have to wait to find out how fast the phase detection of the M5 is, and if it is anywhere near as good as the Canon EOS 80D

Does the Canon EOS M5 take EF lenses?

Canon EOS M5 Big lensNo, it really is a full fledged member of the M family and features the EF-M mount. However the initial shipment will include an EF adapter in the box that will enable you to use EF and EF-S lenses with the camera. At the moment Canon states that with the adapter you can use over 80 EF or EF-S lenses, but as yet hasn’t said which are fully compatible.

What does the Wi-Fi in the Canon EOS M5 do?

Canon EOS M5Wi-Fi is the usual form of connection between your camera and mobile device, but the M5 takes connectivity seriously and also features NFC and BlueTooth. These two other forms of connection require a little less power and with Bluetooth it seems to be less prone to dropping the connection when outdoors.

Once a connection is made the Canon app enables you to preview and download images, so you can quickly share the best of your shots. The app also enables you to take control of the camera and act as a remote, although I don’t yet have full details of this functionality.

Will the Canon EOS M5 be any good for video?

Canon EOS M5APS-C sensors are a great video option as they create good depth of field and really give footage the popular ‘filmed-on-an-SLR’ look.

The camera also features digital 5 axis stabilization to help steady handheld shots, and the Canon STM range of lenses are specially designed to enable quiet AF during filming.

Video options are conservative with a top resolution of 1080p at 60fps and a 3.5mm microphone jack, but as yet we don’t know the full scope of video settings.

We’ll bring you more on the Canon EOS M5 as soon as we have it, and Angela’s full review of the camera and features will be along soon.

If you have any comments on Canon’s latest release then please let us know on twitter @Camerajabber

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