Sturdy, compact body. Tilting rear touch display. In-body flash. Wi-Fi with NFC. Mounts Canon SLR lenses via adapter.
Canon takes a big step forward in the mirrorless camera market with the EOS M3, but it still lags behind the competition.
Canon's first mirrorless camera, the EOS M, debuted to little enthusiasm or praise. Lack of autofocus speed—one of Canon's big strengths in the SLR world—had a lot to do with that. The company stepped out of the U.S. mirrorless market for a while, but has come back with its third-generation camera, the EOS M3 ($679.99, body only). The M3 certainly focuses faster than its predecessor, but it's still slow when compared with other mirrorless cameras. When you couple that with the M3's relatively high asking price, you have a camera that's a tough sell, despite its Canon pedigree. Our Editors' Choice for mirrorless cameras is still the Sony Alpha 6000, which is less expensive, focuses faster, and includes a built-in EVF.
DesignThe EOS M3 is one of the smaller mirrorless models out there with an APS-C image sensor—the same size you'll find in a Canon Rebel SLR. It measures 2.7 by 4.4 by 1.7 inches (HWD) and weighs about 12.9 ounces without a lens. You can go smaller if you can live with a Micro Four Thirds sensors; Panasonic offers a pair of very compact models, the GM1 and GM5, both of which measure just about 2.3 by 3.9 by 1.4 inches and weigh under 7 ounces.
We're reviewing the 24-megapixel EOS M3 as a body only, but it's also available in a kit with an 18-55mm zoom for $799.99.
There are ample on-body controls, but I found them to be a bit cramped for my liking. The top plate houses the pop-up flash (to the left of the hot shoe), a mode dial, the power button, an EV compensation dial (at the rear right), an M-Fn button, and a shutter release with the top control dial surrounding it.
Despite a handgrip that is deeper than that of the original EOS M, I found the M3 to be uncomfortable in my hand. Holding the camera as it's designed to be held—with my middle finger resting in the contoured area of the grip, my index finger angled and ready to hit the shutter, and my thumb squeezed into the small thumb rest on the back—caused some undue strain and cramping. If you have smaller hands (my aren't long, but they are wide) you'll likely have a better experience here. For what it's worth, I don't have any issues with the body design of the Alpha 6000, which is a bit wider but otherwise similar in size. Its grip is deeper—deep enough to place the shutter release on its top—and the rear thumb rest area is larger, both of which helped me wrap my hands around the body with more comfort.
While the Alpha 6000 gives rear controls some room to breathe, thanks to a noticeably wide area to the right of the LCD, the EOS M3 crams its rear controls into a very small space. The Record and Play buttons are part of the rear thumb rest, placed just to the right of the small divot where Canon wants you to rest your opposable digit.
Below the thumb rest sits a flat control dial that is surrounded by four buttons. Exposure Lock and Autofocus Area Select sit above it, with Info and Menu below. The control dial supports four directional presses (ISO/Wi-Fi, Flash, Delete, and Manual Focus), and has a center Q/Set button.
The Q button launches an on-screen menu that provides quick access to a number of settings. Two columns, one at the extreme left and the other at the right, run down the LCD. Available settings include the autofocus area, a toggle between single (One Shot) and continuous (Servo) focus, file format, video resolution and frame rate, drive mode, self-timer, white balance, JPG output, automatic brightness correction, metering pattern, and image aspect ratio.
The rear LCD supports touch input, which is pretty standard with recent Canon models. It's a useful implementation that allows you to tap an area of the frame to set the focus point, and to adjust certain shooting settings. Like any good camera touch interface, the screen is there to supplement rather than replace physical controls. As for the quality of the LCD, it's good. The 3-inch panel is very sharp, and it's mounted on a hinge. It can face all the way forward for selfies, but also lets you shoot at waist-level or when holding the camera above your head.
There's no built-in EVF, which is a shame. That's a feature that's more and more common, especially with models that carry the M3's premium price (it's no surprise that Canon's entry-level EOS M10, priced at $600 with a lens, omits an EVF). But unlike the M10, you can use an add-on EVF with the EOS M3. The EVF-DC1 adds a few hundred dollars to the price, but it is an excellent EVF. Still, at that price, it's tough not to just opt for the Alpha 6000, which has one built into the body.
The EOS M3 includes built-in Wi-Fi with support for NFC. The free Canon Camera Connect app for iOS and Android works with the M3 to copy images or videos to your phone or tablet. Raw transfer is supported, but images are converted to the JPG format that your phone can read during the transfer. The app also supports geotagging (you'll need to start the location log prior to shooting, and make sure your camera's clock is synchronized with your phone) and remote control. Full manual exposure controls are supported when using the remote, and you can tap the phone's screen to set the focus point.
Performance and Image Quality
Focus speed is also an issue. The M3 requires about 0.3-second to lock focus on a stationary target and capture an image. That's slower than some entry-level mirrorless models, like the Olympus E-PL6 (0.1-second), and certainly slower than the Alpha 6000, which can lock focus in close to no time—0.02-second.
Canon markets an adapter to use EF and EF-S lenses with the M3. It supports autofocus as well, and I tested a few different Canon lenses to see how they performed. The EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM showed the slowest mark, averaging 0.6-second to lock focus, with the others—the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM, EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM, and EF 35mm f/2 IS USM—focusing in 0.5-second.
I used Imatest to check the EOS M3 for noise, which can detract from image quality and introduce unwanted grain when shooting in dim light. The M3 keeps noise under 1.5 percent through ISO 3200 when shooting JPGs at default settings, which is a middling result. I took a close look at images from our ISO test scene on a calibrated NEC MultiSync PA271W display. Detail is quite strong through ISO 1600, with some slight smudging at ISO 3200. There's a more noticeable drop in fidelity at ISO 6400, and pushing the camera to its limits—ISO 12800 and 25600—results in progressively blurry photos. Other cameras in this class do a better job at higher ISOs. The Samsung NX500 captures photos at ISO 12800 that show as much detail as the EOS M3 does at ISO 6400.
Raw capture is also an option. When shooting in this format the camera doesn't apply noise reduction, so more detail is evident at higher ISOs. And you have the flexibility of using desktop software, like Adobe Lightroom, which can also reduce noise, but does so in a way that better preserves detail. Raw images converted in Lightroom with default develop settings enabled (which does apply some noise reduction to improve color fidelity, but does nothing to compensate for grain) show strong detail through ISO 6400. At ISO 12800 the grain is a little overwhelming, but detail far exceeds the M3's JPG output. The top sensitivity, ISO 25600, shows some detail through the grain, but is extremely noisy.
Video is recorded at 1080p30, 1080p24, 720p60, or 480p30 quality in MP4 format. I had no real issues with the quality of the 1080p footage—it's crisp, with accurate colors, and the slower focus speed actually makes for more pleasing transitions as the scene changes. But with some cameras in this price range offering 4K capture—including the Samsung NX500 and the Panasonic G7—video topping out at 1080p30 is a disappointment.
Audio quality from the internal mic is about what you'd expect. It picks up voices close to the camera with ease, but also catches background noise. There is a stnadard microphone input, along with a mini HDMI output and a mini USB port. Canon includes an external battery charger; in-camera charging is not supported. The battery is the same one used by the Rebel T6s and Rebel T6i SLRs. There is a single memory card slot; it supports SD, SDHC, and SDXC.
ConclusionsThe Canon EOS M3 is a better camera than Canon's first mirrorless model, the EOS M. But the company, which has long been one of the leaders in focus performance in the SLR world, still has a lot of work to do here. The M3 suffers from slow focus, video capture capabilities that are a step behind the times, so-so high ISO performance when compared with similarly priced mirrorless models, and a very limited shooting buffer. Lens selection is also limited at this time, but that's something that will grow.
Despite the drawbacks, the EOS M3 is a Canon, and there are certain aspects to it that will appeal to those invested in the brand. For one, it's compatible with Canon's flash system, so if you're looking for a compact body as an alternative to an SLR you can use the same flashes. And with an adapter you can also mount EF and EF-S SLR lenses. But as it stands, we're not recommending this one to the masses. You should either wait for Canon to catch up, or opt for a mirrorless model that delivers more for the money. The Sony Alpha 6000 is our current Editors' Choice for its strong image quality, speedy focus system, and mature lens library.
By Jim Fisher Senior Analyst, Digital Cameras Senior digital camera analyst for the PCMag consumer electronics reviews team, Jim Fisher is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he concentrated on documentary video production. Jim's interest in photography really took off...
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Source: Canon EOS M3
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