Canon's new mirrorless shooter misses the mark

9:03 AM. EST February 06, 2016

Given that Canon is a market leader in point and shoots and DSLRs, you'd expect them to dominate the increasingly popular mirrorless middle ground. But despite a couple of forays into the genre, Canon seems to be no closer to a mature mirrorless camera strategy.

Canon designed its EOS M3 ($479.99 MSRP) to fix all that. With roughly the same hardware as a Canon T6i crammed into its tiny body for under $500, on paper the M3 should be a home run. Which is why it's so mystifying that it isn't.

In our time with the camera, we found it to be fraught with unexpected hang ups: its odd design, questionable image quality, and pitiful lens selection mar what should be a sure thing. For some strange reason, the EOS M3 is a lesser camera than the sum of its parts.

Design-wise, the M3 is smaller than Canon's previous crack at a miniature interchangeable lens camera. We found it weirdly bulky and awkward to handle when shooting with it.

The control scheme should be very familiar to Canon shooters, as it mirrors the menu system found in other advanced Canons, like the PowerShot G3 X. On the back, the buttons are uncomfortably cramped together, which makes shooting in manual mode a pain in the neck.

With a 24.2 megapixel APS-C sensor and a 49-point phase-detect autofocus system, the M3 should be a big step up from Canon's point and shoot cameras.

In practice, the camera I used was anything but a dramatic upgrade over any other competing mirrorless camera. Software bugs and hardware limitations plague this model. In short, this camera is fairly frustrating to use if you stray from using the auto modes.

Part of the allure of an interchangeable lens camera is that you can ditch your kit lens for other glass when the opportunity arises. The included 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 option is nothing to write home about, though that's par for the course with kit lenses.

Independent of the lens, though, the M3 gives you a little less than what you'd expect for its price point. Shots tend to be grainier than you'd expect — even for an entry-level camera.

And as it is with other Canon cameras, the automatic white balance is hit or miss. While shots in either fluorescent or daylight will look fine, snaps taken in incandescent light can gain the pall of an orange glow over your snaps (of course, it's something that can be fixed in editing).

But one area where the M3 truly shines is autofocus speed. The camera is able to nail capturing subjects quickly with its AF system, and users will appreciate how well focusing works with the touchscreen on the back.

Perhaps the best thing about the M3 is the fact that it blends a lot of the best features of a point-and-shoot with the hardware of a more powerful camera. The M3 has a tilting LCD, onboard NFC, and WiFi like Canon's G-Series point and shoots—but packs the powerful hardware you'd usually find in a DSLR. Though there's no electronic viewfinder on the M3, the 1.04m-dot tilting LCD is a treat to use.

One significant drawback to the M3 is that Canon had to develop new lenses (and a new mount) for their mirrorless camera — meaning you can't access Canon's extensive library of classic lenses without an adapter. Currently, Canon's EF-M lens library consists of a paltry 5 lenses.

The main advantage of mirrorless in recent years has been the blend of quality and convenience, and the Canon EOS M3 is behind its competition in both of these regards.

Picture quality is not this camera's strong point, nowhere near one of the best mirrorless cameras on the market. The unique lens mount means frustration if you've already built up a sizable library of Canon lenses, and the hardware doesn't offer any unique benefits.

If you're looking for a fleshed-out camera that travels well and gives you access to an excellent stable of lenses out of the box, stick with a Micro Four Thirds model. Cameras like the Panasonic GF7, and the Olympus E-PL7 boast similar functionality and picture quality, but the number of lenses you can get is almost overwhelming.

If you wanted a step-up option, you could always seek out an old-model Olympus OM-D E-M10 or the venerable Sony A6000. Additionally, you should check out our list of best cameras under $1,000. Canon seems to finally get what mirrorless is all about, but it'll take better execution for the DSLR king to conquer this market.

For more camera reviews, head to Reviewed.com.

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