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Monday 18 April 2016

Canon M3 review: Mirrorless camera for masses

Canon is big on DSLR cameras. And on the compact point-and-shooters. But probably because of its strong position in these two segments, the company hasn't tried very hard in mirrorless market. It has been slow to react to the mirrorless trend. However, the pressure from companies like Sony and Fuji is now pushing Canon.

The company's new Canon M3 camera in India is its attempt to show that it can also make a good mirrorless camera. Canon surely has the brand image to make any camera a success in the market. With the M3, it is also throwing in the mix a fairly aggressive price. The Canon M3 has been priced at Rs 49,995 along with the kit-lens of 18-55mm.

This is a good deal for a mirrorless camera like the M3. Or at least it seems on the paper. So can the M3 be your next camera?

Design, build quality and controls

After struggling in the wilderness for some time, the mirrorless cameras are finally finding the right design. The M3 definitely gets it right. It is compact enough to be carelessly tossed inside a bag and yet is hefty enough to feel sizeable in hands. The whole camera body is made of metal, so it feels very sturdy and well-built. But at the right side of the camera, there is a layer of thick rubber-like material that covers the whole grip-area. The grip is not very deep but for a mirrorless camera it is chunky and helps a shooter hold the camera securely while clicking images.

It is easy to carry the M3 in a bag and easier still to use it when you are in a tight spot where a DSLR camera would be a burden

In fact, this grip is one area where it is easy to see Canon utilise its expertise in camera making to the fullest. The rounded edge and the cuts created in the grip makes the M3 a joy to hold, relative to other mirrorless cameras.  

On top of the camera there are two dials. While the bigger dial allows a user to select from different shooting modes, the smaller one provides direct control to exposure compensation, which is a welcome addition. If you are coming from a point-and-shoot camera, you will find the M3 easy enough to use. Just keep it on the auto, at least in the beginning, and let it do its magic. If you are coming from a DSLR, you will find the controls somewhat lacking. But that is normal. The good news with the M3 is that most of its buttons are configurable. This means, spend a week or two with it, and you will be able to set it up the way you like it.

Also Read: Canon Powershot G9X review: Punching above its weight

It also helps that the screen in the camera is touch-sensitive. You won't realise how big of a deal this is until you use one. The focusing and composing images are just all that more easier with a touchscreen camera.

Overall, we find the M3 one of the better designed mirrorless cameras in the market. The build quality is fantastic, the options to customise the controls are plenty and the touchscreen makes it handier to operate.

With a lens like 18-55mm attached to it, the M3 makes for a fairly compact camera. No, it won't fit in your jeans pocket or for that matter even the jacket pocket. But it is easy to carry the M3 in a bag and easier still to use it when you are in a tight spot where DSLR camera would be a burden.

Performance The big deal with the M3 is that it packs in the photography hardware that is very similar to what you get in a crop-sized or in other words APS-C Canon camera like Canon 750D. It has a 24-megapixel image sensor and a fully-functional 49-point focus system. And it works like a camera that is true to its hardware.

Although, nowadays in cameras there are many moving parts and the performance is rarely absolute good or bad. Overall, the M3 performance is a mixed bag. When it comes to actual image quality, the camera excels. The M3 is the kind of camera that will be used mostly on auto made, and that is also where it is strongest. In most lighting conditions, it nails the white balance, and the JPEG images that come out of it have excellent colours. The metering, however, tends to err on the side of underexposure. Although once you get the hang of the camera and understand how it sees the scenes, you can easily fix this by using the handy exposure compensation dial.

For its class, the overall focus speed of the M3 is on the slower side. Of course, it is faster than smaller cameras and is capable of freezing hyperactive pets into a frame. But DSLR cameras in this price range as well as cameras like the Sony A6000 are faster than the M3, especially in low light, at acquiring focus and tracking subjects.

Also Read: Using Sony A6000: Can a mirrorless camera make you dump bulky DSLR?

Cameras nowadays have become very good at creating images. And whether you pick a Nikon or a Canon camera, you will be able to create beautiful images. Although, learning to creating such images with the M3 takes slightly longer. Reason? It falls a little short on the dynamic range part. This also makes the job of the photographer a bit more trickier. You have to get exposure absolutely right because unlike say Sony A6000, the M3 doesn't give all that much leeway to lift shadows in post-processing.

The M3 can shoot RAW images although most of the time the JPEGs are not only good enough but also more convenient.

Also Read: Shooting wildlife with mirrorless camera? It's complicated

One bit where the M3 truly excels is at handling noise. It churns out images that are extremely clean. It supports ISO of as high as 12800. Even in alarmingly low light, the camera makes sure that the noise is at minimum, which means most of the time you get clean images with contrasty colours.

But we said that the M3 performance is a mixed bag. Right? The area where it falters is its battery life. Once charged 100 per cent, the battery in M3 lasts around 180 to 200 shots, which is on the lower side.

Should you buy it

The Canon M3 is a very good camera and its price of Rs 49,995 is aggressive. It all depends on what you are looking to do from your camera. If you want a mirrorless camera, the M3 should be definitely on your radar. But at the same time, Sony A6000 sells for a similar price and is overall a better camera than the M3.

This whole M3 vs A6000 is a rather interesting fight. The Sony's camera has a better image sensor and is overall a better performer. But the lens that Sony bundles with the A6000 is pathetic. The M3, on the other hand, has a better design and feels better in hands. The 18-55mm lens bundled with it is not some real hot shot like Canon's L lenses, but then it is better than what Sony gives. Finally, there is the ecosystem. Canon, because of its apathetic attitude towards mirrorless camera, for now has just a handful of lenses that support M3 lens mount. Sony offers more lenses, including premium lenses, for A6000.

To make it simple for you, let's summarise this. If you are spending Rs 50,000 on your mirrorless camera and don't intend to buy any other lens, the M3 is the camera you can buy. It is also easy to use and most of the time churns out nice images without much fuss. But if you intend to get into the photography with serious aspirations and want to do so with a mirrorless camera, the A6000 is a better deal. Sony offers a shooter that is more versatile and capable. 

  • Good stuff
  • Very good image quality
  • Good ISO performance
  • Aggressive price
  • Superb design
  • Bad stuff
  • Not enough lenses
  • Sensor weak on DR
  • Average battery life
  • Sluggish performance
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    Source: Canon M3 review: Mirrorless camera for masses

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