gear

Worthy Successor: Canon EOS M2 Review

There’s a lot of talk in the photography world about “everyday carry” cameras, or fixed-lens compact cameras (like the Fujifilm X100 series). 

You need a portable camera, the thinking goes, to carry with you everywhere you go so you don’t miss out on those moments in between.

When I first purchased the original Canon EOS M, its “everyday carry” potential hit me immediately. “Here’s the camera I can throw in my front seat and take everywhere,” I remember thinking. That philosophy played out for 12 years, and I’ve enjoyed having the Canon M system in my life.

There are issues with the OG M, however: It’s slow to focus, and the screen blackout after taking a shot is obnoxious. Over the years, I’ve learned to live with these shortcomings. But ever since the dawn of Canon’s M system, these issues have plagued the camera line – and understandably so.

We never got the M’s successor, the Canon EOS M2, here in North America. I did hear about it, though, and longed for its faster autofocus and overall improvements in snappiness.

When my M finally gave up the ghost, I decided to upgrade my everyday carry and snatch an M2 from Japan.

Again, I loved my Canon EOS M, despite its flaws. It was the perfect example of “good enough,” and I appreciated the EF-M 22mm f/2 lens, which remained on the front of the camera at all times. In effect, it served as a fixed-lens compact camera for me. The 35mm field of view helped the M serve as my X100 with the benefit of Canon’s comfortable colors and usable interface. 

Since using the M2, I remembered how slow the M was, because this little camera is much better at autofocus and has a dramatically reduced screen blackout after pressing the shutter. In fact, it was startling to go back to an M and be reminded of how pokey it is.

Now, the M2 is not going to win any speed awards. The whole M system is notoriously slow. However, taking this M2 out to Phoenix, Arizona, for a work trip (above and below), the speed benefits were immediately apparent. 

The features I loved about the original M were all still here in the M2: fantastic image quality, body toughness, ease of use, and – this might be a just-for-me thing – the use of the delete button on the scroll wheel to reset the touch screen focus point (something I miss dearly on the newer M cameras). 

To put it more pointedly: the M2 is a comfortable, familiar piece of kit. Just a bit better.

It’s also just a tad smaller and has added wifi functionality that will help if you use Canon’s mobile app. It has the same touchscreen as the M, which can be difficult for some folks to use in bright conditions. However, after using the M for years, I’ve made peace with the lack of an electronic viewfinder or flexible screen. Even in the hot Arizona sun, I can still make this fixed touchscreen work. 

Another cosmetic thing I love about the M2 is its color and style. I grabbed the blue and brown version, which fits in perfectly with my photography aesthetic. The best description of my gear is, What if Indiana Jones had a camera, strap, and bag? That’s the style I’m after. So this little M2 fits in perfectly with the rest of my kit. 

The only thing that doesn’t fit, cosmetically, is the black and silver EF-M lens color scheme. Just as you shouldn’t wear a black belt with brown shoes, the black EF-M lenses clash somewhat with this blue and brown camera body. Silver doesn’t look great either. 

Yes, the M2 is 12 years old. No, the video specs aren’t the best. Nor is it a speed demon.

But if you’re dedicated to the M system and EF-M lenses, and you enjoyed the original Canon EOS M, the M2 is a worthy successor.

All images, except for the camera portraits, were shot on the Canon EOS M2 and EF-M 22mm lens. 

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Viltrox 56mm f/1.4 on Canon EOS M

Testing the Viltrox EF-M 56mm

Over the years, I’ve built up quite the Canon EF-M lens collection.

I have the tried-and-true Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 – a reliable, sharp, portable pancake lens that shines in every situation. The EF-M 32mm f/1.4 is the 50 mm equivalent, more for portraits and street photography. And then the EF-M kit zoom and 28mm macro rounds out the selection.

Viltrox, before Canon discontinued the EF-M line, produced three fast prime lenses, too, and I have two of them now: the 23mm f/1.4 and 56mm f/1.4.

I took the 56mm for a test drive around the block as golden hour was lighting up the neighborhood.

The Viltrox 56mm is a chunky lens, featuring a tough metal construction, a nice lens hood for protection, and a substantial amount of glass to achieve a wide aperture. 

It feels like a quality lens. It performs like one, too: a bit of chromatic aberration wide open, but stop it down a bit and the image quality is excellent. 

There’s one little hiccup, though, and that’s that the lens tends to render images darker than they should be. When you preview the image on the back screen, it looks great, but as soon as you snap the photo, the final image feels a stop or two underexposed. 

I can adjust my Canon EOS M6 to overexpose a hair or two to get a properly exposed image, so it’s not a big deal, but know the preview image may be misleading.

Viltrox’s 56mm equals about a 90mm field of view on the M’s APS-C sensor, giving you some reach that’s nice for portraits. 

For a little north of $200, the Viltrox 56mm is an affordable lens to round out your Canon EF-M set.

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An Ode to the Canon EOS M

Downtown Jackson, Michigan - shot on Canon EOS M

Call this a love letter to a 13-year-old camera.

I purchased my Canon EOS M 12 years ago during a Canon fire sale. Very quickly, I appreciated the M’s size, portability, and image quality. 

As the years went on, the M was always there. It went everywhere: to the beach, on family trips, on urbex adventures, and in my front seat as I drove around Michigan grabbing anything that caught my eye. The M is still my grab-and-go kit, my reliable everyday carry camera.

Last year, I tried to replace it – first with the M200 and then the M6. But like a comfy, broken-in pair of shoes, I kept the original M out of – what – loyalty? Insecurity? 

I’m glad I did, because on my recent Detroit trip, my Canon M6’s shutter button started to malfunction. Then, in a terribly frustrating mishap, I dropped my M6 and the EF-M 22mm on a sidewalk, denting the lens and leaving scuff marks on the M6. I’ll have to replace the lens, which is expected. The drop was my fault. But the M6’s shutter button? It’s a known issue and it hit me at the most inconvenient time while we’re on vacation. Despite my attempts to fix it, the problem is still there, and repairing it will cost more than what the camera is worth.

I tried replacing the OG Canon M. Twice now. But the hits keep on hitting.

The first week I owned the M, back in 2013, I dropped it on a street. I was so mad at myself. Here was this brand-new camera, and I had already tried to wreck it.

Do you know what happened? Nothing. The M has consistently kept shooting ever since. Despite all the drops, all the bangs, all the dust and sand, it just keeps going. In 2013, I wrote:

The camera itself is a solidly-built little instrument. It feels dense, but not heavy, so that it feels like a good, quality hunk of camera.

Here we are, 12 years later, and that sentence is still true. No, the dial pad won’t let you go up in selections anymore, and yes, it flakes out now and again. But I’ll take manageable reliability over a complete lack of functionality during critical times. 

I grew to love the M6, too. I love the look, the convenient dials, and the grip. But if the shutter button gives me problems, that becomes a core issue with the camera’s operation. 

Canon EOS M: Sensor

Luckily, I kept the M. It’s still my everyday carry, it still travels in my vehicle front seat, and it’s still there when I need it. I could replace it with a new-in-box model, and it would probably last me another 12 years. Apart from my Canon 5D mark 1, it’s my favorite camera of all time. I talk lovingly about it in ways film photographers talk about the Leica M2 or M3, or Nikon users talk about the F series. 

Canon’s M series is a dead system. I still love it.

I’m not sure where to go from here. But whichever way I go, the Canon M remains by my side. 

All images captured on the Canon EOS M and EF-M 22mm f/2.

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Camera (in)Decisions: Canon M6 Review

It’s true that I upgraded my original Canon M early last year with the Canon M200. 

As the year went on and I used it more and more, a little itch in the back of my brain started. The itch, which weirdly has a voice, started saying, “Using this camera should be easier – and more fun, like your original Canon M was.”

What the itch said was also true. 

Some of those true things included:

  • The M200 is not a customizable camera. You get what you get, no mods allowed.
  • I really missed the physical button to center the focus point, like I had on the OG M and other M cameras.
  • I also missed the little handgrip bump on the front of the M. The M200 is as flat as Ohio

Last March, I said:

There aren’t many buttons or options, it’s not the toughest model, and you don’t have the in-the-hand control you have on a more advanced camera. But coming from the original M, the M200 felt at home in my hands.  

“Trust your instincts,” the itch said, and there I was with this 2019-era mirrorless camera that did not bring me joy.

With all these truths in mind, I went back and looked to see if I could still upgrade to a Canon M6 mark II. The price was still high, and it still wasn’t widely available. That’s when my budget-friendly brain had an idea:

What if I bought an original and used Canon M6?

Shot on the Canon EOS M6

It doesn’t have all the modern bells and whistles of the mark II, but it does have:

  • Customizable buttons – and lots of them. The M6 has an almost Fuji-level amount of physical dials and buttons.
  • A physical button to recenter the focus point.
  • A wonderful hand grip on the front – more DSLR-style than a modest bump like the M had.
  • All the features of the M200: higher resolution, flippy screen, faster focus, etc.

And, little itch, the silver version looks kind of cool, cashing in on the retro silver-and-black look of film SLRs and rangefinders.

So that’s what I did: I purchased a refurbished Canon M6 and sold off my M200.

Here are some glamour shots with the EF-M 32mm f/1.4, taken on the Canon 5D and EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.

So far? I dig the M6. I love the improved ergonomics, retro styling, faster speed, and manual controls – especially the bumpy, knurled dials for aperture or ISO. 

And it’s the perfect travel camera: light and easy to transport.

A few things I don’t love:

  • I do wish it had a viewfinder, even though I’m used to not having one on the M series. A rangefinder-style viewfinder would be so handy.
  • There’s a greenish/cyan tint to the files in Lightroom. I’m not sure if it’s the camera or Lightroom’s raw file handling, but I load up some files and they look icky.
  • Certain buttons on the camera drive me crazy: the touchscreen zoom button in the lower right and the physical manual focus button on the main dial. When I go to focus on a subject, the camera is unresponsive because I accidentally brushed that MF button. I turned it completely off in the custom settings.

Those quirks tell me that modern cameras, with so many hybrid demands put on them, are never perfect. My Canon 5D is perfect. Everything else has limitations or annoyances. 

The above shot shows me using the M6 exclusively on a new photo project to learn my new camera. 

This leads to the larger question about my camera strategy: what am I going to keep, and why do I need a different system than my EOS+EF system?

  • Mobility: I like the Canon M lineup’s weight and small size. It’s a perfect everyday carry and travel setup, including if I ever want to do some video.
  • Quality: Images are good, and the lenses make for sharp, pleasing photos.
  • Vibes: Since that first Canon M, I’ve admired the series, flawed though it is. It’s weird investing and tinkering with a dead mirrorless camera system, but I do love these little cameras.

With the M6, it’s so far, so good. This, combined with my old, clunky (but reliable) M as a backup, and I’ve got an old+new system similar to my Canon 5D plus 6D.

I brought the M6 with me to Austin, Texas, and Monterrey, Mexico. It served me well during the holidays and on random photo outings. It feels so much better in the hand.

It also quieted the itch.

Check out my YouTube review of the Canon EOS M6.

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A Good Case for the Everyday Carry

Ali from One Month Two Cameras discusses her needs and wants for her everyday carry camera—the one you use for just about everything.

For 12 years, that was the Canon M for me. Earlier this year, I upgraded to the Canon M200, but I’ve had second thoughts. And those thoughts came right as Ali’s video went live last week.

Put shortly: she’s on to something…

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Using Older Camera Gear

“Rebelling against the standard” – that’s all the excuse I need.

Martin Castein makes a good case for using older gear, but one point he missed:

Save money.

Instead of $1,000-4,000 for a new camera, how about using a five- to 10-year-old camera for $500 or less? There are so many great deals to be had on fantastic cameras.

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The Spark You Need

The Spark You Need

Wrapping up my latest project, I thought about what kickstarted the whole thing.

It was the film. Lomography advertised a new, limited-run film stock that you had to buy in bulk – 10 boxes an order. That got my brain, and my math, going: 10 boxes of 36 exposure film equals about a year’s worth of shots, if you took one shot per day.

Boom. A project.

Sometimes we don’t need grand ideas for personal projects. Sometimes it’s the gear that sparks an idea.

Grab a cheap-o camera and see what kind of project you can make out of it. Take a simple piece of equipment – a vintage lens, or twin-lens reflex camera – and see where it leads you.

All you need is a spark.

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Try Not to Try

Try Not to Try

Desire, as the Buddha taught, is the source of suffering.

This is true in photography as well. New gear comes out, and photographers start sweating from Gear Acquisition Syndrome. It makes photographers feel like their gear is unworthy, and that photographs would be so much better with that new lens/camera/whatever.

Here’s a trick I learned to get over that feeling: just wait.

Wait a week. Don’t think about it. Maybe wait a bit longer.

Then: assess your feelings. Do you still desire that object?

For me, the waiting works every time. I look back at my week-ago self and wonder, what was all the fuss about? Is my life worse off? Did I suffer for not jumping on a purchase?

This strategy applies whenever I’m thinking about making a major purchase. If I wait, and I still feel strongly, then I know it’s important. If I wait and the feeling passes, I know I can either save up a bit more, wait a little longer for a discount, or just not go through with the purchase.

As Tom Petty sang, sometimes the waiting is the hardest part. Once you’re past that, you’ll make better decisions.

 

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On Camera Resale Value

Higher Education

Chris Gampat at the Phoblographer breaks down the resale value of the major camera brands, both film and digital.

It’s such a strange way to think about buying a camera.

If I’m going to make an investment in a camera or lenses, I’m going to think about the lifespan of the equipment and how much work I can get done with it. Resale value doesn’t enter into the do-I-buy-it equation at all.

For me, I’d rather have a well-used camera that helps me make photographs than worry about selling it down the road.

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Change of Pace

Ann Arbor, MI

John Carey at 50 Foot Shadows, after his X-Pro broke, picked up a classic Canon 5D after a long absence.

Funny thing happened in that, I found myself inspired by the change of pace. The original 5D has such a beautiful sensor, it’s like changing film. While I miss flexibility in ISO and dynamic range the photos I get from the 5D are moody, colorful, contrasty, they really have a life of their own, in fact, as some of you already know, the camera defined my style 10+ years ago when I started to shoot with it.

Carey took a look back to when he first put down his 5D. His feeling then matches my own now: “This is a still photo camera. There is no shame in that.”

No shame, indeed. In fact, I see it as a point of pride. When you want to take pictures, you pick up a picture-taking machine.

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New Camera Strap

Gordy Camera Strap

Maybe it’s waking up out of winter, or maybe it’s just a little more sunshine affecting my brain – but I recently splurged on some photography gear.

This year, to kick off my project, I treated myself to a new camera strap from Gordy’s. It’s not going to make my photos better, and it’s not one of those $100 artisan leather products that get all the reviews. It’s a simple leather strap that holds my Canonet around my neck. And it’s dark brown, with red and burgundy accents.

It’s half fashion, half pragmatism. My old strap was a simple nylon affair, thin and unassuming. It did the job, sure, but not well, and it wouldn’t win any beauty contests. With this new leather strap, at least I feel like human beings made it with attention and care.

I also have this thing where all my camera straps need to be brown. Whatever.

Gordy’s does this nice thing where they feature photographers’ cameras on their photo gallery. A nice way to show off gear, and their product. They have a great Instagram account, too.

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On Compact, Fixed-Lens Cameras

Canon Canonet

Leave it to Eric Kim to beat me to a post I’ve been mulling over for months:

There is no perfect or ideal lens or focal length out there. Rather, it is about finding the lens or focal length which fits 80% of your needs. Psychologists call this “satisficing” (a mix between satisfying and sufficing). Rather than aiming for “perfect”, you aim for “good enough.” And by aiming for “good enough”, you are a lot happier and and satisfied than people who are “maximizers” and aim for “perfection.”

When I buy a Mac, I always go for the consumer, mid-range version. I bought an iBook, the consumer-grade notebook, and now I buy iMacs, the consumer-grade desktop. It’s nice to have a pro machine, but the combo of size, price, and capabilities make the mid-range Macs my go-to computers.

So it’s going to be with me and cameras. My Canon EOS M, the Canonet, the Olympus Trip 35, even the Fuji X100 I rented for a week – these are all consumer grade, small size, fixed lens (the 22mm never leaves my M) cameras, and they’re my favorite to take with me when I’m looking for ease of use and image quality.

Even with my Fuji X-E1, the 27mm pancake lens never left the front of that camera, and it was – in spirit – a fixed-lens compact camera, perfect for traveling.

As Kim says, these kinds of cameras (Sony makes one, as does Leica, Canon maybe be working on a full frame version, etc.) are good enough for most needs. Need to get closer? Move closer. Need a wider angle? Buy a 28mm version. For most people, 28-40mm is good enough for most situations, and most of the film compact cameras came with a 40-ish lens for a reason.

Also, you just can’t beat the size and portability. It’s the throw-it-in-the-front-seat-of-your-car situation: is the camera small enough to take with you on most daily commutes and travel? Will it fit in your commuter bag or purse? Is it unobtrusive, and is it easy to carry around?

Just as important: is it fun to use?

For these smaller, fixed-lens cameras, the answer is almost always “yes.”

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Floppy Disk Cameras

I’m totally a sucker for this kind of stuff.

In college, our newspaper had a few staff photographers. If we writers had to take the photo, though, we brought along an old Kodak DC digital camera that used floppy disks. You could only take five or six photos, and the quality was crap, but they were dummy proof.

Man – 640 by 480 pixels!

(via PetaPixel)

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More Canon 5D Love

Hidden Corners - Ann Arbor, MI

From Tom W:

You Don’t have to spend a fortune to get a great image. If your main hope is for fantastic image quality outdoors and if your willing to settle for lower dynamic range or high ISO performance there are a number of fantastic choices for photographers looking to start out in the world of full frame cameras.

A modern classic indeed. Everything old is new again.

(Via Robert-Paul Jansen.)

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Shopping Season

Shopping Season

This time each year, all the major camera and lens companies put their products on sale, along with the rest of our consumerist-crazy world. You can get some seriously great deals from Thanksgiving to the new year.

Rebates, bundles, sales – if you’ve waited all year, and you’ve been a good boy or girl, now is the time to grab your gear.

Six years ago, it’s exactly what I did. I bought an older-model Canon Rebel T1i with a lens bundle, and it changed my life. Here I am today, a hobbyist photographer, because I jumped on a great deal during the holidays.

Here’s a tip to help you feel better about your purchases: If you shop through Amazon, use their AmazonSmile program to help your shopping dollars give back to a charity or cause you care about (my dollars support our local nature center). Or shop through the affiliate links of an artist you enjoy.

Give back to others, and those in need. And then be good to yourself, if you really mean it.

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Have Realistic Expectations

So the next time you buy that new camera— have realistic expectations. It will be good, but it won’t completely transform your photography nor solve your life’s problems. Try not to be too excited with your new gear— as you will eventually get used to it.

10 Practical Tips to Fight G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) by Eric Kim

What I like about Eric Kim is that he suffers from the afflictions he writes about, which makes him more real and honest to me.

But his advice – that buying new camera gear won’t make you better or happier – is spot on.

I admit that a Canon EF 135mm f/2 lens has been on my wish list since I rented it this summer for a wedding. So is the Fuji XF 35mm f/1.4. So is a Canon EF 100mm macro lens. So is…

But you know what? I’m not a professional photographer, and I don’t need any of those lenses. I use a classic Canon 5D. I carry a EOS M, first gen, around. None of my lenses are Canon L lenses. And all of that is fine.

A lot of photographers struggle with this, and this frame of mind is easy to find on photography blogs. The challenge is not to let gear reviews and photo websites get the best of you.

My latest method? Using adaptors to try out my manual focus film lenses on different cameras. It’s a way to get a lot of mileage out of the gear I already have. Just repurposed. More on that later.

And for you non-photographers out there, pay attention. You think you need the big fancy camera with the telephoto lens? You probably don’t.

Not yet.

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