An Ode to the 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.
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.