So I’m a big fan of the Canon M series cameras, especially the M3 and M6 and use them as my only cameras. Of course I shoot with my iPhone 6s, but not for serious work. I enjoy the whole photographic process with these cameras. I didn’t realize this until I bought and used a Sony A6000 and A7r in 2016. I hated both of the Sonys. I bought a M3 in April of 2015 and a M6 two years later. I’ve sold all my DSLRs and have been just using these cameras exclusively. Why? I hated carrying all the DSLR bodies, lenses, and accessories with me on a hike or vacation. Unless it’s a block or two from the parking lot, I hated carrying all my DSLR gear. I used to take an entire suitcase just for my DSLRs, lenses, and a tripod. I still see people with a backpack full of gear whenever I got out and shoot. The weight and effort just isn’t worth it to me anymore.
I’ve always been partial to small cameras. My first camera was a Nikon EM bought in 1982. I loved that camera. I got the auto winder that went with it. On a community college field trip to Point Reyes National Seashore we saw a ground hog I think, but hey we were city folk so everyone in the group was like “Wow, let’s take a picture, we don’t see these back home.” Anyways, I turned around and pressed the button and people heard the auto winder which was high tech back in 1982 and were all, “wow, that’s cool.” I had no idea…
Unfortunately that camera broke, I don’t remember dropping it or anything, it just wouldn’t pop open the film door. Oh well. Not sure why I didn’t send it into Nikon for repair but I didn’t have much money in 1983. I then bought a used Nikon 8008 soon after it was released in 1988. Wow. Autofocus! I bought it used from an ad in the SF Chronicle for $600-$800 I think? I was so enamored with the autofocus until I realized it wasn’t focusing accurately. Crap. The guy I bought it from said he was selling it since he got a Nikon F4 and thought the auto focus was much better. Now I know what he meant! I sent it to Nikon and they fixed it for free and wow, focus was tack sharp and super fast. I went from getting 50% of my shots in focus with the EM to over 90% with the 8008. That was a serious upgrade. I was super excited about photography now and started buying lenses. 35-70 was the main lens, then a 70-200, a 24, 20, 16, 80-400 all followed. Fast lenses didn’t mean anything to me since I mainly shot landscapes. The current discussions about how many AF sensor and how many are cross type are all just noise to me. I was happy with one AF sensor! I’ve never missed a shot that I can remember because I didn’t have enough AF sensors.
I bought every new Nikon body, the 8008s, N90, N90s, F100, F4, F5. I hated the F5 since it was so heavy. I quickly returned it to bandh. When the APS cameras came out, I bought a Pronea S in 2000 a year or so after they were released. I loved the size, but even with 100 ISO film shooting a 85 f1.8 lens at F/8 on a tripod using a timer, the image quality was noticeably a huge step down at 5×7 and forgot an 8×10 or larger. This was so disappointing that I quickly sold the Pronea and lenses I bought for it.
APS cameras were a last gasp for film due to the digital age fast approaching. Film camera manufacturers saw the horizon, but this APS film idea was not the way to address it. APS cameras were supposedly smaller, lighter, more convenient, easier to load, easier to order prints, without a loss in image quality. Ugh, what a lie. There was a noticeable degradation of image quality so even an 8×10 was really unacceptable compared to 35mm film.
What about APS sensored digital cameras? Well, they are cheaper than a full frame camera and have price points from $400-$2000, where full frames start at $1300 and top out around $4500. On the telephoto end APS sensored cameras have a longer reach since the focal length is usually multiplied by 1.5 or 1.6 so a 70-200 zoom is now a 112-320 zoom – a very nice telephoto! Image quality? With the Canon M3, a 12×18 print is indistinguishable compared to a full frame camera. TBD Not sure about larger sizes since I need to make some more prints to compare.
Why did I start this site? I was inspired by my friend Stephen told me about his site retrenders.com and said, “Dude, do it, you have a passion for it!” It was photography in general and shooting with M cameras specifically. I also feel that so much I read online especially dpreview is just splitting hairs and most cons or complaints are not even photographically significant or relevant. The main complaint or con about the M cameras? “They don’t have 4K video!” Which is pretty much irrelevant to most photographers. Video was a brand new feature for DSLRs back in 2008 with the introduction of the 5D Mark ii and then to the masses with the T2i in 2010 for $850. 4K is a different animal since 4K market penetration is so much smaller.
Canon M Cameras 