Canon EOS M3 review: Canon's mirrorless M3 sadly still pales in comparison

Canon's M3, the company's most recent foray into the growing mirrorless interchangeable-lens camera (ILC) market, is its most promising. Canon's first entry, 2012's EOS M , had widely-reported autofocus issues that turned off many customers before a firmware update addressed the problem. Its successor, the EOS M2, was only released in Japan and China. The third in the series should overcome the stumbling blocks of its predecessors, but the real question is whether the M3's respectable specs and high-quality photos can make up for its continued sluggish performance, lackluster lineup of dedicated lenses, and a lesser feature set than closely priced competitors.

The M3 is now available in the US as well as the European and Australian markets. Pricing runs $680 (AU$850) for the body; $800 (£600, AU$870) for the kit with the 18-55mm STM lens; and $1,050 (AU$1,300) for a kit with both the 18-55m and 55-200mm STM lenses. Canon also brought over the EF-M lenses it never shipped in the US, the 55-200mm STM ($350) and 11-22mm STM ($400).

Editors' note: Originally published on May 4, 2015. With the introduction of the camera into the US market, we've added results for our performance and image-quality tests, and have significantly updated the review and ratings based on those findings. The performance subrating has dropped to 7 from 8, pushing the overall rating down to 7.5 from 7.8. Note that this still works out to 3.5 stars.

Image quality

Image quality is as good as any of Canon's midtier APS-C dSLRs, such as the T6i/750D ; in fact, it's almost identical to that one thanks to the same 24.2-megapixel sensor and Digic 6 image processor. JPEGs look clean and sharp through ISO 800, between ISO 800 and ISO 1600 you can see some obvious smoothing in out-of-focus areas and by ISO 3200 some detail starts to degrade due to noise. You can get much better results by shooting in raw format at those mid to high ISO sensitivities. Like many cameras, the M3's JPEG processing emphasises maximizing tonal detail in the shadows over sharpness in low light.

Colors show good saturation, but the automatic white balance tended to shift a little toward purple in our lab tests.

The EF-M-mount 18-55mm IS STM lens that comes with the kit is a solid offering. Like most consumer kit lenses, it doesn't offer a very wide maximum aperture across the zoom range at f3.5-5.6. Lens distortion isn't bad by any measure and it handles aberrations well. Canon knows what it's doing with lens design and the 18-55mm IS lens performs well when coupled with the M3's sensor.

Paired with the optional Mount Adapter EF-EOS M (roughly $50, £99, AU$130) and Sigma's 50mm f1.4 Art lens, the M3 was able to show off its low-light capabilities. Shooting at ISO 6400 produces night photos usable at moderate sizes, such as a cat lit by a street light.

Video on the M3 is not its strong point. Tracking and continuous autofocus does a great job of following moving subjects, but through the kit lens it's all somewhat flat, and the only way you can get the most out of the video autofocus is with one of the few STM (stepper motor) lenses. The 3.5mm mic input should help with sound recording but there's no audio output for monitoring sound.

Analysis samples

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Performance

While it may not feel terribly slow during shooting, it certainly tests that way. It takes 1.7 seconds to power on, focus and shoot, which is a relatively long time. And unlike other cameras which take that long, the M3 doesn't have a zoom lens that it's extending, which is usually the main holdup. In good light, time to focus and shoot runs about 0.5 second, which is on the slow side, but it also takes 0.5 second in dim light, which isn't too bad. (Note that all but our continuous-shooting tests use single-shot autofocus; leaving a camera in continuous AF mode isn't recommended since it's a huge drain on the battery and annoying to contstantly feel the lens moving when you're not actively shooting.)

Time to shoot two sequential photos, which includes time to refocus and (depending upon the camera) time to write to the card, takes 1.1 seconds for raw or JPEG on a fast card -- the longest time we've seen in recent memory -- and that rises to 2.2 seconds with the flash enabled, also on the slow side.

It's rated at 4.2 frames per second for continuous shooting, but that's with focus and exposure fixed on the first frame. The camera doesn't seem to support continuous autofocus or autoexposure at all in this drive mode, which limits its usefulness to subjects pretty much staying in one place, like a child blowing bubbles. That's lowest among its competitive cohort, though it can sustain that burst for 1,000 JPEGs, nice, but far more than anyone really needs. Raw continuous shooting is even more subpar, managing only 4 to 6 shots before slowing. (Since our performance testing for this mode requires continuous autofocus, we don't have results for it.)

Though the battery is rated for a low 250 shots, in practice battery life was good especially when considering the M3 autofocuses continuously in its default Servo mode. After taking 1,000 JPEGs the camera indicated more than half its battery capacity was left unused.

Shooting speed

Olympus PEN E-PL7 0.3 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.8Samsung NX500 0.3 0.8 0.5 0.5 1.6Canon EOS M3 0.5 0.5 1.1 1.1 1.7

Design and features

Build quality is on par with Canon's magnesium-alloy dSLRs, though without the weather sealing. The magnesium-alloy/stainless-steel body doesn't creak when gripped tightly like cameras made of plastic are prone to. The recessed grip strikes a nice balance between usefulness while maintaining a low profile. The vulcanized rubber gives it the familiar feel of a dSLR.

Shutter speed and aperture have dedicated dials, while ISO sensitivity is an easy press of the combined directional pad/toggle wheel located at the thumb. With no manual-focus switch on the lens, MF is selectable via the thumb dial along with flash modes.

Those familiar with Canon's menu system of the past few years will find the M3 easy to navigate. Users can also customise their own menu with up to six selections for menu options they find themselves frequenting.

The touchscreen offers a sharp view of the scene. It's easy to use and responsive but all functionality is also available via the dials. Where the touch screen comes into its own is in selecting a focus point. It's fast and accurate, and while navigating the menu and changing the exposure is often better via the dials, selecting focus is overwhelmingly faster with a tap of the screen.

The quick menu button on the top right hand of the touch screen offers fast access to AF mode, image size and quality, movie recording quality, self-timer, white balance, metering and aspect ratio. It saves on menu-diving and streamlines the shooting experience.

The tilting screen also comes in handy and offers three alternative shooting styles. The screen can angle 45 degrees downwards for holding the camera up which works well for the street photographers or those looking to shoot from a lower angle. Paired with the self-timer function and the screen rotated 180 degrees and it's ready to take the next selfie.

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Remote shooting with an

phone is easy with Canon's EOS Remote app. Pairing via the camera and phone's NFC spot is straightforward and you're guided through the steps to connect your phone and camera via Wi-Fi. Without NFC pairing an iPhone is a slightly more involved process that requires you to go into the phone's Wi-Fi settings. Both and version offer exposure control and AF point selection as well as the ability to preview images on your phone.

Conclusion

The latest entry in Canon's EOS M series remains a competent if not outstanding player in its market: the interchangeable-lens camera segment that caters to enthusiasts as well as people looking for something better than a phone or point-and-shoot who are willing to pay a lot more than $500 (£450, AU$700) to keep it smaller than an entry-level dSLR like the Canon EOS Rebel T5/EOS 1200D or Nikon D3300 .

One problem is the price: while it has comparable photo quality to competitors with same-size sensors like the Samsung NX500 and likely to the Sony A5100 (which we haven't reviewed), its performance is disappointing and its feature set doesn't justify its higher price. In the US and UK, it's overpriced, costing as much as faster models with built-in viewfinders. Notably, it's not such a bad deal in Australia, where it seems to be competitively priced -- at least for the moment.

While there's a relatively small selection of EF-M lenses designed for this series, it's a sad fact that most buyers will never venture beyond the existing kit-quality options. The Canon 22mm f2.0 STM (with the equivalent angle of view of 35mm, just a little narrower than most phone cameras) is the only native-mount lens for those looking for a fast aperture. People who do want to use better lenses have to resort to significantly bulkier full EF-mount lenses and pay extra ($50, £99, AU$130) for the adapter.

Unlike competitors, it does offer a viewfinder option, and it's a very nice viewfinder, the same EVF-DC1 that works with the G series compacts. But that'll set you back about $240 (£205, AU$250), which bumps the total cost into the territory of much more powerful cameras.

It's a perfectly competent camera, but it doesn't stand out from an increasingly crowded field, making the M3 a camera that's hard to recommend above any other.

Comparative specifications

	Canon EOS M3	Fujifilm X-A2	Samsung NX500	Sony Alpha A5100
Sensor effective resolution	24.2MP Hybrid CMOS III	16.3MP CMOS	28.2MP BSI CMOS	24.3MP Exmor HD CMOS
Sensor size	22.3 x14.9	23.6 x15.6mm	23.5 x15.7 mm	23.5 x15.6mm
Focal-length multiplier	1.6x	1.5x	1.5x	1.5x
OLPF	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Sensitivity range	ISO 100 - ISO 12800/ISO 25600 (exp)	ISO 100 (exp)/ ISO 200 - ISO 6400/ ISO 25600 (exp)	ISO 100 - ISO 25600/51200 (exp)	ISO 100 - ISO 25600
Burst shooting	None with continuous AF/AE (4.2fps with fixed focus and exposure)	None with continuous AF/AE (5.6fps with fixed focus and exposure)	9fps 40 JPEG/5 raw	6fps 56 JPEG/23 raw
Viewfinder (mag/ effective mag)	Optional EVF (DVF-DC1) 2.36m dots 0.48 in/12.2 mm 100% coverage	None	None	None
Hot shoe	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Autofocus	49-point Phase-detection AF	49-area Contrast AF	205 phase-detection AF (153 cross-type) 209 contrast AF	179-pt phase- detection; 25-area contrast AF
AF sensitivity	2 - 18 EV	n/a	-4 - 20 EV	-1 - 20 EV
Shutter speed	30 - 1/4000 sec.; bulb; 1/200 x-sync	30 - 1/4000 sec.; bulb to 60 min; 1/180 x-sync	30-1/6,000 sec; bulb to 4 minutes; 1/180 x-sync	30-1/4000 sec.; bulb; 1/160 x-sync
Metering	384 zones	256 zones	221 area	1,200 zone
Metering sensitivity	1 - 20 EV	n/a	n/a	-1 - 20 EV
Best video	H.264 Quicktime MOV 1080/30p, 25p, 24p; 720/60p, 50p	H.264 MPEG-4 Quicktime MOV 1080/30p	H.265 MP4 UHD/30p; C4K/24p; 1080/60p, 50p; 720/120p	XAVC S 1080/60p, 30p, 25p, 24p; 720/120p @ 50Mbps
Audio	Stereo; mic input	Stereo	Stereo	Stereo
Manual aperture and shutter in video	Yes	n/a	Yes	Yes
Maximum best-quality recording time per clip	n/a	14 minutes	29 minutes	29 minutes
IS	Optical	Optical	Optical	Optical
LCD	3-inch/7.5 cm Tilting touchscren 1.04m dots	3-inch/7.5 cm Tilting 920,000 dots	3-inch/7.5cm AMOLED tilting touchscreen 921,600 dots	3-inch/7.5cm Flip-up touchscreen 921,600 dots
Memory slots	1 xSDXC	1 xSDXC	1 xSDXC	1 xSDXC
Wireless connection	Wi-Fi, NFC	Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi, NFC	Wi-Fi, NFC
Flash	Yes	Yes	Bundled optional	Yes
Wireless flash	Yes	Yes	No	No
Battery life (CIPA rating)	250 shots	410 shots	400 (est.)	400 shots
Size (WHD)	4.4x2.7 x1.7 in 111 x68x44 mm	4.6 x2.6 x1.6 in 117 x67 x44 mm	4.7 x2.5 x1.7 in 120 x64 x43 mm	4.3 x2.5 x1.4 in 110 x63 x36 mm
Body operating weight	13.3 oz 376 g	12.3 oz (est.) 350 g (est.)	12.3 oz 348 g	10 oz (est.) 283 g (est.)
Mfr. price (body only)	$680 AU$850	n/a	n/a	$450 £550
Primary kit	$800 £600 (est.) AU$870 (with 18-55mm STM lens)	$550 £450 (est.) AU$600 (est.) (with 16-50mm lens)	$650 £550 (est.) AU$1,000 (with 16-50mm PZ lens)	$600 AU$900 (with 16-50mm PZ lens)
Release date	April 2015 October 2015 (US)	February 2015	March 2015	September 2014