Canon EOS M5 review

Canon gets serious with mirrorless

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Verdict

There's much to like about Canon's little EOS M5. The 24MP APS-C sensor delivers images with bags of detail, while the polished handling, including a well thought-out control layout that's brilliantly integrated with the touchscreen interface, makes it a nice camera to shoot with.

The EVF works well too, while the AF is much improved thanks to the inclusion of Dual Pixel CMOS AF – AF point selection using an area of the touchscreen is a joy.

Some may feel the absence of 4K video is an oversight, given that many rivals now include this as a standard setting, while the relatively small selection of EF-M lenses could prove limiting. Granted, you've got Canon's huge range of EF and EF-S lenses available via an adapter, but with the likes of Micro Four Thirds and Fuji offering a growing selection of dedicated lenses the fairly entry-level range of EF-M lenses looks weak by comparison, and out of keeping with the high-end credentials of the EOS M5.

Also, for a camera at this price point, a few more bits of metal in the construction wouldn't have gone amiss. But perhaps the biggest sticking point is the M5's price tag. While it does a lot of things very well, so do its rivals – and for a much more attractive price.

Unless you're a die-hard EOS user with a stack of lenses that you want to use on a smaller body, then, until the M5's price drops a touch, there are better options out there.

Competition

TOPICS
Phil Hall

Phil Hall is an experienced writer and editor having worked on some of the largest photography magazines in the UK, and now edit the photography channel of TechRadar, the UK's biggest tech website and one of the largest in the world. He has also worked on numerous commercial projects, including working with manufacturers like Nikon and Fujifilm on bespoke printed and online camera guides, as well as writing technique blogs and copy for the John Lewis Technology guide.

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