Canon Burrows Deeper Into the Mud

(news & commentary)

bythom canon eos 10 w lens

What to make of the EOS M10 camera announced today? To my eye it looks like and specs out mostly as a slightly reworked and simplified EOS M2, which never made it to the US. Coupled with the new 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 kit lens, the US$599 EOS M10 kit seems to target that same market that Nikon never really got traction in with the J series Nikon 1 cameras. 

No doubt that the rise of smartphone quality has narrowed the gap in which you can produce an interesting and compelling small cameras before you hit the low-end DSLRs, but it seems that no one seems to know exactly what to do in that gap. Indeed, Canon is putting multiple new products into that gap, including the 1” sensor G5 X and G9 X cameras. The US$799 G5 X, for instance, has a 24-100mm equivalent f/1.8-2.8 lens, which technically puts it in the same territory as the EOS M10 in terms of likely image quality (also in the same territory as the Sony RX100IV). Moreover, it essentially presents a better choice than a Nikon V3 at a far lower price.

Why “better choice”? That lens and high quality built-in EVF, basically. Meanwhile, the US$529 G9 X essentially takes on the Nikon J5, this time with a 28-84mm equivalent f/2-4.9 lens, again a faster lens than the Nikon 1 series has in this range.

For a company that was reluctant to take on the US market in mirrorless, Canon now is back in that market with…well, the same mirrorless cameras, basically. And only five lenses (though the EOS M cameras can use EF mount lenses via an adapter). While the EOS M3 has an EVF option, it’s a bit pricey, and has the same problems as Nikon’s V3 solution. It’s difficult to understand how Canon won’t have the same result in mirrorless as before. Especially considering the 1” sensor compacts that Canon announced alongside the EOS M10. 


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