Long-Awaited Canon EOS M Mirrorless Camera Officially Unveiled

It’s finally here. After many months of rumors and the now-typical day before announcement leak, Canon has officially announced the EOS M mirrorless ILC — and fortunately, all evidence points to the little camera being worth the wait. So buckle up and let’s dive into the specifics.

As far as hardware is concerned, the EOS M is essentially a smaller Rebel T4i. It sports an 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, DIGIC 5 processor, 3-inch 1.04-million dot smudge-resistant touchscreen, 100-12800 ISO range (expandable to 25600 in H mode) and the same hybrid AF system found in the recently released Rebel. The M also comes with a full-sized hot-shoe, 4.3fps continuous shooting and 1080p 24, 25 and 30fps video capability including manual audio controls.

Obviously, being a mirrorless camera, some compromises in functionality had to be made to maintain the tiny form-factor (which, at 14.18oz, falls somewhere between Canon’s G1 X and S100). While the hardware is essentially the same as the T4i, buttons have for the most part been eschewed in favor of touchscreen controls and no electronic viewfinder is included. But even though serious shooters will have to familiarize themselves a little bit with the Canon point-and-shoot style menus, the hardware and the ability to control the M in full-manual should keep everyone happy.

The Canon EOS M will ship in October alongside a few new accessories created just for this occasion. The black EOS M will ship in a kit with the all-new EF-M 22mm f/2 STM lens for $799.99. Getting your hands on the pretty white version pictured above, however, requires that you order the camera through Canon’s online store.

The other accessories — the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM lens, the EF-EOS M Mount Adapter and the 90EX Speedlite — will be available for $299.99, $199.99 and $149.99, respectively. And, of course, if you want to read through all of the press-release-y details on the camera and all of the goodies coming with it, you can check out the entire thing over in Canon’s Press Room.

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