The EOS-M – A Holdover Camera for the Holidays

These are the first photos I’ve taken with my Canon EOS M and 22mm f/2.0 Lens Kit.
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I bought the camera because my Ricoh GR is still in repair, as far as I know CRIS Camera is still waiting for the part to repair it. For my personal photos, I’ve been shooting nothing but film and with my iPhone when it’s convenient. I have nothing I against pictures taken with a phone (outside of the fact that comparatively speaking, they suck)–what I hate is the experience of shooting with a phone.

Shooting exclusively with film again for nearly 2 months straight has reminded me of how we used to shoot pictures–carefully chosen subjects, conservatively exposed frames. Much more thought went into whether we wanted that frame or not. We weren’t so profligate with it, and I feel like my digital shooting is much more careful now because of it (until of course I fall back into the habit of clicking-because-I-can, which is just inevitable with digital).

With the holidays coming and my daughter at the magical age of 2.5, and very aware of the legend that is Santa Claus, I wanted something more robust and capable than an iPhone, and more flexible and generous than film, since we have so many holiday activities planned. To hold myself over, I got a Canon EOS M and 22mm f/2.0 Lens.

At an equivalent focal length of 35mm, and a lens faster than that of my Ricoh GR, the focal length is right in my comfort zone.

After getting out of the office, I decided to take a twilight stroll and push the camera/lens combo’s low-light abilities for my first run through with the camera.

So far I can definitely say I enjoy shooting with the camera, but with the finer controls buried in menus and touchscreens, and only one real spinning control dial and a minimal amount of buttons, my impression is that the EOS-M is a step up from point and shoots (albeit a big step up) rather than an alternative for those who want to leave a D-SLR at home. It feels and acts like a point-and-shoot in its slight sluggishness and choice to use slow-ish shutter speeds, rather than an aggressive picture-making machine like the Ricoh GR.

I haven’t even shot with the camera in daylight yet as of this writing, but I’m definitely looking forward to shooting all weekend with it. I’ll post more as I shoot more.