Thinking Out Loud

Regarding the "Photokina Flurry" post the other day, maybe I should try a Canon M5. When I catch myself being completely dismissive of something, it's sometimes a sign that I'm being biased and might in fact have something new to learn. Maybe I should try the M5 just to further my education.

Just thinking out loud,

Mike

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Comments

[Kalli]

On the plus side, the one prime lens available for that Canon is a 35mm-e f/2 that's supposedly pretty good. That's right up your alley, right?

When I checked they seemed to be sold along with EF adaptors and a Canon 50mm f/1.8 STM costs almost, if not quite literally, peanuts. Or you can get a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART :)

[Josh Hawkins]

I've been wanting to try whatever the current iteration is of that camera for a while. It's the combo of camera size, the lens I want in a 22mm f2 pancake (35mm-e, which is my focal length) and a good size sensor. No one else has that combo, and I don't know why. I really want it for a vacation/camping camera.

[You should try the A6000 or A6300 and the Zeiss 24mm. Really nice combo. --Mike]

[Eolake]

Woa, behold Michael, still learning and growing at the age of 39. Well done!

(And I do mean it.)

[Stephen Scharf]

No, no, come on, now..GAS is just having it's way with you again.

[Robin P]

Looking forward to your experience with it Mike, I'm still happy with my original EOS M (but glad it's not my only camera). The EOS M allowed a gentle introduction to the new regime of touchscreen control for this old Luddite......

[Richard Man]

No, there's nothing there THERE. It's designed to check a box, and fails in everything except getting the box checked.

[c.d.embrey]

The Canon M line are not bad cameras. The problem is with Canon's perception that only young women wanted mirrorless cameras. So Canon designs the M line for this group. Also few primes, and lots of convenience zooms, does not a system make.

The M reminds me of the Pontiac Fiero, a car designed for single women. If the first year car had had the lsat years rear suspension, they would have sold like Miatas.

[Eliott James]

Of course, Miatas were originally designed for women. :)

[Was that the subject? --Mike]

[robert e]

I applaud your skepticism, Mike. (True skeptics are most skeptical about their own assumptions.) I'm sure the M5 is a better camera than many people expect, after all the bashing the M1 and M2 got. That said, I doubt its ergonomics are up to Fuji standards (to my retrograde taste, anyway). The Canon raw files should be nice and robust, though, and work nicely with Lightroom. Like others here, I was pleasantly surprised by how useful and fun touch screen focus+shoot can be (on my M1).

[Gabe]

I'm the proud original and sole owner of a 1990 Miata. I'm also one of the original members of the Miata club, and have met and talked with many of the Japanese and American designers of the car.
I don't mind when some automatic sedan owner calls it a chick car, realizing it's just middle aged envy, but to say it was designed for women ....... I'd like to test your non cursing policy Mike.
In driving the 300+ beautiful, twisty scenic miles annually from L.A. to Monterey for the annual car week for 20 years, my chick car managed to keep up with and frequently pass Porsches, Alfas, four members of the Pantera club, and all manner of "sports sedans" in the twisties.
It was made to carry on the British sports car tradition, except for leaking oil, breaking down for no reason, having independent rear suspension and wind up windows. It's light, great handling (even stock) , one of the best shifters ever, comfortable, safe, and smile inspiring.
And wonder of wonders, a large number of women did and do own this fine buggy, but for the first few years they had to be manual shifters, which would indicate a fine understanding of the word SPORTSCAR.
If you enjoy racing there are dozens of racing classes consisting solely of Miatas, stock as well as full mod, and in SCCA racing she holds many records against all manner of sports cars.
My car is stock, its original puny little engine approaching 100,000 miles, original clutch, no power anything, and slightly modified suspension. It was designed to appeal to ragtop lovers, male or female and was the rebirth of the sports car. Through the years, up to the current edition, it's maintained the original philosophy of a light, great handling two seating smile inducer., even as creature comforts have been piled on. In my sixties it's not my daily ride anymore, but what a blast on the weekends!
I've held this rant in for 25 years - thank you for the soapbox Mike!

[Any male who calls any car a "women's car" or any variant is insecure in his masculinity. As for the 30% of Miata buyers who are female, they just have very good taste! :-) --Mike]

[Thomas Paul McCann]

I handled the M5 at Photokina and came away impressed. It felt solid in the hand and looked the part. Unfortunatey the goat**** that is Photokina isn't the best place to evaluate a camera, nevertheless its on my list.

[Thomas Paul McCann]

.... Miata/MX5 is a hairdressers car

[When you catch youself being completely dismissive of something, it's sometimes a sign that you're being biased and might in fact have something new to learn. Maybe you should try a Miata just to further your education.

As I was sayin'. --Mike]

[PaddyC]

Don't listen to the haters Mike. If you get half as much joy out of the M5 and the wonderful 22/2 as I have out of the M2 and that same lens, you will be a happy shooter.

[I seem to be turning into a Canon shill lately. Don't know how that happened]

[Paul Mc Cann]

Oh dear the comment on thr Miata hit a sore spot did it ? It was meant as a humorous aside, not to be taken seriously.

I had to take jibes like that when driving an Audt TT roadster, not to mention having to listen to people who had never sat in a BMW 7 expounding on the vicissitudes of the Idrive.

[Darlene]

What does it mean when a car was designed for single women? Are husbands not allowed to sit or ride in it? Or does it *fit* only one human that should be a woman? I have never heard that before and I am a 58 year-old female that has had many vehicles from two-seat sports cars to full size trucks; a business van, and multiple full size SUVs. I could always reach the peddles, never had a wreck, and my husband could be in the vehicles with me. (I wonder if I broke any laws.)

[Robert Fogt]

I will be trying the M5, based on my experience with the M1 alone. That is the camera I carried for a few weeks in France in 2013, outfitted with just the 22mm lens and tiny Voigtlander 35mm finder. Except for the excellent Richard Franiec grip I'd fitted, that was my entire kit; no other lenses, no flash, review turned OFF for the duration. (A bonus for my companions, who never had to look back and ask, "Where's Bob?") I shot nearly 1500 pictures on that trip, never looking at any of them while traveling. Whe
n I returned home, I dropped the cards into a drawer while settling in, and viewed them for the first time a day later. It was like picking up a huge stack of prints from the drugstore, and likely the most liberating fun I've ever had with a digital camera!

[Dancebert]

I bought the EOS M after the price dropped by half. Nine months later replaced it with an Oly EM10. The image quality from the EM10 with the best moderate speed standard zoom available (Panny 14-45mm) was so much lower than the M and it's std zoom that I thought my lens was defective. Tests showed it wasn't. For travel, I want light weight, 2 zooms, 1 wideish prime and good enough image quality. If the M had decent AF and a viewfinder, I never would have tried m43 for travel.

[Dancebert]

After becoming obsessed with Autocross, I bought a sports car for it. Not a Miata, because at my height the top of the windshield frame blocked my vision. At an event, I was with some experienced drivers and a few of their friends who came to observe. During a conversation lull, one friend half sneered 'What's with all the Miatas?' I replied, 'You've heard they're girl cars?'. 'Yeah, so?' he sneered. I said 'Well, people who drive their cars at the very limit know that Miatas are real s(ubstitute derogatory plural noun for women who have many casual sexual partners)'. The autocrossers laughed, friends didn't.

[Dancebert]

I bought the EOS M after the price dropped by half. Nine months later replaced it with an Oly EM10. The Image quality from the EM10 with the best moderate speed standard zoom available (Panny 14-45mm) was so much lower than the M and it's std zoom, I thought my lens was defective. Tests showed it wasn't. For travel, I want light weight, 2 zooms, 1 wideish prime and good enough image quality. If the M had decent AF and a viewfinder, I never would have tried m43 for travel. If the M5 has good AF, I'm in.

[Pak Ming Wan]

I have the similar reaction too, when someone tells me that something is so awful -- I have this urge to find out why. For instance, I was tempted by the Lumia 950 Windows Mobile, that has been almost universally poorly received (apart from its 20MP camera, that shoots raw). Now it is almost half price, I decided to go for it.

After a patch or two to the operating system, it works perfectly fine. There's nothing awful about it at all. The photos it takes are a real step up from what I had before. There's very little in the way of applications, but it's fine because I make it work for me (notably mail and messaging are very complete on it).

So, I guess I'm +1 for that Canon M5 review ...

Pak

[Dave New]

And now the Fiat 124 Spyder is built on the same line as the Miata.

Jus' sayin...