Canon EOS M5 Review

Overview

About four years ago, Canon made a tentative first step into the mirrorless camera market with its EOS M, sporting a brand-new EF-M lens mount. You could be forgiven if you missed that camera or its followups the M2, M3 and M10, though, because they weren't big sellers in the US market. (In fact, the M2 wasn't even officially offered for sale here.)

So what held the series back stateside? Although image quality was good, sluggish performance and a very limited lens selection held the EOS M-series back compared to its rivals. So too did the lack of a viewfinder in the EOS M, M2 and M10, while the M3 relied on an expensive $300 external viewfinder accessory. The Canon EOS M5 addresses those concerns -- and for the first time, it looks to be an EOS M-series camera that's truly aimed at enthusiast use!

Although it shares quite a bit with its predecessor the EOS M3, including a 24-megapixel resolution from an APS-C image sensor, a tilting touch-screen LCD monitor and in-camera Wi-Fi / NFC wireless networking, the Canon EOS M5 looks to be a near-ground up redesign. Externally, it sports a brand-new, somewhat SLR-like body complete with a built-in electronic viewfinder, a larger and higher-resolution LCD monitor, and a reworked control layout.

Inside, there's a newer image sensor and processor that should offer better image quality and performance, and the sensor also now supports Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology, allowing swift and accurate phase-detection autofocus across most of the image frame. The new sensor and processor also allow much faster burst performance even with continuous autofocus tracking active, although raw depth is still a question mark.

The Canon EOS M5 also boasts a new low-power, Bluetooth Smart connection which can remain active at all times, much like Nikon's competing SnapBridge wireless tech, which is also based around Bluetooth Smart technology. The EOS M5 uses this low-power, short-range connection to pair via higher-power, longer-range Wi-Fi for faster transfers and remote control with a live view feed, but can rely on Bluetooth alone for remote control without a live view feed, or to control playback on a large screen over HDMI.

The Canon EOS M5 began shipping in November 2016 in the US market, and is sold either body-only, or in two kit bundles with lens. Body-only pricing is in the region of US$980, while a kit with the EF-M 15-45mm/F3.5-6.3 IS STM zoom lens is available for around US$1,100. A second kit with the new EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens is also available, priced at around US$1,480 or thereabouts.

In the Box

The Canon EOS M5 15-45mm kit retail box (as tested) ships with the following items:

• Canon EOS M5 body
• EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens
• Front and rear lens caps
• LP-E17 battery pack
• LC-E17/LC-E17E battery charger
• Hot shoe cover
• Body cap
• IFC-600PCU USB interface cable
• EM-300DB neck strap
• Camera Instruction Manual booklet

Recommended Accessories

• Large capacity SDHC/SDXC memory card. Look for at least a Class 6 speed grade card if you plan on shooting video, and consider a fast UHS-I card to minimize buffer clearing times.
• Extra LP-E17 battery pack
• Additional lenses
• Canon EF-M Lens Adapter Kit for EF / EF-S lenses
• External Speedlite flash
• External monaural or stereo microphone
• Micro (Type-D) HDMI cable
• Medium size camera bag

Optics

Our Canon EOS M5 came bundled with the EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM lens. We have not done a full test on this kit lens yet, but to get an idea of how it performs see our Canon EOS M10 Optics page.

Below are our Canon EOS M5 viewfinder accuracy test results.

Viewfinder Test Results

Accuracy
Very good accuracy from the EVF and LCD in record mode.

The Canon EOS M5's EVF and LCD were both pretty accurate in terms of coverage in record mode, resulting in just over 100% coverage. Very good results here.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Canon EOS M5 Photo Gallery .

Exposure

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Slightly below average saturation levels with excellent hue accuracy.

ISO Sensitivity
100	200	400
800	1600	3200
6400	12800	25600
In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located toward the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center. Mouse over the links above to compare ISOs, and click to load a larger version.

Saturation. The Canon EOS M5 produces images with mean saturation levels that are a little below average these days. Dark reds are boosted the most, with dark orange, dark greens and dark blues pushed just a little, while cyan and yellow are slightly muted. The mean saturation of 106.1% (6.1% oversaturated) at base ISO is a bit lower than the 110% average we normally see, but colors are still quite pleasing to the eye, and saturation levels are fairly stable across the ISO range, with a minimum mean of 104.8% at ISO 6400. Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life.

Skin tones. The Canon EOS M5 produces pleasing, natural-looking Caucasian skin tones in our tests when using manual white balance (auto WB was very similar). Darker skin tones show a small nudge toward orange, but lighter tones are more pinkish. Very good results. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc.

Hue. As we've come to expect from Canon, the EOS M5's hue accuracy is excellent when manual white balance is used (as it always is for these results), and is much better than average. There are the usual shifts in cyan toward blue (though actually quite small), red toward orange, orange toward yellow, and yellow toward green, but all are fairly minor. Average "delta-C" color error at base ISO is only 3.73 (lower is better) which is excellent, among the better scores we've recorded to date. Delta-C color error varies slightly with sensitivity, but remains better than average even at the highest ISOs. Hue is "what color" the color is.

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Auto and Incandescent white balance settings both struggled with household incandescent lighting, though Manual worked well. Average exposure compensation required.

Indoors, under incandescent lighting, the Canon EOS M5's Auto and Incandescent white balance settings struggled, producing very reddish or orange/yellow color casts. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon among cameras we've tested, but disappointing nonetheless. The Manual setting produced the most accurate, neutral results without the greenish tint we saw with the M3. Skin tones were also more pleasing. The Canon EOS M5 required +0.3 EV exposure compensation for this shot, which is about average among the cameras we've tested. (Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.)

Outdoors, daylight
Very good color, though a tendency towards slightly cool color balance with somewhat high contrast under harsh lighting. Slightly below average exposure accuracy.

Outdoors, the Canon EOS M5 produced pleasing skin tones with both Auto and Manual white balance and overall color was generally very good. The Canon M5 required +1.0 EV exposure compensation to keep the mannequin's face bright, a little higher than average for our "Sunlit" portrait shot. The Canon EOS M5's default contrast is a little high, producing some washed-out highlights and dark shadows under the deliberately harsh lighting of the shot above left, though the camera's Auto Lighting Optimizer and Highlight Tone Priority settings help with high contrast scenes like these. See below for examples of this. The Far-field shot (above right) is a bit cool, and exposure is a bit dim at default exposure, but with the camera avoided blowing any highlights, though there are some deep shadows which are a little noisy and discolored, but have good detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
~2,800 lines of strong detail from JPEGs, about the same from RAW.

Our resolution chart showed sharp, distinct line patterns up to just under 2,800 lines per picture height horizontally and to just under 2,800 lines vertically. Some may argue for higher numbers, but lines begin to merge at this resolution, and some aliasing artifacts in the form of moiré patterns can be seen at lower resolutions. Extinction of the pattern occurred between 3,400 and 3,600 lines. An Adobe Camera Raw converted .CR2 file produces about the same resolution as the in-camera JPEG, though complete extinction of the pattern was extended to between 3,600 and 4,000 lines, close to the limit of our chart. While ACR was able to extract more detail, it also produced more moiré and false colors. Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Somewhat soft images at default sharpening, but with noticeable sharpening artifacts. Minor to moderate detail loss due to noise reduction processing even at low ISOs.

Sharpness. The Canon EOS M5's 24-megapixel sensor captures very good image detail when coupled with a good lens, though JPEG images are a bit soft at default settings. (Keep in mind Canon has decided to keep an optical low-pass filter in the EOS M5 to reduce aliasing artifacts at the cost of slightly reduced sharpness, unlike some competing models which have gone the other way.) Yet the EOS M5's default sharpening setting generates visible edge-enhancement artifacts in the form of obvious sharpening halos around high-contrast edges, as shown in the crop above left. Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.

Detail. The crop above right shows some detail loss due to noise suppression in darker areas and in areas with low contrast, perhaps just a little more than we're accustomed to seeing from an APS-C sensor at base ISO. Still, a good performance for a 24-megapixel model. Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears.

RAW vs In-Camera JPEGs
As noted above the Canon EOS M5 produces JPEG images with very good detail, but that are somewhat soft yet with visible sharpening halos. With a good RAW converter, additional detail can often be extracted with fewer sharpening artifacts. See below:

Base ISO (100)
Camera JPEG, defaults	RAW via Adobe Camera Raw

In the table above, we compare a best quality in-camera JPEG taken at base ISO using default noise reduction and sharpening (on the left) to the matching RAW file converted with Adobe Camera Raw 9.1 via DNG Converter 9.9 using default noise reduction with some strong but tight unsharp masking applied in Photoshop (300%, radius of 0.3 pixels, and a threshold of 0).

Looking closely at the images, we can see ACR extracts additional detail that isn't present in the default JPEG from the camera, particularly in the red-leaf and pink swatches where the fine thread pattern is likely treated as noise by the JPEG engine. Fine detail in the mosaic crop is also improved, but as is often the case, the conversion isn't as clean and smooth looking, with more noise that can be seen in the flatter areas of the bottle crop. You can of course apply stronger noise reduction (default ACR NR used here) to arrive at your ideal noise versus detail tradeoff. And, as expected, sharpening halos aren't nearly as strong as the default camera output. Still, not bad in-camera default JPEG processing, but as usual you can do noticeably better by shooting in RAW mode and using a good RAW converter.

Note that the M5 is the first EOS mirrorless to implement Canon's Fine Detail Picture Style, which can do a much better job at rendering fine detail without obvious sharpening halos. See our Canon 80D test results to see how it compares to the default Standard Picture Style.

ISO & Noise Performance
Good high ISO performance for a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor.

Default High ISO Noise Reduction
ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1600	ISO 3200
ISO 6400	ISO 12,800	ISO 25,600

Images are quite clean at ISOs 100 and 200, with just a tiny amount of luminance noise seen in the darker areas, and very little chroma noise. Some blurring of fine low-contrast detail is already visible at base ISO, though, as mentioned previously. Noise "grain" is slightly more evident at ISO 400, but detail remains very strong despite some minor blurring due to noise reduction. ISO 800 is of course a little noisier, but fine detail is still very good with a noise grain that's quite fine and chroma noise remains low. At ISO 1600 blurring becomes noticeably stronger resulting in a more evident drop in image quality, though a fair amount of fine detail is still left though. ISO 3200 is quite a bit softer and grainier with minor chroma blotching, but there is still some fine detail left. ISO 6400 is quite soft and grainy, but the grain is still fairly tight and not too obtrusive. Noise and the effects of noise reduction working hard to keep it under control really become apparent at ISOs 12,800 and 25,600 with heavier luminance noise, stronger blurring and more obvious chroma blotching.

Overall, good high ISO performance for a 24-megapixel APS-C sensor, though not quite as good as some rivals. See the Print Quality section below (when available) for our evaluation of maximum print sizes at each ISO setting.

A note about focus for this shot: We used to shoot this image at f/4, however depth of field became so shallow with larger, high-resolution sensors that it was difficult to keep important areas of this shot in focus, so we have since started shooting at f/8, the best compromise between depth of field and sharpness.

Extremes: Sunlit, dynamic range and low light tests
Strong overall detail, but somewhat high default contrast and unremarkable dynamic range. HTP and ALO options do a great job of dealing with tough lighting. Very good low-light performance.

The Canon EOS M5 produces images with moderately high contrast with some washed-out highlights and deep shadows under the deliberately harsh lighting of the test above. The mannequin's face was too dim at the +0.3 and +0.7 EV settings so we preferred the image with +1.0 EV exposure compensation. This resulted in some clipped highlights in the shirt and flowers, a bit more than we're used to seeing from an APS-C sensor lately, indicating mediocre dynamic range compared to the best of recent competitors. Shadow detail was however pretty good, though very deep shadows are a bit noisy and discolored. Bottom line: while dynamic range isn't bad, the Canon EOS M5 didn't do as well with this difficult shot compared to some recent state-of-the-art peers.

Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here. In actual shooting conditions, be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown here; it's better to shoot in open shade whenever possible.)

Face Detection
Just like most point & shoot cameras these days, the Canon EOS M5 has the ability to detect faces, and adjust exposure and focus accordingly.

Face Detection
Aperture Priority Face Detect: Off 0 EV	Aperture Priority Face Detect: On 0 EV	Auto Mode 0 EV

As you can see from the examples above, it works, as the center image with face detection enabled is much better exposed for the face than the left image where face detection was not employed, by dropping the shutter speed from 1/60s to 1/25s. Full Auto mode (right) performed better than the default exposure at the left but is still a bit dim despite selecting a larger aperture than we normally use for this shot (f/4 vs f/8). It selected a much faster shutter speed of 1/250s for some reason, and used the standard Auto Lighting Optimizer setting for a lower contrast image.

Highlight Tone Priority
The Canon EOS M5's Highlight Tone Priority (HTP) option did a good job of preserving highlight detail as shown below. (Mouse over the Off and On links to load the corresponding thumbnail, histogram and crops.)

Highlight Tone Priority (+1.3 EV)
HTP Setting: Off On
Highlights
Shadows (Levels boosted to reveal noise.)
Histogram

Both shots above were captured at the same exposure, the only difference being that HTP was enabled for the second shot which necessarily increases the ISO to 200; part of how HTP works. Very few highlights were blown at default exposure so we cranked exposure compensation up to +1.3 EV to cause some significant highlight clipping. As you can see, the histograms, crops and thumbnails above clearly show a reduction in highlights when HTP is enabled. If you look closely at shadows (the levels in shadow crops above are heavily boosted to reveal noise that would be difficult to see otherwise), you'll notice an increase in noise is the price you pay when ISO is boosted from 100 to 200, although noise is pretty low in the shadows from the M5 at ISO 200.

Automatic Lighting Optimization
Like previous Canon EOS models, the EOS M5 offers three selectable levels of Automatic Lighting Optimization (ALO), plus Off. In fully automatic (Scene Intelligent Auto) ALO is automatically enabled and it's available in P, Tv and Av exposure modes. Mouse over the links below to load the associated thumbnail and histogram, and click on the links to load full resolution images.

Automatic Lighting Optimization (0 EV)
ALO Setting: Off Low Standard (default) High

As you can see above with images taken with no exposure compensation, ALO has the effect of shifting shadows and mid-tones in the histograms to the right, brightening shadows and indeed most of the image while preserving highlights. ISO is not boosted for ALO so increased noise is not an issue, though it may be slightly more visible in shadows that have been boosted significantly.

HDR
The Canon EOS M5 includes a couple of High Dynamic Range modes, which take three continuous shots at different exposures and merges them together to create an image with wider tonal range than would be possible with a single exposure. There's an HDR Backlight Control scene mode, plus included in Image Effects (Creative Filters) there is an HDR mode that offers four Artistic effects: Art Standard, Art Vivid, Art Bold and Art Embossed, as well as a Natural setting. We did not test these modes in the lab, however there are some examples in our Gallery shots (look for filenames containing "HDR").

Dynamic Range Analysis (RAW mode)
While we once performed our own dynamic range measurements based on in-camera JPEGs as well as converted RAW images (when the camera was supported by Adobe Camera Raw), we've switched to using DxO Labs' results from their DxOMark website. As technology advanced, the dynamic range of modern high-end cameras in some cases exceeded the range of the Stouffer T4110 density scale that we used for our own measurements. DxO's approach based on RAW data before demosaicing is also more revealing, because it measures the fundamental dynamic range of the sensor, irrespective of whatever processing is applied to JPEGs, or to RAW data by off-the-shelf conversion software.

In the following, we use DxO's "Print" dynamic range results, which are scaled based on camera resolution. As the name suggests, this scaling corresponds to the situation in which you print at a given size, regardless of how many megapixels the camera might have. (In other words, if you've decided to make a 13x19 inch print, that's the size you're printing, whether the camera's resolution is 16 or 300 megapixels.) For the technically-minded, you can find a discussion of the reasoning behind this here on the DxOMark website. Also note that DxO Labs uses a signal-to-noise (SNR) threshold of 1 when defining the lower boundary of acceptable luminance noise in their dynamic range measurements, which corresponds to the "Low Quality" threshold of the Imatest software we used to use for this measurement.

Here, we compare the Canon M5's dynamic range (in orange) to one of its DSLR siblings, the Canon 80D (red), and to the Sony A6300 (yellow), one of the most popular mirrorless cameras out there. (We didn't have any choice on which cameras to compare to at the time, as DxOMark.com didn't yet have the M5 in their database despite having tested and reviewed it.)

As you can see from the above graph (click for a larger version), the Canon EOS M5's dynamic range isn't as good as its 80D stablemate's at lower ISOs, which is a bit of a surprise. The M5's peak dynamic range at base ISO tested at 12.4 EV versus 13.2 EV for the 80D. That's an 0.8 EV advantage which is significant. Interestingly, the M5 does gradually catch up to the 80D already at moderate ISOs.

The M5 does however do better than its predecessor the M3 (not shown) at low ISOs, as the older camera was only able to achieve a peak dynamic range of about 11.8 EV at base ISO. The M3 did however do better than the M5 above ISO 400.

The Sony A6300 does significantly better across the board, with a peak dynamic range of about 13.7 EV at base ISO which is about a 1.3 EV advantage over the M5, and the Sony manages to keep a sizeable lead throughout its entire range of available sensitivities.

Bottom line, while dynamic range has improved significantly over its predecessor at low ISOs, the M5 still lags behind most recent APS-C rivals. Click here to visit the DxOMark page for the Canon EOS M5 for more of their test results.

	1 fc 11 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux	1/16 fc No NR
ISO 100	2s, f2.8	30s, f2.8	30s, f2.8
ISO 3200	1/15s, f2.8	1s, f2.8	1s, f2.8
ISO 25600	1/125s, f2.8	1/8s, f2.8	1/8s, f2.8

Low Light. The Canon EOS M5 performed well in our low-light tests, capturing bright images at the lowest light level (1/16 foot-candle), even with the lowest sensitivity setting (ISO 100). As expected, noise increases as ISO goes up and light levels go down, but luminance noise remains fairly low and fine-grained at ISO 3200. Some chroma noise in the form of subtle color blotching in the shadows and dark areas is visible at lower light levels, though it's effectively suppressed by default noise reduction. As you'd expect, noise is quite high at the maximum ISO of 25,600, particularly when noise reduction is minimized (extreme right column in the table above).

We didn't see any significant issues with hot pixels (we spotted a few of them with long exposure noise reduction turned off, but that's not out of the ordinary) or heat blooming, and banding (fixed pattern noise) appears to be very low in the shadows.

Color balance was fairly neutral with Canon EOS M5's Auto white balance setting, just a touch cool which is very good.

LL AF: The Canon EOS M5's autofocus system was able to focus on our legacy low-contrast AF target down to about -2.7 EV, and it was able to focus on our newer high-contrast AF target down to -4.5 EV unassisted with an f/2.8 lens. That's very good for a mirrorless camera and much better than its specification of -1.0 EV with an f/2 lens, though be aware we perform this test on a sturdy tripod so hand-held results may be different. The Canon M5 also has an AF assist illuminator, and was able to focus in complete darkness with it enabled.

As always, keep in mind that the longer shutter speeds here demand the use of a tripod to prevent any blurring from camera movement. (A useful trick is to just prop the camera on a convenient surface, and use its self-timer to release the shutter. This avoids any jiggling from your finger pressing the shutter button, and can work quite well when you don't have a tripod handy.)

How bright is this? The one foot-candle light level that this test begins at roughly corresponds to the brightness of typical city street-lighting at night. Cameras performing well at that level should be able to snap good-looking photos of street-lit scenes.

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) Large sensored cameras like the Canon EOS M5 do much better than point & shoots, but you still shouldn't expect a quick autofocus lock with moving subjects.

Output Quality

Print Quality
Very nice 30 x 40 inch prints at ISO 100/200/400; a good 16 x 20 inch print at ISO 1600; and a nice 5 x 7 at ISO 12,800.

ISO 100/200 prints are very good at 30 x 40 inches, with abundant fine detail and nice color, yielding a very natural-looking print overall. Wall display prints are certainly possible here at even larger sizes, until you run out of resolution!

ISO 400 images are also quite good at the lofty size of 30 x 40 inches, with only the slightest decrease in overall sharpness, but still a nice print overall. For your most critical prints, the 24 x 36 inch prints will very much deliver the goods here.

ISO 800 shots look really good at 20 x 30 inches, with only a minor trace of noise in some of the flatter areas of our test target, and a mild hint of softening in the red channel. Subtle contrast detail is still very good though, and colors look terrific. 24 x 36 inch prints will also work here for less critical applications.

ISO 1600 prints pass our "good" seal at 16 x 20 inches, although there is now more noticeable noise in flatter areas of our test target. So while we can certainly call these prints good, for your most critical work at this ISO sensitivity 13 x 19 inch (or smaller) prints are advised.

ISO 3200 yields a good overall print at 11 x 14 inches. There is still sufficient fine detail and full color representation throughout most of the image, and the trace of noise apparent in a few areas is very finely grained in appearance, making for a nice all around print at this size.

ISO 6400 delivers an 8 x 10 similar to the 11 x 14 inch print at ISO 3200, with only mild and acceptable noise in a few areas, but still a solid printed image in general.

ISO 12,800 prints are quite good at 5 x 7 inches, which really isn't bad for an APS-C sensor at this lofty ISO! There is sufficient fine detail and color remaining in this image to most assuredly call it good.

ISO 25,600 surprisingly yields a solid 4 x 6 inch print, and we salute all manufacturers who can achieve a good 4 x 6 at the highest native ISO, as it seems at least half of the cameras that we test simply cannot. Nice work to Canon on this worthwhile achievement!

Canon has once again brought good image quality to the table in yet another EOS M series camera. While the EOS M5 didn't surpass any of the predecessor EOS M3 print sizes, it still delivers results that are on par with most, though certainly not all, of the best APS-C cameras out there. Remaining at ISO 400 and below yields almost unlimited printing freedom and you can expect very natural printed images, while even ISO 3200 can output a solid 11 x 14 inch print which is as large as most photographers tend to go. A solid effort all around in the print quality department once again here from Canon.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Canon EOS M5 Photo Gallery .

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Canon EOS M5 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

Performance

Image Quality

Below are crops from our laboratory Still Life target comparing Canon M5's image quality to that of its DSLR sibling, the Canon 80D (for those wondering which of these two enthusiast Canon ILCs to get), as well as against several enthusiast ILC models at similar price points or in similar categories: the Nikon D7200, Olympus E-M5 II, Panasonic GX8 and Sony A6300.

NOTE: These images are from best quality JPEGs straight out of the camera, at default settings including noise reduction and using the camera's actual base ISO (not extended ISO settings). All cameras in this comparison were shot with our very sharp reference lenses. Clicking any crop will take you to a carrier page where you can click once again to access the full resolution image as delivered straight from the camera. For those interested in working with the RAW files involved, click these links to visit each camera's respective sample image thumbnail page: Canon M5, Canon 80D, Nikon D7200, Panasonic GX8, Olympus E-M5 II and Sony A6300 -- links to the RAW files appear beneath those for the JPEG images, wherever we have them. And remember, you can always go to our world-renowned Comparometer to compare the Canon M5 to any camera we've ever tested!

Canon EOS M5 vs Canon 80D at Base ISO

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 100	Canon 80D at ISO 100
Since these two siblings share very similar or perhaps even the same 24-megapixel APS-C sensor, we wanted to see how they compare in terms of image quality, since they are also similarly priced. There is a difference in image processors, though, with the M5 employing the newer DIGIC 7 chip versus DIGIC 6 for the 80D. As expected here at base ISO there are only minor differences between the these two Canons, with the 80D producing colors that are a bit warmer. Otherwise, resolution, noise, sharpness and contrast are all very similar indeed.

Canon EOS M5 vs Nikon D7200 at Base ISO

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 100	Nikon D7200 at ISO 100
The image from the Nikon D7200 is sharper, crisper and slightly more detailed than the M5's at base ISO, thanks to the D7200's lack of an AA filter, as well as more aggressive processing. We do see higher luminance noise from the Nikon, though, and both cameras generate obvious sharpening halos. Aliasing artifacts are more visible from the Nikon, however it did a pretty good job at avoiding visible moiré patterns we often see in our notorious red-leaf swatch, while still resolving more of the fine thread pattern. We do see indications that the M5's AA filter is fairly weak, though, as ironically moiré patterns are more visible from the Canon. The Nikon's colors are warmer and more saturated, but not as accurate overall as the Canon's.

Canon EOS M5 vs Olympus E-M5 II at Base ISO

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 100	Olympus E-M5 II at ISO 200
The 24-megapixel APS-C Canon M5 out-resolves the 16-megapixel Micro Four Thirds Olympus E-M5 II, however the Olympus produces a crisper, punchier image. Both produce obvious sharpening haloes but the Olympus' are smaller and tighter. The E-M5 II also doesn't have an optical low-pass filter, so its images are a bit sharper to begin with. Noise from the Olympus is a bit higher in the shadows, but keep in mind the higher base ISO of 200. Both cameras produce pleasing colors with the Canon M5 just a touch more accurate overall.

Canon EOS M5 vs Panasonic GX8 at Base ISO

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 100	Panasonic GX8 at ISO 200
The 24-megapixel Canon M5 has a slight resolution advantage over the 20.2-megapixel Micro Four Thirds Panasonic GX8, but it isn't resolving significantly more detail in most areas here (the majority of the resolution advantage is in the width of the image because of its wider 3:2 aspect ratio). The Panasonic shows slightly higher noise levels (but keep in mind its higher base ISO), yet it does show some artifacts from its area-specific noise reduction already here at base ISO, in the form of rough edges. Color and contrast are more pleasing from the Canon, however the GX8 does noticeably better with fine detail in our red-leaf swatch, and its image is also a bit sharper despite showing less obvious sharpening halos.

Canon EOS M5 vs Sony A6300 at Base ISO

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 100	Sony A6300 at ISO 100
In this comparison, we pit the Canon M5 against Sony's similarly priced 24-megapixel APS-C mirrorless, the A6300. It has either a very weak or no AA filter which helps maximize sharpness and detail, and Sony's default processing produces crisp images without the obvious and unsightly sharpening halos produced by the Canon. We do see stronger aliasing artifacts from the A6300, though, especially in the red-leaf fabric. Color is however noticeably better from the Canon, without the slight yellow to green shift seen from the Sony.

Canon EOS M5 vs Canon 80D at ISO 1600

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 1600	Canon 80D at ISO 1600
As expected, there's very little between these two siblings in terms of image quality at ISO 1600, with just very minor differences in color and contrast.

Canon EOS M5 vs Nikon D7200 at ISO 1600

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 1600	Nikon D7200 at ISO 1600
The Nikon D7200 still manages to produce a sharper, crisper image with better detail in most areas at ISO 1600, however the Canon M5 does noticeably better with our tricky red-leaf fabric. Noise levels are similar, however the Nikon's more aggressive sharpening makes luminance noise somewhat more conspicuous in flatter areas.

Canon EOS M5 vs Olympus E-M5 II at ISO 1600

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 1600	Olympus E-M5 II at ISO 1600
Here at ISO 1600, the Olympus E-M5 II produces a cleaner, crisper image, however the effects of noise reduction are more obvious, with smudging and smearing of fine detail. The Canon on the other hand shows a much stronger noise "grain", but it has a film-like appearance with fewer noise reduction artifacts, though the image is quite a bit softer than at base ISO.

Canon EOS M5 vs Panasonic GX8 at ISO 1600

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 1600	Panasonic GX8 at ISO 1600
It's a similar story here against the GX8, with the Panasonic showing less noise and a tighter grain, but with more obvious noise reduction artifacts as it applies stronger noise suppression in areas with less detail. The Canon continues to produce a brighter, contrastier, more vibrant image, though it's a little soft.

Canon EOS M5 vs Sony A6300 at ISO 1600

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 1600	Sony A6300 at ISO 1600
Like we saw at base ISO, the Sony A6300 delivers a much sharper image with better detail at ISO 1600, though aliasing artifacts are more visible. Noise levels are comparable, however the noise "grain" from the Canon is more consistent and film-like, while the Sony's noise reduction processing produces some darker pixels and other artifacts which give flatter areas a less natural look.

Canon EOS M5 vs Canon 80D at ISO 3200

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 3200	Canon 80D at ISO 3200
Once again, there is little difference between these two 24-megapixel APS-C Canon ILCs at ISO 3200 despite the different processors. Both produce somewhat soft images with a fairly strong but natural-looking noise "grain" in flatter areas. The 80D however holds on to a touch more detail in our red-leaf fabric.

Canon EOS M5 vs Nikon D7200 at ISO 3200

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 3200	Nikon D7200 at ISO 3200
Once again, the Nikon D7200 delivers a sharper, more detailed image than the M5 at ISO 3200. Overall noise levels appear just a bit lower from the Nikon, but its more aggressive processing means the grain pattern isn't quite as uniform as the Canon's. The Nikon actually renders a bit more fine detail in the red-leaf fabric, but some of it is distorted and false, and contrast is a little better from the Canon.

Canon EOS M5 vs Olympus E-M5 II at ISO 3200

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 3200	Olympus E-M5 II at ISO 3200
Similar to what we saw at ISO 1600, the E-M5 II continues to produce a cleaner, much crisper image, but detail-robbing noise reduction artifacts are much more visible giving the Olympus image a more processed look.

Canon EOS M5 vs Panasonic GX8 at ISO 3200

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 3200	Panasonic GX8 at ISO 3200
The Panasonic GX8 does a bit better than the Canon M5 when it comes to holding onto fine detail while at the same time suppressing luminance noise better, but once again more noise reduction artifacts are a result. Both cameras struggle about equally with our red-leaf swatch, but the Canon continues to produces more pleasing colors while the Panasonic continues to produce a sharper image.

Canon EOS M5 vs Sony A6300 at ISO 3200

Canon EOS M5 at ISO 3200	Sony A6300 at ISO 3200
The Sony A6300 continues to produce a crisper, more detailed image than the Canon M5 at ISO 3200, however its area-specific noise reduction generates more artifacts in flatter areas and along edges than Canon's more traditional approach to noise reduction. The M5 blurs our tricky red-leaf fabric lot more here at ISO 3200, but much of the Sony's apparent detail in that fabric is false.

Canon EOS M5 vs. Canon 80D, Nikon D7200, Olympus E-M5 II, Panasonic GX8, Sony A6300

Canon EOS M5 ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Canon 80D ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Nikon D7200 ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Olympus E-M5 II ISO 200 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Panasonic GX8 ISO 200 ISO 3200 ISO 6400	Sony A6300 ISO 100 ISO 3200 ISO 6400
Detail comparison. High-contrast detail is also important, pushing the camera in different ways, so we like to look at it, too. Here we see again the the M5 does about the same as the 80D. Contrast is good, however sharpness trails the pack. The Nikon D7200 produces similar contrast and detail, however sharpness is better but sharpening halos are more visible as well. The Olympus E-M5 II does quite well in terms of sharpness and contrast, but its lower resolution cannot resolve as much detail, particularly at higher ISOs. The Panasonic GX8 performs well in terms of detail even as ISO climbs, but it produces the lowest contrast of the group. The Sony A6300 is the overall winner here, producing excellent sharpness and contrast with almost no degradation as ISO climbs, with hardly visible sharpening halos.

Canon M5 Print Quality Analysis

Very nice 30 x 40 inch prints at ISO 100/200/400; a good 16 x 20 inch print at ISO 1600; and a nice 5 x 7 at ISO 12,800.

ISO 100/200 prints are very good at 30 x 40 inches, with abundant fine detail and nice color, yielding a very natural-looking print overall. Wall display prints are certainly possible here at even larger sizes, until you run out of resolution!

ISO 400 images are also quite good at the lofty size of 30 x 40 inches, with only the slightest decrease in overall sharpness, but still a nice print overall. For your most critical prints, the 24 x 36 inch prints will very much deliver the goods here.

ISO 800 shots look really good at 20 x 30 inches, with only a minor trace of noise in some of the flatter areas of our test target, and a mild hint of softening in the red channel. Subtle contrast detail is still very good though, and colors look terrific. 24 x 36 inch prints will also work here for less critical applications.

ISO 1600 prints pass our "good" seal at 16 x 20 inches, although there is now more noticeable noise in flatter areas of our test target. So while we can certainly call these prints good, for your most critical work at this ISO sensitivity 13 x 19 inch (or smaller) prints are advised.

ISO 3200 yields a good overall print at 11 x 14 inches. There is still sufficient fine detail and full color representation throughout most of the image, and the trace of noise apparent in a few areas is very finely grained in appearance, making for a nice all around print at this size.

ISO 6400 delivers an 8 x 10 similar to the 11 x 14 inch print at ISO 3200, with only mild and acceptable noise in a few areas, but still a solid printed image in general.

ISO 12,800 prints are quite good at 5 x 7 inches, which really isn't bad for an APS-C sensor at this lofty ISO! There is sufficient fine detail and color remaining in this image to most assuredly call it good.

ISO 25,600 surprisingly yields a solid 4 x 6 inch print, and we salute all manufacturers who can achieve a good 4 x 6 at the highest native ISO, as it seems at least half of the cameras that we test simply cannot. Nice work to Canon on this worthwhile achievement!

Canon has once again brought good image quality to the table in yet another EOS M series camera. While the EOS M5 didn't surpass any of the predecessor EOS M3 print sizes, it still delivers results that are on par with most, though certainly not all, of the best APS-C cameras out there. Remaining at ISO 400 and below yields almost unlimited printing freedom and you can expect very natural printed images, while even ISO 3200 can output a solid 11 x 14 inch print which is as large as most photographers tend to go. A solid effort all around in the print quality department once again here from Canon.

Field Test

Canon finally delivers an enthusiast-oriented mirrorless camera

By Jeremy Gray · 02/09/2017

In the four and a half years since Canon launched the original Canon EOS M, signaling its entry into the mirrorless ILC market, the options available to photographers looking for a mirrorless camera have increased considerably. Canon's follow-up models, such as the M3 and M10, while certainly not bad cameras by any means, do come up short in some important areas. The lack of a built-in electronic viewfinder and sluggish overall performance, for example, place them at a notable disadvantage compared to competing offerings.

Canon's latest mirrorless camera, the Canon M5, not only includes a built-in EVF and faster performance, but it adopts an SLR-style camera body and new sensor. Without eschewing the excellent usability and user interface of the M3 and M10 cameras, the M5 presents itself as a camera very much ready to compete against the pillars of the modern mirrorless market, especially with cameras aimed at more advanced photographers. On paper, the M5 is (mostly) the mirrorless camera Canon shooters have been waiting for. But can it reach its potential and help Canon finally plant themselves firmly in the saturated market? Let's find out.

Canon EOS M5 Key Features and Info

• SLR-styled body
• Built-in electronic viewfinder
• Tilting 3.2-inch touchscreen display
• 24.2-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor
• Dual Pixel CMOS autofocus
• DIGIC 7 image processor
• Up to 9 frames per second continuous shooting speeds
• Full HD video recording at up to 60fps
• Built-in Wi-Fi, NFC and Bluetooth
• Street price around US$1,000

EOS M5 offers a comfortable design, great EVF & nice touchscreen

Since I Field Tested both the Canon M3 and M10, I was excited to get my hands on the M5. I enjoyed using the M3 and M10 despite their shortcomings. They were very comfortable, easy-to-use cameras, particularly the M10, but they didn't offer enough physical controls to feel like enthusiast cameras. Granted, the M10 at least wasn't trying to be, but the M3 felt like a camera unsure of what it was meant to be. On the other hand, the M5 is very clear about what it is: a Canon mirrorless camera for enthusiast photographers.

In addition to its small, but comfortable SLR-style grip, the camera has ample physical controls. In stark contrast to the M3, the M5 looks somewhat like a shrunken-down Canon DSLR. Surrounding the shutter release is a front dial that controls the primary shooting settings (aperture and shutter speed in their respective priority modes, or shutter speed in manual mode). The dial has very distinct clicking sensation, which I liked a lot. It also has a good bit of distance between each click, meaning that it is easy to make precise, one-step adjustments. The second control dial is on the top deck of the camera, toward the rear edge, and feels slightly different but has similar usability, allowing for precise adjustments. What makes this top dial particularly interesting is that it has a "Dial Function" button in the middle that allows you to cycle through a few settings depending on the shooting mode. By default, in priority modes, the dial controls ISO but you can also set it to control white balance by pressing the dial function button. The top deck of the camera also includes an exposure compensation dial.

Compared to the M3, two primary aspects of the M5's body stand out: its electronic viewfinder and larger display. Regarding the electronic viewfinder, the first built-in EVF on an EOS M-series camera, it's a 0.39-inch OLED EVF with 2.36M dots. Previously, users have been able to get an EVF experience by purchasing a separate accessory, but it is much better to have it built into the camera itself. I'm happy to report that the EVF works well too, offering 100% coverage, an eye sensor and good performance. The rear display is now 3.2 inches versus 3.0 inches and has 1,620,000 dots, which is up from 1,040,000 dots for the M3. The tilting touchscreen display works well. Its articulation mechanism feels durable and also moves smoothly, not requiring excessive force to precisely position it. The screen can tilt enough to be a selfie screen as well, so there's that.

A cost of its built-in EVF and enthusiast-oriented controls and design is that the M5 is larger and heavier than the other M-series models, measuring at 4.6 x 3.5 x 2.4 inches (116 x 89 x 61 millimeters) with a weight of 15.1 ounces (428 grams). This is larger and heavier than the M3, although the M5 is still not a big camera, especially not compared to APS-C DSLRs.

On top of the built-in EVF is a hot shoe, but the M5 does have a built-in flash as well. The built-in flash has a Guide Number at ISO 100 of only 16.4 feet (5 meters). The camera's max flash sync, either with the built-in flash or if you wanted to attach a flash to the hot shoe, is 1/200s, which is decent but not great.

While not a feature that would show up on any marketing materials, the M5 did include a pleasant surprise when I unpacked it and set it up. Installing camera straps is often annoying, but the M5 has a clever mechanism. There is a metal ring that is covered by a plastic piece, but you can squeeze the plastic piece and slide it up the strap, exposing the metal pieces on either end of the strap. You then spin the metal piece, exposing an opening, slide it around the strap lugs on the camera, rotate the metal piece back around and slide the plastic cover down. Voila, the strap is attached to the camera. No funneling the strap through loops, no struggling to not twist the strap during installation. It is not a camera-selling feature, but it is nonetheless something I hope to see on all future cameras.

Overall, the Canon EOS M5 has the best camera body of any Canon M camera I've used, which is all of the North American models except for the very first M. Unlike the M3 and M10, which were arguably aimed squarely at entry-level users more than enthusiasts, the M5 feels like a camera designed to work well in a variety of situations, including demanding, fast-paced ones. The dials and buttons all feel good, and while the M5 doesn't have the build quality or ease-of-use as some of Canon's higher-end DSLR cameras, the M5 comes closer than any mirrorless camera that Canon has made so far.

Canon M5 User Experience and Shooting Features

User experience has always been a strong point for the Canon M series of cameras. Thanks to excellent touchscreen functionality and an intuitive user interface, the cameras have been good to use in many shooting situations. With that said, the lack of physical controls and dials, particularly on the M10, meant that the camera wasn't always quick. The M5 blends the best of both worlds, combining the physical controls mentioned earlier with the same great touch-based user interface found on its predecessors.

The M5's larger 3.2-inch display helps too, especially when using the Quick Menu. The Quick Menu is accessed by pressing the central button on the multi-selector on the rear of the camera. The Quick Menu can be used via touch or buttons and offers the following settings: Autofocus area, AF operation, image quality, video recording quality, drive mode, self-timer, white balance, Picture Style, metering mode, Auto Lighting Optimizer and image aspect ratio. The ordering of these menu items can be customized, and you can also remove settings if you want.

The Canon EOS M5 includes a new 24.2-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with a fixed anti-aliasing filter and Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology, making it the first EOS M-series model to include Canon's high-performance on-sensor phase-detect AF system. There are phase detection pixels across 80% of the image sensor area. I will discuss autofocus further down below, but this is a big step up for the Canon M line.

Likely the same or at least a very similar sensor as the one found in the Canon 80D, it should come as no surprise that the M5 offers good imaging performance. The camera produces photos with good, accurate colors that offer solid true-to-life representations. With that said, there is something to be desired with the M5's image processing. JPEG images, even at low ISOs, display aggressive in-camera noise reduction that rob images of fine detail. It isn't particularly successful with noise reduction either, as the camera produces noisy images at higher ISOs -- more on that in the next section.

Dynamic range has often been an area of relative weakness for Canon's cameras, particularly when considering their APS-C models. The 80D did a lot to resolve that issue, and the M5 continues the positive trend. Dynamic range can't compete with the Sony sensors found in the A6300 and A6500 mirrorless cameras, for instance, but the M5 still offers a good amount of latitude when adjusting exposure, highlights and shadows.

At high ISOs, JPEG images can look quite soft. The in-camera noise reduction is aggressive, rendering images with fine details almost blurry. With that said, surprisingly, images can contain a lot of noise despite the strong noise reduction. Fine details will be washed out while there is still a considerable amount of visible noise in the images. At ISO 1600, images start to lose noticeable fine details when viewed at 100%, and there is a decent amount of visible noise in the files. With that said, for non-critical uses or for viewing images at smaller sizes, I would feel comfortable using JPEG files up through ISO 6400. Beyond ISO 6400, the images are very noisy and soft; too much so for my liking.

Canon M5 ISO Comparison 100% center crops from highest-quality JPEG images with default settings. (Click for access to the .CR2 RAW files.)
ISO 100 Full Scene
ISO 100	ISO 200
ISO 400	ISO 800
ISO 1600	ISO 3200
ISO 6400	ISO 12800
ISO 25600

Unlike with JPEG images, the RAW files impressed me. I think that the M5's biggest issue at high ISOs is the JPEG processing rather than camera's sensor because RAW files even up to ISO 3200 have good fine details and easily-controlled visible noise.

Canon M5 ISO Comparison 100% center crops from RAW images processed with Adobe Camera RAW default settings, lens corrections enabled. (Click for full-size images)
ISO 100 Full Scene
ISO 100	ISO 200
ISO 400	ISO 800
ISO 1600	ISO 3200
ISO 6400	ISO 12800
ISO 25600

The EOS M5 offers good image quality across a wide range of ISO sensitivities. However, JPEG image processing is an issue, particularly with noise reduction and sharpening. Nonetheless, the Canon M5 renders colors well, captures detailed images and offers a good amount of dynamic range for easily adjusting shadows and highlights with RAW files.

The M5 has a variety of interesting shoot modes for photographers who like to get creative out in the field. While the camera lacks a built-in panorama mode, it does offer various scene modes and creative filters in addition to in-camera HDR capture.

An aspect of the M5 that I didn't like is its auto ISO setting. Auto ISO doesn't offer much control; it only allows the user to select a maximum ISO, but there is no control over shutter speed behavior. Beyond that, the camera offers a lot of nice shooting features and is enjoyable to use.

Metering performance from the M5 is reliable and consistent in most situations. The camera offers evaluative, partial, center-weighted evaluative and spot metering modes. The metering sensor's effective range is -1 to 20 EV, and the camera offers up to +/- 3 EV of exposure compensation. It is worth noting that the M5's spot metering option is not tied to the autofocus point, but is rather locked to the center of the image area.

A weakness of the M5's metering system is its working range. Shortly after sunset, the camera struggled with exposure metering, underexposing a relatively straightforward scene by roughly a full stop. Similarly, white balance metering tended toward the cool side in low light. It is not a big deal, but it must be considered when shooting in dim conditions, such as at dawn or dusk.

The M5's Dual Pixel CMOS AF system works well in most situations, although it not without its weaknesses. The hybrid autofocus system utilizes 49 AF points, which are located on a 7 x 7 grid across the image area. The autofocus points cover a large portion of the image area, with phase detect autofocus points covering 80% of its width and 80% of its height, making it easy to move a focus point to almost anywhere you need.

Autofocus modes include single point, AF Zone and Face + Tracking AF. Utilizing the large 3.2-inch touchscreen to move the autofocus point around the image area works very well. You can also use the touchscreen as an AF touch pad when using the electronic viewfinder, but you must enable this feature in the camera's settings under "Touch & drag AF settings." Within this sub-menu, you can also adjust the active touch area. Suppose that you only wanted the bottom right corner of the display to act as a touchpad for the entire image area, you can do that. I found that the default setting of "whole panel" worked best for me, but I can also see the appeal of a smaller area of the display being the touchpad.

Low light autofocus is an area of weakness for the M5. It is rated to work from -1 EV to 18 EV, which is okay, but not great. However, many of the EF-M lenses are moderately slow with narrower apertures, which hurts low-light autofocus performance. I regularly struggled to capture in-focus shots in moderately low light. Compared to other similarly-priced mirrorless cameras I've tested, the M5 felt slower in dim conditions.

With that said, manual focus has been improved with the M5 as Canon has added a focus peaking option, which works well. Like the AF touchpad option, you must enable focus peaking as it is not on by default. You can choose between "low" and "high" peaking level and three colors: red, yellow and blue.

Continuous autofocus is impressive with the M5. Its subject tracking mode not only works quickly and accurately, but it also proved to be quite adept at picking up a subject when it reenters the frame. It is evident especially when using Servo AF that the Dual Pixel CMOS AF system is a big improvement for the Canon M series and one of the M5's best new features.

Overall, the autofocus focus system works very well in good light, providing fast, accurate autofocus performance. However, dim light poses more of a challenge to the M5 than I expected.

Performance is an area where the Canon M5 excels relative to its predecessors. Thanks to its new, faster DIGIC 7 processor, the M5 can shoot much faster than the M3.

I tested the camera with a SanDisk Extreme Pro SDHC card with up to 95MB/s read and 90MB/s write speeds. I found the camera able to meet Canon's spec of shooting at up to 9 frames per second with autofocus set to One-Shot AF. RAW+JPEG had a 17-frame buffer that cleared in around 8 seconds. JPEG-only allowed for 29 frames -- which bests Canon's spec of 26 frames -- at 9fps and the buffer cleared in roughly 3 seconds. With Servo AF, I could capture 26 RAW+JPEG frames at 7 frames per second with the buffer clearing in 9 seconds. Our official lab results are similar, ranging between 9.2 and 9.4fps with 27 JPEGs, 18 RAW and 17 RAW+JPEG frames. Suffice it to say that the M5 is a much faster camera than the M3, which could only shoot at up to 4.2fps with a 4 frame RAW buffer, but the 17-18 frame RAW buffer depth seems a bit shallow when shooting at 9fps.

Video: An area of strength and weakness for the EOS M5

Continuing Canon's trend of not including 4K video recording on their non-flagship cameras, the Canon EOS M5's video resolution tops out at 1920 x 1080 (Full HD). Framerate is capped at 60 frames per second, so there are no slow-motion or high-speed video shooting options to be found in this mirrorless camera, putting it at a distinct disadvantage in the video department when compared to Sony and Panasonic's offerings, for example.

It is not just video specifications that come up short with the M5, but also the video features. The camera doesn't offer zebra exposure warnings, shutter or aperture priority recording modes or a headphone jack. The M5 does include a mic input and HDMI out, at least, but, still, this is not a videographer's workhorse camera.

With that said, an area where the M5 excels in video is the overall user experience. Not only is the touchscreen very well-implemented, but the Dual Pixel AF system works very well. It's disappointing that you can't view a histogram on the display when recording, but automatic exposure does work well in most situations.

While incapable of capturing 4K video, the M5's Full HD video does look quite nice, especially at lower ISOs. The camera records a good amount of detail in the 1920 x 1080 resolution frame.

Autofocus is a highlight here, as the M5's video autofocus is fast, accurate and tracks subjects well. Don't sleep on the camera's built-in image stabilization, either, especially if you like to record handheld video. The M5 has a new "Combination IS" mode, which combines a lens' optical stabilization with the camera's 5-axis digital image stabilization.

As was the case with still images, high ISO video is not a strength for the M5. When recording video, the ISO range is 100 to 6400 but quality falls off quite quickly, in my opinion, beyond ISO 1600.

Overall, for users who don't need 4K video, the Canon M5 is a capable video camera. However, its feature set is limited. The camera makes recording good Full HD video very simple with a reliable autofocus and metering system, so if that's all you require for multimedia, the M5 is solid; 4K shooters should look elsewhere, though.

The Canon M5 has built-in Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC. Connecting the M5 to my iPhone was a straightforward process and once connected, the connection was reliable and the live view on my phone looked pretty good.

Using the Canon Camera Connect application, you can view and transfer images, link location data and remotely capture images. The remote capture is good overall, although it does have a few weaknesses. You don't have access to many camera settings from within the app, including exposure modes, nor are changes made on the camera itself reflected in the app. I do enjoy that you can autofocus the camera without capturing an image in the app as this can be useful.

What I like:

• Enthusiast-oriented camera body
• Excellent 3.2-inch display and touchscreen interface
• Built-in electronic viewfinder works well
• Dual Pixel AF works great in good conditions
• Fast continuous shooting performance

What I dislike:

• In-camera noise reduction and sharpening does a poor job, especially at higher ISOs
• Shallow buffers when shooting at 9fps
• Video features are limited

The M5 is an interesting camera for multiple reasons. It is quite clearly the best M camera to date. It is evidence that Canon is finally giving the M series serious shooting features, such as Dual Pixel CMOS AF, and not let the series sit beneath its DSLR lineup. However, if Canon wants the M series to truly match its mirrorless competition and become a viable option for all enthusiasts, it needs to expand the EF-M lens lineup and beef up video features. Nonetheless, the M5 is a genuine step-up in and for many photographers, it's exactly what they've been looking for from a Canon mirrorless camera.

Flash

Canon EOS M5 Flash

Built-in Flash Test Results

Coverage and Range
A weak flash with very narrow coverage. Average positive exposure compensation required.

Coverage

15mm @ f/3.5

Coverage. Flash coverage at wide angle was very narrow leaving very large, dark corners and edges, but keep in mind the kit lens is wider than most (15mm or 24mm equivalent). We no longer test flash coverage at telephoto, as it is invariable better.

Exposure. Indoors, under incandescent background lighting, the Canon EOS M5's flash underexposed our standard flash test scene without any flash exposure compensation, even with Auto ISO enabled. The camera produced a good exposure with +0.7 EV flash exposure compensation, but the camera boosted ISO to 800 to achieve that, and the resulting image was quite warm and orange because of the relatively high sensitivity and ambient lighting.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range

6.6 feet ISO 200, f/3.5

Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. The Canon EOS M5's built in flash has a rated Guide Number of only 5 meters or 16.4 feet at ISO 100. At ISO 200, that works out to about 6.6 feet at f/3.5, the maximum aperture of the kit lens at wide angle. In the shot above at those settings, we can see that the Canon EOS M5's built-in flash performed to specification, producing a well-exposed central area in the flash target at the rated distance.

Technical Info

by Mike Tomkins | Posted: 09/15/2016

Sensor

At the heart of the Canon EOS M5 is a new 24.2-effective megapixel, APS-C format CMOS image sensor which is similar to that featured in the Canon EOS 80D DSLR. The chip, which has the same effective resolution as that in the EOS M3, has a total resolution of 25.8 megapixels. Dimensions are 22.3 x 14.9mm with a 3:2 aspect ratio, for a pixel pitch of 3.72µm.

Processor

Output from the Canon M5's sensor is handled by a new DIGIC 7 image processor. That's a step up from the DIGIC 6 processors used in the EOS M3 and 80D, and we're told to expect image quality that's slightly better than that from the 80D as a result.

Sensitivity

As an indication of the improved performance of its imaging pipeline, the Canon M5 sports a sensitivity range of ISO 100 to 25,600-equivalents, all available without any ISO expansion function. By way of comparison, the EOS M3 had a sensitivity range of ISO 100 to 12,800-equivalents, expandable to ISO 25,600-equivalent. (Or in other words, the same overall range, but with the highest sensitivities disabled by default since Canon felt they didn't meet its image quality standards.)

Performance

Based on Canon's manufacturer ratings, performance of the EOS M5 is significantly improved, and that's huge news given that weak performance has been an Achilles heel of past EOS M-series cameras.

Canon rates startup time of the new camera as one second (we measured 1.2 second, but that includes taking a shot), and says it is approximately 66% faster in this respect than was the EOS M3. (In our tests, the M5's power on to first shot was twice as fast as the M3's.)

The difference in burst shooting performance is even more significant. The earlier EOS M3 was limited to a sedate 4.2 frames per second even with focus and exposure locked from the first frame. By way of contrast, Canon says that the EOS M5 will be capable of seven frames per second capture with autofocus enabled between frames, and as much as nine frames per second if you lock AF / AE from the first frame. (We measured 9.2-9.4 fps in the lab.)

And where the EOS M3 was limited to a paltry four raw frames before it ran out of buffer space, the M5 captured 18 frames in our tests, despite the much faster burst rate. See our Performance page for details.

Optics

Like its EOS M-series siblings, the Canon EOS M5 can accept EF-M mount lenses natively, and also accepts EF and EF-S lenses courtesy of the optional Mount Adapter EF-EOS M.

Autofocus

One of the key reasons for the Canon M5's improved performance can be found in its new image sensor, which now supports Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology, rather than the earlier Hybrid CMOS AF III system. Dual Pixel CMOS AF allows fast and precise phase-detection autofocus across 80% of the image area, and not surprisingly, with this new technology in place Canon says that the EOS M5 will offer the fastest autofocus performance of any EOS M-series camera to date. The system has a working range of EV -1 to 18, and for nearby subjects in low light, a built-in LED autofocus assist lamp is provided.

Interestingly, the Canon M5 has a new Touch and Drag function for autofocus point selection, which seems similar to a function we've seen in Olympus and Panasonic cameras in the past. This allows you to keep the camera's viewfinder to your eye, but at the same time, to move the AF frame by dragging a finger across the touch-screen LCD monitor, as if it were a laptop touch pad.

Oh, and there's good news for fans of manual focusing. The Canon EOS M5 includes a focus peaking function which will help you to determine the precise point of focus, whether framing your images on the electronic viewfinder or LCD panel.

Viewfinder

That electronic viewfinder, incidentally, is a new addition to the camera. The original Canon EOS M and M2 both lacked viewfinder support entirely, while the EOS M3 had no built-in viewfinder, and instead was reliant on a pricey and somewhat clumsy electronic viewfinder accessory.

The Canon M5, though, now has a built-in electronic viewfinder. It's based around a 0.39-inch OLED panel with a resolution of around. 2,360,000 dots, and allows a depth-of-field preview function, as well as three on-demand grid overlays to help with precise framing.

Display

Like the EOS M3 before it, the Canon EOS M5 has an articulated touch-screen LCD monitor. It can still be used as a control device, and still tilts upwards some 85 degrees or downwards a full 180 degrees for viewing from a wide range of angles, even for selfie shooting. (However, you won't be shooting those selfies on a tripod, since the screen tilts downwards and so will be obscured by the tripod head.)

But there's an important change here, too. The LCD panel itself is brand-new, and it's both a little bigger than before (3.2 inches diagonal, vs. 3.0 inches in the EOS M3), and also has higher resolution (1,620,000 dots, versus 1,040,000 dots in the M3.)

Exposure

As you'd expect in a camera aimed at enthusiast use, the Canon EOS M5 sports a full complement of Program, Aperture-priority, Shutter-priority and Manual exposure modes. It also boasts two Custom exposure modes which help you to quickly recall favored shooting setups, as well as Auto and scene modes which make it easier for beginners to get the shots they're after.

Exposures are determined using an evaluative metering system based on information from the image sensor. Partial, center-weighted evaluative and spot metering modes are also available, and the metering system has a working range of EV 1 to 20. Exposure compensation is available within a +/-3 EV range in 1/3 EV steps, and additionally, +/-2 EV of exposure bracketing is possible in 1/3 EV steps.

Shutter speeds on offer in the Canon M5 range from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds, and flash X-sync is at 1/200 second. As well as a hot shoe, the Canon EOS M5 also features a built-in, manual popup flash strobe with 15mm coverage and a guide number of five meters at ISO 100. Flash exposure compensation is available within a range of +/-2 EV in 1/3 EV steps, and flash exposures use Canon's E-TTL II metering system.

Video capture

Although it lacks 4K capture, the Canon EOS M5 can record high-definition movies at up to 60 frames per second with 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution.

And interestingly, there's a new Combination IS mode for movie capture, which combines the lens-based optical stabilization (if available for your chosen lens) with five-axis digital image stabilization, a pairing Canon says yields "tremendously smooth videos". If your lens lacks optical stabilization, the EOS M5 will still be able to use its five-axis digital stabilization to try and combat the shakes.

The Canon M5 can also shoot time-lapse videos at 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) at 30p (or 25p in PAL mode). You can specify scene type, the interval, the total number of shots, whether the exposure is fixed at the first shot or adjusted per shot, and whether you want to review each image (for 2 seconds). Sound is not recorded and focus remains constant after the first shot.

Audio for movies comes courtesy of either a built-in stereo microphone or an external mic jack. Unfortunately, no headphone jack is provided.

Wired connectivity

Cabled connections on the EOS M5 include provision for Micro USB 2.0, Type-D Micro HDMI, external 3.5mm microphone and a wired remote control (RS-60E3). There's also a flash hot shoe on the camera's top deck.

Wireless connectivity

As well as the built-in Wi-Fi and NFC of its predecessor, the Canon M5 also now sports a Bluetooth radio. The NFC compatibility allows for quick-and-easy pairing with Android devices, while the Bluetooth radio allows for simple pairing with both Android and iOS.

And courtesy of Bluetooth Smart technology, this low-powered connection can remain active at all times when you have the required app open, providing for remote control from your phone without the need to wait for a Wi-Fi connection to be established. If you need a remote live view, then the Wi-Fi connection will be necessary, though, and here the camera and smart device can communicate and pair themselves automatically using the Bluetooth Smart connection.

The EOS M5 also supports Canon's RC-6 infrared Remote Controller.

Storage

The Canon EOS M5 stores data on Secure Digital cards in a single slot, including the higher-capacity SDHC / SDXC cards, and the higher-speed UHS-I cards.

Power

The EOS M5 draws power from the same LP-E17 battery as used in the EOS M3, but battery life is said to have been improved substantially. You should now be able to capture 295 shots to CIPA testing standards (50% flash usage), regardless of whether you're using the LCD or electronic viewfinder. (That's unusual, because EVFs typically draw far more power than do LCDs, despite their much smaller size.) By way of comparison, the EOS M3 was capable of just 250 frames with its LCD monitor. Enabling Canon's ECO mode on the EOS M5 bumps battery life to 420 shots on the LCD monitor.

In-camera charging via USB is not supported and a dedicated battery charger is included. An optional DR-E17 DC coupler and CP-PS700 AC adapter are available.

Conclusion

Generally speaking, Canon's mirrorless offerings have not compared particularly well against similarly-priced competition. With the EOS M5, however, Canon has changed that and delivered a new and improved mirrorless camera that is poised to attract the attention of enthusiasts. The EOS M5 includes an impressive built-in electronic viewfinder, new sensor and faster processor in a compact SLR-style body.

Impressive, though not class-leading image quality from the Canon M5

JPEG images were a bit soft at default in-camera sharpening but still showed some sharpening artifacts. The camera exhibited minor to moderate loss in detail due to in-camera noise reduction, even at low ISO settings. Nonetheless, image detail is good overall. Processed RAW images offer similar resolving capabilities, but careful processing can produce sharper images with fewer sharpening artifacts than the camera's JPEG files. Considering color, the camera delivers slightly below average saturation levels but excellent hue accuracy in its JPEGs. Color balance with Auto white balance when shooting outdoors tended toward the cooler side, but indoors in tungsten lighting it was too warm.

At high ISOs, the Canon M5 offers good performance given its image sensor. While not quite as good as some rival cameras, the M5 nonetheless delivers a nice 16 x 20 inch print at ISO 1600 and an acceptable 5 x 7 print even at ISO 12,800. At ISO 100-400, the M5 makes a very nice 30 x 40 inch print, which is quite impressive. While print quality proved not to be a step up over the EOS M3, the M5 is generally on par with much of its APS-C competition.

Canon's first "Dual Pixel" mirrorless camera offers swift AF in most situations

The EOS M5 utilizes Canon's Dual Pixel CMOS AF system, which worked well in most situations. The 49-point hybrid autofocus system has phase detect AF points covering 80 percent of the image sensor's width and height, providing good, reliable coverage.

With the large 3.2-inch touchscreen and a good autofocus system, it's quick and easy to touch and drag the AF point around the display. You can use the display to move the AF point while using the electronic viewfinder, as well, but this setting needs to be enabled as it is not available by default.

While the autofocus performance is generally good, offering fast, accurate AF in many situations and good performance in the lab on a tripod, low-light autofocus did not impress out in the field, at least with slower zoom lenses. The AF system is only rated to work down to -1 EV with an f/2 lens and with many of the native EF-M lenses having rather slow apertures, it results in a system that is not ideal for low-light autofocus. Manually focusing is improved with the EOS M5 over previous cameras with the inclusion of focus peaking.

Continuous autofocus performance is quite good in the EOS M5 thanks to the Dual Pixel CMOS AF system. Subject tracking can keep up with moving subjects well and is even adept at refocusing on a selected subject after it exists and reenters the frame.

Overall, autofocus performance is generally a strength of the Canon EOS M5. While not perfect in every scenario, it handles most shooting conditions and situations well.

Faster DIGIC 7 image processor brings big improvements for the M5

With its DIGIC 7 image processor, the Canon EOS M5 offers very good overall performance for its class. While its startup time to first shot of 1.2 seconds is about average, every other aspect of its performance impressed in our lab.

Full autofocus shutter lag was 0.143 seconds, which is faster than many mirrorless cameras and even faster than some prosumer-oriented DSLRs. Looking at continuous shooting performance, the M5 captured JPEG images at 9.2 frames per second and RAW images at 9.3 fps during our testing. These are impressive speeds, although shooting with continuous autofocus drops the burst rate down to 7 fps. Buffer depths were okay as well, at 27 and 18 frames for JPEG and RAW images, respectively. Capturing both RAW and JPEG images simultaneously resulted in slightly faster continuous shooting speeds, which is unusual but certainly not problematic, and buffer depth dipped very slightly to 17 frames. The buffers for JPEG, RAW and RAW+JPEG cleared in four, eight and 10 seconds, respectively. It is worth pointing out that when shooting JPEG images and you fill the buffer, the capture rate drops to still rather quick 5.5 fps.

Overall, the EOS M5 offers impressive performance across the board. While buffer depths were not as impressive, relatively speaking, as the rest of the camera's continuous shooting performance, its speed is very good and the EOS M5 -- along with the very similar EOS M6 -- is the best performing Canon mirrorless camera yet, by a large margin.

Canon M5 lacks enthusiast-level video features, including no 4K

One area where the M5 comes up short for some users is in the video department. The camera offers good quality 1920 x 1080 video at up to 60 frames per second, but it does not offer any 4K video recording, nor are there any high speed or slow motion video recording modes. While the camera doesn't include many videographer-oriented features -- there are no zebra exposure warnings or a headphone jack, for example -- it does offer users the ability to easily capture nice video thanks to a friendly interface and solid AF/AE performance. We lament the lack of high-end video features in the EOS M5, but for many users, it should prove plenty capable.

First EOS M camera with a built-in EVF handles well

More oriented toward enthusiasts than previous EOS M cameras, the M5 impressed us with its physical controls and overall form factor. It remains a compact despite being larger and heavier than its predecessors, but the increase in size is due in part to its built-in electronic viewfinder and more sophisticated controls.

We were impressed by the EVF, which is a 0.39-inch type OLED display with 2.36M dots. It is sharp and worked well. Prior M cameras have had optional electronic viewfinders which could be attached via the hot shoe, but having it built-in is important to many photographers. The display was upgraded as well, going from 3.0 to 3.2 inches and having 1,620,000 dots versus 1,040,000 dots of resolution. The touchscreen display worked well in the field, although it proved slightly difficult to use in bright light, but the ability to tilt it helped some with that.

With a variety of controls, including a twin-dial design, the Canon EOS M5 behaves like a downsized DSLR. It is much more compact than a DSLR, but this APS-C mirrorless camera puts a lot of controls at your fingertips. Overall, we think that the EOS M5 is the best mirrorless body, both in terms of functionality and usability, that Canon has released.

The Canon EOS M5 offers image quality comparable to many other APS-C cameras, and the body itself offers a lot of physical controls plus (for the first time in the EOS M series) a built-in electronic viewfinder. Dual Pixel CMOS AF and a DIGIC 7 image processor combine to help the M5 deliver good performance across the board. Despite a few shortcomings, including a sparse EF-M lens lineup (although you can use EF/EF-S lenses with a separate adapter) and lack of 4K video, the EOS M5 is the best mirrorless camera that Canon has produced so far and easily earns a Dave's Pick.