I’ve often mentioned that I’m a fan of the micro 4/3 type of camera, you know the ones… the ones that are halfway between a point-and-shoot camera and an SLR and that have interchangeable lenses. Olympus and Panasonic, in partnership, created this market space which most manufacturers have responded with their own variations on the theme. Canon have been one of the last manufacturers to release such a camera, and with all the rumours that have been doing the rounds I was quite excited to see how Canon would push the boundaries on innovation and design, though I had my reservations in case the resulting camera looked like Olympus’ OM-D series. Images and specifications have started to filter through and whilst the spec, if true, looks quite promising the camera’s looks certainly doesn’t – it’s one of the most bland looking cameras I’ve ever seen. Rumours don’t mention what size the new EOS M series will have but they do mention that it will have the same pixel count as its stable mates, the EOS 650, 60D and 7D – it even surpasses my 1D4 (not that I’m bothered… no, really.. I’m not).
I have been to try a number of the higher end point-and-click cameras recently whilst visiting the local electronics store. I think I mentioned in my travellog-travelblog that I had toyed with the idea of buying a small camera in place of the 17-40mm and 150mm macro lenses I took with me to Africa. I wouldn’t want to be without either options when photographing but I didn’t use them as much as I had hoped and they are certainly heavy and bulky to cart all the way there. I’ve often considered purchasing the Canon G series camera which whilst not the smallest point-and-shoot, does offer a lot of control both through the menu systems and via dials on the body which is very handy when you want to change something quickly. Another camera, whose style certainly does appeal to me, is Fuji’s X10 – this camera has it all… a good zoom range, a built in flash and a viewfinder. I can’t be doing with having to use the back of a camera to compose an image; it’s not conducive to well composed, sharp images when you have to hold your camera out at arm’s length to try and see a small screen and ensure everything is lined up correctly as well.. as you can probably tell, this is one of my soapbox moments – I’ll spare you the rest of my rant!
Anyway, I digress; I’m more than a little disappointed with Canon’s offering, I was hoping for more… actually what I was hoping for was a digital version of the Canon Canonet but with interchangeable lenses. Of course this camera does exist already, in two forms, you can either choose the expensive Fuji X Pro-1 or the uber expensive Leica M series. I guess there is one saving grace, it has put me off investing in another camera with another series of lenses.
Andrew Skelton: 
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