Another Canon Me too

What was Canon’s big announcement yesterday?  The release of the 35 1.4LII (since the 35 1.4L has been trounced by the Sigma 35 1.4 DG HSM A) and the release of the Canon M3 (as Sony runs away with the mirrorless market).

I have no doubt the 35 1.4LII is going to be a strong contender.  I’m sure the reviews will show a marked improvement in sharpness and construction.  What I do have doubts about is the Eos M3.  Scratch that, I don’t have doubts, I’m calling it now: the Eos M3 is yet another disappointment.  Take a look at the how the camera is described by canon:

“Designed to inspire, the EOS M3 digital camera brings true EOS performance and image quality to a compact, stylish and elegant package. A pleasure to operate, with the sophistication to create stunning still and moving images, the EOS M3 is an ideal EOS for many applications, such as portraiture, landscape, travel and everything in between.”

In a world: boring. The M3 is basically a T6i sensor in a small form factor and still lags behind offerings from Sony and Olympus.  You want a viewfinder? Slap it into the hotshot!  Full Frame Sensor: no.  Max frames per second: 4.2 (compare that to the Sony A6000’s 11fps, for example.)

A sign of things to come?

The only good silver lining here is htis could be Canon waking up and realizing it needs to up its mirrorless game.  But will there be anyone with Canon glass around to care?  There’s no doubt there will be Canon shooters out there, but will those who made the “switch-to-sony” come back?  Switching systems only happens for drastic reasons (who wants to sell their lenses and start all over?).  Can Canon release a mirrorless that’s worth it? That remains to be seen- the M3 isn’t it.