Word from the rumor mills is that Canon is going to announce a new mirrorless camera at or before Photokina this year. Photokina takes place from September 20th thru the 25th in Cologne, Germany and is one of the biggest photo vendor shows. The current rumors are putting the new Canon Mirrorless, dubbed the “M5” as a direct competitor to the Sony A6000/6300 series of mirrorless cameras.
This is a much needed move by Canon as the Sony A6xxx series cameras have been a great success overall. For me, the stand out feature of the A6xxx cameras is the built in viewfinder, making composition easier, but for me the real advantage is the ability to review images and change settings all with your eye to the viewfinder.
I am hoping that Canon does this one right. Their first Mirrorless entry was a disaster with it’s slow autofoucs performance and lack of available lenses from the get go.
Some of the other things I am hearing about this new mirrorless entry include an improvement in the Autofocus over the current models, which are better, but still need improvement. Canon should be using their dual pixel tech from the 70D/80D cameras. I am surprise that they have not incorporated that tech into their mirrorless lineup yet.
The new Canon mirrorless is rumored to have a built in EVF, and if it is as good as the New Sony A6300 it will be a welcome addition. The older Canon mirrorless bodies offered an EVF option that mounts in the hot shoe. The biggest problem with this is that you can not use an auxiliary speedlight with the EVF, and it makes a rather expensive addon.
I am also hearing that the design will be more of a classical rangefinder style (think along the lines of the Fuji mirrorless cameras). There is also a new EF-M 18-150mm lens rumored to be announced at the same time. Depending on the AF performance and the pricing this could be a hit or another flop for Canon.