Canon EOS M Performance

Generally poor performance for a CSC these days.

The Canon EOS M turned in a very slow startup time of about 2.7 seconds with version 2.0.2 firmware, though shutdown was very fast. The Canon M's buffer clearing times were quick with a fast UHS-I card., though buffers are shallow.

The Canon EOS M's mode switching times were quite slow in our tests, though displaying a previously recorded image was quick.

Although version 2.0.2 firmware did speed up single-shot autofocus times noticeably by about 0.5 second compared to the original firmware shipped with our sample (v1.0.6), the EOS M's autofocus performance was still much slower than average for a CSC, and even slower than the majority of point and shoots these days.

In our standard single-point AF test with the 18-55mm IS STM kit lens, full autofocus shutter lag was about 0.74 second. Switching to Auto Selection AF and allowing the camera to choose the focus point increased shutter lag to about 0.88 second. Interestingly, the 22mm f/2 STM kit lens was even slower than the zoom, at about 0.89 and 1.07 seconds respectively, perhaps the result of a weaker AF motor.

Shutter lag with Manual focus was much faster, though, at 0.173 second. "Prefocusing" the camera by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the final exposure resulted in a lag time of only 0.051 second, which is quite fast. You'll definitely want to prefocus if you want to minimize shutter lag with the EOS M.

To minimize the effect of different lens' focusing speed, we test AF-active shutter lag with the lens already set to the correct focal distance.

Shot-to-shot cycle times in the Canon EOS M's single-shot mode were quite slow for an interchangeable lens camera, at 1.94 seconds for Large/Fine JPEGs, 2.02 seconds for RAW mode and 2.33 seconds for RAW + L/F JPEGs.

Continuous mode speeds were on the slow side these days for a CSC, at about 4.2 frames-per-second for large/fine JPEGs, 4.2 fps for RAWs, and 4.1 fps for RAW + L/F JPEGs.

Buffer depths in continuous mode were fairly shallow in our tests at only 13 large/fine JPEGs frames, 6 RAW frames or 3 RAW +L/F JPEGs before the frame rate slowed. (Note that in our cycle time testing we shoot a target consisting of a fine-grained digital noise pattern, designed to be very hard to compress. This gives us worst-case buffer capacity numbers for compressed files: You're likely to see greater buffer capacity when shooting more normal subjects.) Buffer clearing was quick with a fast card, however there aren't many files to clear because of the shallow buffer.

Connected to a computer or printer with USB 2.0, the Canon M's download speeds were quite fast.

Bottom line, the Canon EOS M's performance was generally quite disappointing, with slow startup, mode switching, cycle times and autofocus speeds. Burst mode speeds were reasonable but still below average for a CSC, with a fairly shallow buffer. Only shutdown, prefocused shutter lag and USB transfer speeds were fast in our tests.

Battery Life
Well below average battery life for a CSC.

The Canon EOS M uses a custom rechargeable lithium-ion battery for power, and ships with a charger. Battery life is well below average even for a Compact System Camera, so we strongly recommend you pick up a spare battery and keep it freshly charged and on-hand for extended outings.

The table above shows the number of shots the Canon EOS M is capable of (on a fully-charged rechargeable battery), based on CIPA battery-life and/or manufacturer standard test conditions.

(Interested readers can find an English translation of the CIPA DC-002 standards document here. (180K PDF document))