EOS-M. An Act of Fairness

I’ve been anything but gentle in my assessment of the Canon EOS-M’s street photography credentials. In the chaos of fast-moving urban life, it has always felt a step behind — hesitant where others are decisive. But fairness demands balance, and in the stillness of landscape work, this little mirrorless manages to surprise.

This frame, taken with the humble 18-55mm stabilised kit lens, shows the EOS-M in its element. The river’s current twists and glides across the frame, textures shifting from silky blur to glassy detail, the greens of moss and the reddish undertones of the rocks holding their place against the moving water. The stabilisation works in quiet partnership with careful handholding, keeping the slower shutter in check without sacrificing crispness where it’s needed.

Compositionally, I wanted the eye to follow the water’s arc, from the calm in the upper left through the turbulent rush to the right. The branch crossing at the top isn’t an accident — it breaks the flow just enough to keep the scene from becoming too painterly, reminding us that this is a real, unmanicured patch of nature.

Exposure is balanced well enough to hold detail in both shadowed moss and the brighter whitewater, though the EOS-M’s limited dynamic range makes itself known at the extreme highlights. Colour rendition is pleasing here: not overly saturated, and with enough nuance in the reds and greens to keep them believable.

At today’s prices, the EOS-M is a camera one can take into harsher environments without a knot in the stomach. If it suffers a knock or a splash, it’s no tragedy — yet it delivers files more than good enough to stand up to serious landscape scrutiny.

I still wouldn’t take it to chase fleeting moments in the street, but here, by the river, it’s earned a little of my respect back.