While Canon’s latest top-end
D-SLRs now have 4K video recording, it’s yet to filter down to the lower ranks so it’s hardly surprising that the mid-level mirrorless camera doesn’t have it either. It’s no biggie right now, but will certainly be expected on whatever Canon does next in the mirrorless sphere. That said, the rival models from Panasonic and Sony do already have 4K video and it’s a bit hard to see truly serious video-makers picking the EOS M5 over, say, the Lumix G85 or Sony’s A6300.
As with still photography; compared to its D-SLR cousin, the EOS 80D, the M5 has a pareddown features list for videography so, for example, it lacks the option of switching between inter-frame and intra-frame compression regimes. However, if you like shooting video clips for fun then the EOS M5 has everything you’re likely to need plus some handy extras such as the touchscreen autofocusing and a time-lapse function (but, curiously, there’s no intervalometer for shooting full-size stills). Electronic image stabilisation is also available when shooting video and gives five-axis correction which is welcome when using non-stabilised lenses.
Like the 80D, the M5 is actually region specific as far as the PAL and NTSC TV standards are concerned so Full HD 1080p video is recorded at either 50 or 25 fps in the MP4 format using MPEG 4 AVC/H .264 compression. HD 720p resolution footage can also be recorded at 50 fps. The M5 has built-in stereo microphones supplemented by a stereo audio input for connecting an external mic. Sound levels can be adjusted manually and there’s both a wind-cut filter and an attenuator (for shooting in particularly noisy locations).
Continuous AF operation is available with face recognition and subject tracking, while exposure control can be either fully automatic – including with auto scene mode selection – or fully manual. Exposure compensation can be applied while shooting.
Most of the processing functions for still photography are also available for shooting video, including the ‘Picture Style’ presets, lens corrections and the ‘Auto Lighting Optimiser’ and ‘Highlight Tone Priority’. The sensitivity and white balance can also be set manually. Manual focusing is assisted by a magnified image and a focus peaking display in a choice of colours and intensity levels. However, again the ‘Dual Pixel CMOS AF’ works exceptionally well, delivering nicely smooth transitions without either hunting or hesitation. The caveat here is that it only works this smooth when using Canon’s newer ‘STM’ type (Stepping Motor) lenses. The M5 has automatic file partitioning at 4.0 GB so recording continues seamlessly as this file size is exceeded, but the overall maximum clip length remains at the 29 minutes and 59 seconds limit imposed by European taxation laws for video cameras.
Video recording is started and stopped using a dedicated button located below the thumbrest on the camera’s back panel which is fine when you actually want to shoot video, but it’s all too easy to trigger it accidentally and then you’re left wondering why there’s no response to any of your control inputs!
If there’s some element of Canon still protecting its D-SLR business by not fully exploiting the EOS M5’s photographic potential, bear in mind the company also makes some hugely competent dedicated video cameras… so there’s perhaps no need to actually go any further with its video potential either.