NEW CAMERA Sleek shooter

The Canon EOS M10 is great if you want something more than your phone camera, but you don’t want to hang a heavy D-SLR around your neck.

The M10 falls into the “mirrorless” camera category. You can change lenses like a D-SLR, but it’s much smaller and lighter. It doesn’t have as many manual settings, but the automatic settings are so good that you probably won’t miss manual. You might even wonder why you’ve bothered all these years… The model I tested had a collapsible 15 – 45 mm lens, which works well for general photography like landscapes and portraits. The M10 uses Canon’s new EF-M mount, which is currently limited to only a few other lenses, like an 11 – 22 mm wide-angle, a fast 22 mm prime and a 55 – 200 mm telephoto lens. You can use an attachment to fit other Canon lenses, but why would you want to? A D-SLR lens would feel way too clunky.

Impressive facts for your next braai:

The M10 has an 18 megapixel CMOS sensor; there are 49 autofocus points and you can shoot 4,6 frames per second – fast enough for the wildest children’s party. It also has Wi-Fi, like most new cameras, so you can easily transfer and share your shots. Enthusiast photographers have the option of shooting in RAW format.

And video? The M10 is built for video and shoots in high definition. You can tap the touch screen on the back to focus and the screen also tilts for highand low-angle shots.

Niggles? I like a camera with a good grip. The design of the M10 is too sleek to be practical; I never felt fully in control of it. The settings were also difficult to figure out, probably because I’m not used to the Canon interface.

Who should buy this camera?

It’s a good camera if you want solid pictures, but you don’t feel like lugging a heavy D-SLR around. You can slip it into your pocket for street photography or use it at a dinner party without freaking everyone out. It’s also a good backup camera if you already have a D-SLR and you don’t want to compromise on quality. R6 500 at orms.co.za