The new Canon M200 is aimed squarely at the first-time photographer, but is there enough to make a person put their phone down?
Canon just announced a new Mirrorless. The Canon M200 is billed as a non-intimidating camera for experienced photographers and for photographers looking to step up from smartphones. The specs sound appealing, but will it have enough to make casual photographers put the phone down? The Canon M200 is a 24.1 Megapixel APS-C camera that utilizes the Canon M Mount. A read of the spec sheet reveals that the M200 will feature Canon’s latest Digic 8 image processor and Canon’s impressive Dual Pixel autofocus. The M200 packs eye and face autofocus, and it can shoot 4K UHD video and 1080P video at 60 frames per second. Canon also highlights that the M200 has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built-in to make image sharing easier. The M200 is also compatible with both EF and EF-S lenses with an adapter.
The Canon M200 is lightweight, which should appeal to smartphone users who are stepping up, and it will probably appeal to travel photographers as well. The Canon M200 also features a flip-up screen, like the one found on Sony’s A6400. This will make putting the smartphone down a little easier as selfies should be relatively straightforward using the screen when it is facing forward. Priced at $549.99, the M200 doesn’t sound like a bad camera, but I don’t believe it packs enough punch to pull people away from their smartphones.
I’m sure the M200 is capable of taking really nice images, but then so are phones these days. Yes, the Canon M200 can shoot 4K video. Well, so can phones. Sure it’s lightweight and can slip into a pocket. Again, so can phones. The plus side is that the M200 is an interchangeable lens camera, but it uses the M Mount and there are very few native M Mount lenses available.
Sure, you can use the adapter and can use EF and EF-S glass, but the whole point of this camera is to simplify use. Having to use an adapter isn’t exactly (and I quote) “non-intimidating” for first-time camera users. Having to use an adapter to get a good selection of lenses isn’t only inconvenient, it also adds extra size and weight to the compact camera. There isn’t anything unique or special enough about this camera to make a smartphone photographer put the phone down and pick this up. It’s a nice camera, but it’s ordinary.
There is no doubt in my mind that the Canon M200’s target is not the US market. It’s pretty safe to say that Canon won’t be shipping the M200 Stateside in droves. However, the Canon M200 will sell like hotcakes in Asian markets.
In Japan, the top-selling cameras are the Canon M100 and the M50. Photographers in Asia idolize small, compact cameras so the M200 will likely do very well there. In the rest of the world, the compact camera market is dying a slow death. Unless one is released with a full suite of smartphone features like data connectivity and apps, compact cameras will slowly fade away. If you would like more information about the new Canon M200, head on over to Canon’s official website. The Canon M200 with a 15-45mm f3.5-6.3 kit lens will launch this October with a retail price of $549.99.