The timing of the release of this particular video from Christopher Frost is curious, but release it he has. It’s a complete guide to every EF-M lens made for the Canon EOS M system from brands such as Canon themselves, Sigma, Viltrox, Samyang and Laowa. The reason the timing is a little odd is that Canon seems to be preparing to completely kill off the EOS M system at any time. The Canon EOS M6 Mark II has been discontinued, with no signs of a replacement and two new “RF-M” mount APS-C bodies are expected to be announced at some point soon – possibly on May 24th. But that might mean that the used market is about to get flooded with EOS M gear. So, maybe now is the perfect time to brush up on what lenses are out there for anybody looking for a potential bargain.
The Canon EOS M system was launched in 2012 with the original Canon EOS M camera. It was essentially a miniaturised version of the Canon EOS 650D DSLR. That’s the Rebel T4i for folks in the USA. The camera featured an 18-megapixel sensor and was capable of shooting 1080p HD video at 24, 25 or 30 frames per second. And while the system definitely has its fans, it never really took off in the way that Canon’s APS-C DSLRs nor its current line RF mount mirrorless cameras has.
Recent body releases like the EOS M50 (and its Mark II successor) have really helped to boost the popularity of the EOS M system and the lineup now has several pretty capable cameras. But, with their demise seemingly imminent, investing in this system now seems quite silly. At least, it does at brand new retail prices. On the used market, however, it might be a different story entirely. The cameras will be no less capable six months from now than they are today, but their prices on the used market are likely to be significantly less than current used prices – which are already fairly low in the grand scheme of things. So, depending on your needs it might be worth picking up one or two. And whether you buy them for a specific use case or as just general use cameras, this guide should help you decide which lenses you might want to get to go with them. Even if the EOS M system is being killed off and this list of EF-M mount lenses doesn’t stay all that relevant in the long term, it will serve as a good archive (and Chris has linked to reviews of every lens he mentions in the video) of what was available at the time the system started to wind down. Are you planning to buy into the EOS M system or are you desperately trying to get out of it?
