The Canon EOS M mirrorless system may be dead, but one of its cameras has been dug up and reincarnated into a new model for the ongoing EOS R series. The EOS R100 is Canon’s latest APS-C mirrorless offerings. It features a 24.1-megapixel sensor, eye-tracking dual pixel autofocus, and a compact size for $479.99 body-only, launching in July. It will also sell for $599.99 in a kit with the RF-S 18–45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM lens or $829.99 in a two-zoom kit with the same slow lens plus RF-S 55–210mm f/5 -7.1 IS STM telephoto. Launching alongside the R100 is a Canon RF 28mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens for $299.99 that’s compatible with crop or full-frame cameras and is only slightly larger than a body cap.
You Can’t Touch It [Canon]!
On paper, the R100 is almost a dead ringer for, well, dead Canon EOS M50 Mark II. It has the same sensor, Digic 8 processor, 2.36 million dot OLED EVF, and cuts 4K video as the EOS M system’s swan song did. But it also loses some important things from that camera – things you’d normally expect EVERY modern camera, frankly — like an articulating screen, in-body image stabilization, webcam streaming, or any touch control. That’s right, touch the three-inch LCD on the back of the R100 you want, but it doesn’t.
It’s definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel for budget system cameras and looks small compared to the more capable EOS R50 which sits above at $679.99. But to be fair, the 2.5-year-old M50 Mark II based on the R100 has a starting price of around $800 (which probably tells why the system is dead), and for a lot of money, you can get it. new model in a kit with two lenses. I’m not saying those are good lenses or that they’re worth the money, but there’s something strangely charming about Canon trying to bring back the glory days of Canon Rebel DSLRs – a time when the an entry-level DSLR is a no-brainer. investment for anyone looking to take pictures or just take some decent photos of family or big life events.
But while this camera gives me a touch of nostalgia for the days of selling whatever the current Rebel was at the time expecting parents and college graduates, the world of cameras today is a very different place. Sure, this sub-$500 camera has an autofocus system that’s better than anything else on the market these days, but the sacrifice of an articulating screen and many other features makes the stakes table is likely a deal-breaker for someone trying their hand at content creation. today.
Perhaps the EOS R100 can develop well with the aggressive price alone, hoping to capture the beginners in a growing ecosystem of RF lenses that continue to be upgraded within the Canon family. But users may not love what they see price-wise when they look at the line because, in addition to the changing behavior of the entry level in these years, the midrange to the top- tier cameras and lenses are becoming more niche and expensive.
