14 DAY TRIAL // Canon recently announced their second mirrorless digital camera model, the EOS M2, which will hit market shelves in a few days. The surprise of this announcement is that Canon has declared that for the moment the new EOS M2 will only be available on the Asian market and has no plans on launching it in the US or Europe.
In a recent interview for the Japanese website Dcwatch, Canon's Image Communication Products Operation Managing Director and Chief Executive Mr. Masaya Maeda made a few interesting statements regarding the future of Canon's mirrorless segment as well as other plans for 2014.
Although the EOS M2 was just announced, Canon is preparing a new EOS M interchangeable lens camera model for the second half of 2014. According to Mr. Maeda, the new EOS M camera will come with a built-in EVF (Electronic Viewfinder), feature unavailable in their current mirrorless camera lineup.
In addition to that, the company will focus on keeping the camera size down while equipping it with the latest technology, and the EOS M2 comes to support this idea with its 8% smaller body compared with the first EOS M model.
The upcoming mirrorless camera models will be powered by a Dual Pixel CMOS AF sensor, which offers improved still and video performance over traditional AF sensors.
Along with a new EOS M model, Canon is also planning to release new EF-M lenses to be able to offer an extended range of lenses designed exclusively for the EOS M digital cameras.
Canon is now offering only two EF-M lenses: the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM and EF-M 22mm f/2 STM, but you can use any EF-mount lens on Canon's lineup with a dedicated adapter.
According to Mr. Maeda, Canon is also considering to release a semi-pro or even a pro mirrorless camera sometime in the near future.