Wonderful Quality. Takes getting used to due to size, but so far very good camera

Wonderful Quality. Takes getting used to due to size, but so far very good camera  Read Less

Pros:1. Much improved AF speed over M3. Pretty much instantaneous. In dimmer light and lower contrast situation, the AF struggl...  Read More

Pros:1. Much improved AF speed over M3. Pretty much instantaneous. In dimmer light and lower contrast situation, the AF struggles a little bit with slow zoom lenses. However there is now manual focus peaking which is quite helpful. I tried using the 35 f2 IS through an adaptor. It's incredibly fast even in low light.2. Touch and drag AF. While looking through the viewfinder, you can drag the focus point using the touch screen. This can be useful in some situations. But I find it faster to compose with with the LCD screen, tap on what I want to focus on, and then look through the viewfinder. Or if I am taking picture of a person, I just use face detect.3. The ergonomics is getting even more similar to other Canon DSLR. I am able to adjust settings much quicker than when using M3. The grip is still very small and not comfortable to hold for extended period of time. But that's really the trade-off we have to live with.4. Built-in viewfinder is nice and bright. Unlike an optical viewfinder, there is a lag that is noticeable espeically if I do a panning motion. This is something to get used to. I believe Fuji xt2 has shorter lag but that's a different league of mirrorless camera. The EVF in the M5 is good enough for my purpose. Definitely beats the detachable EVF of the M3.5. Customizable buttons. Most buttons can be customized to my own liking. For instance, I assign the delete button as touch shutter, the flash button as display on/off, the front button as AF->servo, etc. Even the red dot record button can be assigned to something else.6. Flip screen. I have had 80D briefly. I personally prefer a simple flip up/down screen as opposed to a fully articulating screen. With an articulating screen I need to flip the screen out to the side before I can flip up and down. To me that's not very efficient. Flipping up and down is so much faster. It can flip all the way facing front for selfies.7. Image quality. Nothing to complain about. Even M3 was pretty good. Now with improved dynamic range, I'm even happier with how much I can edit the RAW files.8. Continuous shooting. With the M3 if I hold down the shutter it will take something like 5 pictures and then the camera slows down. I'm not a techie but I guess the buffer fills up too quickly. Now it can last way longer. Nothing scientific. But at least I no longer feel like I'm missing critical moments as the M3 would .9. Small. To take advantage of compactness you absolutely must use M lenses. Canon finally came out with a 18-150mm which I purchased also. M5 + 11-22 + 18-150 +28 macro pretty much fulfills most of my needs. I still carry 5dmk3 with me sometimes but its main purpose now is for fast prime lenses like 135L. I use slow zooms on M5 and fast primes on full frame. To me it makes the most sense. I only got the 18-150 for one day. So far I'm happy with my purchase. It seems as good as the 18-55 kit.10. Customizable timer. Now with M5, I can set up the camera to, for instance, take 10 pictures consecutively with 5 seconds delay. What it means is that I can set up the camera on a tripod, walk back to my family, and get 10 pictures taken while we try to convince our 3 year-old to look at the camera. I don't think it was available on m3.Cons:1. Expensive. Listing price is not substantially cheaper than 80D. The 80D is a better camera in an absolute sense. But M5 is compact and offers similar image quality. 80D is weather sealed. M5 is not. A refurbished or used M3 is around $300 right now. I personally feel that $800 would have been a fair launch price. If you don't need it right now, you should wait for a price drop.2. No weather sealing. Granted, the M lenses are not weather sealed so it's pointless to weather seal the camera body. But the thought of paying $1000 for a non-weather resistant camera just doesn't much sense especially knowing that the 80D does offer weather resistance. It's not a deal breaker but I would have been a happier customer.3. Battery life. It's nothing compared to the 80D which can shoot hundred of shots without recharging. Just buy a few spares. I don't under why Canon charges so much for the EP 17. Almost the same price as 5D, 80D batteries.4. Where is tap and focus?? I have to tap on the subject I want to shoot and then half press shutter to focus. This happens when I disable continuous focus. If I let the camera keep acquiring focus it'll drain the battery, so I always turn continuous focus off. This is different from the 80D where I can tap on the screen and it will focus on exactly where I tap. I get very annoyed by this. Maybe Canon is trying to help us save battery but they should give users the option to turn it on/off. Well, at least I can use tap and shoot, which is another handy feature. Tap to focus is available in movie mode. That's a big deal. Because if it's not even available in movie mode, I'm returning the camera.SummaryOverall, I'm ambivalent about the M5. It's finally looking less like a point and shoot and more like a dslr. I like M5 to some extent but it doesn't quite match the 80D. It's certainly better than M3 in many ways. But it depends on how desperately you need faster AF and a viewfinder. In terms of image quality, there just isn't substantial change. M3 was great. I'm not a patient person and I can't stand the M3 being slow.My biggest gripe is price. If as I said the launch price were $800 and I had purchased it at a nice discount price of $650 I'd be a happy camper. I'm trying to say that the value proposition isn't high at this point. The reason I bought it at launch price is because I can no longer carry heavy gear like I used to, and the only mirrorless option from canon that can do what I need it to do is M3 or M5, and between them M5 is highly preferable.Another thing many complain about is the lack of lens selection. I felt that way before. But now that the 18-150 and 28 macro are released, I think I'm happy as far as lens choices. I don't want big lenses on a small body. Slow zoom is fine if that's what it takes to preserve compactness.  Read Less