Introduction

Ease of Use

The Canon EOS M5 has a sort of miniaturised DSLR look about it, with nicely curved lines which give it a stylish look. It’s not quite on par with some of the retro cameras on the market, but it has an attractive look none-the-less.

Around the front part of the Canon EOS M5 is a rubberised coating which makes it feel high quality, and also helps the camera feel nice in your hand. There is a protruding grip which again helps you get good purchase on the camera - with your forefinger resting naturally on the shutter release button. Those with particularly large hands may find that the camera is a little on the small side to fit all of your fingers comfortably on the grip, though.

Front of the Canon EOS M5

There are a variety of dials on the top of the Canon EOS M5. The largest is on the left hand side, and is used to change between the different exposure modes that the camera offers. Here you’ll find all automatic and scene modes, as well as a range of manual and semi-automatic options, such as aperture priority and shutter priority. The on/off switch is just below the mode dial, too. There’s handily space for two custom modes here, which is useful if you often find yourself shooting with one particular group of settings - perhaps high ISO or monochrome.

To the right of the viewfinder, there’s an exposure compensation dial, and one dial which is around the shutter release, and another which is just behind it. You can use the two dials in conjunction with each other - it feels like a very natural way to work. They both control different functions depending on the shooting mode you’re in. When in aperture priority for instance, it controls aperture. The rear dial, when in manual mode, adjusts aperture. There’s a small button in the middle of the dial which you can press to use the dial for a different function, such as white balance or ISO.

There are two more buttons on the top of the Canon EOS M5. There’s a small button for raising the camera’s inbuilt flash. There’s also a function button, which can be customised to a wide range of different options in the main menu, including file type, picture style, white balance, manual focus and more.

Rear of the Canon EOS M5

Flip to the back of the Canon EOS M5 and much of its rear is taken up by the three-inch touch-sensitive screen. The screen tilts upwards, downwards, and can also face the front if you fold it underneath the bottom of the camera. This makes it particular useful for shooting hand-held selfies, but it’s not quite as useful if you want to place the camera on a tripod or other stable surface (such as a table) and take a self-portrait or group shot.

There’s a scrolling dial on the back of the Canon EOS M5, which can be used for certain functions, such as scrolling through images in playback. This doubles up as a four way navigational pad, with each directional key having its own particular function. For example, up controls ISO, left switches on manual focusing, the right is for flash modes, and the bottom key is used for deleting pictures in playback. However, you can customise all of these keys, along with most of the keys, to a different function if you prefer, meaning you can set up the camera exactly how you want to use it.

If you press the central key in the middle of the scrolling dial, you’ll be taken to the quick menu. This can also be accessed via a virtual button on the screen. With this, you can quickly access a variety of settings without having to delve into main menu settings and so on.

Top of the Canon EOS M5

Around the rear scrolling dial there are four keys. One is used to switch between different display settings, such as the on-screen level, one is the playback button, another is used to access the main menu, and a fourth is for starting to record video. The final two buttons are found on the thumbrest, and again can be customised to your own tastes, but have default settings of exposure lock and AF point selection.

Although you can use the AF point selection button to enter the AF selection options, the easiest way to set AF point is to use the touch screen, simply tapping where you want the AF point to be. You can use the touch screen to do this in conjunction with the viewfinder if you want, by selecting “Touch and drag AF settings” in the main menu. A great feature is that you can use the whole screen to do this, or you can apportion a section of the screen, for example the bottom right to allowing you to change the AF point - this is particularly handy if you find that your nose or face is accidentally moving the AF point when you don’t want it to.

The Canon EOS M5’s electronic viewfinder is found in middle of the top plate of the camera. There’s an eye-sensor for automatically detecting when it has been lifted to your eye, making it a very fluid movement akin to using a DSLR. It’s not the largest viewfinder currently on the market, but it is very bright and clear and there’s no obvious or noticeable lag when using it for most every day shots. Colours inside the viewfinder appear to be more vibrant and more saturated than colours displayed on the rear screen, and indeed in the final images - so just be aware that the image you see in the viewfinder may not be a 100% accurate representation of the image you’re going to end up with.

A quick note about the flash, if you’re using the 18-150mm lens, as we were. The flash is quite small, so it’s not quite tall enough to reach fully over the lens - this means that in some circumstances the lens will obscure the light of the flash and create a shadow. You shouldn’t find this to be problematic with shorter lenses.

Tilting LCD Screen

As is pretty much standard now, the Canon EOS M5 has Wi-Fi connectivity. However, for the first time, there’s also bluetooth connectivity. You can use this as a low-power alternative to Wi-Fi to control the camera. It’s also easier and quicker to set up and use than connecting to the camera’s Wi-Fi network. Once you’re connected to the camera via Bluetooth, you can also use the Canon Camera Connect app (free download for iOS and Android) to activate Wi-Fi settings directly, which you’ll need to do to browse images and download images onto your phone. It’s quite a handy and useful app, but it’s not quite as useful as Nikon’s Snapbridge solution which automatically transfers images across to your phone ready for super quick sharing.

The lens mount on the Canon EOS M5 is the EF-M mount, which is smaller than the regular EF mount. You can buy an adapter which allows you to use any of your existing lenses with the EOS M5. We were supplied one for this review - it works well, but is perhaps best suited to smaller EF lenses, as anything particularly large will give the M5 an unbalanced look. It’s useful however if you have say a specialised lens (i.e. macro) that you don’t want to buy again.

In terms of focus, the Canon EOS M5 has come on leaps and bounds from the Canon EOS M cameras of old. Autofocus is quick and accurate in the majority of conditions, pretty much no matter what lens you are using. In low light, you may find the system is a little hesitant if you’re using an older or slower EF lens, but the EF-M native lenses we were supplied for the test, along with a 50mm f/1.8 STM lens coped very well in a variety of situations. That said, there are still quicker compact system cameras on the market when it comes to AF. The EOS M5 doesn’t match the Panasonic G series for almost instant focus acquisition, and while continuous AF (Servo) does a reasonably good job with fast moving subjects, it’s not on a par with something like the Fuji X-T2 or the Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II. This wouldn’t necessarily be a huge problem if the EOS M5 was a mid-range camera aimed at beginners, but for something which is priced at over £1,000 (body only) it’s a little disappointing not to see more innovation in this area.

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 24 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 8Mb.

As we’d expect for a camera fitted with the same sensor and processor combination as the Canon EOS 80D, files from the EOS M5 are very pleasing. Indeed, if you’re already a Canon user, you will probably be happy to add the EOS M5 to your existing arsenal. Colours are warm and vibrant, having a decent amount of punch without being over the top - in short, they have that classic Canon saturation which we’ve come to expect from other Canon sensors.

JPEG images have a good amount of detail, but you can get even more from the camera if you use the “Fine Detail” Picture Style setting from the quick or main menu. You can start to see a little noise and image smoothing creep in to the shadow areas at ISO 800, but images taken at ISO 1600 or ISO 3200 are still more than usable at normal printing and web sizes. The high ISO settings perform well, but you may want to avoid using ISO 6400 if you have any intention of keeping very fine detail present - while the ISO 12800 and ISO 25600 are best reserved for emergencies where getting the shot is more important than image quality.

Automatic white balance does a good job of coping with a variety of different lighting conditions, perhaps ever so slightly over compensating under artificial lights to produce a cooler than realistic image. The overall effect is generally pleasing though, and you can always switch to a specific white balance setting if you’re looking for greater accuracy.

Exposures are generally pleasingly accurate, with Canon’s all-purpose metering system doing a good job. As with other Canon cameras, metering will be weighted towards the AF point of the image - this can sometimes result in under or over exposure if you’re shooting a very high contrast scene. It’s relatively rare for it to happen, but it’s something to keep an eye on in certain situations.

Noise

ISO sensitivity can be set between ISO 100 and ISO 25600 in full-stop increments. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting, with JPEG on the left and the RAW equivalent on the right.

JPEG	RAW
ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)
ISO 12800 (100% Crop)	ISO 12800 (100% Crop)
ISO 25600 (100% Crop)	ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

Flash

The flash settings on the EOS M are Auto, Manual Flash On/Off, and Red-Eye Reduction. These shots of a white coloured wall were taken at a distance of 1m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle	Flash On - Wide Angle
Flash Off - Telephoto	Flash On - Telephoto

And here are a couple of portrait shots. As you can see, neither the Flash On setting nor the Red-Eye Reduction option caused any amount of red-eye.

Flash On

Creative Filters

The Creative Filters shooting mode contains 8 different options to help spice up your images.

HDR	Fish-eye
Art Bold	Water Painting
Miniature	Toy Camera
Soft Focus	Grainy B/W

Sample Images

As of February 2025, we are no longer providing full size sample images or videos for download.

Please contact us if you have any feedback on our new policy.

Product Images

Front of the Canon EOS M5

Front of the Canon EOS M5 / Pop-up Flash

Side of the Canon EOS M5

Side of the Canon EOS M5

Rear of the Canon EOS M5

Rear of the Canon EOS M5 / Image Displayed

Rear of the Canon EOS M5 / Turned On

Rear of the Canon EOS M5 / Quick Menu

Tilting LCD Screen

Tilting LCD Screen

Top of the Canon EOS M5

Bottom of the Canon EOS M5

Side of the Canon EOS M5

Side of the Canon EOS M5

Front of the Canon EOS M5

Memory Card Slot / Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Canon EOS M5 feels like the first time the company has really taken compact system cameras seriously. The result is a very nice offering, which if you’re an existing Canon user will probably be particularly appealing. 

Images directly from the EOS M5 are great, and it’s certainly on a par with other compact system cameras in those terms. However, while Canon has made excellent progress with its AF system for this camera, it can still be bested by others out there - the impact of which will vary greatly depending on the type of images you like to take. If you take images mostly of things that don’t move, such as landscapes, still life and macro - and portrait sitters with patience - you won’t find this a problem. However, if you like to photograph sports, wildlife, and possibly even street photography, there are perhaps cameras out there which are better suited to you. 

There’s a lot to like about the style and setup of the Canon EOS M5. Lots of dials and buttons make it easy to make changes, while the touch sensitive screen is responsive and useful in a variety of different scenarios. The viewfinder is great, if a little oversaturated, and the fact that you can continue to use the touchscreen to set autofocus point while you’re using it makes a lot of sense. 

Ultimately, the biggest problem with the Canon EOS M5 is its price. Over £1000 for a compact system camera puts it in competition with some of the very best cameras on the market - and although it’s very very good, it does feel like you should be getting even more for your money. One glaring omission in the current climate seems to be that 4K video recording is missing - not a huge problem for most people, but somewhat of a surprise in a world where the format is becoming so commonplace. 

Overall, Canon has produced an excellent compact system camera, which takes lovely images and is nice to use. But we can’t help but feel that the camera manufacturer is asking too high a price for this system - hopefully the price will drop in due course. It will also be interested to see where Canon goes next - having made something which competes better with existing offerings on the market, hopefully the EOS M5 will be well received and Canon will continue to build on its success. 

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	4
Value for money	3

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Canon EOS M5.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Canon EOS M5 from around the web.

Specifications

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