Canon's best mirrorless camera finally coming stateside

Kyle Looney | Reviewed.com

Over the last few years, mirrorless cameras have been emerging as the newest superpower in the camera market, thanks to companies like Sony and Panasonic pushing its development. One company that has yet to go all-in on mirrorless is Canon, which hasn't placed much emphasis on its fledgling M-series mirrorless cameras—at least in North America.

Earlier this year Canon released its third mirrorless camera—the Canon EOS M3 (MSRP $679.99 body-only)—but neglected to bring the camera to North America, announcing that it would only head to Europe and Asia. Now that's set to change, as the M3 will finally make its North American debut this year.

The new M3 is Canon's third attempt at a mirrorless camera, but after getting our hands on it earlier this year, we realized Canon is really serious this time around. It comes equipped with the same 24.2 megapixel (MP) CMOS sensor seen in the T6i and T6s and Canon's top processor, the DIGIC 6.

This hardware enables the M3 to shoot 1080/30p video, with a max continuous burst speed of 4.2 frames per second (fps). It should also offer improved dynamic range at base ISO speeds, assuming its performance is on par with Canon's recent T6i.

Not only is the M3 looking like a good performer, but it's packed with features to make sharing and creating easier. Along with the standard built-in WiFi, Near Field Communication (NFC), and a 3-inch tilting touchscreen, the M3 is the first mirrorless camera to offer Canon's new Creative Assist.

Creative Assist is new with the M3 and helps new users control everything from colors, saturation, contrast, and more. All of these changes are shown live on the monitor so you see the effects before you even release the shutter, indicating Canon's still viewing its mirrorless cameras as an appeal to novice shooters stepping up from compact cameras and smartphones.

The M3 will be available come October in both black and white finishes for $679.99 body-only. If you're not invested in the M-mount already, you can pick up one of two kits: the 18-55mm kit lens for $799 or the dual lens kit (18-55mm and 55-200mm) for $1,049.