Camera test 35
Photography News | Issue 51 | photographynews.co.uk
Performance: ISO
Performance: exposure latitude
The shots here were taken as the sun was setting with an exposure of 1/8sec at f/8 and ISO 100. No in-camera noise reduction was used and the Raws were processed in Lightroom with default noise reduction set. The Canon EOS M100 gives a good account of itself regarding noise performance and images were very clean up to ISO 800. Shoot at that speed and you are assured of clean images capable of large prints. There was some noise on the ISO 800 shot but it was very fine so you had to look hard and detail was not greatly affected. One stop up to ISO 1600
and there is noise evident in the shadows but again, fine detail looked good and even this speed could be used for critical use and big enlargements, even more so with careful processing. Much the same can be said of ISO 3200 performance. Noise in the shadows was evident and that softened fine detail but generally image quality was pretty good although pictures had a mildly desaturated look. From ISO 6400 onwards high noise levels softened images significantly and those high speeds best avoided unless you ready have no choice.
To assess Raw exposure latitude, a bracketed exposures were shot using manual mode – the correct meter reading at ISO 100 being 1/125sec at f/5.6. All Raws were processed and exposures corrected through Lightroom. The underexposed shots corrected nicely with the limit being -3EV. However, it is true to say that the -4EV is perfectly usable if you can except a patterning of noise, which is evident in areas of shadow and midtone. Colour reproduction was consistent across the underexposed shots. The EOS M100 was pretty capable at handling overexposure too, with the +1EV and +2EV shots looking identical to the correctly exposed image. Go beyond +2EV and you start to struggle, with areas of the +3EV shot gaining a cyan colour cast while the highlights lacked detail. The +4EV shot was beyond recovery with very grey highlights. Images The Canon EOS M100 had decent exposure latitude in its Raws, especially with the underexposed shots we produced. With overexposure you are limited to +2EV if you want the best possible quality.
Original image
-4EV
-3EV
-2EV
Original image
-1EV
0
+1EV
+2EV
+3EV
+4EV
ISO 100
ISO 800
Verdict
Features APS-C sensor, Dual Pixel AF and touchscreen. Lack of EVFmight put some off Performance 23/25 Capable autofocus including touch AF and consistently good exposures Handling 23/25 Good to use, compact and fine touchscreen Value formoney 24/25 At under £500 with lens, it’s difficult to quibble about the M100’s price Overall 93/100 A capable, modern solution, with lots of features, and great value for the mirrorless starter Pros Small size, touchscreen LCD Cons An electronic shutter would have been nice The Canon EOS M100 is a neat little camera that is capable of high quality results. Personally, I initially struggled with not having a viewfinder, but I soon got used to shooting with the monitor only and you don’t have to go far to see that this is how much of the population use their imaging devices nowadays. That sorted, there is much to enjoy on the EOS M100. For its size, features list and high-quality pictures, there is no doubt that the compact Canon EOS M100 is worth shortlisting if you want to go mirrorless without breaking the bank. 23/25
ISO 1600
ISO 3200
ISO 6400
ISO 12,800
Above There’s not much in the way of top-plate controls on the M100.
complete duffs. If help was needed the Raws had plenty of latitude to work with. Tackling awkward lighting is easy enough on the M100. Press the left control of the four-way pad signified by a * and you get exposure lock, or you can use compensation via the monitor. In this case you get a +/-3EV scale almost the length of the 3in monitor so it is really easy to set how much compensation you want in 0.3EV steps. As you get a live image preview, you can just slide your finger across and stop where the effect looks best.
Exposures were also impressively delivered by the camera’s metering systemwith hardly any complete duffs
Above The EOS M100’s ISO performance is very good and will easily please most users, with more than acceptable image quality up to ISO 1600.
ISO 25,600
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