Into The Deep End Of the Little Studio

Thank you, Mr. or Mrs. Canon. Thank you for thinking like I do, and more often, too. Thank you for doing the things on the Canon EOS M6 that I think are a good idea. I say this pointedly, as I have sometimes taken gear out of the box to test at the studio and regretted it. Not that the cameras were bad, but they sometimes had such arcane menus, simplistic controls, or trendy features as to baffle the mind - or at least the mind that had to get them back to the shop in under a week. I can truthfully say that I did not have one bad experience with the EOS M6 when I pointed it at the new model airfield. I turned the LCD exposure visualisation off so that the screen did not become dark during focusing, I turned the shutter to 1/250 second, and the aperture to anywhere between f:16 to f:25. I am led to believe, looking at the specs on a Canon website, that it may well go to f:38...a tantalising prospect for a depth-of-field fiend. And Glory Be...the Elinchrom Skyport trigger goes on, does not foul the mode dial, and fires the studio flash perfectly. The camera focuses well with the manual lens ring, but eventually I decided to leave the touch-screen AF activated and to experiment with that. It is positive, quick, and accurate, and I am delighted with it when the screen is laid out in a horizontal position. I did not ask for a poke and shoot result as I preferred the regular shutter button.Note from the detail shots that the MF choice is conveniently external by being on the D-Pad. For the adventurous, there are a number of options on that mode dial that will probably yield art or science but I didn't try them - I was just so pleased that the thing worked well on manual. I'm also a little sorry that I did not get a chance to experiment with the WiFi connection - I do use it a bit with other cameras now that it is not as complex as it used to be. Also did not trigger the thing with the on-board flash, though I would use this to supplement a high ISO in many field shots. Overall conclusion in the studio? As good as my current rig in many respects. Easier to use than the mirror-less cameras of a couple of other makers. Excellent results. The next experiment with the Canon EOS M cameras will be using the M5 and the 28mm macro lens. That promises to be more fun than a barrel of Hurricanes. And yes, the new layout is progressing nicely - I'm building the 1:72 scale latrine at present. Though it is rather difficult to build in small size. You see it is such a wee building...