There’s an entire market of people who want to take great photographs, and need something with a bit more power than a point-and-shoot or smartphone. This market has traditionally been served by Nikon and Canon’s entry-level DSLR cameras, as well as offerings by Panasonic and Sony. And now there’s a new contender from Chinese manufacturer Yi, called the Yi M1.
A brave (and cheap) new hope
Here’s what’s so remarkable about the Yi M1 mirrorless camera. It’s so god-damned cheap. In China, you can get the camera body, plus a 12-40mm zoom lens with an F/2.5-5.6 aperture for about $330.
No, that wasn’t a typo. $330. That’s how much this costs.
The same model in the United States costs $499. That’s a bit of a leap, admittedly, but it’s pretty reasonable when you consider that there’s import duties and transportation costs.You can also get a model with an additional 42.5mm fixed lens with an F/1.8 aperture for an extra $200 on Amazon. This is the model which I will be reviewing.
So, let’s recap. One camera. Two lenses. $699. OMG.
But this only really matters if the camera itself is actually any good. And well? I most certainly like to think it is.
Hands on with the Yi M1
I’ve been playing with the Yi M1 for a while now. My review loaner model shipped from China a few weeks before it launched in the United States. During this time, I’ve studied it’s weaknesses and it’s strengths. Fortunately, there’s more of the latter than the former.
First, let’s see what the camera body can do. It boasts the following specifications:
20 MegaPixel IMAX269 sensor
4K/30FPS video recording
ISO range from 100 to 25600
Face detection with support for up to 32 faces
Built-in Wi-Fi 802.11n
Bluetooth LE
MicroHDMI
SDXC support
3″ LCD touchscreen viewfinder
Removable rechargeable battery
MicroUSB charging
Impressive. But these only tell part of the story. To get the full picture (no pun intended), you’ve got to use it.
At first, I was pretty skeptical. After all, $330 is not a lot of money to spend on a mirrorless camera. You could be forgiven for assuming that corners would have been cut somewhere. But that just wasn’t the case.
Let’s start by looking at build quality. This thing is built like a brick house. I mean it’s sturdy as hell. When in the hand, it feels strong and rugged. You can toss it in a backpack without worrying that it’ll emerge all scuffed and scratched.
It’s also worth pointing out that it’s a pretty handsome looking camera, too. As The Verge pointed out, it takes more than a little bit of design inspiration from the (admittedly gorgeous) Leica T.Then you switch it on. At first, I was worried. No matter how good the hardware is on paper, software can make or break a tech product. If the Yi M1 felt clunky, or slow and unresponsive, the entire device would have been a write-off.Thankfully, it excelled here. I’m not sure what CPU powers this thing, or how much RAM it has. But when using it, I was able to switch between modes, load settings and previously taken photographs in an instant. It felt fast, and extremely fluid.
Front-and-center of the camera is a gorgeous 3-inch touchscreen. I found this to be invaluable. If I wanted to zoom in on a particular part of the frame, I just had to tap where it is on the screen. To access the camera’s settings, I just had to swipe right.