M52 compared against M40

No EVF

M40 review says it uses same sensor as G10; no word from M52 review but presumably the same

Much poorer stabilisation

Poorer daylight colour: Colour error of 4.06 vs. 3.31; saturation of 94.74% vs. 91.4%

Better lowlight colour: Colour error of 4.21 vs 4.6; saturation of 82% vs. 69%

Slightly poorer sharpness (800lw/ph vs 850lw/ph horizontal, and both at 600lw/ph vertical), but this is apparently in the same league as G10

Has 720p frame rate. (However, running in 720p mode results in significant drop in sharpness – 625 horizontal and 500 vertical)

M52 has good manual control over aperture, shutter speed, gain (AGC limiter), exposure

M40 has auto backlight compensation (defeatable), Tv mode, Av mode, manual exposure +/- EV, AGC limit capability (variable). On par with M52.

M52 has good audio control – Audio Scenes (incl. Customised), Windcut lo/hi/off; mic atten on/off, mic direction (4 modes), 4 modes EQ, manual audio gain

M40 has mic attenuator (even works with external mic), manual audio gain (for int and ext), mic direction (4 modes: mono, stereo, stereo-wide, stereo-zoom), 4 modes EQ a la M52, and continuously-variable “audio mix” with an external mic, or even a line-level source (does M52 have this?), and windcut (ON/OFF). On par with M52.

Touchscreen has spot-focus and spot-exposure. M40 also has both.

Slightly lighter and smaller, but only has 1 SD card slot.

3 selectable zoom speeds, or variable from T/W lever. Same for M40.

Both have tele macro mode.

No convenient physical auto mode button – it’s buried in the menu.

Direct DC power input possible for both models

48deg vs 47deg tested wide angle

M52 review reports a slightly smaller handstrap than M40, but still better than average

M40 review reports a laggy response in its touchscreen; no comment in M52 review

QUOTE: “If forced to choose the best-looking standard 60i footage, however, we would choose the Canon HF M40. It’s incredibly smooth, sharp, and artifact-free.”