Canon will sell its EOS-M, its first mirrorless camera from mid-September in a bid to tap a growing market for small, interchangeable-lens cameras that rival Nikon entered last year. Canon will manufacture 100,000 of the cameras a month, the company said in a statement.

Mirrorless models have large sensors, providing good picture quality, but no optical viewfinders. That enables manufacturers to keep the camera body smaller and lighter.

The first mirorless model will be the EOS M. Available in black, white, silver or red colours, the model launches alongside two new lenses, the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM pancake and the EF-M 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM standard zoom, as well as a new compact EX Speedlite ? the Speedlite 90EX.

Based around the same 18MP APS-C sensor as the company's recent EOS 650D/T4i model, the EOS M is aimed at the point-and-shoot upgrader market looking for DSLR quality and makes greater use of a 650D-style touch-screen interface.

The camera is also using Canon's DIGIC 5 processor and has a native ISO range of 100- 12,800 (extendable to 25,600).

When a moment calls for more than a still image, the EOS M lets you switch to Full HD video with stereo sound.