Canon EOS M50 Review: (Is it Worth Buying in 2023?)

This is a review covering the Canon EOS M50.

⭐ In a hurry? Here’s the quick review of the Canon M50

The Canon M50 is a mirrorless camera that is designed for enthusiasts and entry-level photographers. It offers advanced features such as 4K video recording, high-resolution electronic viewfinder, dual pixel autofocus, and built-in WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. The camera’s compact size and lightweight design also make it a good choice for travel and street photography. The camera’s features are also good for vlogging, as its built-in stereo microphone and flip-up touchscreen LCD monitor makes it easy to record high-quality audio and video. The camera is also a good option for family and events photography.

It features:

• 24.1 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, which provides high image quality and low noise in low-light conditions.
• Dual Pixel CMOS AF, which provides fast and accurate autofocus performance when shooting stills and videos.
• 4K UHD 24p video recording, which allows you to capture high-quality video footage with excellent detail and color.
• Built-in electronic viewfinder (EVF) with 2.36 million dots, which provides a clear, bright, and sharp image preview.
• Vari-angle touchscreen LCD monitor, which allows you to easily capture images and videos from high and low angles and also provides easy control of the camera settings.
• Built-in WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, which allows you to easily share your images and videos with your smartphone or tablet, and remotely control the camera from your mobile device.
• DIGIC 8 Image Processor, which provides fast and accurate image processing, and enables advanced features such as high-speed continuous shooting, and 4K video recording.
• Built-in stereo microphone, which provides high-quality audio recording for videos.
• Compatible with the full range of EF-M lenses, designed specifically for the EOS M series cameras.
• Advanced features such as Eye detection AF, which allows you to focus on the eyes of your subjects easily.
• Creative Assist and Scene Intelligent Auto, which provide easy control over camera settings and help to capture great images and videos with ease.
• Built-in flash and external flash compatibility, which allows you to take photos and videos in low-light conditions.

Here is the full review.

Canon M50 Review Summary

The EOS M50 is a good camera. At this budget, there are not too many choices either. But that does not mean the EOS M50 is a choice by default as there are no other major options.

There are plenty of options if you decide to look at DSLRs with an APS-C sensor. Plus, for a bit more investment you could also look at the Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III.

My only concern is that the EOS M50, and with it, the EF-M mount is no longer a priority for Canon.

Canon has decidedly moved towards strengthening the new RF mount and that means there is going to be a dearth of lens choices in the long run. It will be difficult to find lenses for every type of photography.

If you are interested in the EOS M50 and want to invest in it, you will have to bear in mind that the choice of lenses will be limited. But then there is not much of an issue with the camera itself. It shoots great stills and great videos. Has a built-in 4K/UHD mode and excellent digital image stabilization and a stereo mic.

On the other hand, if you are looking for an advanced video shooter then the EOS M50 is not your camera. You would be better off opting for something like the Panasonic GH5, the Panasonic GH4, the Sony Alpha a6400, or any of the latest models in that series. They all have better video shooting features.

All in all this camera would suit someone who is looking for a travel camera that will capture excellent stills and videos on his/her trips. This camera will also suit someone who is a budding vlogger and need something to get started.

To boot there are a bunch of good standard zoom lenses that will serve you in everyday shooting situations. So, although there are limitations to choices like a fast portrait lens or a super-telephoto lens for birding etc., it is not that the EF-M mount is completely devoid of good lenses.

Is this the best compact camera out there? No. there are at least half a dozen cameras out there that rank higher than the EOS M50 and can stake a claim for the title of the best compact camera.

The best thing about the EOS M50 is that it is an excellent synergy of features and performance.

Pros and Cons of Canon M50

Canon EOS M50 Review

This Canon M50 review will look at the most important features of this camera. The Canon EOS M50 is a mirrorless interchangeable lens camera that uses the Canon EF-M mount.

This mount is specially designed for the EF-M series mirrorless camera systems and forms one of the two new mounts that Canon came up with in the last decade – the EF-M and the RF.

The identifying aspect of the camera and with it the EOS-M mount is the short 18mm flange distance (distance from the mount to the sensor).

The short flange distance is what potentially could have helped create wide-angle lenses to be manufactured much more effectively.

Is Canon M50 Good for Beginners?

The EOS M50 is a great camera for both beginners and enthusiasts alike. The small weight of the camera and the demure size means it often gets overlooked when you are shooting photos.

This is important, especially shooting street photos. As a street photographer, you would ideally want to be as inconspicuous as possible.

And I feel one of the best utilities of the EOS M50 is in street photography as well as candid photography situations.

The only problem is your options in terms of lenses are a bit limited with the EOS-M mount camera systems.

Canon EOS M50 Camera Specs

• 24.1 effective megapixel resolution
• APS-C sensor
• Digital 3-axis image stabilization
• At 130 grams this is one of the lightest interchangeable lens APS-C cameras.
• UHD/4K video recording at 24p.
• 10 fps continuous shooting speed
• Built-in stereo microphone
• 3.5mm port for using an external microphone
• Hot-shoe for mounting external flash
• 3-inch articulating touchscreen
• Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

Canon EOS M50 Design

A distinguishing feature of the EOS M50 and some of the other compact cameras that Canon had released before is the grip that allows you to wrap the four fingers of your right hand around it.

Take that out of the equation and the M50 is just another compact camera. Except for the hump that houses the Electronic Viewfinder (EVF).

The M50 is a small camera and is a perfect fit for someone with smaller fingers. The buttons and dials on the camera are placed in a way so that they can be easily reached with the thumb and index finger of your right hand.

In any case, there are not too many buttons and dials at the back of the camera which is dominated by the large 3-inch vari-angle touchscreen.

The touchscreen allows you to capture footage from angles that are ordinarily difficult to capture.

For vloggers, this vari-angle touchscreen will be extremely useful when shooting on the move as well as when shooting indoors.

Canon EOS M50 Image Quality

Among the main Canon, M50 specs are the 24.1-megapixel APS-C sensor. This is a medium-resolution sensor that is available in a large number of other camera systems.

So, it is not out of the ordinary when it comes to image resolution.

Noise performance at higher ISO is acceptable. It is not the best in the business and there are a few cameras that are better at higher ISOs than the EOS M50.

The dynamic range of the camera is good, especially considering that you can deliberately underexpose and then push the exposure in post to compensate and you can extract a lot of detail from the shadow areas without increasing the amount of noise.

That said the camera is not fully ISO invariant. Exposures that are pushed beyond a safe ISO threshold do start to show a bit of noise.

The colors in the JPEG files straight out of the camera are decent. Some colors like red may appear weird in terms of suppression but overall there are no big issues as such.

Canon EOS M50 Video Quality

The EOS M50 is an excellent video shooter. Especially, if you are a vlogger, you will find this camera to your liking in more than one way.

It can shoot UHD/4K videos at 24p and full HD videos at a maximum of 60p. That means you can shoot cinematic footage without any issues and complement that with beautiful slow-motion B rolls.

One of the key Canon M50 specs is the dual-pixel CMOS autofocusing technology. However, when you are shooting in 4K/UHD mode you won’t get to use that AF feature.

That is a huge disadvantage. Especially for a vlogger who prefers to shoot 4K.

The rear vari-angle LCD screen is very useful for vloggers. Even if you are not vlogging and merely shooting videos of friends and family or recording your travels the vari-angle screen allows you to take your eyes off the viewfinder and shoot using the rear screen.

This Canon M50 review would be incomplete without a mention of the camera’s digital image stabilization. Digital image stabilization eats away the frame because of the huge cropping that it employs to stabilize the footage.

There is already some cropping involved when shooting in 4K/UHD because of the smaller frame area that is used to shoot the video. On top of that this additional cropping leads to a further loss of resolution.

For vloggers, we recommend that you use a hand-held image stabilization rig/gimbal as much as possible to avoid shooting with digital image stabilization or use digital image stabilization in post-production.

The camera comes with a built-in stereo mic. But there is an option to plug in an external mic via the 3.5mm jack.

That allows you to use a better-quality noise-canceling mic to record crisp audio along with your footage.

Canon EOS M50 Overall Performance

Overall performance of the Canon EOS M50 is good. It is an easy camera to work with.

The buttons and dials of the camera all fall in place ensuring that you spend more time taking images rather than fiddling with the controls of the camera.

Still, performance is very good and video performance is also good. The lack of dual-pixel CMOS autofocusing in 4K/UHD mode is difficult to digest.

I am never a great fan of digital image stabilization because it eats away into the frame and therefore will not recommend using the one on the EOS M50.

FAQ

We hope you enjoyed this review guide on the Canon EOS M50.

Consider everything we’ve reviewed as to whether this is the right camera for you!

Also, check out the full list of best lenses for the Canon M50.

Have fun, good luck, and keep photographing!

You can also find this camera on Best Buy and Walmart.

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