CANON EOS M50, 15-45MM

Canon’s latest budget-friendly model does outstrip the former rangetopping M5 in some respects, but all isn’t quite as it seems

FOR OWNERS OF CANON DSLRS AND A MATCHING ARRAY OF EF OR EF-S LENSES, THE EOS M50 HAS A MAJOR ADVANTAGE. CANON EF-EOS M-MOUNT ADAPTERS ARE AVAILABLE FROM £104/$149,

WITH OR WITHOUT A DETACHABLE TRIPOD MOUNT, WHILE INDEPENDENTLY MADE ADAPTERS COST A FRACTION OF THE PRICE. YOU CAN THEREFORE USE ANY OF YOUR EXISTING LENSES ON AN EOS M MIRRORLESS CAMERA. WE COULD SAY THE SAME ABOUT THE NEW NIKON Z 50, BUT KITS START AT ABOUT TWICE THE PRICE, PUTTING IT BEYOND THE REMIT OF THIS GROUP TEST. THE FLIP SIDE IS THAT THE LINE-UP OF CANON M-SERIES LENSES IS RATHER LIMITED, DESPITE THE SYSTEM HAVING BEEN ON THE MARKET SINCE 2012.

HEADLINE ATTRACTIONS FOR THE M50 INCLUDE A BUILT-IN VIEWFINDER WITH A 2.36 MILLIONDOT RESOLUTION, MATCHING THE FUJIFILM AND OLYMPUS CAMERAS ON TEST. IT’S ONLY THE SECOND EOS M CAMERA TO FEATURE A BUILT-IN VIEWFINDER, AFTER THE FORMER RANGE-TOPPING M5. THE THREE-INCH TOUCHSCREEN AROUND THE BACK IS FULLY ARTICULATED, WHEREAS THE SCREEN IN THE M5 ONLY HAS A TILT FACILITY. BUTTONS

AND DIALS FOR SHOOTING SETTINGS ARE RELATIVELY MINIMAL, SO THERE’S MORE RELIANCE ON THE TOUCHSCREEN INTERFACE, ALTHOUGH CANON’S ‘QUICK’ MENU IS SPEEDY AND INTUITIVE.

THE M50 FEATURES CANON’S HIGHPERFORMANCE DUAL PIXEL AF SYSTEM, WHICH ENABLES PHASE-DETECTION AUTOFOCUS DIRECT FROM THE IMAGE SENSOR. 99 AF POINTS ARE GENERALLY AVAILABLE, RISING TO 143 POINTS WHEN USING THE EF-M 18-150MM, 28MM

AND 55-200MM LENSES. AF POINTS COVER A GREATER AREA OF THE IMAGE FRAME THAN IN THE M5, AND THE M50 ALSO BEATS ITS MORE UPMARKET SIBLING BY ENABLING 4K RATHER THAN JUST 1080P VIDEO CAPTURE. HOWEVER, AT THE 4K SETTING, ONLY RELATIVELY SLUGGISH CONTRASTDETECTION AUTOFOCUS IS AVAILABLE, AND THERE’S A FURTHER 1.6X CROP FACTOR IN ADDITION TO

THE REGULAR CROP FACTOR FOR SHOOTING STILLS. PERFORMANCE IS GOOD OVERALL, WITH SPEEDY AUTOFOCUS AND LOVELY IMAGE QUALITY.

It’s a black and white issue Far left ISO 6400 HIGH ISO PERFORMANCE IS PRETTY GOOD, BUT IT’S NO BETTER THAN IN THE OLYMPUS CAMERA, THE LATTER HAVING A SMALLER IMAGE SENSOR Left Canon look AUTO WHITE BALANCE AND AUTO SCENE RECOGNITION WORK WELL, DELIVERING VIBRANT YET NATURAL COLOUR RENDITION, ALONG WITH GOOD DYNAMIC RANGE AVAILABLE IN BLACK OR WHITE OPTIONS, THE BASIC-LOOKING M50 KIT COMES WITH AN OPTICALLY STABILISED, MANUALLY RETRACTABLE 14-45MM KIT ZOOM LENS