The Canon EOS R50 is a new mirrorless camera designed to appeal to content creators looking to elevate their creative work. It features an upgraded 24,2MP APS-C CMOS sensor and a DIGIC X image processor to produce high-resolution photos and 4K UHD video.
The spiritual successor to the renowned Canon EOS M APS-C, the Canon EOS R50 is Canon's new versatile mirrorless camera. Compact and lightweight, it boasts a sophisticated suite of photo and video features and is aimed at content creators and vloggers.
Revealed alongside the EOS R50, the RF-S 55-210mm F5-7.1 IS STM lens is another new addition from the brand. Compact and versatile, its image stabilization system allows users to capture sharp photos even without a tripod, and the dedicated STM focusing system is ideal for shooting videos.
A box with intuitive ergonomics
The EOS R50 is surprisingly small, despite that expansive RF lens mount up front. The grip is quite small but adequate for the camera's size and lightness, especially with compact lenses. The Canon EOS R50 weighs 329 grams and fits comfortably in one hand. There's a dial on top of the camera, allowing it to be operated in P, A, S, or M modes—advantageous, but less used because the camera has a very touchscreen-oriented interface.
The R50 features a bright and clear 2,36 million-dot OLED electronic viewfinder (EVF) for high-resolution eye-level viewing. In addition, a large 3,0-inch, 1,62 million-pixel vari-angle touchscreen provides an intuitive interface for focus control, menu navigation, and image review. This screen also features a vari-angle design to facilitate working from overhead and low angles.
An exceptional sensor-processor duo
Combining a powerful 24,2MP APS-C CMOS sensor with the DIGIC X Image Processor, the R50 produces high-resolution images with striking, accurate color. Designed to perform in a variety of lighting conditions, this camera offers a flexible ISO 100-3000 range, expandable to ISO 51200 for working in challenging lighting conditions.
The sensor-processor duo helps capture stunning images with reduced noise, create beautiful photos with natural bokeh, and capture highly detailed work in low light conditions. The R50 can record in JPEG and HEIF in addition to RAW and C-RAW formats.
The R50 is surprisingly adept at burst shooting: it can capture footage at up to 12 frames per second using its electronic/mechanical shutter mode, or 15 frames per second in fully electronic mode.
Ultra-high-performance autofocus
Perhaps the most compelling feature of the R50 is its autofocus system. It's a relatively simple yet powerful system that combines a range of subject recognition modes with tenacious tracking. Featuring 651 high-precision autofocus points, the advanced Dual Pixel CMOS AF II system delivers fast and accurate focusing performance.
This phase-detection focusing system offers improved subject detection and tracking, with the ability to intelligently recognize people, animals, and vehicles while automatically locking onto those subjects and maintaining sharp focus throughout bursts and video capture.
The R50 has been trained to recognize people (eyes, faces, and heads), animals (especially dogs, cats, birds, and horses), and vehicles (sports cars and motorcycles, trains, and airplanes). There's also an "Auto" option that attempts to identify which of these subjects is in front of the device.
capacitysophisticated in video
The R50 can record Full HD video at 60p and a high frame rate of 120 frames per second (without audio), and even 4K UHD at up to 30 frames per second. Its impressive autofocus capabilities extend to video recording as well. It's also the first Canon APS-C EOS R camera to offer uncropped 4K video, perfect for shooting wide-angle videos.
The EOS R50's APS-C-sized image sensor is three times larger than the 1-inch sensor in recent smartphones. This means sharper, more detailed images and videos, and less noise (grain), even in low light. The R50 can record for up to one hour continuously and doesn't have the 30-minute recording limit of previous cameras.
The R50 features focus breathing correction, vertical metadata for videos generated for portrait format, audio noise reduction, aspect markers (for displaying different aspect ratios while shooting), and more.
mcreative odes that will appeal to content creators
The R50 activates a new Creative Mode by setting the mode dial to the A+ setting, which allows you to experience the joys of creative photography with an expanded range of auto-compatible scenes. Advanced A+ Assist results in quality images even in challenging situations, such as night views or backlit scenarios. Overexposure is automatically reduced to capture dynamic scenes or bright portraits, and multiple continuous shots are taken to create beautiful night images or macro photographs with a greater depth of field.
Ensuring the right subject is in focus is made easy with the R50 camera's Close-Up Demonstration Movie Mode. This mode allows you to quickly switch focus from the subject being photographed to an object being shown in front of the camera's lens, making it ideal for films where it's necessary to show viewers a product, such as in makeup demonstrations or cooking videos.
Video rotation information can be set during or after video recording, allowing videos to be played in vertical composition when viewed on a smartphone. The Aspect Markers feature displays visual markers for different aspect ratios that may be desired for posting the same file on various social media sites.
Flexible connectivity
Wired and wireless connectivity options allow for multiple methods of transferring photos and videos, live streaming, and remote camera control. Physically, the camera features a USB-C port, a micro-HDMI port, and a microphone port for video recording.
UVC/UAC compatibility allows the R50 to be used as a webcam to stream live video in Full HD without additional computer software. Built-in Bluetooth pairing makes it easy to connect the camera to compatible smart devices using the free Canon Camera Connect app.
Built-in Wi-Fi connectivity enables fast and seamless wireless functions, such as remote live view, playback, and file transfer. Also thanks to the Canon Camera Connect app, transferring files to your mobile device for browsing and sharing on social media has never been faster or easier.
Another new feature: the Canon RF-S 55-210mm f/5-7.1 IS STM lens
Offering a versatile zoom range in a lightweight and portable design, the Canon RF-S 55-210mm f/5-7.1 IS STM lens is well-suited for sports and wildlife applications. With an 88-336mm equivalent focal length range, this stylish telephoto prime is designed for APS-C-format EOS R-series mirrorless cameras. It also offers a shorter minimum focusing distance.
The lens also offers a minimum focusing distance of 70cm for working with close-up subjects. Complementing the optical design and telephoto reach, an Optical Image Stabilizer compensates for up to 4,5 stops of camera shake to aid handheld shooting at slower shutter speeds. Additionally, an STM stepping motor is also featured, enabling fast, smooth, and near-silent autofocus performance for both stills and video recording applications.
Price of the black EOS R50 – body only: 829,99 euros.
RF-S 55-210mm f/5-7.1 IS STM lens price: 449,99 euros.
Patrick Koune
