Big test
PERFORMANCE: EXPOSURE LATITUDE
STEADY GRIP The contoured right side makes for a comfortable and secure grip, while overall handling is good despite the camera’s compact size
“IT TOOK A WHILE TO GET USED TO ONLY HAVING A MONITOR, AND I INSTINCTIVELY RAISED THE CAMERA UP TO MY EYE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS” found in other Canon cameras. Unusually, a separate charger is supplied and the camera can also be charged via the USB-C port and a power bank. Quoted CIPA capacity is 480 shots and, on the day I took the camera out, starting with a full charge, I captured 289 stills, 22GB of video and spent quite a while digging around the menu before it expired. I enjoyed using the R50 V, though it took a short while to get used to only having a monitor. I instinctively raised the camera up to my eye on several occasions. In bright light, seeing exactly what was going on wasn’t that easy; Canon could have done the obvious and installed a monitor with a far higher nit rating, which would make composing shots, navigating the menu and previewing images much easier. A final grumble on the monitor- only design; typical R50 V buyers probably wouldn’t use an RF 100- 500mm lens, but I did, and holding this combo out to use the monitor wasn’t particularly comfortable. In terms of performance, the R50 V turned in impressive stills and video. I shot Raws, which were processed through Canon DPP software, and large JPEGs for stills and 4K video, and I was very happy with the results. Colour rendition was pleasing, noise levels were low up until the higher ISO settings and images showed impressive clarity.
To be fair, most of us stick with one mode, so perhaps this isn’t too much of an issue. From my perspective, a bigger issue is the loss of autoexposure bracketing, a feature I use regularly. The final top-plate control is an unmarked main dial that can be dedicated to adjusting aperture or shutter speed in manual mode. There isn’t much space on the back of the camera, but Canon has found room for three buttons and a quick control dial to adjust ISO, drive mode, focus mode and white- balance, with the central button to confirm settings – this doubles as the Q or quick menu button. All the controls can be customised: for example, the button named two can be set from its default to 55 other options, with 56 for button three. These set-up options are available for stills and video shooting. Handily, there’s another record button on the left front side of the camera, and a tally lamp too. Pushing the info button takes you through the various monitor appearances: quick menu, image- only and three others, including one that shows all the camera data together with the electronic level and histogram. After entering the quick menu using the set button, you can then adjust key settings by touch or navigate to the desired virtual button using the four-way control. The R50 V takes the LP-E17, a compact, rechargeable battery cell
The EOS R50 V does not have autoexposure bracketing so this set of shots was made in manual exposure mode. The correct metered exposure was 1/125sec at f/11 and ISO 100 and Raws were exposure corrected using Canon’s DPP software. Raws show a reasonable tolerance to exposure abuse and, as is often the case, underexposure shows better recovery than overexposure. The -3EV and -2EV shots corrected nicely and colour performance was the same as the correctly exposed frame, with no obvious noise unless viewed at high magnification. The +1EV Raw recovered OK, though the sky picked up a magenta tinge which needs correcting, and the +2EV took on an even stronger colour cast. The lesson here is to avoid overexposure.
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OK FOR 4K The EOS R50 V has plenty of options for video shooting, though the set-up menu could be more user- friendly. For current Canon users, the menu layout will be very familiar
FACE THE FRONT PLEASE The EOS R50 V’s monitor can flip to face forward, a prerequisite for vloggers
Issue 121 | Photography News 33
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