Photography News Issue 55

Camera test 34

Photography News | Issue 55 | photographynews.co.uk

Canon EOSM50 Canon was left in the starting blocks when the gun went for the mirrorless race, but it is quickly making up for lost ground, launching no fewer than four models in the past 18 months. We check out its latest arrival, the EOS M50

Specs

Price Canon EOS Mwith 15-45mm f/3.5-4.5 IS STM lens £649, M50 body £539 Sensor 24.1-megapixels (6000x4000 pixels) and DIGIC 8 image processor Sensor format APS-C, 22.3x14.9mmCMOS with low pass filter and EOS integrated cleaning system ISO range 100-25,600 with expansion with 51,200 available. Auto ISO 100-6400 Shutter range 30secs-1/4000sec plus B Drivemodes Single frame, high speed continuous (up to 10fps in one shot AF, 7.4fps with servo AF), low speed continuous, self-timer (2s, 10s) Metering system Evaluative metering (384 zones), partial, centre-weighted average and spot (2.8%). Centre-weighted only inmovie shooting Exposuremodes PASM, picture styles (auto, standard, faithful etc), creative assist (background blur, monochrome), creative filters (fisheye, toy camera etc), scene intelligent auto, hybrid auto, SCNmodes (smooth skin, food, handheld night etc) Exposure compensation +/-3EV in 0.3EV steps, AEB in three shots +/-2 EV in 0.3EV steps Monitor 3in touchscreen LCD, 1040K dots, vari-angle, shows 100% coverage Viewfinder 0.39in OLED EVF with 2360K dots. Dioptre correction possible Focusing Dual Pixel CMOS AF system. Phase detect pixels built onto the imaging sensor. One shot AF and servo AF provided. Face + Tracking – face and subject tracking via automatic recognition or manual selection via touch screen. Autofocus AF point selection when no face recognised within the frame. Eye AF available in one shot AF Focus points Maximum 143/99 points depending on the lens. Maximum 25 in Zone AF, single point AF Video MP4 type, 4k 3840x2160 (23.98, 25fps), Full HD, HD. Max duration 29mins 59secs, max file size 4GB Connectivity High speed USB, HDMI, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi with dynamic NFC support Other key features In-camera digital image stabilisation inmovie mode, built-in flash GN5 (ISO 100/m), records Raws and JPEGs simultaneously, eight customisable buttons, accepts EF and EF-S lenses via EF-EOS Mmount adapter Storagemedia 1x SD, SDHC, SDXC Battery life 235 shots approx., 370 in ecomode, 85mins movie recording time Dimensions 116.3x88.1x58.7mm Weight 387g body only Contact Canon.co.uk

Words and images byWill Cheung

The Canon EOSM50 is a mid-priced mirrorless camera, selling at £649 with an 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM standard zoom, or £539 body only. It’s a 24.1-megapixel APS-C format CSC with an impressive features set for the price, and will appeal to those used to shooting with smartphones, and compacts, as well as those with DSLR experience. As you would expect from Canon, there are significant innovations compared with other members of the EOS M family. The sensor is the same as that used on other Mmodels but works with Canon’s latest DIGIC image processor, which helps deliver a 10fps burst rate in single-shot AF or 7.4fps in servo AF. It is the first Canon to use the CR3 compressed Raw format for full size files – M50 Raws are typically around 25-35MB each, which compares with 40- 45MB files from the EOS M6. It is also the first M-series camera to offer 4K video although this comes at the price of a 1.7x crop, which makes wide-angle shooting a challenge. There’s also no Dual Pixel AF, which is only available for stills and Full HD video shooting. The EOS M50 is also the first Canon that can be set up to automatically send images to your smartphone immediately after they have been shot, so perfect for social media fans. As you might expect, this is just the start – there is plenty more on offer and the specification is attractive for the money. It is an EVF and a monitor camera, giving the EOSM50 a wider appeal than some budget CSCs that are monitor-only. The vari-angle touchscreen monitor folds out, and once in that position it can be rotated 270°, from facing forward for selfie shooting to facing straight down for directly overhead shooting. It can also be turned

It is handy for sneaky candids but it did seem to have a slight time lag and I did end up with shots of my feet when I forgot that it was active. For image reviewing, you can swipe left and right from image to image, or pinch to zoom in and then use your finger to check out different sections of the image. The screen’s image quality is very good. When you first set the camera up, go into the menu and you have two options. The standard layout gives a menu structure identical to Canon DSLR cameras, so any current Canon user will find their way around quickly. Those without that benefit can opt for the guided menu display. Both menus give the same number of options in the identical running order, but the guidedoption is cleaner and uses simple graphics and a few words on the front screen to explain what you will find under Shooting settings or Function settings, for example. The camera’s physical control layout is simple, with all the controls grouped on the right-side of the body. Customisation of eight controls is possible and the options under those eight is very good, too, so those coming from a DSLR background will find the level of choice well up to the standard they’d expect. For example, on the shutter button you

experience. The touch function has the usual options: touch function on or off, touch AF, touch-and-drag AF point, and AF touch release. Being able tonavigate theAFpoint byusing your thumb or finger on the monitor is a neat feature and easy to do even with the eye up to the viewfinder eyepiece, and you can choose which part of the monitor that’s active. I’ma left-eyed shooter and with my eye to the finder I could use my left thumb to move the AF point around the screen, then use the shutter button to focus and take the shot an instant later without any grip change.

It is an EVF and monitor camera giving the EOS M50 a wider appeal than some budget

CSCs that are monitor only

I am less of a fan of the touch-shutter release feature.

to face inwards for that film shooting

Left The EOS M50’s control layout is clean and simple with the option in many cases of using the touch monitor rather than physical buttons to choose key camera settings. There is plenty of customisation potential so you can tailor controls to your most-used functions for speedy handling. The EVF viewfinder image is nicely detailed so fine for critical composition and there is no obvious image smearing or flickering. Many will prefer using the vari-angle monitor that folds outwards making low and high- angle image viewing easy.