Canon’s EOS M sequence has been clinging on for pricey life for a number of years now, however the brand new Canon EOS R50 lastly confirms it – the corporate’s authentic APS-C mirrorless digital camera vary is now all however historical past.

Our hands-on Canon EOS R50 evaluate reveals that the digital camera, which is fronted by Canon’s newer RF-mount, takes the hobbyist baton from the Canon EOS M50 Mark II. And it’ll hopefully take the EOS M idea additional than that sequence has managed over the past decade.

Just like the M50, the R50 is an entry-level mannequin for rookies, and turns into the smallest and lightest digital camera within the EOS R system. It additionally successfully finishes off the EOS M sequence, which launched again in July 2012, for good.

This isn’t precisely an enormous shock. Canon hasn’t launched a brand new EOS M digital camera since early 2021, and the disappointing EOS M50 Mark II was successfully only a firmware improve of ageing {hardware}. Canon’s first APS-C fashions for the EOS R system, the Canon EOS R7 and Canon EOS R10, additionally landed in mid-2022, one other transfer that confirmed the EOS M vary’s days have been numbered.

However whereas the R7 and R10 are extra like mirrorless reboots of Canon’s inexpensive DSLRs, the brand new EOS R50 is clearly a successor for the basic EOS M50. It has acquainted appears to be like, feels the identical (barely lighter, actually), and has a near-identical mannequin quantity. However the EOS R50 can be pricier and, regardless of the arrival of a brand new RF-S 55-210mm f/5-7.1 lens, at the moment shares a limitation that plagued the EOS M sequence: an absence of native glass.

Gradual rebirth

Canon doesn’t formally discontinue digital camera programs, preferring to allow them to quietly slide into irrelevance – and it’s the identical with its EOS M system.

After we requested Canon if the EOS R50 meant the tip for its authentic APS-C mirrorless digital camera sequence, it informed us “at current, we imagine it is very important increase our lineup of EOS R system cameras” and that “we’ll proceed to supply digital camera programs that meet the wants of our clients”.

That’s a reasonably inventory Canon reply – and, to be honest, some EOS M cameras are nonetheless that can be purchased new. Each the EOS M50 Mark II and EOS M200 are in inventory within the US and UK, with the latter additionally accessible in Australia. Canon’s EF-M lenses are additionally in manufacturing, and are sometimes the topic of tempting reductions (the Canon EF-M 32mm f/1.4, for instance, obtained a hefty value reduce throughout final 12 months’s Black Friday gross sales).

However the actuality that the brand new EOS R50 makes clear is that additional growth of the EOS M sequence has, unofficially, now ended. And which means for hobbyists who’re searching for a Canon mirrorless digital camera, the EOS R50 is the higher future-proofed possibility – for those who can swallow its greater value and present lack of native lenses.

Glass ceiling

Proper now, the Canon EOS R50 is simply suitable with three native lenses: the RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3, RF-S 18-150mm f/3.5-6.Three and the brand new RF-S 55-210mm f/5-7.1. There are nonetheless no prime lenses. 

In comparison with rival crop-sensor programs like Fujifilm’s X-series and, specifically, Micro 4 Thirds, that’s fairly paltry. Canon doesn’t launch official lens roadmaps, so it’s tough to know what number of are en route – and regardless of being round for over a decade, Canon solely ever made eight first-party lenses for its EOS M system. That isn’t a terrific precedent for the EOS R50.

Nonetheless, different RF-S lenses, just like the RF-S 11-22mm f/4.5-5.6, are rumored to be within the pipeline for launch early this 12 months, and the EOS R50 is suitable with Canon’s pricier full-frame RF lenses. The one disadvantage is that these are a bit like taking skilled golf golf equipment to a recreation of loopy golf.

Shopping for a Canon EOS R50 does convey different benefits that assist to compensate for its present lack of glass. Not like a variety of funds mirrorless cameras, it has an digital viewfinder (EVF), which is invaluable when capturing in shiny situations. You additionally get the identical 24.2MP sensor and Digic X processor because the Canon EOS R10.

Crucially, this implies the R50 additionally provides you a similar autofocus efficiency because the R10, which was a key motive why the latter rocketed to the highest of our information to one of the best digital camera for rookies. We forgave the R10 for an absence of lenses as a result of its sticky AF monitoring and topic detection have been so spectacular for a digital camera of its dimension and value. 

The EOS R50’s topic detection will probably be barely easier than Canon’s higher-end cameras (for instance, you may’t choose which eye to concentrate on in Eye AF mode), but when it matches the EOS R10’s efficiency, it may properly provide good worth for its comparatively excessive £789 / $680 (about AU$1,250) price ticket.

Historical past repeating

Our retrospective of the unique Canon EOS M, which launched again in 2012, known as it “a half-baked warning from mirrorless digital camera historical past”. Hopefully, Canon will launch much more RF-S lenses for the EOS R50 and its APS-C stablemates.

For hobbyist digital camera consumers, this implies Canon’s entry-level fashions are at one thing of a transitional cross-roads. Older cameras just like the Canon EOS M50 Mark II are cheaper (simply $699 / £699 / AU$999 with a package lens, within the M50’s case) and have extra native lenses.  This partly explains why Canon is reluctant to discontinue the EOS M sequence – it nonetheless sees them as its funds mirrorless choices.

However these cameras are additionally primarily based on know-how that is nearly 5 years outdated, and for that motive it is arduous to advocate them immediately until you are on a really tight funds. As our hands-on Canon EOS R50 evaluate states, “the EOS R50 is a succesful snapper, and excellent for a newbie who needs the digital camera to do the lion’s share of the work when taking footage”.

For now, that does assist to compensate for an absence of RF-S lenses – however we hope Canon does not repeat the error it made with its EOS M sequence. These authentic APS-C mirrorless digital camera sequence function a reminder that nice cameras nonetheless want a terrific lens system – notably when, within the case of the RF-mount, it seemingly stays closed to third-party producers.