We review the small mirrorless Canon EOS R50

news7g06/12/2023

1 6 minutes read

We Review the Tiny Canon EOS R50 Mirrorless Camera

Canon Netherlands sent me a white Canon EOS R50 mirrorless camera with the standard kit lens EF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM. The mission is clear, let’s give an honest review of this tiny camera. You can read the results of this review in this article.

The Canon EOS R50 really a small camera. At first glance, it resembles the Canon EOS M50 (read my review of the M50 mark II) much. But if you look closely, the difference becomes obvious. The body has more polished lines and it has an EOS R lens bayonet.

Despite being a small and simple-looking camera, it packs a lot of cool features, making it a capable camera. I’ve listed a bunch of the specs below.

24 MP . APS-C CMOS sensor
4,503 AF points, 100% frame coverage
AF sensitivity ranges from -4 EV to 20 EV
Object recognition and tracking for people, animals or vehicles
Eye, face, head and body AF tracking
2.39 million-dot OLED EVF with 0.95x magnification and 60/120 fps refresh rate
2.95-inch fully articulating LCD touchscreen with 1.62 million dots
Continue recording up to 12 fps mechanical and 15 fps electronic
Capture 14-bit raw and c-raw, 8-bit jpeg or 10-bit HEIF
Record up to 4K 30p, 6K oversampling and full HD up to 120fps
HDR Color PQ (YCbCr 4:2:2 10-bit)
Can output to external monitor
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity
Built in a flash
Only 375 grams with card and battery (white model weighs more than 1 gram)

The camera measures only 11.6 x 8.6 x 6.9 cm. It’s definitely built for little hands. Meaning, not everyone finds handling the camera convenient. If you’re considering buying the EOS R50, I recommend trying it out first.

A closer look at the camera body

The consequence of such a small camera is the limited number of physical buttons. On the top of the camera you will find the PSAM knob with the main power switch. There’s a dial to change settings and a red movie button. Next to the shutter-release button, you’ll find a recessed ISO button.

The rest of the buttons can be found on the back, next to the LCD screen. There’s an info button, a menu button, a playback button, and a four-way button that holds the Q/set button in the middle.

The other two buttons are located on the shoulder of the camera. Although they are small and slightly recessed, they are easy to press in when holding the camera. While all camera functions are accessible with the buttons and dials, the easiest way to operate the camera and menus is with the touchscreen.

Connections on the EOS R50 are split between the left and right sides of the camera. On the left you’ll find the USB 2.0 Type-C and micro-HDMI connectors. On the other side, you find a microphone connection. The flash base contains multifunction connectors.

The camera is powered by a small LP-E17 battery, rated for 440 shots with the LCD monitor activated and 310 shots with the viewfinder. Next to the battery is a UHS-II SD card slot.

Taking Photos With the EOS R50

There is not much to say about the EOS R50 that cannot be said about the other EOS-R models. The menu is the same, albeit simplified. The number of settings available is not much compared to its larger brothers. But it will be enough to use the camera smoothly and creatively.

Especially the AF menu is kept simple. Select one of the AF areas, activate subject recognition, and select eye detection. It’s about all there is to it. If you press the small Q button, you will get the quick menu. While the EVF is pretty good to use, you may want to keep the camera at arm’s length while taking pictures.

The camera can be used in a more professional way. Switch to the raw file format, use the desired PSAM settings, and play around with the exposure and autofocus settings. If you’re used to larger and more advanced cameras, the lack of physical dials will make it difficult to master quickly and smoothly. But maybe it’s just a matter of getting used to it.

There is no dedicated AF-ON button. While you can program the asterisk button for AF, its location on the camera body isn’t convenient for that. I found it easier to hold AF below the shutter-release button.

If you’re not using a professionally oriented camera and you want to shoot without thinking much about settings, then this camera will do just fine. You have access to Canon’s beautifully designed help screens that guide you through the various capabilities of this camera. There are many creative settings and scene settings available. Of course, they are limited to jpeg images. You need to select the appropriate setting on the PSAM dial and select the desired effect on the touchscreen.

The Canon EOS R50 obviously for jpeg photographer and social media user. The camera starts with a guide to connecting to a smartphone. In this way, you can capture images that are transferred directly to your smartphone.

The camera can also stream video in either landscape or portrait orientation, or can be used as a webcam. Hot-shoe connections allow communication with certain accessories, and the camera is small and light enough for handheld vlogging.

Dynamic range and ISO performance

The Canon EOS R50 performs well at ISO 12,800 and is acceptable at ISO 25,600 if you accept some noise. There is an expansion setting that brings it up to ISO 51,200, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.

I tested how far an underexposed raw file can be edited in post. At ISO 400, I would adjust to 4 stops, maybe 5 stops, but not more. That means you can easily expose highlights and lift shadows in post-production unless you’re shooting in jpeg. In that case, you have to rely on the built-in HDR functions.

My real world experience

I’ve used Canon EOS R50 in different situations mimicking real-world usage. Although I am used to Canon cameras, I do not enjoy using this particular camera. Don’t get me wrong, the images from this camera look great and the dynamic range is sufficient for many situations. The problem is its size. Using the camera too often results in accidentally pressing the two buttons on the shoulder or the four-way button on the back.

Many times, I happen to notice how the camera settings are changed. This sometimes becomes quite frustrating. Additionally, PSAM dialing cannot be locked. If you’re not careful, the dial will end up in a completely wrong camera setting.

Aside from this problem, the camera works very well. The autofocus works very well, the speed is acceptable, and the rolling shutter effect during panning is well controlled. I can’t help but feel that the Canon EOS R50 is for the photographer shooting in the jpeg format. After all, a lot of functionality is designed just for the jpeg photographer.

The Canon EOS R50 has some nice but somewhat limited video functions. It offers 4K 30p oversampling from 6K and 10-bit 4:2:2 HDR PQ. It can be used as a webcam and vertical video is supported. But the camera was never meant to be a video camera or a vlog camera. It’s a photo camera first and a video camera second. However, it can be used as such if you wish.

my conclusion

I love taking pictures with Canon cameras. I find the menu system to be the best. The Canon EOS R50 makes no difference and the results look great. It has a lot of features like autofocus system with object recognition and eye detection, focus breathing compensation, focus stacking, etc.

The biggest downside is its size. It’s too small for my hand, although mine isn’t that big. Personally, I don’t really like using the EOS R50. That’s not to say it’s a bad camera. In the right hand, it will be a great tool with many possibilities.

I think the Canon EOS R50 is specifically aimed at jpeg photographers. While Canon also mentioned the EOS R50 for video, I don’t think it would be the best option on the market. Video footage may look good, it simply doesn’t look like a video camera.