CANON EOS M50 MARK II

4K is not its forté, but this updated model still has much to offer

- James Artaius

On paper, the Canon EOS M50 Mark II is quite a curious camera. Its 24.1MP image sensor, Digic 8 processor, 2.36 million-dot EVF and 3-inch touchscreen all seem very familiar – and there’s good reason for that: the M50 Mark II is, both internally and externally, virtually identical to the original M50. The same hardware, the same ergonomics, the same sensor… the same almost-everything.

What makes the Mark II different, then? Not a huge amount, but it might make a huge amount of difference depending on what you want to use your camera for.

Key features

The capable 24.1MP APS-C image sensor enables a sensitivity range of ISO100-25,600 and a maximum burst shooting speed of 10fps. It renders sharp and appealing stills; and thanks to Canon’s spectacular Dual Pixel CMOS AF, you can expect robust autofocus performance to get your shots sharp.

However, the market that Canon is really making a play for with the M50 Mark II is video and content creation. The camera captures 4K video at 24 or 25p, and 1080p (Full HD) video at 60, 50, 30, 25, and 24p. However, while 1080p supports Dual Pixel AF (based on superior phase-detect autofocus technology), 4K video is limited to a more primitive contrast-detect system; and in addition, shooting in 4K invokes a 1.6x crop factor. The M50 Mark II can also record social media-friendly vertical video, and can even livestream directly to YouTube – both are significant features for the burgeoning content creation market.