The Canon EOS R50 is the Spiritual Successor to the APS-C EOS M

Canon has announced the Canon EOS R50, a compact and light camera that effectively replaces the EOS M50 II and marks the transition of the series to RF.

The EOS R50 is around the same size as the Canon M50 and M50 Mark II, which as mentioned it is likely to replace due to the use of the company’s now-standard RF mount lenses.

The camera has a 24.2MP APS-C sensor, inherits the advanced subject detection technology found in the Canon R6 Mark II and the new Canon R8, and uses the company’s newer DIGIC X processor. The new AI-driven subject recognition gives the R50 impressive autofocus capabilities.

EOS R50 Specifications

The R50 has an OLED viewfinder with 2.36 million dots and a .96x magnification. The LCD screen is a TFT color liquid crystal display with 1.62 million dots and is touch-control capable.

There is no full mechanical shutter in the R50; the camera instead features an electronic front curtain shutter and an electronic shutter. There is also no in-body image stabilization in the R50, and it will therefore depend on optical image-stabilized lenses to reduce shake.

Canon simultaneously announced the release of a new APS-C lens to work with it: The RF-S55-210mm F5-7.1 IS STM lens offers coverage equivalent to an 88-336mm lens on a full-frame camera. With 4.5 stops of optical image stabilization and close-focusing capabilities, this lens allows for capturing telephoto images on the R50 with a compact body.

The R50 can record in JPEG and HEIF in addition to RAW and C-RAW. The R50 has a maxim burst rate of 28 images in large JPEG mode with an electronic shutter (at 15 frames per second), and 42 shots with electronic first curtain shutter at that setting’s slower 12 frames per second shutter rate.

The R50 can connect to smartphones wirelessly or via a USB cable for transmission. WiFi is the older 802.11b/g/n, and Bluetooth 4.2 LE.

EOS R50 Video Capabilities

The R50 can capture uncropped 4K video in 30p from oversampled 6K footage and can also capture full-HD video at 60p and a high frame rate of 120 frames per second (with no audio). The R50 is capable of up to an hour of continuous recording time and does not have the 30-minute recording limit of previous cameras.

The R50 has focus breathing correction, vertical metadata for videos generated for the portrait format, audio noise reduction, aspect markers (to display different aspect ratios while filming), and more. The camera can also connect via UVC/UAC to computers as a zero-setup webcam and streaming camera.

EOS R50 Creative Modes

The R50 activates a new creative mode by turning the mode dial to the A+ setting. Like most automatic modes, A+ modes allow for camera-supported setting decisions. There are also two additional creative settings unlocked when the camera is in A+ mode.

Pricing and Availability

The Canon EOS R50 will be available in “early spring” for $680 in either black or white. The EOS R50 paired with the RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM and RF-S 55-210mm f/5-7.1 IS STM lenses will be available for $1,029.

For a full rundown of the camera’s capabilities, make sure to check out PetaPixel’s review.