After being in the rumor mill for a while, Canon has finally unveiled the successor to the 2-year-old EOS M50, which the Japanese brand describes as its top-selling mirrorless camera in the US. While the EOS M50 Mark II looks very similar to its predecessor—it still uses the same 24.1-megapixel APS-C sensor and DIGIC 8 processor, Canon introduced a few changes to it. Here’s what’s new with the EOS M50 Mark II:
- Updated autofocus. While it has the same Dual Pixel Autofocus system, the EOS M50 Mark II now has eye-tracking for both stills and video, which is very useful if you want your footage to be as focused as possible.
- Support for vertical video. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have made vertical videos a thing, and the EOS M50 Mark II allows you to capture native vertical videos so that you can step up your social media game.
- YouTube live streaming via the Canon App. If YouTube live streaming is your thing, the EOS M50 Mark II lets you do so while using your phone as the controller.
- More touchscreen functions. Being marketed towards bloggers, the EOS M50 Mark II’s vari-angle touchscreen lets to tap to focus (while looking through the EVF) and tap to start video recording, along with a movie self-timer feature.
The EOS M50 Mark II will sell for $599.(~Php 29.2k) for the body only, $699(~Php 34k) with the 15-45mm kit lens, and $929(~Php 45.2k) with both the 15-45mm and 55-200mm kit lenses. This does not give current EOS M50 users a reason to upgrade. Those who plan on doing so are better off in getting the EOS M6 Mark II, which has a newer 32-megapixel sensor that can shoot crop-free 4K video at 30FPS, along with HDR video at Full HD 30FPS.
Given the rather underwhelming upgrade of the EOS M50 Mark II over its predecessor, the fate of Canon’s EOS M series is in limbo. Save for the EF-M 32mm 1.4 STM last year, Canon has not given much focus to the EF-M lens portfolio. There are rumors of around 5 new EF-M lenses coming, but we still need to wait and see if Canon will push through with it given the current global situation.