Looking for Canon EOS M50 Mark II lenses? You may be surprised to learn that you have almost Canon's entire lens lineup at your disposal!
You see, while it uses a specific mount, Canon EOS M50 Mark II lenses aren't limited to the best Canon EF-M lenses. Thanks to an inexpensive adapter, not only can you choose from the range of APS-C mirrorless lenses specifically designed for the camera, you can also mount all the best Canon lenses for DSLRs, whether they're EF (full frame) or EF-S (APS-C).
Yes, that means if you already own a Canon DSLR, you can use your existing glass on the M50 Mark II – no need to replace them! The Canon Mount Adaptor EF-EOS M also opens up a world of lens options that aren't available on the camera's native EF-M mount, such as fisheye lenses, tilt-shift lenses, art lenses and more.
The only current Canon lenses you can't mount for your M50 Mark II are the RF and RF-S optics, as they will not physically fit the smaller camera's mouth.
So, these are the six Canon EOS M50 Mark II lenses you should add to your kit bag…
Canon EOS M50 Mark II lenses
Carrying on from the more mass-market standard and telephoto EF-M zoom lenses, this is the obvious choice for anybody wanting an ultra-wide viewing angle. Wide-angle zooms can be notoriously big and heavy, but this one has the same kind of retractable design as the EF-M 15-45mm lens, shoehorning seriously wide viewing into physical dimensions of just 61x58mm. The long-zoom aperture of f/5.6 is slightly wider than in the standard and telephoto zooms, and this lens also goes one better in terms of build quality, with a metal rather than plastic mounting plate.
Again, you need to pay extra for the lens hood, which is sold as an ‘optional extra’ but is definitely worth having for reducing ghosting and flare, as well as giving physical protection to the front element. Unlike many ultra-wide zooms, this one has an attachment thread (55mm) for the easy fitment of filters. Image quality is very pleasing, on a par with that of the EF-M 15-45mm and 55-200mm lenses, although the image stabilizer is slightly less effective, rated at 3-stops.
Read more: The Canon EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM lens review
A small prime lens with a 35mm focal length is generally regarded as being perfect for street photography, at least on a full-frame camera. This EF-M 22mm brings the same benefits to APS-C format shooting on an EOS M camera. Its ‘pancake’ design enables it to be incredibly small, so you can be as inconspicuous as possible when shooting. Candid photography also benefits from the virtually silent stepping motor autofocus system.
Read more: Top street photography tips
Furthermore, the lens has an almost identical 35.2mm ‘effective’ focal length, taking the 1.6x crop factor of EOS M cameras into account. There’s no image stabilization but the relatively ‘fast’ f/2 aperture rating makes camera-shake less of a problem. As usual, the lens hood is sold separately, adding a little to the overall purchase price.
With an ‘effective’ focal length of 51.2mm, this lens equates to a ‘nifty fifty’ in full-frame terms, when used on an EOS M APS-C format camera. Despite weighing just 235g and having diminutive physical proportions, it combines a classic ‘standard’ viewing perspective with a fast f/1.4 aperture rating. As such, it gives you the potential to isolate subjects within a scene, thanks to a tight depth of field. This is especially true at shorter focus distances and, indeed, the lens has a very short minimum focus distance for a 50mm lens, at just 0.23m, which gives a generous 0.25x maximum magnification ratio.
Autofocus is quick and typically near-silent for a stepping motor system but, to speed things up even more in practice, there’s an autofocus range limiter switch, which you use to lock out focus distances shorter than 0.5m. Sigma offers a competing 30mm f/1.4 Contemporary lens in EF-M mount at a cheaper price, but the Canon wins out with superior control of axial chromatic aberration or ‘bokeh fringing’, at or near its widest available aperture.
Sigma currently makes three Contemporary lenses in EF-M mount, the other two being 16mm and 30mm primes. The longest of the three, this 56mm lens has an ‘effective’ focal length of 90mm, coupled with a fast f/1.4 aperture rating, making it perfect for portraiture.
It’s impressively compact and lightweight for an f/1.4 lens of this focal length, but is nevertheless smartly turned out with TSC (Thermally Stable Composite) components and a metal mounting plate.
• Read more: The in-depth Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN | C review
The stepping motor autofocus system operates in virtual silence, while enabling extreme accuracy with excellent consistency, driven by Canon’s sensor-based Dual Pixel AF. As well as being pin-sharp, the lens delivers smooth and creamy bokeh (the quality of defocused areas) which can be every bit as important in portraiture.
Canon’s EF-M macro lens has an unusually short 28mm focal length, which gives a working distance of just 13mm between the front of the lens and the subject in full macro mode. This can block out ambient lighting but, thankfully, the lens has a built-in LED Macro Lite for illuminating close-ups. The relatively short focal length also helps to enable a very compact and featherweight build of just 130g.
It also features a ‘hybrid’ image stabilizer, which can correct for x-y shift as well as the more usual angular vibration or wobble. This makes it more effective for close-up shooting although, in full macro mode, it’s no real substitute for a tripod. While most macro lenses top out at 1.0x for their maximum magnification factor at the shortest focus distance, this lens boosts magnification to 1.2x, thanks to a switchable ‘Super Macro’ mode.
There’s a lot to be said for ‘superzoom’ lenses' for travel and walkabout photography. The main advantage is that the epic zoom range, stretching all the way from wide-angle to telephoto focal lengths, enables you to react to pretty much any shooting scenario with just a twist of the zoom ring, rather than having to carry multiple lenses and swap between them.
Read more: The best superzoom lenses for Canon cameras
You could naturally stick with Canon’s own-brand EF-M 18-150mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM, which measures 61x87mm and weighs in at 300g. The Tamron 18-200mm is only a little larger, despite delivering a more generous zoom range and greater telephoto reach.
It’s about 50 per cent heavier than the Canon, but feels better built and has a metal rather than plastic mounting plate. It also comes complete with a hood, which you have to buy separately for the Canon lens. One thing to be aware of is that early examples of the lens may need to be sent away for a firmware update, ensuring full compatibility with the latest EOS M cameras. See our full Tamron 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 Di III VC review.
Read more:
Canon EOS M50 Mark II review
Canon EOS M50 review
Best Canon cameras
Best mirrorless cameras
