UPDATE: The underwhelming Canon EOS M50 Mark II has been released worldwide, over five months after its initial release in limited territories including the United States. It replaces the original EOS M50, one step above the entry-level Canon EOS M200.
The Canon EOS M50 Mark II offers disappointingly little over the original Canon EOS M50, one of the manufacturer's most popular cameras. Indeed, its only gains are firmware related; it can now capture vertical video and autofocus has been improved. In terms of hardware, though, this is the same beast, right down to the same 24.1MP sensor and cropped 4K with no Dual Pixel AF.
The Canon EOS M50 Mark II will be available from the end of March in the UK. It carries a price of $599 / £589.99 body only or $699 / £699.99 / AU$1,199 with the Canon EF-M 15-45mm kit lens.
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ORIGINAL STORY (15 Oct 2020): After some exciting rumors, the Canon EOS M50 Mark II has finally materialized – but it's a disappointingly light refresh of its predecessor, with none of the supposed specifications that were leaked.
Instead, the Canon EOS M50 Mark II is almost a carbon copy of the original Canon EOS M50, with the same 24.1MP APS-C sensor, same Digic 8 image processor, same cropped 4K video that's limited to 24p… in fact, in terms of the actual hardware, it seems like the exact same camera.
The changes come in terms of software, where the Mark II now possesses a number of new tricks over its predecessor. Canon says that it has improved autofocus, including face and eye AF when shooting both stills and video – though it still seems to lack Dual Pixel AF when recording in 4K.
It gains the ability to capture vertical video, a la cameras like the Canon PowerShot G7X Mark III, ideal for shooting Stories on Facebook and Instagram, and for TikTok. It also gains another useful social media trick, in being able to wirelessly live stream to YouTube – something that will no doubt make it more appealing to the content creation crowd.
The Mark II is also able to be used as a webcam, via Canon's EOS Webcam Utility (which can be downloaded free) and other supported video apps.
A couple of useful touchscreen inputs are also added to the mix, in the form of touch recording and self-timer activation in movie mode as well as a Touch and Drag-style rear screen focusing mechanism when shooting through the EVF.
In all it's a disappointing showing for the second iteration of the camera – and indeed, all the new features feel exactly that: iterative. It feels like these upgrades could have been patched into the original M50 via a firmware update, although at the risk of being cynical that obviously wouldn't make any money.
The Canon EOS M50 Mark II will be available in late November for $599 body only, or $699 with the Canon EF-M 15-45mm kit lens. Again, it will come in both black and white options.
Read more:
Canon EOS M50 review
Best Canon cameras
Best Canon lenses
