The Canon EOS M50 Mark II has sheepishly gone on sale worldwide after its original announcement back in October 2020, but the mid-range mirrorless camera barely deserves its sequel status.
The M50 Mark II is the successor to one of the best vlogging cameras of the past few years, but it originally only went on sale in the US, India and a few other territories. Well, you'll now be able to pick one up in other regions, including the UK, Europe, Africa and Australia, from the end of March.
Not that the EOS M50 Mark II makes a great case for itself – in fact, it might just rank alongside Speed 2, Grease 2 and Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason in the annals of disappointing sequels.
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- Canon EOS M50 Mark II release date, price and everything you need to know
The mirrorless camera's hardware appears to be unchanged, which means you get the same 24.1MP APS-C sensor, aging Digic 8 processor and heavily cropped 4K video as its predecessor – which launched almost exactly three years ago.
The EOS M50 Mark II's only real upgrades are software-based. Firstly, there's apparently improved autofocus, including Eye AF for stills and video, plus support for vertical video shooting.
It also brings a couple of usability improvements – for example, tap-to-autofocus now works on the screen while you're looking through the EVF. And the camera is also compatible with wireless YouTube Live streaming and Canon's EOS Webcam Utility software, which means it can double as your webcam.
You'll be able to buy the Canon EOS M50 Mark II (body only) for £589.99 / AU$1,199 from the end of March. But what does it say about the future of the EOS M series?
The end of EOS M?
This highly underwhelming sequel to one of Canon's most popular cameras has understandably led to speculation that the camera giant is slowly edging away from its EOS M series, which have different mounts to its newer RF system.
There's no doubt that the full-frame Canon EOS R series is now its main focus. Smartphones have eaten into the sales of mid-range, travel-friendly cameras like the original EOS M50, so this certainly makes sense.
But the big question for fans of the EOS M system, and those who want to see Canon's latest processors and autofocus in more affordable bodies, is whether Canon might still be able to keep the EOS M system going in parallel to its flagship EOS R series – or possibly even reinvent as a video-first series.
The way Canon is promoting the EOS M50 Mark II – as an affordable tool for Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and TikTok creators – suggests it's certainly dabbling in that space with this very minor refresh of an existing EOS M camera.
But the EOS M50 Mark II is clearly very much a stepping stone. Some recent rumors have suggested Canon's next step for EOS M will be a more radical reinvention, with a move to a pistol grip-style design (above). While other rumors have instead pointed towards an RF camera with an APS-C sensor, possibly called the Canon EOS R7, which would almost certainly bring the curtain down on the EOS M series.
It'll be interesting to see which way Canon turns next, but the EOS M50 Mark II is more of a placeholder than a ticket to exciting new ground for the EOS M series.
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