Compact Canon cameras - the R50 and the M-50

February 15, 2023

Another post about equipment…

In my last post I talked about getting up to speed with the latest and greatest full-frame Canon body (the R5) and after another couple months of shooting I can report that it continues to live up to my expectations in almost every way. I’ve shot some middle school sports with it and done a fair amount of landscape photography as well, and the it doesn’t disappoint, from a technical standpoint. There are still some feature improvements and UI tweaks I’d propose to Canon that could make it a little better but that’s a post for another day.

Today I want to talk about my Canon M-50 and the just-announced R50, and what Canon is offering “serious” photographers looking for a compact system.

A couple years ago it became clear that Canon was abandoning the EOS-M lens mount (as well as EOS-EF and EF-S) for the unified RF mount. I’m not sure they ever really gave the M system a chance to thrive, given that they kept pushing EF-S, including releasing new Rebel cameras.

Last week Canon finally announced the R50 which is a direct replacement for the M-50. This is Canon’s way of saying “We understand there’s demand in this segment and we haven’t forgotten about you.” The best article I’ve seen so far about this (not even shipping yet) camera is at The Digital Picture here. He does a good job of comparing it directly to the M-50.

I like the idea of a unified mirrorless system for full-frame and reduced-frame (APS-C) sensors and the RF/RF-S system is probably the best way to go long term but I’m still uncomfortable with the way the transition is going, and I just invested more money in filters and accessories for my (now officially dead-end) M-50.

There are three reasons I’m grumpy here:

I bought in for $2,000 or so, and nobody likes it when their horse loses. (I bought the body with the kit lens, the 55-200, the 11-22, some spare batteries, a set of ND filters and step-up rings, etc.) Sure, the camera still takes great photos and I plan to keep using it for a long time and maximizing that investment. But it’s sad to know that everything about it is discontinued.
Big transitions are hard to execute! Canon product managers have a lot of competing interests to balance when deciding how to prioritize new bodies and lenses and it’ll be a while before the transition is complete.

The RF mount has been out for a couple years and we’re just now getting RF-S bodies and lenses added to the lineup, and there still isn’t a direct replacement for Canon’s dSLR 1-D flagship. I love that they’re recycling EOS-M lens designs into RF-S lenses to flesh out the low-end and compact part of line quickly, but there’s still no RF-S version of my favorite EOS-M lens: the 11-22. There probably will be someday, but not today.
Canon will never make a pro-level compact body and pro-level compact lenses. This is by far the biggest issue, and really the driver for this blog post.

I don’t think Canon will ever take the reduced frame camera line very seriously. (for bodies OR lenses) As a landscape photographer willing to pay good money for a small, light, high quality system to carry with me when I don’t want to carry the full-frame thing, will Canon ever have an offering for me?

The camera bodies have the technical basics down - they just need some refinement. Will Canon ever put a remote shutter release port on an RF-S camera body? Why not another control dial so I can change Exposure as well as Aperture without switching dial settings?

And sadly, the lenses will probably never be top-notch, because Canon seems to equate lens quality with size (physical size as well as maximum f-stop). Will they ever make an L-series RF-S lens? I’m not looking for the wide aperture but I’m willing to pay money for a nicer RF-S lens with a metal mount, solid construction, weather sealing, flourine coatings, etc.

As I said above, the M-50 still works just fine and I’ll continue to shoot with it for a long time. I’ll use the R5 when I want the highest performance and size and weight aren’t a problem and the M-50 when I’m willing to compromise. I just want a word with the Canon product management team…

Update after a long absence

December 16, 2022

It’s been 5 years since I last posted here - I’ve been busy! In addition to completely pivoting my career from being an individual contributor, to engineering management, to self-employed and volunteer startup advisor; I’ve also been through two different camera format transitions.

As things got busy with house remodels, raising kids, and doing my MBA, I stepped away from photography. I wasn’t shooting very much sports anymore and I gave up most of the studio equipment. As I transition away from “serious” photography to more casual photography I found the Canon M-series and fell in love with it. Although I never thought I was going to go back to reduced frame (APS-C) cameras, the smaller size made for a system that really fit my lifestyle at the time.

I was doing more family photography and going on trips where photography happened but wasn’t the main goal of the trip. Instead of carrying a full airport roller full of gear I was carrying a small “man purse” of camera gear and that was just fine. Way better image quality than an iPhone and more importantly, the feeling of purpose and dedication to taking a photo that I just don’t get from using the iPhone. I take photos with the iPhone because it’s often the camera I happen to have with me, but when I have a dedicated camera (even a small one) I slow down and think a little bit more about what I’m doing, and I spend more time editing the photos afterward. I enjoy the process.

I got a Canon M-50, a wide angle zoom, a telephoto zoom, and a pile of spare batteries. The entire kit, including the Think Tank Mirrorless Mover 20 bag weighs less than 3.5 pounds! I took that kit to Vietnam, Sweden, Yosemite, Montana, and lots of other places where taking a full-size camera system wouldn’t be practical, and I got some great photos out if it.

Fast forward a couple years and Canon has apparently abandoned the M-series in favor of the RF-S thing, which is maybe slightly smaller than the old digital Rebel series but still way larger than the M series. At the same time, the kids are doing more sports and my schedule allows more time for tinkering, so I’ve reentered the “big camera” world again with the Canon R-5.

I still plan to keep the M-50 and use it for travel and situations where I don’t want to carry a large camera, but the quality and usability of the R-5 is really stunning. 15 years ago digital photographers who cared about image quality were spending tons of time fretting about things like dynamic range, chromatic aberration, card size, transfer speeds, frame rates, focusing difficulties, etc. All of these things are largely solved problems now, and we can spend more time on actually doing photography.

The only downside to the RF system for me is the size/weight, especially of the lenses, but I understand there sacrifices that need to be made for the incredible image quality I’m getting from the system.

For Sale: Studio flash stuff

October 14, 2017

I'm selling my studio flash setup. I've gotten good use out of it and it's all good stuff but I just don't use it much anymore and I need the space back. I've done wedding photo booths, product shots, and corporate headshots with all of this stuff - this is a full setup that can handle a lot of different types of "studio" shots, either in your studio or taken to a client site.

Basic portrait setup:

This is everything you need to head out to a client site and take corporate portraits, other than a backdrop. Or to a wedding for a photobooth-type setup.

Alien Bees flashes - 3. Two AB 400 and one AB 800. They work great and show minimal wear. With hard travel covers, aluminum reflectors, and soft cases for each. (zippers on cases are broken)
Light stands - Two regular and one shorty for a backdrop light behind a sitting person. They aren't really heavy-weight but they get the job done.
Umbrellas - Two TRI-FOLDING Westcott 45" white/black convertible reflector/shoot-through umbrellas. These are the good ones that fold very small. They fit right in to the AB flashes.
Bag of Cables and Stuff - sync cables, some clamps, some gaffing tape, etc. The stuff you need to connect it all together and make it work.
Power cables for each flash. No batteries here! These puppies will put out full power all day long because they plug in to the wall.
Pelican 1650 case - everything listed above fits in this case. Case is pretty bulletproof - you can stand on it, sit on it, and it's waterproof. The case shows wear outside and does NOT have the wheels or extendible handle it once had. It still has three normal handles though. It's moveable by one person when full of all that stuff, but it's heavy. You should put it on a dolly if you're going to carry it far.
I probably have some 45" wide rolls of seamless paper for backdrops too. White, grey, black, etc.

Super Backdrop Setup

Take your portraits to the next level with this collection of goodies!

This group includes things to do nice backdrops:

Two more lightstands - they go to 10 feet
Telescoping Manfrotto backdrop pole - expands to about 11 feet, or whatever's long enough for the long rolls of seamless backdrop paper. This thing is made to do exactly this job.
Sandbags (5) - You want these so the drunks at your wedding don't trip on the stand and bring it down on the ring bearer kid and you get sued for a million dollars. There are enough so you can have one on each backdrop stand and one on each flash stand.
A few clamps for holding the fabric or seamless backdrop to the bar.
Cloth backdrops - One bright white and one light black (home dyed, so not perfectly black) about 9 foot by 18 foot or so.
Carrying bin for the cloth backdrops.
Botero tri-folding collapsible black/grey/white backdrop - good for headshots, shoulder-length portraits, but probably not full height stuff.

Advanced Modifiers Stuff

This is a collection of fun stuff once you have mastered the basics:

Manfrotto tilting boom light stand - You use this to hang a hairlight over your portrait subject. This thing is large and you will need sandbags for it. I can't find a model number for this on it but it's Manfrotto.
Large Alien Bees softboxes - One 30" x 60" rectangular and one 47" octabox. These are large and you'll need some ceiling height to use them well.
Speedring for softboxes - Only one!
honeycombs - set of 4 (10, 20, 30, 40 degrees) For aiming your light. They fit right in to the AB reflectors. Use one of these for your hair light and one for your hidden backdrop light.
Full size umbrellas - Westcott 45" basic umbrellas.
Small AB gold/silver reversible umbrella. The gold side really warms up the light.

Other Stuff

I've got other stuff that does't fit here - like Manfrotto Superclamps (black or silver), random grip gear, etc. There's an Easton baseball bat duffel that works for carrying the lighting stuff if you don't want the beefy Pelican case.

Pricing coming soon...

Hurricane Season: A test of Ham Radio's Relevance

September 21, 2017

Just before hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria formed in the Atlantic, I started thinking more about our earthquake preparedness kit. Ham radio is a small part of my preparedness kit since I might be able to hit the local repeaters used by ARES and RACES for... For what exactly - I'm not sure. Something useful I'm sure.

One of the mantras of ham radio is that this is all going to come in handy in a natural disaster or other crazy situation. The gear, the training, the time spend hanging out with geeky old guys with belt-packs and suspenders - all of it is going to pay off when us hams swing into action and save the day. In the meantime we have fun at events like Wildflower and Field Day to play with all our toys and keep in practice.

So the hurricanes blaze across the Caribbean wiping out infrastructure left and right and leaving communication networks and power infrastructure destroyed. Puerto Rico is going to be out of power for a month or more. Barbuda is leveled. The Virgin Islands are hit hard. Cell phone towers are out of action, and infrastructure is so poorly damaged that generators will be running out of gas before they can be refueled.

This is Ham Radio's time to shine. In the story Hams tell themselves, there will be amateurs deployed to hospitals, police stations, airports, etc. to keep things running smoothly in the absence of normal communications.

Messages will be relayed, recovery efforts will be coordinated, we'll get to use our leatherman tools and our reflective vests and we'll be the most popular people around. Our prep for working off the grid with self-contained power and no reliance on fixed infrastructure or corporate control is perfectly suited for something like this.

If Ham Radio doesn't show real value in September and October 2017 then maybe it's time to re-assess our expectations of ham radio's place in massive disasters.

In the meantime, take a look at your own disaster prep kit, buy a couple more jugs of water, and talk to your family about what you're all going to do when the Big One comes. Because it's going to be your turn at some point.

Cal Poly vs. San Jose State in the HEAT

September 04, 2017

I shot the Cal Poly/San Jose State football game on Saturday. Cal Poly did really well, starting out with the first two scores and keeping it within 6 points into the 4th quarter, but eventually falling 34-13.

But the real story was the HEAT. Saturday was right in the middle of a multi-day heatwave and the temperature at the 4:30 kickoff was about 107. There was way more of a crowd than I expected and pretty good Cal Poly turnout. They gave everyone in the stands wet towels which was a really nice gesture, and let all the fans move to the shady side of the stadium, instead of keeping the visitors and the students in the sun.

I got some good stuff, using the same pair of old Canon 1-d mk III bodies and the new-to-me-but-actually-old 300/2.8 and 70-200/2.8. Lots of missed focus shots that make me want to upgrade to a 1-Dx, or at least re-read the camera manual on auto-focus settings.

I experimented with not using the monopod for the 300/2.8 body and instead just hung it off my BlackRapid strap and it worked out very well. I was concerned that it would be too heavy to manage effectively or cause too much fatigue but it did very well. Its probably worth doing it this way in the future to avoid the cumbersome monopod.

I've got a gallery here on this blog but you can see more on my flickr account.