Is The Canon EOS M50 Mirrorless Camera A Good Buy?

[Orangeator]

Going on a trip to Scotland in a few months for two weeks. I need a camera recommendation and lenses (everything) for no higher than $1k. Obviously the purpose of this camera purchase is to take great shots of the landscape (coastline and mountains) and architecture (castle) in Scotland. The camera must be mirrorless and light weight (small form factor). Which is why I am currently looking at the M50 from cannon. https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/details/cameras/eos-dslr-and-mirrorless-cameras/mirrorless/eos-m50-ef-m-15-45mm-is-stm-kit

 

What lenses should I buy with this camera for landscape shots or do you guys recommend another camera/lense combo? Thanks!

[Radium_Angel]

30 minutes ago, Orangeator said:

Thanks

The best camera out there is the one you will use.

In other words, if it's awkward to handle, or frustrating to use, then it won't fit for you and you will not use it.

Your best bet is to hit some kind of brick and mortar store, and test it out, see if it fits well in your hands, if the controls are intuitive for you, and if it does what you need it to do.

 

[Orangeator]

38 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

The best camera out there is the one you will use.

In other words, if it's awkward to handle, or frustrating to use, then it won't fit for you and you will not use it.

Your best bet is to hit some kind of brick and mortar store, and test it out, see if it fits well in your hands, if the controls are intuitive for you, and if it does what you need it to do.

 

I have already held this one in Best Buy and liked the feel of it. My question is for landscapes what lenses or accessories... Etc. should I get for it? Or are there any other cameras (with the M50 sized body... weight) that have a better sensor for landscapes?

[Radium_Angel]

10 minutes ago, Orangeator said:

I have already held this one in Best Buy and liked the feel of it. My question is for landscapes what lenses or accessories... Etc. should I get for it? Or are there any other cameras (with the M50 sized body... weight) that have a better sensor for landscapes?

Landscapes are fun on a small body, the crop factor kills any sort of ultrawide unless you don't mind paying....

It's a 1.6x crop factor, so look into something that will get you the equivalent of 17-35mm. That's the lens I use for my landscape work.

 

Of course, if you are serious about landscape work, pick up a Tilt/Shift lens...;-)

 

[cc143]

Its a pretty capable little camera and in Scotland you've got a lot of landscape beauty to shoot. 

 

They do an 11-22mm which should be good as an ultrawide, but I might be inclined to steer you towards for of a standard 24-70mm focal range for the sort of stuff you are likely to be shooting here.  Ideally if you can get both it would be very helpful. 

 

Definitely buy a travel tripod, there's some lightweight compact options by 3 legged thing and manfrotto. Also, learn how to edit, shoot in raw and pick the camera up from beforehand to learn how to use it and incorporate some exposure bracketing since it makes way more sense than spending loads of money on a landscape filter kit.  I'm a firm believer in leaving as little to the edit as possible, but filters etc. are expensive and they take away from enjoying the moment sometimes.

 

Another great option would be a used fuji xt20 with an 18-55mm f/2.8, which should be possible within your budget, but the Canon will probably end up costing less and honestly is just fine for what it is. 

 

Research places beforehand. The Edinburgh and Stiirling Castles are great locations, there's a hill in Edinburgh where you can see the entire city, The University of Glasgow and Necropolis are also good places to visit. Up in the highlands there's just so much, definitely go to Eilean Donnan and Glencoe. Inverness is also a good place to spend a day and you can really see all of it in a single day. 

[LyondellBasell]

Given the type of shooting you want to do, I'm going to second cc's opinion here.

5 hours ago, cc143 said:

Definitely buy a travel tripod, there's some lightweight compact options by 3 legged thing and manfrotto. Also, learn how to edit, shoot in raw and pick the camera up from beforehand to learn how to use it and incorporate some exposure bracketing since it makes way more sense than spending loads of money on a landscape filter kit. 

Buy whatever camera works best with your personal budget, but for landscapes, *definitely* get a good, stable tripod. You can make up for a small sensor or a smaller-aperture lens with exposure time. A tripod's the key to stacking exposures and capturing those golden hour memories.

[UncleJarvis]

On 2/14/2019 at 7:18 AM, Orangeator said:

Going on a trip to Scotland in a few months for two weeks. I need a camera recommendation and lenses (everything) for no higher than $1k. Obviously the purpose of this camera purchase is to take great shots of the landscape (coastline and mountains) and architecture (castle) in Scotland. The camera must be mirrorless and light weight (small form factor). Which is why I am currently looking at the M50 from cannon. https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/details/cameras/eos-dslr-and-mirrorless-cameras/mirrorless/eos-m50-ef-m-15-45mm-is-stm-kit

 

What lenses should I buy with this camera for landscape shots or do you guys recommend another camera/lense combo? Thanks!

Seems like a decent camera for vacation use. I'd recommend a backup battery because lots of reviews on this camera report short battery charge.

[YellowJersey]

My concern with the M50 is the uncertain future the M mount faces. I wouldn't be surprised to see Canon abandon it. I'd probably go with a Fuji XT20 with a kit lens instead. There are some good deals on BH right now, like this one: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1311279-REG/fujifilm_16542880_x_t20_camera_with_xc16_50mm.html

 

That leaves enough left over for accessories like SD card and a spare battery. The Fuji X-mount has more lenses than the M mount, so there are more options for future lens upgrades and the X-mount has a more certain future, meaning more options for future body upgrades.