If you want the best lenses for the Canon EOS M50, you have a dozen or more to choose from, both from Canon itself and also from third-party makers like Laowa and Sigma. But we've picked out a batch that we think perfectly match the EOS M50 for size and weight, and look right on the camera too.
The EOS M50 has been one of the most popular of all the Canon EOS M mirrorless cameras. We like it especially because it has both a vari-angle rear screen and an electronic viewfinder. We think it hits the sweet spot for features, price and value – and it looks cute, too!
The EOS M50 and the very similar EOS M50 II are still on sale – and at highly competitive prices. And there are all those happy users out there who have already bought a Canon EOS M50 or M50 Mark II and now want some extra lenses to really take advantage of this little camera's potential. And that's exactly what this guide is for!
With this selection, we’re assuming that you already have the excellent EF-M 15-45mm f/3.5-6.3 IS STM standard zoom, which is frequently sold as the kit lens with M50 models. If you don’t, we can recommend it as a convenient everyday lens for general photography.
Matthew Richards
Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is one of Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewers, with an extensive pedigree in testing optic performance in real-world situations. His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers, and inks, and just about anything imaging-related.
This prime can capture tiny objects or insects at bigger than lifesize, with clever stabilization to avoid camera shake. Read more below…
Best lenses for the Canon M50 and M50 II in 2024
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Best wide-angle zoom for the M50 and M50 II
(Image credit: Future)
1. Canon EF-M 11-22mm f/4-5.6 IS STM
One of the first lenses you should add to your collection
Specifications
Mount: Canon EOS M
Elements/groups: Pulse (stepping motor)
Stabilizer: 3-stop
Min focus distance: 0.15m
Max magnification: 0.3x
Filter thread: 55mm
Dimensions (WxL): 61x58mm
Weight: 220g
Reasons to buy
+
Refreshingly compact and lightweight
+
Solid build quality
Reasons to avoid
-
Lens hood sold separately
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A little more pricey
This little zoom is a great companion for travel photography, interiors and sweeping landscapes. It can capture a much wider angle of view than the standard 15-45mm kit lens; pretty soon, you'll be wondering how you ever managed without a lens like it.
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 kit lens, shoehorning seriously wide viewing into physical dimensions of just 61x58mm. It gives a focal range of 18-35mm in full-frame camera terms, and it's small enough to fit in a jacket pocket.
This is one of Sigma's Contemporary prime lenses for the Canon EF-M mount – and it is a little beauty! The big attraction is the f/1.4 maximum aperture, coupled with a wide-angle view that gives an effective focal length of 25.6mm.
This is a useful lens to have in your bag for architecture, landscapes and group portraits. We loved the build quality of this lens in our test, but were also impressed by the image quality in our laboratory investigations, noting that sharpness and contrast are maintained at even the widest f/1.4 aperture.
On a full-frame camera, a small prime lens with a 35mm focal length is generally regarded as perfect for street photography. The EF-M 22mm brings the equivalent angle of view to APS-C format shooting on the M50 and M50 II.
Its ‘pancake’ design enables it to be incredibly small, so you can be as inconspicuous as possible when shooting. It also makes your camera and lens combination even more portable. Best of all, this lens has a fast f/2 maximum aperture, which helps when you want a shallow depth of field in close-ups or faster shutter speeds in low light.
The f/1.4 aperture makes this lens super fast and great for portraits
Specifications
Mount: Canon EOS M
Autofocus: Stepping motor
Stabilizer: None
Min focus distance: 0.23m
Max magnification: 0.25x
Filter thread: 43mm
Dimensions (WxL): 61x57mm
Weight: 235g
Reasons to buy
+
Classic ‘standard’ perspective
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Fast f/1.4 aperture rating
Reasons to avoid
-
Pricey for a Canon EF-M lens
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As usual, no hood supplied
With an ‘effective’ focal length of 51.2mm, this lens equates to a ‘nifty fifty’ in full-frame terms when used on an M50. Despite weighing just 235g and having diminutive physical proportions, it combines a classic ‘standard’ viewing perspective with a fast f/1.4 aperture rating. This 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. A 50mm equivalent lens is perhaps a little short for portraits, but it can still give great people shots.
You may not know the Viltrox brand, but it has released some very good fast prime lenses for APS-C mirrorless cameras, including for the Canon EF-M mount. The Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.4 is a strong pick for portraiture, as its focal length equates to 90mm when mounted on the M50 or M50 II – a nice choice for headshots.
As we found in our testing, image quality from the Viltrox is rather impressive on the whole, even when the lens is at its widest aperture. The bokeh effect the lens produces looks lovely.
The Viltrox 56mm f/1.4 is available in several editions for different lens mounts, so make sure you get the Canon EF-M version.
For many photographers, a telephoto zoom is the first 'extra' lens they get for their camera. This one is light and affordable, and matches the M50's design perfectly.
The EF-M 55-200mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM does have a plastic mounting plate, but is still perfectly sturdy and helps to keep the weight down, to just 260g in this case – and that keeps the cost down too. Measuring 61x87mm, it’s very compact for a telephoto zoom, and offers a broad focal range of 88-320mm in full-frame camera terms.
This Laowa lens deserves its place in our list for its distinctive picture-taking qualities. On the EOS M50, it gives a mighty viewing angle of about 115 degrees, far wider even than the Canon 11-22mm zoom, and roughly equivalent to a 14mm lens on a full-frame camera.
Despite this extra wide-angle coverage, the Laowa lens produces such negligible distortion that it’s essentially a distortion-free optic. However, there are no built-in electronics at all, so focusing is a purely manual affair and you’ll also need to shoot in Manual or Aperture Priority modes. In these modes, the camera can adapt to whatever aperture you set on the lens's control ring, but this can't be set from the camera, which rules out use of the Shutter Priority mode.
The enormous depth of field means that focusing isn’t very critical, and you soon adapt to the need to focus manually. This lens comes in a variety of lens mounts, so make sure you get the EF-M version.
This prime has a focal length that is equivalent to a 45mm lens in full-frame terms. It makes a great standard lens, but it's primarily a macro lens for ultra close-ups. The short 28mm focal length means 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 to get around this, the lens has a built-in LED Macro Lite. The ‘hybrid’ image stabilizer is designed specifically for correcting shakes in close-ups too.
How to choose the best lens for the M50 and M50 II
Which lenses fit the EOS M50 and M50 II?
The EOS M50 and M50 II use the Canon EF-M mount, and are compatible with all lenses designed for that mount. Canon’s own EF-M mount lenses include EF-M in the name of the lens; check that third-party lenses are compatible with EF-M before you buy.
You can also use Canon EF and EF-S lenses on the M50 and M50 II if you buy the Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS M.
RF lenses designed for Canon R-series cameras are not compatible with the M50 and M50 II.
If you later buy either a Canon DSLR or a Canon R-series mirrorless camera, your EF-M lenses will not be compatible with your new camera.
How do I know which lens to get for my EOS M50 or M50 II?
The reason there are so many types of lens in the first place is that different scenes demand different lens designs, particularly when it comes to focal length and aperture rating.
Usually, you will decide what you want to photograph, then get a lens with the focal length that suits the situation. For example, to shoot landscapes you will need a wide-angle lens, while for sports and wildlife you will need a telephoto.
The lens experts in our testing lab run a range of tests under controlled conditions, using the Imatest Master testing suite. Photos of test charts are taken across the range of apertures and zooms (where available), then analyzed for sharpness, distortion and chromatic aberrations.
We use Imatest SFR (spatial frequency response) charts and analysis software to plot lens resolution at the centre of the image frame, corners and mid-point distances, across the range of aperture settings and, with zoom lenses, at four different focal lengths.
There's more to it than just the technical side, though! Beyond the lab, our reviewers test lenses in real-world environments – and sometimes on professional shoots! We work with lenses both indoors and outdoors, in studio conditions and in natural light, with as many different subjects as is possible (or appropriate – there's no point testing a landscape lens' ability to shoot a portrait!).
We take into account everything from handling and ease of use to speed of autofocus and the overall quality of the images produced.
Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners!
His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related.
In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.
