Canon EOS M50 vs Sony Alpha A6000: Which One is Best?

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This is the comparison between the Canon EOS M50 and the Sony Alpha A6000 mirrorless cameras. Both the cameras are almost the same price. Both has some upgraded and positive features of their own.

MODELCANON EOS M50SONY ALPHA A6000
BrandCanonSONY
SeriesEOSAlpha
Model2681C011Alpha a6000
Part2681C011ILCE-6000/B
DETAILS CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
ColorWhite, BlackBlack, White
IMAGE SENSOR CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
Image SensorCMOSExmor APS HD CMOS
Effective Pixels 24.0 – 25.9 MP24.3 MP
Image Stabilization
Resolution
VIEWFINDER & MONITOR CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
Viewfinder Type Electronic0.39″ (1.0 cm) OLED electronic viewfinder (color), 1,440,000 dots
LCD 3.0″3.0″ 921.6K
FOCUS CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
Focus TypeAuto/ManualFast Hybrid AF(phase-detection AF/contrast-detection AF)
FLASH CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
Flash TypeBuilt-in FlashBuilt-in, Pop-up
RECORDING SYSTEM CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
Recording MediaSD / SDHC /SDXC CardDual compatibility slot: Memory Stick PRO Duo/Pro-HG Duo/PRO-HG HX Duo media – SD, SDHC and SDXC memory card
MOVIE CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
Movie RecordingMovie RecordingAVCHD: PS – 1920×1080/60p @28Mbps FX – 1920×1080/60i @24Mbps FH – 1920×1080/60i @17Mbps FX – 1920×1080/24p @24Mbps FH – 1920×1080/24p @17Mbps
MP4: HD – 1440×1080/30fps @12Mbps, VGA – 640×480/30fps @3Mbps
LENS CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
Compatible LensesCanon LensesSony E-mount, (Sony A-mount, Minolta/Konica Minolta Maxxum lenses confirmed via optional LA-EA adaptor)
Lens MountCanon EF MountSony E-mount
INTERFACE CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
HDMIYesYes
POWER SOURCE CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
BatteryRechargeable Ni-MH Battery PackInfoLITHIUM NP-FW50 (7.2V)
FEATURES CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
FeaturesImproved Dual Pixel CMOS AF and Eye Detection AF ^^ 24.1 Megapixel (APS-C) CMOS Sensor with ISO 100-25600 (H 51200)High resolution 24.3MP APS-C sensor
Enhanced Fast Hybrid AF and up to 11 FPS
Smartphone remote control and sharing via NFC/Wi-Fi
ISO range of 100-25600
Theater-quality Full HD 1080/24/60P video
OLED Viewfinder
Tilt LCD, pop-up flash and MI shoe
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT CANON EOS M50 SONY ALPHA A6000
Dimensions (WxHxD)Approx. 4.75″ x 2.88″ x 1.81″
Weight2.3410.1oz
canon-eos-m50 (1)sony alpha a6000 (1)
CANON EOS M50SONY ALPHA A6000
BUY NOWBUY NOW
PROSPROS
Fast Dual Pixel CMOS AF. Built-in electronic viewfinder. Excellent vari-angle touchscreen.Fast continuous shooting and autofocus. Compact body. Multiple custom control options. Above-average image quality. Excellent low-light performance.
CONSCONS
Unexpected 4K limitations. Manual lens retracting mechanism. Simplified exterior controls. Vast array of camera settings may be overwhelming. Noise reduction can be excessive. Clunky adjustment of focus point selection.

Expert Reviews For Canon EOS M50:

By Expert Reviews
Canon’s latest entry-level mirrorless model offers plenty for those looking for a small and well-specified…

By Tom’s Guide
The Canon EOS M50 does a very good job in many ways, but it doesn’t quite knock Sony’s A6300 from the top spot, due to low battery life and lackluster image stabilization in video mode. And Sony’s system also offers more lenses at this point. But the…

By Pocket-lint
The Canon EOS M50 is a step up for the M series. It’s taken time to get here, but Canon finally has a credible mirrorless APS-C camera on its hands.But is that good enough? Given how adept the Panasonic G series have become over the years, and how much…

By Gadgets360
The EOS M50 feels like a step in the right direction for Canon, as it brings features that were long overdue to the company’s mirrorless offerings. The new model is built very well, shoots high-quality images under good light, and is quite compact. The…

By India Today
You can say that the Canon EOS M50 has better features than the high-end EOS M5. It has faster burst shooting, an improved Dual Pixel CMOS AF system, and 4K video recording. The vari-angle touchscreen display also offers more flexibility as compared to…

Expert Reviews For Sony Alpha A6000:

By TechRadar
Sony has come within a whisker of creating the perfect CSC in the shape of the A6000, with just a few niggles stopping it being very good indeed.

By Digital Photography School
If the Sony A7R is a champion heavyweight in its prime, the Sony A6000 is the scrappy younger brother with a leaner frame, faster feet and a few tricks up its sleeve that big brother hasn’t bothered to learn.Having spent almost a year with the A7R as my…

By Mashable
The Sony A6000 is another home run for consumers of all skill levels. Sony continues to set the bar high with a lightweight camera design, stunning image quality and incredible speed, all for a reasonable price.

By Pocket-lint
All told the Sony A6000 is an echo of its earlier NEX-6 model, making it a sensible balance of small and light but also powerful and capable of producing great images. We love the built-in electronic viewfinder, tilt-angle LCD screen and the step…

By Tom’s Guide
Sony’s a6000 is a midrange mirrorless camera that offers an excellent feature set, fast continuous performance and top-notch image quality. Sony’s 24-megapixel a6000 mirrorless camera is the follow-up to the NEX-6 and features a…

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Canon EOS M50

This is the mirrorless camera of the Canon. This camera has 4k video, image stabilization, nice build quality, Digic 8 processor, and many other features for photos and videos. 

Sony Alpha A6000

This is the mirrorless camera of Sony and it’s launched before four years and it’s still in the strong competition. It doesn’t have 4k video and the auto-focusing system in this camera is great.

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DESIGN & HANDLING:

Canon EOS M50

When it comes to the build quality of the Canon M50, it’s decent and it’s not bad. It feels good in the hands, there’s enough grip here for even someone who’s got fairly large hands to hold it. We do have the beloved selfie flip screen, this is the thing that everybody wants and everybody needs especially for youtubers or for those selfie shots.

Sony Alpha A6000

This camera is super tiny and light. These things are fantastic as travel cameras, there are only about 450 grams and it’s really not that much bigger than iPhone of latest models. It doesn’t really feel like it’s much more work than my iPhone, these things are really nifty and quick. You can just take it out of your pocket and shoot.

They’re also very durable cameras. One thing that I love about Sony cameras, they’re very durable, they’re made to last and Sony makes cameras that I’m never worried about these cameras falling down on me or like falling apart or the button stopping to work buttons, cameras are I’m really impressed with the build quality on this, it really feels solid and it really feels like it’s gonna last for a long time.

The thing that I really like about Sony cameras is just the button layout, everything is just in the right place. These cameras are already so small and I just feel like I can easily get to any of the buttons, everything is accessible through the thumb, I don’t feel like anything is awkwardly placed.

FEATURES:

Canon EOS M50

In terms of specs on this camera, we have a 24 megapixel sensor inside of it. It’s actually the same one that’s in all the other Canon cameras and it has the new Digic 8 processor. Digic 8 is the newest processor from Canon meaning this is gonna give us the best image quality of all time on this sensor. We get more auto-focus points, we have a new eye detection auto-focus system.

This camera is really designed for beginners and people who are ready to step up from mobile phone photography. If your iPhone just isn’t cutting it anymore and you want a little bit better noise performance when you’re shooting low light or if you want that depth of field that you get by using interchangeable lenses like this camera then this camera really is a great step up for you. It also ships with a kind of beginner’s mode, a style of menu system which is really interesting.

The camera uses the LPE 12 batteries and they’re okay, I only get about thirty minutes of video record time on it. If you buy this camera, I would recommend to buy some extra batteries. On the M50 you get not only a hot shoe like the g1 X but you actually get a real mic input, all the vloggers in the world and youtubers are rejoicing. The biggest issue with the mic input is the placement of it, I feel like they could have done a better job. Actually, it would interfere with the screen, so it’s the little bit noticeable issue. Also, You get the better noise performance of the digit 8 processor and you get the ability to see yourself with this flip screen.

There’s also a completely silent photo mode on this camera, so you can be snapping pictures and you don’t hear a single sound. One of the best things about this camera is the amazing Wi-Fi connection. Also really amazing is this auto transfer feature. Once you turn auto transfer on, you can just turn your phone off, so after that you can get those clicked pictures directly. This camera doesn’t have GPS built in but again in the same way that it sends images to your phone, you can actually send the location information from your phone to the camera. If you enabled it, every image that you will take will be tracking the GPS from the phone on the images that you take.

Sony Alpha A6000

Specs wise, it has a 24 megapixel, CMOS aps-c sized sensor, so that’s not full frame that is a slightly smaller sensor but this thing still does really really well in high ISO and up to 12800, it is pretty clean and very usable for video. For photos, I found this thing is good at four thousand or five thousand ISO. This has the very good auto-focus system that Sony’s known for now, it doesn’t have the new. This camera does have the spectacular phase and contrast detect auto-focus and it’s very good. So, if you take photos with this camera, it really really holds up. This camera does 11 frames per second RAW, it’s the while it tracks your subjects and it’s tracking with auto-focus that’s really impressive.

There’s built-in flash and it’s a pop-up flash. Now, the battery compartment placement isn’t the worst thing but these batteries do not last. But, these batteries are super cheap, you can buy a 2-pack for like 15-20 dollars.

This does not have an input for an external mic. So, the internal audio in this is pretty trash. I think it’s not the best, it’s usable in a pinch but I really don’t think it really compares to a shotgun mic or some modern internal mics. It doesn’t have an external audio mic, you can record externally but then you have to sync audio and like run your audio thing and this camera at the same time, it’s quite a hassle.

This does have an external HDMI outputs, if you did want to record out to an external recorder like the Atomos ninja or the Atomos Shogun, those external recorders have an input for an external mic. So, you could technically record audio and a video from this camera and then the external recorder will just sync them up for you internally but again that is a whole other piece of gear.

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IMAGE QUALITY:

Canon EOS M50

The Digic 8 new processor also brings even better image stabilization in this camera. The image gets very soft and you’ll definitely see some noise and aliasing. it’s kind of like jagged edges, just image issues but if you want to just get a really cool epic slow-motion shot. It’s decent, it’s definitely nothing Pro.

The specs on this camera for photography is really good, it’s an aps-c size sensor, it’s the 24 megapixel sensor, the dynamic range performance is really good, the ISO performance is pretty decent. I have noticed that the ISO performance is slightly better than what I’ve seen on like the SL 2 for example and that’s coming because of the new processor, the Digic 8.

Not only can you take just normal JPEGs on this camera which I would recommend if you’re just wanting to post on Instagram and Facebook, it also gives you the new compressed raw format which I highly recommend. Compressed raw gives you 30 to 40% less file size but you still get the same resolution Raw basically captures the image but allows you to change things like exposure, your highlights, your shadows in post-production which is really nice. If you’re a little bit off on your white balance changing that in post with the raw data is really great.

Sony Alpha A6000

Now, still this camera is pretty gradable and it does really well because it still shoots everything in a very high megabit rate, shoots everything for video at 15 megabits per second even if you’re shooting 60 frames per second. So, if you know how to properly color grade your stuff, you can get a very nice image out of it. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find really good Luntz for a Sony camera that look quite as good as the Slog – or cinema profiles. Also, those color profiles give you just a little bit more dynamic range.

I do think this camera really shines is photos because this camera is so small and lightweight like this is a fantastic travel photo camera. It is super small, this thing is just about the size of iPhone. I think, it comes as a very close second because it does have a 24 megapixel sensor that’s aps-c, you can get a ton of interchangeable lenses which you can’t really do with most point into travel cameras. When it comes to photos, I’m really really impressed by this camera.

When it comes to photo, the low is so impressive. Feel free to push this thing up to ten thousand ISO for photos and you will be just fine, you can clean up any little bit of grain you have in Lightroom and this thing is going to give you a virtually chroma noise free. It is a very very good low-light camera, so if you do want to just pick something up for astrophotography or just a B camera for a low-light photography, this thing is fantastic.

VIDEO QUALITY:

Canon EOS M50

This camera is actually really good for video and for video, I mean 1080p video in particular. For just an all-around of video camera for filming your family, if you’re on a trip or if you’re a vlogger, it’s just so usable and so great. The quality of the 1080p is really sharp but when you switch to 4k the camera crops in on the image by 1.7 X. 1.7 X crop on top of this already kind of corrupt camera makes this wide lens more of a tight lens.

You also get the ability to look through a viewfinder that’s a small little LED viewfinder. The viewfinder is really useful, it’s something that feels really natural. For video, if you turn that on and you are abled the image stabilization, it just makes hand-holding this camera and getting smooth shots much more doable. The audio preamps inside this camera are actually really good. So, using the microphone with this camera the audio just sounds really clear.

This camera can also record in a really high frame rate which is 120 frames per second, now it does go to a 720p mode. However, the 1080p at 60 frames per second is really good. Not only can you shoot at 60 frames per second but you can slow that footage down to 24 frames per second if you’re shooting at 24 and it gives you nice slow motion without any of those image issues.

Also, on this camera we have a built-in time-lapse feature. This camera built-in can record up to 4k time lapse with stills. When it comes to stills on this camera, this camera is really capable.

Sony Alpha A6000

Video is kind of where I’m a little disappointed. For video, it does 1080 up to 60 and that’s not too bad but it does not do 120 frames per second even in 720p, it does 60 which is pretty good for this price point but the real disappointment is that it doesn’t have any picture profiles. You just have a neutral profile that is kind of your video profile.

Video wise, it would be that kind of falls behind compared to modern cameras. But, it is still a very good value for what you’re getting. You will get spectacular auto-focus and spectacular photo and you still get really good video at 1080 because it is an older camera, there is no 4k. I think overall for video, I wouldn’t really recommend someone get this for video if this is your main video camera but if you own like an A7 S or an A6500, this is a fantastic be camp to supplement your more modern Sony cameras.

This would be great to just throw on a gimbal, it’s a under $600 camera that you just throw on a gimbal, you give it to your second shooter and it gets beautiful footage. Now, another thing to note is that this camera does not have stabilization built-in as most Sony cameras do but you can attach this to a Sony stabilized lens where the stabilization is built into the lens. Instead of paying too much money on this camera, you buy a really cheap 300 or 400 maybe even a $600 gimbal and put on it and there you have spectacular stabilization.

If you’re somebody that does a lot of handheld shooting, I wouldn’t really recommend this camera because you are gonna get very jerky and very shaky footage unless you’re really good at handheld. I also struggling with getting like smooth footage out of this camera simply because it’s such a small camera, it’s kind of hard to keep steady because it just feels really flimsy in your hands.

The camera up to 12,800 this thing is pretty decent in low light when it comes to the video. Now, video 12,800 ISO is kind of pushing it, so unless you have to go that high I really wouldn’t recommend it, I think this camera looks the best at 32 or 64 hundred ISO in low-light situations.

For video, I think it’s really nice, this is really decent video. This thing does really good video, so if you did want to just have video for fun as like a side thing on your camera, this is great but if you wanted to use this camera mainly for video, stay away from it for a few reasons because it lacks the modern color profiles and you’re just always going to be kind of playing catch-up or having to grade your footage and the internal audio is not much impressive. I would really think of this as a photo camera first with a video as the bonus on the side.

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AUTO FOCUS:

Canon EOS M50

The interesting thing in this is with the touch screen and the EVF, I can actually change my focus points by simply touching the touch screen here and moving my focus point.  One really great thing about this camera is the auto-focus system for video. You get dual pixel auto-focus that has been in a lot of other Canon cameras but it’s just as good here as it’s always been.

Sony Alpha A6000

This also has the newer auto-focus system. The auto-focus is very faster and also accurate. The auto-focus points are quite more and impressive. The auto-focusing system works well on the subjects in motion. It works pretty good and focuses the subjects in day-light but unfortunately, the same doesn’t work in the low light.

LENS:

Canon EOS M50

I switched the kit lens with the 22 millimeter lens and in my opinion, this is one of the best EFM lenses available right now. If you’re not aware, this camera uses a completely different lens mount, it’s called EFM. All the mirrorless cameras from Canon R aps-c sized sensors and they only have a few lenses in their lineup unfortunately but the 22 millimeter is one of the best.

If you do own other EF lenses at the moment, this is really your only option. You want to get this adapter from Canon, it converts the lens mount from EFM to the standard EF adapter and that allows you to use any of the primes or zooms that you have but I really recommend to pick up an extra set of EF M lenses. This one pricey but I really recommend this because these lenses are tiny, this thing is not only 22 millimeter lens it’s actually got a great aperture which is f/2. So, you can really get some nice shallow depth of field with this lens.

Sony Alpha A6000

Nowadays, the E mount lenses of the Sony is little bit less options but even though it’s less all the lenses are pretty good. Now, the Sony starts to produce FE lenses which is little bit disappointing. The E mount lenses of the Sony were little bit like the micro four thirds. You can use also the FE lenses in this camera but considering the weight or size advantage it doesn’t make any sense.

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WHICH TO BUY:

Both of these cameras are great and if you don’t mind recording your audio separately, the A6000 is a fantastic choice and it’s very reasonably priced. I was surprised at how well it held up considering it’s four years old at this point. However, for me I’d still take the Canon M50, it’s more expensive but it’s just so easy to get working. When it comes to the Sony cameras and the Canon M50, I will continue to recommend the Canon M50 because it is really fantastic.