EOS M50 Mark II body with Sigma Lens

[MarRizMalta]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum.

I own the Canon M50 Mark II camera and just bought the EF-EOS M mount adapter with the intention to buy an EF Lens to capture some good shots of the coming international airshow in Malta.

The Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens for Canon EF caught my attention and would like somebody to confirm please that the combination of eqpt will not have any compatibility issues especially auto-focusing.

Besides that I am also thinking of buying the Sigma x1.4 converter as well or will this cause issues please.

Thanks for your help and assistance.

Martin (Malta)

[Waddizzle]

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@MarRizMalta wrote:

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum.

I own the Canon M50 Mark II camera and just bought the EF-EOS M mount adapter with the intention to buy an EF Lens to capture some good shots of the coming international airshow in Malta.

The Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens for Canon EF caught my attention and would like somebody to confirm please that the combination of eqpt will not have any compatibility issues especially auto-focusing.

Besides that I am also thinking of buying the Sigma x1.4 converter as well or will this cause issues please.

Thanks for your help and assistance.

Martin (Malta)

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You are never going to get that sort of guarantee.  Far too much depends upon your skill and experience as a photographer.  You will experience focusing issues, and lots of them.

The Canon M Series of bodies are quite small and work best with the smaller EF-M series of lenses and the smaller EF mount lenses when using an adapter.  One of the main reasons is the rather limited amount of available battery power in the camera. 

I do not think pairing the M50 Mark II with a Sigma 60-600mm is a good combination.  Can it be made to work?  Yes, but it will not work as well as pairing that lens with a larger camera body.  Adding a Sigma 1.4x teleconverter would be doubling down on a bad idea, IMHO.  

Once your available battery power drops below 50%, then your frame rate, fps, for continuous shooting will be reduced by one half.  Most Canon camera bodies do this to preserve power.  I would estimate your battery running down to 50% after 100-150 shots or so, if not much sooner.  It would really depend on your camera setting and how much you use the rear LCD.

The best use for the Canon M Series of cameras is either as a pocket camera, as a video camera for capturing selfies and video logging, or as a webcam connected to a computer.  Using the Sigma 60-600mm with the M50 Mark II would almost require the use of a tripod or monopod for a couple of reasons.

One, is to make sure you do not damage the lens mount,  Two, is to make it easier to hold and aim the camera.  

BTW, there is a learning curve associated with using super telephoto lenses.  It takes most people a few weeks or months to learn how to do it well, and some never do.

[krahe]

I've only used lenses half that length on my M50 and haven't used any third-party lenses with an adapter, but I wouldn't expect any auto-focusing issues that are unique to the M50. You will need to support the lens separately from the camera, though. I might suggest a monopod attached to the adapter. Also, as Waddizzle suggested, battery life might be an issue. While I haven't done any actual tests, my sense is that EF lenses use more battery power than EF-M lenses do. I use a rotation of 3 batteries with my M50, and have never come close to running completely through them in a single event.

[Waddizzle]

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@krahe wrote:

I've only used lenses half that length on my M50 and haven't used any third-party lenses with an adapter, but I wouldn't expect any auto-focusing issues that are unique to the M50. You will need to support the lens separately from the camera, though. I might suggest a monopod attached to the adapter. Also, as Waddizzle suggested, battery life might be an issue. While I haven't done any actual tests, my sense is that EF lenses use more battery power than EF-M lenses do. I use a rotation of 3 batteries with my M50, and have never come close to running completely through them in a single event.

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No, the tripod or monopod should be attached to the telephoto lens foot, not the mount adapter.

[krahe]

Ah, yes. I didn't notice it has one of those.

[Tronhard]

I agree with Bill's (Waddizzle) comments.   The M50 is a small, hybrid camera that was designed for the benefits if offers as a compact interchangeable mirrorless camera.   It's LPE17 battery has limited capacity, and driving a big, heavy telephoto zoom like the Sigma 60-600 is going to drain it very quickly.  Being one of Canon's early MILCs (Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras) it has a relatively primitive viewfinder with slow refresh rate and that will get in the way of tracking aircraft.  The M-series cameras are no longer under development, and are being withdrawn from the market: the future lies with the R-series bodies and lenses.

I have the M5 (which is the model more aligned to stills photography) and the 60-600 myself, and I would never put the two together - they are designed for two completely different scenarios.  Adding a teleconverter will further degrade the optical performance - a 1.4x will cost you at least one stop and the 2.0 will lose you two stops of max aperture.  Considering that a crop sensor like that of an M50 camera has a field of capture that is 1.6 x that of the indicated focal range, the 60-600 is actually proving a FoC equivalent to 96-960mm, and that is a very narrow cone.  Aircraft move fast and tracking one is going to be extremely challenging even without an extender.

If you are prepared to invest in getting a Sigma 60-600s, then I suggest you consider buying or hiring a R-series camera such as the FF R6 MkI or II or the APS-C R7, both of which have much better tracking capacity - but familiarize yourself with the camera beforehand, and set it up for the event.  I have shot using the 60-600 on both versions of the R6 and it works fine with the Canon EF-RF lens adapter. I don't personally have experience with the R7 and this lens.  These bodies use the LP-E6NH batteries with much greater energy capacity, but even so I use the battery grip - for the extra energy, portrait controls and the balance it brings to having a heavy lens attached.  It should be noted that the 60-600 is extremely heavy and shooting hand-held for extended periods will tire you - I do weights to use mine in that mode.  Alternatively, use a monopod to allow you to avoid fatigue and yet keep the ability to swing the camera to track.  Having shot airshows myself, I would suggest if you still want to go in that direction, I would recommend considering the Sigma 150-600c lens, which has great optics and is a lot lighter.  It is also much cheaper and would let you release some funds to deal with the camera body issue.

There is one suggestion that needs to be considered.  If you are not likely to do similar events that require such a lens, I would strongly suggest considering renting a Canon EOS R7 with the RF 100-500 lens.  The combination should be significantly cheaper than purchasing the 60-600+adapter.  I have this optic and it is a brilliant unit - razor sharp, and with dual Nano-USM motors it is lightning fast.  The combination of the R body and the L-series RF lens is hard to beat.

As Bill alluded to, tech does not replace technique, so I suggest that you spend time with the manual of such a camera so you can configure it, and practice with it before the day so you don't lose shots groping for the right control.  I also suggest you check out some videos on You Tube on shooting air shows.

[krahe]

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@Tronhard wrote:

Being one of Canon's early MILCs (Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras) it has a relatively primitive viewfinder with slow refresh rate and that will get in the way of tracking aircraft.

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Actually, the M50 uses an image processor and EVF that are still used in cameras being newly-introduced today. The only time there is noticeable lag in the viewfinder refresh is when you're trying to use it in a nearly-dark room. Even in a dimly lit room it keeps up with motion very well, and certainly in the light of day as will be the case at an airshow there will be no such issues.

However, having shot video of airshows (albeit with less capable equipment than we're all sporting now), I can agree that trying to follow fast-moving planes with such a long lens is going to be a challenge. But I disagree that a different body could significantly improve the situation. Capturing close-ups of fast action at a distance is just a difficult prospect all around, no matter what kind of equipment one has. I might have more to say in a week, as I hope to shoot an airshow for the first time with the M50 next week, with a lens of lesser reach - probably the EF-S 55-250mm IS STM or maybe the EF-M 55-200mm.

[Tronhard]

The Digic 8 image processor used on the M50II is used on the EOS RP (4 years ago), and ONE new but super budget R100 - the rest all have Digic X processors, and they are much faster, so I think you are reaching a bit there.   FWIW, I include a comparison between the M50II and a selection of R-series bodies.

Side by Side Comparison Canon EOS R vs. Canon EOS M50 II vs. Canon EOS RP vs. EOS R100 vs. Canon EOS...

If you want to make the most of your trip to shoot the airshow then, of course, I can only wish you luck, but considering using a 60-600 on it, and even more thinking of adding a teleconverter to is seems, at best, highly inadvisable with such a small body.   Trying to track a fast-moving aircraft with a 60-600 is a far cry from using a 55-250, both in terms of balance, weight and FoV, so I doubt if your efforts next week are a true indicator. 

I wish you good luck with it, I've given you my best advice and you can learn by your own experience - I just wanted to help you avoid disappointment.

[krahe]

I took this shot by tracking the plane coming from the right through the EVF as the two planes closed at 400MPH, then pressing the shutter button when I saw the second plane come into view. I don't think there is any appreciable EVF lag on the M50 in these conditions. (Photo was cropped from the center 75% of the original frame to get under the 5MB file size limit. EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM on Viltrox EF/EF-S->EF-M adapter, 194mm, 1/1000 sec., f/7.1)

[March411]

I've got a different perspective since I use two Sigma lenses on my M50 kiss. I own the 100-400 and the 60-600 and use the EF to EF-M adapter. The setup is nice because it keeps the overall carrying weight lower than my 90D or 5D MVI. There are times when I am out in the field walking all day and reduced weight is always a plus. That being said I would strongly recommend not carrying the setup holding the camera body. 

Both lenses look a little odd with the M50 mounted and you'll definitely want carry the setup by the lens but the results have been outstanding with both lenses on the M50. I do use a mono-pod when I can as the 600mm can get heavy.