From Canon M50 to Sony A7C - Masnun

I have recently upgraded to Sony A7C from my Canon EOS M50. It’s a decent upgrade. When I first bought the M50, many people asked why I chose Canon and why I went for a crop sensor camera. I am briefly going to try to highlight my reasoning behind buying the M50 initially. Then I am going to share my first impressions with the Sony A7C.

Why Canon EOS M50?

I wasn’t always into photography. My interest in taking photos grew when I got my iPhone XS in hand. It was a good phone with a good camera. I took a lot of photos with it and eventually got hooked into photography. Since then I have mostly hopped from one camera phone to another, expecting better photo qualities. It was not until recently that I realized – I really want to get more serious about photography. The smart phone cameras are getting smarter but if I want serious photo quality and that nice background separation, I should buy a digital camera.

The COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. There weren’t any good camera shops that I knew of in Khulna. If I had to buy a camera, I would have had to go to Dhaka or get it in courier. During the pandemic, it was not a good call to go to Dhaka. And because of the many packages going missing, I was a little worried about courier services.

Meanwhile, I have made a few purchases on Daraz, an e-commerce site that delivers to my area and they have a price range – within which, I can pay the cash on delivery. This seemed like a good choice for buying a camera. I wanted to buy the Sony A7 III but the price range exceeded the cash on delivery limit. The Canon EOS M50 fitted the range and it had some good reviews. So on an impulse, I went ahead and ordered the camera.

My thoughts were roughly along these lines – I need to buy a camera that can get me started. I never used a digital camera so I need to learn the basics. The M50 is a good mirrorless entry level camera. It should be good enough for learning the basics. At this point, I didn’t know if I would have liked carrying a camera around. I didn’t know what kind of photography I wanted to do. The Canon M50 was available for me. And it had cheap accessories and lenses that I could play with. I hoped it would give me a good idea of what I wanted to do moving forward.

My Experience with Canon M50

The first day, it took me a while to figure out the basics. I eventually learned about crop factor, adapters, speed boosters and other stuff. I bought some lenses. Some of them were really good. Some were bad choices. But I played with various focal lengths. I shot portraits, I tried taking photos of birds and wildlife, I tried shooting some street photos.

I fell in love. I knew I was going to enjoy taking photos with a digital camera. In the early days I have mostly avoided cameras thinking they would be bulky to carry around. At this point, I understood the value of carrying a digital camera.

I also noticed I loved taking photos of birds. They gave me a different kind of joy. I also liked taking street photos. This helped me narrow down the lens choices for my upcoming setup.

Sony A7C

I felt like I wanted to buy a full frame camera. I was eyeing the Canon R / RP. But when I thought about and checked some reviews, I eventually went for Sony. I bought the Sony A7C with Sigma 24-70mm DG DN f/2.8 Art series lens.

The Sony A7C and the Sigma lens was a pretty good upgrade from my Canon M50. The auto focus was damn fast. The lens was very sharp and it resolved details pretty nicely. I was super impressed. The battery life is pretty good too. I love the custom wheels to quickly change shutter speed and aperture. My M50 had only one wheel and it was a bit cumbersome to switch between aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation. The dynamic range is great. Photos come out pretty nice even in low light. I haven’t been able to push the ISO so high on my M50. Full frame shallow depth of field is nicer too. The bokeh is great.

What I am a little bit disappointed in is the Sony software. I didn’t yet find any option to type in using the touch screen. I have to use the old T9 input system which is not very convenient. Canon’s EOS utility allows me to copy RAW files over to my PC using WiFi. Sony doesn’t seem to have that feature. So I connect the camera using cable right now. I wish I could connect wirelessly.

Apart from these two disappointments, I really love this camera and the lens. I chose the 24-70 because of it’s versatility and my knack for street photography. The f/2.8 should help in some portraits too. Although it’s not as good as a f/1.8 lens or the f/1.4 ones. But this should be a fine all rounder for the time being. I also tried mounting my Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 using the Sigma MC-11 adapter. It’s another option if I need a fast lens.