Best Lenses for Canon EOS R50

The Canon EOS R50 may be an affordable, approachable camera aimed at beginners, but its capable crop sensor delivers excellent image quality that can benefit greatly from pairing with high-performing lenses. With a vast array of options for Canon’s RF-mount, it can be overwhelming deciding which lenses best match your needs and budget. Below I detail six standout lenses covering a range of focal lengths, apertures, and price points ideal for the EOS R50 along with guidance on deciding what’s most important for your photography.

Top All-Around Prime: Canon RF 28mm f/2.8 IS STM

My top recommendation for an all-purpose, take-anywhere prime lens is the Canon RF 28mm f/2.8 IS STM. This compact, lightweight prime delivers a versatile wide-angle field of view equivalent to 45mm on the R50’s cropped sensor, making it adept at landscape vistas, environmental portraits, street scenes, interiors and more. Its bright f/2.8 maximum aperture affords the ability to creatively utilize shallow depth of field along with providing improved capability of shooting handheld in low light. Optical image stabilization further assists with getting sharp, blur-free images at slower shutter speeds.

Image quality is very good for such a portable prime with excellent center sharpness, crisp detail from corner to corner, and pleasing color and contrast. Autofocus is snappy and quiet thanks to STM focus motor technology. For just $199, it’s a steal delivering impressive versatility in an ultra-compact form factor. If you want just one lens to leave on your EOS R50 to handle a variety of everyday shooting scenarios, the Canon 28mm f/2.8 is a fantastic choice.

Top Zoom: Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM

In contrast to a prime, a zoom lens provides the flexibility of a range of focal lengths in one piece of glass. My top zoom lens recommendation is the venerable Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM, covering wide-angle to short telephoto. Offering an extremely useful walkaround range equivalent to 38-168mm on the cropped R50 sensor, it can tackle everything from sweeping vistas to portraits. It carries Canon’s coveted ‘L-series’ designation denoting premium optics and construction.

Built with 17 elements in 12 groups, the optical design delivers outstanding sharpness and correction of distortions and aberrations across its entire zoom range. Sensational image stabilization effectiveness up to 4-stops of compensation helps achieve blur-free images at slower shutter speeds. Its constant f/4 aperture stays evenly bright when zooming allowing for consistency in exposure. Weather sealed with a dust and moisture resistant construction, the 24-105mm f/4L IS stands up to challenging environments. Ring-type ultrasonic autofocus motor makes AF very fast, quiet and accurate. While falling on the pricier side at $999, the exceptional image quality, versatile range, and rugged build cement it as a go-to zoom covering most shooting situations.

Best Prime Portrait Lens: Canon RF 50mm f1.8 STM

ideal for capturing stunning portraits and creamy bokeh. With an angle of view similar to an 80mm lens on full frame, the 50mm focal length provides a comfortable working distance for shooting headshots and the tight crop on the R50 allows for dynamic isolation of subjects with smooth, gorgeous background blur at wider apertures. Beyond portraits, the bright f/1.8 maximum aperture also proves valuable for low light shooting.

At just $199, this compact 50mm prime is extremely wallet-friendly while still delivering impressive sharpness, lovely bokeh quality and fast, quiet autofocus thanks to STM technology. The combination of that wide aperture, flattering perspective and affordable cost make this an easy recommendation for R50 owners wanting to step up their people photography game.

Best Wide Angle Prime: Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 STM

On the other end of the focal length spectrum, the Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 STM wide angle prime brings expansive vistas within your grasp. Offering an incredibly broad 126° angle of view equivalent to 26mm in the 35mm full frame format, it lets you capture sweeping landscape panoramas in stunning detail. The bright f/2.8 maximum aperture enables shooting in available darkness, allows for selective focus on close foreground elements, and brings out gorgeous sunstars on small light sources.

At only $299, it delivers fantastic bang-for-the-buck with impressive sharpness even shooting wide open at f/2.8 and excellent control of distortions thanks to the RF mount design. The tiny form factor (just 0.8 x 2.5 inches and 4.7 oz!) makes it super portable to toss in any camera bag or even large coat pocket to have epic wide angle capabilities always on hand. For R50 owners seeking huge, immersive landscape and architectural photography at an ultra budget-friendly cost, the 16mm f/2.8 is perfectly suited for the job.

Best Telephoto Zoom: Canon RF 70-200mm F4 L IS USM

Of course photographers often also require reaching distant subjects. That’s where telephoto zoom lenses shine, and the Canon RF 70-200mm F4 L IS USM is an outstanding option for your R50 providing a useful portrait length to short telephoto range equivalent of 112-320mm when accounting for the 1.6x crop. This pro-grade L-series lens utilizes 17 elements in 13 groups with multiple UD and aspherical elements to achieve impressive sharpness and correction of aberrations. Sensational image stabilization provides up to 5 stops of shake correction letting you capture handheld shots in lower light.

The wide f/4 constant aperture affords nice subject isolation for portraits as well as faster shutter speeds to freeze action compared to cheaper lenses with narrower apertures. It may fall on the pricier side with a $1,599 price tag, but you surely get what you pay for with pro-level weather sealing, fast and quiet ring USM focus motor, plus gorgeous optical performance and versatility making it a prized tele zoom for your R50. If your budget allows, it’s hard finding much fault in this RF 70-200mm f/4L lens.

Best Macro Lens: Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 IS STM Macro

Beyond focus on portraits and telephoto reach, you shouldn’t overlook a dedicated macro lens for the Canon EOS R50 to open up an entirely unique style of photography. Macro lenses allow you to capture small subjects at life size or greater for dramatic insect, floral, products and abstracts. The Canon RF 35mm f/1.8 Macro IS STM is perfectly tailored to the R50 with a 56mm equivalent angle of view on the cropped sensor great for framing macro compositions. It provides 1:2 maximum magnification capturing subjects at 50% of life size on the camera’s digital sensor at its 17.7cm minimum focus distance.

Impressively, Canon managed to incorporate both stellar optical performance and useful close focus abilities into this lens. It maintains sharp detail across the frame even at its widest f/1.8 aperture, delivers beautiful bokeh quality, and has quick, quiet STM autofocus to keep up with moving bugs or flowers swaying in the wind. The bonus of optical image stabilization makes getting sharp handheld macros much easier. At just $299, it brings DSLR-like macro capabilities in an affordable, compact form factor to expand your R50 photography.

Deciding What Matters Most in a Lens

With recommendations spanning from wide angle to telephoto in both zooms and primes, deciding what lens to buy ultimately comes down to deciphering what capabilities matter most for the photography genres you partake in. Here are key factors to consider when choosing Canon RF mount lenses for your EOS R50 camera:

• Focal Length Range – Wider lenses like 16-35mm capture sprawling scenery while 85mm+ is ideal for portraits and compression. Choose based on your main subject matter.
• Prime or Zoom – Primes offer wider apertures for low light shooting and beautiful bokeh. Zooms provide versatility of focal range but are typically slower.
• Maximum Aperture – Wider apertures (f/1.8, f/2.8 etc) enable lower light shooting with faster shutter speeds and more background blur.
• Image Stabilization – In-lens IS provides crucial stabilization for sharp handheld shots, especially useful on unsteady telephoto focal lengths.
• Autofocus Motor – More advanced focus motors like USM and STM offer faster, quieter autofocus that keeps up with action.
• Weather Sealing – Important for outdoor, adventure shooting to withstand dust, moisture and extreme temperatures.
• Budget – Luckily with third party options scarce with the RF mount, Canon offers quality lenses spanning from $200 to $2,500+. Set realistic expectations based on what you can afford.

The Canon EOS R50 paired with one of the outstanding lenses above makes for an extremely capable imaging kit fitting needs from hobbyists to professionals. Whether you desire a versatile zoom, a wide aperture portrait prime, epic landscape wide angle or macro magnification, Canon RF lenses have you covered. As you grow in your photography pursuits, consider adding multiple lenses to your kit tailored precisely to each genre of shooting you explore.