Canon EOS 50D Digital SLR Camera – Body Only
Product Description
An outstanding 15.1 Megapixel resolution allows giant prints and cropping without compromise. This is matched by shooting at 6.3 frames per second in bursts of up to 90 shots[1]. See every wing beat of a bird in flight. Freeze a mid-air leap, or a split-second facial expression. With the EOS 50D, its possible to capture those instants that slower cameras can miss. A new high resolution 3.0 Clear View LCD screen provides ultra-detailed image review, as well as accurate focusing when using the Live View mode. Canons 9-point AF system tracks moving subjects and locks onto stationary objects with equal ease. As night falls, base ISO levels can be pushed up to 3200 or expanded to 12800 for situations where flash is best avoided.
- EOS 50D, Body
- EOS 50D, Body
I bought this camera almost as soon as it was released, at a very competitive price from amazon, so I have had plenty of time to get used to it, and test it fully before writing this review.
The first thing you notice is that this is not a small lightweight camera, but is a solid well built camera designed for serious use, yet despite it’s size and weight it is still easy to hold and is comfortable to use, for those of you that have used the EOS 40D it has the same body shell as that, and has the advantage of using the same accessories as the EOS 40D as well.
The menu’s are well laid out and easy to use making this camera easy to set up and use, the large LCD screen is bright and clear, and much higher resolution than previous EOS cameras, excellent for manual focusing in live view and checking the focus of pictures already taken.
Auto focus is lightning quick and accurate under normal conditions, and even in low light conditions it is still quick.
Cramming 15 megapixels resolution onto a small sensor causes problems with digital noise on many cameras, but not here, digital noise (graininess) is not apparent at all until you get into the highest ISO settings (ISO-100 to 3200 is available) and even then it is well controlled, there is also the option of setting a very high ISO-6400 or ISO-12800 setting but noise is apparent at such high settings and is best used in emergency only, and with it’s 15mp resolution, even severely cropped or greatly enlarged pictures are crystal clear, colours are rendered accurately, even in difficult lighting conditions, when set to auto white balance, snow comes out as white snow, not bluish as on some other cameras that I have used, picture quality really is excellent, and has to be seen to be believed.
The built in flash is adequate for most situations but if you take a lot of flash photos and need a higher output flash, then one of canon’s speedlight flashes can be used instead.
It is compatible with all canon EF and EFS lenses, and with canon’s image stabilised lenses you get pin sharp pictures even in low light or with longer telephoto lenses. * (See below, for notes on buying lenses for this camera)
PRO’s
Good all round performance.
Excellent picture quality.
High resolution with low noise.
Good low light performance.
Quick and accurate focusing and a very effective image stabilisation (with Canon’s IS lenses)
Live view function.
Well built and strong with its metal body shell.
Takes the same accessories as the EOS 40D
Compatible with the latest high capacity CF cards.
Raw or Jpeg files are recorded, Raw+Jpeg simultaneous recording is also possible.
CON’s
large and heavy.
Expensive.
No movie function.
No CF card supplied, so if you don’t already have one, you will need to buy one before you can use it (with 15mp resolution the higher the capacity of the card the better).
In conclusion….
This is an excellent camera for the serious photographer and is a worthwhile upgrade from an older camera.
If you already own an EOS 40D then the difference in performance would not warrant the expense of an upgrade, but if you want a second body with higher resolution then this would be an ideal companion to your existing EOS 40D, as most of the functions are the same and you can use all your current accessories with it.
It would also be a good back up camera for a professional photographer, who does not want to go to the expense of a second full frame pro camera.
It is more expensive than some other “prosumer” cameras, but with the features and performance that you get, it is worth every penny.
Highly recommended.
Notes and advice on choosing lenses for this camera.
There is often confusion for people buying lenses for DSLR cameras (especially if they are new to DSLR’s), as the stated focal length of a lens is not the same as the actual focal length that they will get on their camera, and most good camera shops have conversion charts to make this easier when advising their customers of the best lens to buy for their needs, but most online shops do not, hence the advice below.
Here’s why……..
When you buy a lens it has a stated focal length or range of focal lengths in the case of zoom lenses, (magnification) measured in millimeters, e.g. 100mm focal length.
The stated focal length on any lens is rated for 35mm film cameras and professional full frame DSLR cameras with a censor size of 35mm x 24mm, this is the standard rating for all SLR lenses.
The censor on this camera (and on most EOS DSLR cameras) is the “APS-C” sized censor with a measurement of 22.3mm x 14.9mm, this means that the effective focal length of the lens will be different to the stated focal length of any lens you buy when used with these cameras, this ammended focal length is known as the “35mm equivalent.”
This is not a fault, but is a feature of all DSLR cameras, with the exception of professional full frame cameras.
To find the 35mm equivalent of any lens used, you must multiply the stated focal length of the lens, by a factor of 1.6, thus a 100mm lens will have an effective focal length of 160mm (35mm equivalent) when used with these cameras.
This is great news if you want to use telephoto lenses for wildlife etc. as you will get higher magnification from your lens, for less cost than on a full frame camera, so a 70 – 300mm zoom lens will have a 35mm equivalent of a 112 – 480mm zoom lens.
But on the other end of the scale, wide angle lenses will be less wide, and you will need to buy a more expensive wider angle lens to compensate for the difference in focal length, thus a 10 – 22mm ultra-wide angle zoom will become a very useful 16 – 35.2mm wide angle zoom.
The coversion factor for Canon cameras is x1.6 of the stated focal length, other camera manufacturers may vary, so it is best to check.
So if you are new to DSLR cameras, or are upgrading from a 35mm film camera, I hope this info will help you to make the right choice when buying extra lenses for your DSLR camera.
This review can also be seen on Ciao! under the name of Markh5682
Rating: 5 / 5
A lot has been said about this camera with many people seeing it (and the 5dMk2) as a return to form for Canon, and to be fair it is a great camera. I owned the 20D for several years and owners of the 20/30/40D models will be pleased to know that the ergonimics of the body are virtually the same to previous bodys if not (in the case of the 40D) identicle. It fits very nicely into the hand, for those who have larger hands it isn`t as small and therefore awkward to use as the 400/450D nor is it as heavy as the 1D series of camera. All buttons are well placed with AF point selection, ISO, AF mode etc all within easy reach of the index finger or thumb when using the camera.
The LCD is a nice improvement over the cameras I have used, with the 920 000 pixels on the 3″ screen giving a great amount of detail for when you wan`t to check your images out (though if you had a laptop with you when shooting I would still recomend using that to check your focus and exposure). Interestingly for me the LCD is also viewable in harsh sunlight something my previous cameras weren`t…….no matter what angle I put the cameras it was virtually immpossible to see the image….not so with this LCD.
Image quality form the camera is good, with 15mp there is a lot of detail caught, but to be honest I do wonder at the wisdom of putting high amounts of pixels on an APS-C sensor……sure it looks good in the specs 15.1mp but the reality is (IMO) that you don`t really need more than 13mp on a sensor of this size. With cramming that many pixels on a sensor you are just creating a situation where the individual pixels being so close together are affecting their neighbouring pixels with electrical noise thereby increasing the amount of noise….yes the noise reduction in the camera is fantastic……but with less pixels and therefore more space between them on the sensor there will be a smaller degree of each pixel affecting the other meaning less background noise. This seems to be what Nikon has done with the D300, Canon could have equalled if not bettered the noise control of the D300 if they had kept the Mp count down.
Still i`m being slightly unfair the camera is fantastic and I would recomend it to anyone looking at upgrading or looking for a second body as back up, the images produced are great, and the noise very well controlled…..but it could have been better (hence 4 stars).
Rating: 4 / 5
I upgraded from a EOS 30D and this is a wonderful improvement. I realize that 40D owners might not have the same experience.
The auto focus works very well in very bad light (for a camera that is). And it also works a lot better than the 30D on moving subjects as well.
The display at the back is significantly better than the 30D display. Some claim that it is the first good display on any Canon SLR.
It is possible to turn off focus hunting. That is good for bird photographers with long lenses. I’ve yet to try it, but I plan to.
The auto ISO feature works very well for me. I’m very pleased with it.
The new menu system makes it very easy to configure the camera.
Live view is nice to have since I get a feel of how the picture will look. e.g. whether it will be underexposed or overexposed. In most cases, it will be easier to just take the picture and examine it on the display.
I’ve had the camera for two weeks and so far it has been fun. No letdowns.
Rating: 5 / 5
I have always owned Canon DSLR’S and the 50D is my latest. In short, this camera is superb. Its lightning fast in every way, solid build quality adds to the professional feel, and noise at high iso is great. The only thing about this camera is that it is rather unforgiving, what I mean is in order to get the cleanest images and make use of the high iso, your exposure needs to be spot on, if you under expose then noise WILL become apparent, but get it right, and the image will be superb. I find that mine, when coupled with my Tamron lenses, tends to under expose by about 1stop in low light conditions (indoors etc) but dial in +1ec and all is great! The other thing to watch is due to the higher resolution sensor, it tends to exaggerate camera shake a little more too so you need to watch your shutter speed. This camera is, I think, for the more confident shooter, like I said, it is an unforgiving camera but get it right and it is superb! It also likes to be coupled with higher grade lenses, you will not get the best out of this camera using the kit lens (still get good images but) as the higher resolution will show any lens weakness a lot more than a lower res sensor. In short, this camera, to get the best, it demands the best. It is a superb semi pro tool that is more than capable of getting the job done.
Rating: 5 / 5
Canon EOS 50D Digital SLR Camera – Body OnlyI have owned this camera for 3 weeks and it has been a real pleasure.The images are superb in all settings and having the high ISO settings allows me to almost shoot in the dark.The display on the back of the camera is really sharp and the menu features are easy to use.The auto focus is really fast and spot on all the time. The camera feels well balanced and comfortable to handle.I would recommend it to anyone.
Rating: 5 / 5