Nikon D50

Nikon D50

D50 Review, by Tracey Capen July 22, 2005

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• Latest User Reviews 2 reviews
• Reviewed by: Methuss

  Duration of ownership: 2 Months

  Strengths: Fast startup time, fast autofocus, and fast rapid shot mode.

  Weaknesses: None to speak of.

  Overall: Having shot film all thorugh college this was my first DSLR and I have to say I'm impressed. It's a huge upgrade from my old N2000. I was in a toss up between the D50 and the newer D40, but the later was hard to find. As for the other user that said his locked up using older AF lenses... try reading the manual. You have to lock the f-stop to the highest setting on the older AF lenses for them to work with this camera. Once I did that, my Nikkor 70-200 AF lens worked just fine. Even my old Quantaray 500mm works. The only thing I had to give up from my old lens collection was a 2x teleconverter which didn't work. Even my old bounce-flash works. Picture quality has been smashing. No need to edit a thing and prints on my a Kodak dye sub printer come out looking superb. Given the excellent quality of the shots I've gotten so far, I don't even see why the D40 (which has built in basic editing like red-eye removal) would be needed.

• Reviewed by: opalized

  Duration of ownership: 1 Year

  Strengths: Spectacular product, fast, reliable, easy to use, and learn. Unbeleivable battery life, button positioning, all around a wonder to use

  Weaknesses: Alittle slow to focus on rare occasions

  Overall: This camera has saved me the cost of the camera in film purchases alone, and has performed equally or better than my nikon 35mm cameras in every situation. The battery life is far beyond what i expected. The durability of this camera is equal to or better than any previous camera ive owned both in the 35mm arena, and in the digital camera arena. The best purchase ive ever made, of any product by any manufacture.

• Reviewed by: eodpriest

  Strengths: Used lenses, batteries more readily available than for the D40 that succeeded it

  Weaknesses: Becoming hard to find, but still runs about $100 more than the D40 in similar condition

  Overall: We bought this camera for the wife, who has used D-SLRs at work for years. She's not a super-photog, but she was spoiled by the SLR features.. glad there's finally some we can afford. By the time we bought this camera- factory refurbished- it had actually been succeeeded by both the D40 and D40X and was getting tough to find new (or rather, like-new). The value of the D50 vs. D40, D40 vs. D40X etc. are discused in detail elsewhere on the web- we picked the D50 over the D40X because we don't need to be able to take 11 megapixel pictures- we'd rather have a D-SLR that takes a decent 8 1/2 x 11 photo and sink that extra $250 into a good, used, telephoto lens. Minor technical preferences aside, we picked the D50 over the D40, inspite of a slightly higher price, because it has better back-compatibility with other Nikon autofocus lenses than the D40/40X (ie: will autofocus all AF lenses, not just the AF-S)and because it's batteries are a common type- so generics and used batteries are widely available. The camera took beautiful photos in questionable lighting on automatic settings, right out of the box- which means the husband can use it, too. We got ours for $519 as part of a kit with the same Nikkon AF-S 18-55 mm lens in the D40/40x kits (on a D-SLR, this is equivalent to a 29-77mm film camera lens), and it's perfect for day-to-day shots. Expect to spend $25 more for a camera bag, $20-40 on an SD memory card, $15-20 on a card reader, and $10 for a 52mm UV filter to protect the lens before you can really get down to business.

• Reviewed by: CowHampshire

  Strengths: Size, price, shots per battery charge, color reproduction

  Weaknesses: No depth of field preview, meter lock-out for non-cpu lenses

  Overall: As a long-time Nikon user (started out over 30 years ago w/ a Nikkormat Ftn), I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't use my existing non-cpu lenses w/o hand-held metering. As long as the scene/subject is relatively static, that has turned into a non-issue for me (but I'm also slowly replacing my older lenses). The incorporation of a threaded external shutter release would have been nice, too. But here again, I've adapted by purchasing an inexpensive wireless release that works just great-- the only drawback is that it won't work from behind the camera. All-in-all, I'm very happy with my D50. If I'd had a few hundred extra $$ in my pocket, I would have sprung for the D80, but for now, the D50 does eveything I need it to.

• Reviewed by: venu_surendran

  Strengths: superb image quality,very fast and accurate focussing,very good light metering,instant startup. no delay between shots,Auto ISO setting.

  Weaknesses: Tendency to produce Moire.

  Overall: This camera is really good. It feels solid in your hands. the controls are well laid out. with auto ISO, you dont have to worry about missing a shot. images at ISO 1600 are very good. SB600 makes a good flash unit. kit lens is sharp, focusses fast and is sufficient for most people. focussing under low light is really fast. the camera does not struggle in any situation so far. i really like it. the price is excellent too!

• Reviewed by: shalrath

  Strengths: quick response, price, light, easy to handle

  Weaknesses: no backlit LCD, no DOF preview, no battery grip

  Overall: Aside from the minor gripes, this is a great camera. It is quick to startup, quick to respond, and with a few extra lenses is a very versatile camera. I've been using it now for 1 year and I'm quite happy with the images I get out of it. I can see that this is an idea SLR option for families and enthusiast shooters. The wealth of manual controls make this an ideal option for those on a budget as well. I would also recomend simply buying the body and a slightly better lense if you're not just going to shoot snapshots. Low light focusing is generally very fast and accurate. The battery life is good, although I'd recommend having a spare handy to get you through the day as there's no AAs to back you up with this camera. The mounted flash is also fairly harsh, even at it's lowest setting. However, the camera is VERY easy to use, and a recommended investment.

• Reviewed by: ajbrun

  Strengths: Outstanding optical quality with the kit lens but even more with the prime Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D. Fast start up and shutter speed. No more, "whoops I missed that one". Battery life is outsanding.

  Weaknesses: for this price: nothing, absolutely nothing.

  Overall: The Sony CCD sensor that is found in the camera is superb. The kit lens does a good job but I would definitely add other lenses to cover the full range to match this amazing body. The camera is light and fits great in the hand. It is rugged, has a nice grip, and great professional look. For anyone who has not made the move to DSLR--no is the time because I paid a lot more for this camera a year ago but in retrospect, it was worth every penny. Nikon has a gem here.