Canon EOS 50D

The 50D boasts 15 megapixels shooting at 6.3 frames per second for a start. Digic 4 processors allows 60 jpgs shot at this rate before the buffer fills. There is now integrated vignetting correction built in to the camera.

It also has an upgraded 3 inch, 920,000 pixel LCD perfect for using its advanced Live View function with Face Detection mode. Standard ISO shoots up to 3200 (and looks good doing it) with expanded ISO to 12,800 allowing for decent low light shooting. Auto-metering is also improved with a 35 zone system linked to the focus points. Overall this is a clear upgrade to the 40D. Note: the BG-E2N grip is compatible with the 50D.

All of our cameras ship with one fully charged battery, the battery charger and a bag. A lens does not come with the camera.

Roger’s Take: Before I had the chance to shoot with this camera, I was rather surprised to see the internet forum posts pretty equally divided between “it totally sucks” and “its absolutely great” with not much in between. After shooting with it I now understand: its all about expectations. Those who were expecting it to handle high ISO like a Nikon D3 are bitterly disappointed. They should be, their expectations are unreasonable. A high megapixel, crop frame camera is NOT EVER going to be as good at high ISO as a medium megapixel, full frame camera. So, as is always the case, unreasonable expectations lead to inevitable disappointment.

I’m actually pretty pleased with the 50D. It has some nice improvements over the 40D: the LCD is hugely better, as is the Live View implementation. The image quality is excellent and it seems to have pulled off a difficult (if rather unappreciated) feat by increasing the number of megapixels 50%, while maintaining about the same ISO performance and dynamic range as its predecessor. It also adds microfocus adjustment which allows you to tune the camera for your lenses—something people don’t appreciate until they’ve had the chance to do it and see the difference it makes. And it adds UDMA card support, which again is something you can’t appreciate until you’ve seen the difference (for example, I just downloaded 6 GB of images via a firewire card reader in about 40 seconds).

As to the ISO performance its actually a little improved over the 40D. ISO 1600 is quite usable even without noise reduction. ISO 3200 is decent and usuable for probably 8×10 prints with a little noise reduction. ISO 6400 and 12,800 are available. Do with them what you will, but personally I wouldn’t use them. But lets compare apples and apples: the 50D does nearly as well as the Nikon D90 or D300, crop frame cameras with lower pixel density. Its not as good as a 5D (which has much larger pixels) but clearly better than the Sony A900, a full frame camera with similar pixel density. Its not even in the same world as the Nikon D700 or D3, but there’s no way it could be, its pixels are half the size.

Now for real world negatives: there have been several reports that AI servo mode on the 50D results in a lot of missed shots, bitterly reminiscent of early reports of the 1DMkIII. I didn’t do that kind of shooting with the camera, but I learned my lesson after the 1DMkIII—-I tend to believe the reports and would hesitate to recommend the 50D for that type of shooting.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the 50D. Would I sell a 40D and rush to buy one? Nope, probably not, unless I needed the pixels or the improved Liveview shooting. The 40D is a very good camera and the improvements, while real, aren’t night and day.

Please note: the Canon software included with a new camera is copyrighted and we cannot send it with rental cameras. You will need Photoshop or some type of image editing software to download and view your images.

Includes:

• Canon EOS 50D camera body
• Body cap
• Strap
• Battery
• Charger
• Manual or cheat sheet
• Camera bag