home :: Features :: Camera reviews 26th June 2005 Hands-On Nikon D50 preview by Ian Burley Related Articles Photoshop Elements 3 for Windows One-on-One book review DPNow review ratings explained Canon EOS-300D launch event and first looks report Month two of our £8,000 photo competition! Introduction Menu screens Specifications compared Full specification Follow our fully illustrated introductory tour of the new D50, Nikon's new baby DSLR Check prices and options for buying a Nikon D50 Nikon UK kindly provided DPNow with a pre-production D50, with its new 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens for a hands-on session and product photo shoot. Being a pre-production unit with beta firmware, we did not use the camera for taking test pictures. That will wait until we get our hands on a production sample. The primary purpose of this article is to give you the hands-on feel for the camera that we were able to experience. Apart from this short introduction page, we have provided a gallery of 29 views of the camera and lens, plus a collection of the Nikon D50's system menu screens. You can also compare specifications with the D50's main competitors or examine the detailed manufacturer specifications for the D50. Nikon is building on the tremendous success that the D70 model has enjoyed since the beginning of 2004. They are now being built at a rate of a million-plus per year, which is remarkable considering the fact that the D70 is not a bargain-basement priced camera. The D50, however, is. Naturally it has lost some of the D70's more advanced features, but it also has a few advantages of its own. It has a newer autofocus system, it's lighter and smaller and it has a face lifted menu system, though the latter has also been introduced in the new revised D70s and you can upgrade your original D70 menus via a firmware upgrade that is now available. Viewfinder One thing I was immediately impressed with was the quality of the D50's viewfinder. Even when viewing through the relatively dim f/3.5 18-55 zoom, the view was commendably bright and clear. As with all Nikons, the viewfinder is neatly conceived and functional, though one feature that keen photographers might feel is loss of the D70's tight spot-metering zone. The Nikon D50 viewfinder is almost identical to the D70's, which is, on the whole, a good thing. The 18-55 standard kit zoom lens is lightweight and not particularly snappy at focusing but it's quiet in operation. According to the manual, the HB-33 lens hood is not a standard item. There is no waiting for the D50 to power up and when shooting in quick-succession single shot mode or in continuous shooting, I found the responsiveness to be good. Perhaps because of the smaller and lighter body, I could feel some of the inertia of the shutter and mirror action through the body, suggesting it could be better damped, but it's not too bad and the camera is actually relatively easy on the ear. DPNow Nikon D50 design and construction gallery Click on a gallery thumbnail image below to see a full-size view of the picture from the Nikon D50 preview gallery.

Summary

Nikon has played it safe with the D50. It's conventional-looking and conventional in specification. On the one hand, Nikon has managed to cut costs to make the D50 very affordable without blunting its capability as a photographer's tool. But this does mean, inevitably, that Nikon will attract attention away from the D70s.

Then there is the issue of what I'd call 'showroom appeal'. The D50 is a fine-looking camera, but there is something about the Canon EOS-350D/Rebel XT that I feel has an edge in the 'must-have' style and looks factor when you gaze across the counter in a store. But on the plus-side for the D50, I found it more comfortable to hold than the Canon, which I find a bit too small for comfort.

Also falling under the label of "showroom appeal" is the megapixel factor. The D50 and, indeed, the D70s, are stuck at six megapixels. Both Canon and Olympus can offer eight megapixel DSLRs in the same price bracket. The difference between six and eight megapixels isn't that critical, but that won't stop Nikon losing some customers who must have thet extra resolution.

Another disappointment is that there is no option to fit a battery grip, something that both the Canon EOS-350D/Rebel XT and the Olympus E-300 list as options. A battery grip not only extends the time the camera will operate between recharging and it improves the balance and handling of the camera. It also makes the camera look more 'professional' - we're back that showroom appeal business!

Although our time handling the camera gives us some feel for the D50, the real test is yet to come when we get to take some pictures that we can evaluate critically. We're certainly looking forward to that opportunity in the near future.

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