Nikon D50 Review

Overall Rating

Value for money
Exposure of photographs
Speed starting, focusing and taking picures
Quality of images produced
Handling and learning curve

Out-megapixeled by Canon
No depth of field preview
No anti-dust feature
It's not so cheap if you want decent lenses

If you are thinking of changing to DSLR then this is the camera to get. First off, the body costs less than £400 and if you buy the 18-70 lens instead of the cheap and shaky basic 17-55 lens, then you will be rewarded with outstanding photographs that will turn your photography from a hobby to semi-professional. It really is an outstanding DSLR. Everyone who sees the photos I have produced from it is astonished with the quality of the colours, the clarity of the images, and the ease of use. My wife loves using it too. Even if you use it as a snapshot camera on the auto setting, it can still astound you with the quality of the resulting photographs.

The downsides are clear once you use it for a while. 6 megapixels will give you jaw-dropping detail at A4 size, but this quickly disappears when you crop and zoom the images in a good photo software like Photoshop. So even though you will probably not have the A3 printer to get the best out of (e.g.) 10 megapixels, you may soon start to wish you had that much detail to play with. Also, Nikon is currently having a shake-up of it's DSLR line-up. So if you wait until September, the new D80 (whilst it will cost £300 more) will probably stay in your hand longer and give you less desire to upgrade too early. The other problem is that most amateur photographers will want a lens that is wider than what the 27mm (35mm equivalent) basic lens gives you. Nikons wide zoom (12-24 or 18-36 in digital) will cost an additional £770 - and with even a basic 70-300 lens it will cost £200 - that means your basic kit will set you back some £1500. Expensive, but worth it.

The other downside is the lack of any anti-dust feature. With several camera manufacturers including this as standard on even their most basic models (Sony and Olympus for example) Nikon will put off many from trying out this really excellent camera. And the final downside is the lack of depth of field preview. As a long time 35mm SLR owner, this is one thing I really miss. I often review a picture to find the focal point is out of focus - less likely to happen if you have the chance to review the image before pressing the shutter button.

Overall, I cannot recommend this camera highly enough. Pound for pound, there is no other camera that can match it's quality - and this is Nikons entry-level DSLR. I even reckon it takes better pictures than the equivalent Canon. Although I have to say this is probably an aesthetic viewpoint, and many Canon owners will disagree!

Members' Comments onandy8758's Review

• ZachAndrews on 12th Jan 2007

  Fantastic review! I also own a Nikon D50, and I am very impressed with the quality of photo's.