Nikon D50 Body - An Excellent 6-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera
Written: Oct 02 '05 (Updated Jun 26 '08)
Product Rating:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Battery Life:
Photo Quality:
Shutter Lag
Pros: Excellent picture quality, ISO range, low noise and features, build quality
Cons: Price, size and weight
The Bottom Line: If you want an inexpensive digital SLR camera, the Nikon D50 is a good choice. It uses compact and widely available SD memory cards, compatible...
dkozin's Full Review: Nikon D50 Body Only Digital Camera
After using numerous compact digital cameras, I decided to try a Nikon D50 digital SLR camera. The Nikon D50 is available as a kit with a 18-55mm lens or as body only. If you have leftover lenses from Nikon SLR cameras or just want to get a lens that is better or cheaper than the one supplied in a kit, you can get a Nikon D50 body only.
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What is Nikon D50?
The Nikon D50 is a digital SLR (single-lens reflex) camera with 6-Megapixel maximum resolution (3008x2000), 2-inch LCD screen and a focus-assist light. It stores images on the widely available Secure Digital (SD) cards and is powered by a long-lasting rechargeable battery.
The D50 is compatible with numerous Nikon SLR lenses (both designed for digital SLRs and for film) with a conversion/magnification factor of 1.5. This means that a 28-mm lens designed for film becomes a 42-mm (equivalent) lens.
The camera has an ISO range of 200-1600 and the shutter speed range of 1/4,000-30 sec. The camera has a built-in pop-up flash as well as an external flash hot shoe.
Getting Started
Once the camera arrived, I removed the camera body from the box, charged the battery pack using the supplied charger, inserted the battery and a SD card that I had and attached the lens. I also attached the supplied shoulder strap.
The immediate difference with a compact digicam you notice is that the camera is rather large and heavy. It feels very solid and professional and looks the part with its black body and numerous buttons and controls. The interesting part is you see the letter E on the top deck display until you insert the memory card. Once the card is inserted, the camera (even if it is turned off) immediately shows you the number of pictures that will fit on it using the currently selected resolution and quality mode. This way, it works the same as with a film SLR camera (e.g. my Nikon N55), where you can always see the remaining number of frames.
My camera came pre-set to 1504x1000 resolution. Make sure you switch the resolution to 3008x2000 or 2256x1496, unless you are taking pictures for web. The 1504x1000 resolution will let you make very usable 6x4 prints, but I personally think that looking close, there is a visible difference between 1504x1000 and higher-resolution modes even at 6x4.
The camera is very similar to my film Nikon N55 SLR in terms of control placement. But it is heavier and has more buttons and a 2-inch LCD screen on the rear panel. The on/of switch turns the camera on instantaneously with no wait that people associate with turning the compact digital camera on. Just flip the switch and you are ready to shoot.
Controls
The camera has a typical SLR shape with a convenient handgrip, well-placed control and balanced weight. The front of the camera has a focus-assist light, a switch between auto and manual focus, the flash release/mode button and a lens release button.
The Top deck has a mode wheel that lets you select between full auto (point-and-shoot) mode, scene modes, Program, Aperture and Shutter Priority as well as full manual mode. It also has a large B&W LCD that displays the selected camera modes and parameters using numbers and pictograms.
The front part of the top deck (on the handgrip) has a on/off switch with the shutter release button in the middle, the timer button and the aperture/exposure compensation button.
The bottom has a metal tripod mount and a battery compartment lid. The right side has a small lid of the memory card compartment, the left side - a rubberized lid that covers the USB, A/V and DC power inputs/outs.
The rear houses a large 2-inch LCD screen for menus and image review, the menu control buttons, the optical viewfinder with diopter adjustment and a bunch of control buttons. There is an adjustment thumb wheel in the rear as well.
Differences with a Compact Digital Camera
If you are have used a compact digital camera (also known as point-and-shoot) before, you will notice several key differences. First of all, the camera turns on and off instantaneously, whereas with a compact camera you have to wait, sometimes several seconds.
Also, with a digital SLR, the lens focal distance (magnification) depends on the lens used. With zoom lenses, you zoom by rotating the ring around the lens and not using buttons. With any digital SLR, you do not see the image on the LCD screen until the image is actually captured, This means that you have to use the viewfinder to compose the image and confirm focus. Only after the image is taken can you see it on the LCD screen.
The LCD screen is also used to display menus. But the smaller LCD on the top deck allows you adjust shooting parameters without opening any menus. You simply hold the appropriate button (e.g. ISO) and rotate the adjustment thumb wheel to scroll through the settings (e.g. ISO 200-400-600-1200).
So many adjustments can be performed through a menu or on the fly by holding an appropriate button and rotating the wheel.
The less apparent difference is performance. Whereas vast majority of compact digital cameras have sensitivity range of ISO 50-400 and have high levels of noise at ISO 400, the D50 starts at ISO 200 (with no noise) and goes as high as ISO 1600. This means that you can have a faster shutter speed than the one you would have to use on a compact digicam resulting in less blurry pictures, especially in poor light conditions or when shooting fast moving objects.
Also, the D50 has much better dynamic range capturing detail in both shadows and highlights better than the compact digicams. And there is huge amount of adjustments from color space to sharpness and hue, from JPEG compression to shooting RAW or JPEG.
The camera also has a burst rate of 2.5 frames per second and shutter speed as fast as 1/4,000 sec.
Usage
The camera is not as easy to use as the vast majority of compact digital cameras, but I figured out how to use all of its features I needed in no time. If you have used a compact digital camera before, you will have to learn that the LCD cannot be used to confirm composition and focus and you have to look into the viewfinder. The LCD stays blank until the picture is taken.
The menu system of the camera is rather easy to use, but some (less frequently used) functions are buried within it. If you want to change the color space (admittedly a task you will not do often if at all), you have to go to the camera control menu, select Optimize Image, then Custom, then Color Mode and select among one of the three settings presented there.
The camera has a ? button that you can use to get help with the menus. Just push and hold it and you will get information on the currently selected item.
The camera has a metering system that stays on for several seconds after you half-press the shutter release button and then turns off, unless you are adjusting some settings. The half-press of the shutter release button makes the camera focus (if the automatic focus is selected) and calculate the aperture/shutter speed combination for the selected scene.
Depending on the degree of control you requested by selecting Auto, Scene or manual modes, the camera calculates several of the following parameters: ISO, white balance, shutter speed, aperture, flash output, focus, etc.
If you choose to focus manually, just flip the switch by the lens mount to M from AF and use the ring around the lens. The camera will show you a green circle when the proper focus in the selected area is obtained.
In auto mode, you just point and shoot. The camera takes care of the rest. The scene modes give you more control and the manual modes give you full control over all creative aspects. If you are using the G-type lenses with no aperture ring, the camera lets you adjust the aperture value of the lens by rotating the thumb wheel - the sam e system used on the film Nikon N55 camera.
The built-in flash pops up automatically when needed in auto and scene modes.
Performance
The camera is very fast, comparing to the compact digital cameras. The startup and shutdown and instantaneous, the focusing, depending on the lens, is also very fast (almost instantaneous, much less than a second). There is no shutter lag - once the button is depressed, the photo is taken immediately.
The camera can take picture as fast as you can press the shutter release button. The pictures can be taken less than a second apart in single-frame mode (even in RAW mode). In burst mode, the camera takes pictures at about 2.5 frames per second (with enough light, of course; slower shutter speeds will slow the camera down).
Overall, the camera is extremely fast in operation.
Picture Quality
Obviously, since the camera can be paired with different lenses, the sharpness, presence or absence of vignetting, chromatic aberrations and blurriness in corners will depend on the lens you are using.
I have used the inexpensive, yet capable lens that I am using on my film SLR: Nikon AF Zoom Nikkor 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6 G Autofocus Lens. The lens, when attached to the D50 turns into 42-120-mm equivalent lens. When attached to the D50, only the central part of the image produced by a lens designed for a full-frame imaging is used, therefore I had no vignetting problems at all.
Since the above described characteristics depend on the lens, let’s skip them and move to the qualities that depend on the camera itself.
The default settings for the D50 produce richly-saturated, contrasty and noise-free images (ISO 200). The saturation might be too high for some tastes. Most consumers like colorful, highly-saturated images and will have no problem with the default. If you do, you can go to Custom Settings, then to Color Mode and select the lower-saturation sRGB version or even Adobe RGB.
The camera also lets you adjust the saturation separately as well as sharpening and contrast. You can also shoot RAW (Nikon NEF format) and adjust parameters in your image editing software.
There are several good qualities of the D50. The images are noise-free at lower ISO and noise is very low at ISO 1600. In fact, the ISO 1600 is so good, you can print sharp 8x10 enlargements with no visible noise. And if you only print 4x6 and 5x7, the noise is no concern at all.
This is a stark contrast with most compact digital camera, where the ISO 400 is barely usable at 5x7. What it means for you? The D50 will provide sharp, blur-free and noise-free pictures in difficult lighting conditions.
Another distinguishing part of the D50 is how smooth the images look. They are sharp, yet the tonal range so well defined that there is no harsh transition between tonalities you can sometimes see in compact digital cameras. It is difficult to explain, but check out the sample photos and see for yourself at http://www.review-shop.com/Nikon_D50/Nikon_D50_Samples_1.html
The colors are pleasing and true to life. The camera also has RAW mode that lets you take the information as it was recorded by the CCD and adjust it in your computer to produce a better JPEG file than the camera would be able to produce.
Overall, the image quality turned out to be excellent and superior to what I have seen from the compact digital cameras.
Resolution and Compression Settings
You can select among three resolutions: 3004x2000, 2256x1496 and 1502x1000. Unlike most compact digital cameras that have a sensor with 3x4 aspect ration and as a result cause the sides of the image to be cut of when printing the 6x4-inch and other popular formats, the D50 has 3x2 aspect ratio, perfect for 6x4 and good for other formats.
The 3004x2000 images enlarge well up to 13x19 inches. There are three compression settings for JPEG files that the D50 produces: Basic, Normal and Fine. You can also shoot RAW or RAW + Basic JPEG. Unfortunately, you cannot shoot RAW in conjunction with Normal or Fine JPEG.
The camera also offers you file optimizations for direct print, portrait, landscape, etc.
Computer Connectivity
I have not connected the camera to my computer with a supplied USB cable, but rather removed the SD cards and used a card reader. The file sizes were about 6 MB for RAW (NEF) file, about 1.8 MB for 6MP JPEG Normal.
I had to download the updated Camera RAW plugin for my Photoshop CS2 to be able to import RAW files produced by the D50. After that, I could open and process NEF files in no time.
Battery Life
Nikon claims 400-2000 shots on one battery charge, depending on conditions and file sizes. I have not tried to determine the battery life, but took about 120 pictures with no signs of battery depletion.
Bottom Line
If you want an inexpensive digital SLR camera, the Nikon D50 is a good choice. It uses compact and widely available SD memory cards, compatible with a wide variety of Nikon lenses and has excellent features set. It produces excellent pictures and is fast in operation. I highly recommend it.
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