This camera is solid for an entry level DSLR. Great balance with both consumer and pro lenses. Incredible battery life, I can almost go a full day of shooting with one battery. Still good to have the backup though. Great image quality. Produces photo quality 8x12's without breaking a sweat. Good noise performance up to ISO 800. An all around great design.

Compared to the newer cameras, the LCD is small and dim. But it is still very usuable in all conditions. Less dedicated buttons than a pro DSLR, but this is to be expected. It just means you have to think ahead a bit more. A corner of the thumb grip has started peeling up from it's home. It's kind of annoying, but understandable given some of the abuse it's seen. The only reason I gave it an overall rating of 4 stars was the lack of dedicated controls and lack of a depth of field preview. But again, these are not things to expect from an entry level DSLR.

This is really a great entry level DSLR. It performs very well, and is available at great prices now. The D40 and D40x have now stepped up the game a bit, but if you're looking to use non-AFS lenses, this is the way to go. It's a solid body (much nicer to hold than the Rebel line). I have smaller hands, but someone with larger hands would have no problems with the grip. The viewfinder, LCD, and controls are all decent. Don't expect to be holding a professional DSLR. But I've still sold many photos from this camera. It just takes a little bit more work and planning to get the shots you want. This is a camera that you would never regret buying.

Customer Service

none needed

light weight,
compact,
decent image quality
works well with manual flash

no fine adjustment on white balance
metering system

Ive been shooting professionally for 7 years and i have between 35 and 40 weddings a year. For me medium format was the way to go, but all of my friends keep telling me that i have to "go digital". So last year i picked up this camera with a few doubts and after working with it a while i think i have it figured out. With a sharp lens the quality is good, i use mostly the 17-55 2.8 ED lens and i use it at the reception only. Im not to fond of the white balance or the metering system but if you use the d50 in manual mode with a manual flash you will get surprisingly good results. As far as weight is concerned its much better than slinging around a mamiya all day

small and lightweight.
reasonably tough body.
well-laid out ergonomics. all the buttons are logically laid out.
pretty accurate metering (with a tendency to underexposure by 1/2 stop).
image quality a tad better than d70/70s in terms of noise control.
battery life is phenomenal.

jpgs straight out of camera a little murky even if i get the exposure correct. post-processing is definitely needed. i believe it's nikon's policy to slightly underexpose in all their DSLRs to preserve the highlights.
lots of menu-diving to change settings. not too bad, if you are used to using prosumer cameras. really frustrating if you are a serious hobbyist.
noise above ISO400... enuf said.
small body - hence the use of long heavy lenses like the AFS 70-200/f2.8 VR might be tricky.
the various picture modes - some work, some don't. the colours of Vivid really made my pics of my son look like some Andy Warhol images.

bought this camera used from another photographer who was upgrading. the D50 was meant as a family point-and-shoot camera because i've yet to find a PnS that works for me.

overall, a great value for money camera. IMO, much better value than the new D40/40x camera. if u have to buy a carry-around DSLR, it's better to get the older D50 than the new D40/40x for a simple reason - WHAT ON EARTH IS NIKON THINKING OF WHEN THEY REMOVED THE INTERNAL FOCUSING MOTOR, IN THE NAME OF CUTTING COSTS, IN THE D40/40X? in one stroke, they stopped nikon users from using all the lovely AFD primes like 50mm/f1.8. sure, AFD lenses will still meter on a D40/40x. but, who would want to buy an auto-DSLR... and use the lenses in manual focusing mode?!

the image quality is pretty good, all things being equaled if you get the exposure spot on. as with all nikon DSLRs, images shot at ISO400 and above will display noise in the shadows. nothing that you can't get rid off with a little post-processing.

the included 18-55mm kit lens is nothing to shout about. i would suggest potential buyers to use this kit lens as a paperweight and get the 18-70mm (D70's kit lens) to go with the d50. this combo has given me many lovely images of my baby son for the last 2 years. couple the 18-70 kit lens with the new SB400 speedlight, and you'll have an excellent travel/family shooting setup.

recently sold this camera and my d200 to fund for a fujifilm s5pro. =)

Customer Service

none needed.

Similar Products Used:

d100, d2h, d70, d2x,d200

Superb Nikkor optics and image quality. Colors come out clean and the noise level is not too obvious at ISO 800 and above. Compact and the amount of shots you get from 1 battery charge is remarkable.

No commander mode for use of multiple speedlights. Status LCD does not have a backlight, no gridlines in the viewfinder (I find gridlines to be useful), the D50 tends to overexpose shots which results in tampering with the EV function a lot.

The D50 is by all means worth the bang for your buck. Even though this model is almost 2 years old, by all means, if you know what you're doing and you don't mind going through a little menu charade to get specific options turned on or off - the D50 is superb. Don't let the 6.1 megapixel count fool you. Unless you do incredible amounts of cropping or make prints of 20x30, the images the D50 can produce are crisp and colorful. I always boost the saturation levels and dip the EV level to -0.3 or so because the D50 tends to overexpose shots. I find that every DSLR I've used has some minor quirk or peeve in regards to exposure (for example, my new D80 overexposes highlights while the D70 I used underexposed). Overall, I've been able to make some pretty darn good prints with the shots I've taken with the D50. When used in conjunction with a speedlight, the D50 is charm for most scenarios. If you're new to the D-SLR world, this is a great camera for starters. I wasn't to keen on the new D40 because it does not have a status LCD like the D50 does.

Great price. Light, small, and comfortable camera to shoot with. Great color image quality. Compatible with many,many Nikon lenses. Excellent battery life. Metal lens mount. Metering is pretty darn accurate, but sticking w/ center metering will give you consistently better exposed shots. Very quiet and pleasant sounding shutter. It's a Nikon, so it should hold up well.

Tiny viewfinder, though you can upgrade it for a small price. Nonexistent weather sealing. Poor quality B&W image quality, but to be fair this is more about digital vs film (B&W) than the weakness of the camera.

I finally broke down and bought a DSLR, at least on a trial basis, and I can honestly say it has been a lot of fun! No film cost is hard to beat, and the image quality is really good. If you get the exposure right the pics don't have that plastic fantastic digital look.
The camera is well designed, except for the menu system which is unnecessarily complicated and mysterious. The jpeg shots are nice enough, but shooting RAW is definately an improvement. The downside is all the time spent processing the images. Nikon stupidly leaves out software to process the RAW files, so I had to go looking on the web for a free product. There are several out there, but I settled on RawShooter and it works nicely. My film lenses work fine on it. Been using a 35-70 2.8, an 85 1.8, and an older 70-210 4-5.6. The 70-210 is really nice on this due to the crop factor. The 35-70 2.8 now has the reach I was missing on my film camera because it becomes a 52-105. The metering seems to be accurate, although I had to bring the exposure down 1/3 stop to keep it from overexposing some of the shots. Noise is low. I keep it on the auto setting for this and it works great.
Although the image quality for color shots is excellent, I actually would prefer the look of film, but it seems crazy to spend so much money for that when this thing does it for free. One thing that has surprised me is that my wife's cheapo Olympus Camedia P&S will give comparible quality images. It is limited by it's small 4mp file size, and it can't blur the backgrounds due to it's slow zoom lens, but apparantly a digital sensor is a digital sensor.
The tiny viewfinder and the build quality are disappointments. It is definately a consumer camera, but I knew that before I bought it. They should have done a better job of weather proofing it though. You can buy a magnifying eyepiece called the DK-21 for around $30 which will bring the magnification factor up from a dismal .75x to a much better .88x. This is a real improvement for such a small price.
All in all my first foray into digital has been fun, but I am going back to film. It is impossible to consistently get a decent B&W shot from this camera. It's not the fault of Nikon, just the difference between digital capture and film at this stage of development.

Customer Service

When I called Nikon and asked if the 28-200 G ED lens would work on my 8008s in shutter priority mode, the rep went and actually got a camera and lens off the shelf and tried them out before giving me his answer (it will). That is what I call professional.

Similar Products Used:

Ninon 8008s
Nikon F4s
Nikon F100
Nikon 6006
Nikon N80

Very fast start-up, great for those spontaneous photos. The lcd screen on this unit is smaller than another unit I was considering, still very happy.

My first digital slr so I haven't found any weaknesses

I read a lot of reviews before buying the 50. I am completely amazed at how easy and fast this unit starts up. I was taking pictures within a couple of minutes. I took lots of pics on "auto", then mixed up the settings and tried to confuse the camera with mixing up the settings. Completely amazed is all I can say. Oh, buy the way, this is the first Digital SLR I have ever purchased.

Extra Long Battery Life
Changing The Lens is a snap!
User Friendly

I haven't found a single weakness!

I have been using the D50 since January '06 and I am simply amazed at the ease of use and the exceptional quality pictures. I am relatively new to photography and originally bought the camera to take pictures of my duaghter who is an aspiring model. It was getting too expensive to have professional pictures done! After I started taking her pictures and she began winning every photogenic or model search she entered, people started taking notice and I have had started taking on clients! The D50 is a must have!

Easy to use
Decent build quality
Easy to understand control dials
Great colour rendition
Minimal battery use
Good information on LCD panel and in viewfinder
Point and shoot for newbies, and enough camera to satisfy demanding photogs

Build quality on SD chip lens cover could be more substantial
No depth of field preview...but I haven't missed it one bit.

Wow. Me, using digital...the guy who swore he would never abandon film after more than twenty years shooting 35mm and larger film formats. I'm glad that I decided to bow to pressure and try digital. Forget the quality issues (film vs. digital) you cannot tell a difference! In fact, the control you have over final image quality even with shareware is astonishing, BUT this camera produces great image. It handles very well, fits my smallish hands perfectly. Someone with bigger hands may want to add a grip, but not me. The controls are well-placed, simple and easy to use. The viewfinder offers a wealth of information, as does the LCD panel. Everything is where I want it to be. The build quality is excellent for the price I paid, except the door covering the SD memory card might be considered a tad flimsy compared to the rest of the camera. Battery consumption is minimal, although if you plan to shoot a wedding, buy another battey just to be sure. I love to use this camera so much I can actually see me wearing it out in a few years. The D70 offers nothing extra that I need...even the depth of field preview...I haven't missed it at all, because I can preview the fresh image anyways! Colour balance is exceptional with both Nikkor and aftermarket lenses. Get a D50 and have fun.

Customer Service

Not needed yet...after owning 20 Nikon bodies over 25 years I have never needed customer service.

Similar Products Used:

F100, FE2, FM2, FE, FM, F3, Canon Rebel Digital, Pentax QZ-1, Canon EOS 650

-Price UK
-Sensor
-Size
-Weight
-Battery Life
-Nikon design
-Speed of use

A few controls hidden in menus, but what do you want at this price!?

I bought a D50 after agonising about having a go at digital for ages. I wasn't sure I'd like digi but I wanted to give it a try so the D50 was the right quality at the right price for me. It's a great camera, I used to have an F80 and whilst it isn't quite as fully intuitive, with some controls in menus, it is very similar. You can't go wrong with this camera at the price, with the 18-55, which is a very very good lens. I use Leica film cameras usually so my standards are quite high. If you like me aren't convinced with the point and shoots then grab one of these, you will, use it, it won't be a waste of money. I'm not going into the very subjective area of digital vs film in quality here, but be sure the D50 gives you more than enough with which to come to your own conclusions. All I'll say however, is the pictures look more film like than I thought they would, in terms of richness anyway. B&W however, stick with film, it's the formats original purpose and very unique and expressive. Overall the D50 is little dream camera, you can not, go wrong with this camera. If you're a good photographer, this camera will do you justice, if you're not, then it will make becoming a good one more fun.

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F80

Image quality.
Focusing.
Exposure metering.
Handling.
Price.
Overall value for money.
Creating a bigger market for Nikon top end (expensive) products.
Paper reference manual (ever printed off a 140 page A5 size manual? What a waste of money!)
Nikon system has a solid reputation and company is unlikely to go bust.

SD memory card (when you upgrade again you will need a compact flash card).
17-55 kit lens feels cheap and results are not brilliant.
6 Mp will leave you wanting more.
Lack of depth of field preview.
You will need to buy a good telephoto zoom lens - at least another £150 up to £1500.
Needs good RAW file software - not supplied (add another £100 plus).

It would be easy to underestimate the brilliance of Nikon in the development of the Nikon D50 SLR. The hype from photography journalists nearly matched that of the Japanese manufacturer in encouraging everyone to rush out and buy the camera. I was looking to return to SLR's after a break of some years of using compact cameras after selling my OM kit 10 years ago. The Olympus OM10 I bought in 1984 led to a 10 year love affair with the OM system, culminating in the superb OM4Ti and a very large Olympus system. When I first tried digital cameras a few years ago I had some very unsatisfactory results from Olympus and Konica Minolta. Autofocus was a particular bugbear - my photgraphs looked like I had some nervous disorder and good quality pictures were rare. I wanted to take great outdoor photos again, have the flexibilty to develop a system of great lenses, pin sharp macro shots, and an intelligent flash system. I did not want to spend a fortune on another camera that did not come up to my expectations.

In choosing the D50, the low price was a real attraction. The 6 Mp seemed a reasonable resolution to get the best from my A4 photo printer. The RAW file format option looked attractive to tinker with photos in Photoshop. The metering system was highly recommended and included (for me) the essential spot metering option. The autofocus was apparently the best out there - fast and very accurate with the option to go manual and track moving subjects. And if all went well, the Nikon system promised the same extensive options I had enjoyed with the Olympus OM system. The digital extras of white balance control, some program modes, a large LCD review (with ability to zoom on photos taken) and a simple menu system, made the camera an easy choice.

I bought it with the 18-70 zoom lens (£200) which really gives (in my opinion) far superior image quality, and is well balanced for the rest of the camera. A 1Gb SD card seemed essential (as one customer who was upgrading from a compact SD, my existing cards were too low on memory to do the camera justice - so why did Nikon not put Compact Flash memory cards in D50?). Then off to take a few hundred photos. Some two thousand photos later I am hooked.

Quality - it is a true pleasure to print off pin sharp, well exposed, colour rich photographs. Clever use of depth of field can leave you with jaw droppingly eye-catching photgraphs. For a camera that costs little more than top specified compacts this in an introduction to a new realm of quality photography. The 6Mp is limiting when cropping some photographs - detail quickly starts to disappear as you zoom in, but if you are careful with your framing, the A4 prints can look good enough to make the National Geographic magazine.

Handling - I have large hands (size 9 1/2 gloves if that helps) and it is a perfect fit. It grips readily in my right hand, and it is possible to achieve shake free photos one handed. The controls around the shutter release button are well placed (a single thumb dial and focus lock are easily accessible - but the timer button does not need to be there). Using the traditional handling position (cupping base in left) felt as good as the old OM4 did.

Auto functions - the focus is as good as they told me. Silent, very fast, very accurate - what more could you ask for? The Auto mode is ideal for that snapshot - keep it set on this when you switch off, then pull out switch on and press the shutter button - it is possible to grab a snapshot in a couple of seconds and get a good, well focused, well exposed shot. No compact achieves that. If you havea young family and want to catch those rare moments of growing up - this camera is ideal.

Learning to use the camera - if you have had any digital compact camera before, then all you need is the quick start guide. It took me about 15 minutes and 20 photos to start getting a feel that it was easy to use. I then used the reference manual to try specific tasks and it was all very intuitive and nothing was too difficult. As you advance you really need to go into the settings and expand the menu system - by default it has only a limited menu and even quite basic features like metering modes are hidden in the extended menu. After 2 months and 2000 photos I can already use it with my eyes closed.

A touch of brilliance - so why do I think this camera lives up to the hype? Why is it such a brilliant concept? What hooked me with the OM10 in the 1980's was that a really cheap camera could produce superb results without taking a University course in photography. It was a camera that appealed to ordinary folk who wanted photos like a professional without spending thousands of pounds and did not have the vision of an artist. It drew you in to buy lenses, flash and accessories and make millions of people take photographs for the pleasure of it, rather than the necessity of it. And that is what the Nikon D50 will do for you. If you start off thinking it will take great snapshots, you will quickly become enticed by the quality of your results and start expandind your camera. A zoom lens, a wide anglelens, a remote control, a system flash, a macro lens, and so it goes on. If you want the best get Nikon, but there are other great products around there - so save a few dollars by getting another make of lens or buy a second hand Nikon lens. The truly clever bit for the manufacturer is that if you make a brilliant entry level SLR you are creating a bigger market for your future top end SLR's. I have no doubt that Nikon have now got me hooked for at least 10 years, and my next purchase will be the D200 or its future equivalent. And if you buy the D50, chances are you will too.

Customer Service

Not required yet. However you must expect to need to clean the CCD at some stage - it easily gets dust on it and cleaning it may prove daunting for a new user. Buy from a good retailer (not mail order) then ask them to show you how to clean the CCD yourself with a blower. The extra money you spent buying from a shop who will help you do this will repay itself many times over for you being able to do this task yourself. And do not forget that the camera will need servicing every two years if you are to get the best from it.

Similar Products Used:

Olympus OM10, OM2n, OM2SP, OM4Ti.
Various Olympus compact and digital cameras.
Minolta Z1.