Nikon D50By: Dave Etchells and Shawn BarnettNikon develops an "entry-level" SLR loaded with features for less than $750. (Body only) <<D50 vs Competing Models :(Previous) | (Next): Features Overview>> Page 4:User ReportReview First Posted: 05/20/2005, Updated: 08/10/2005 |
Nikon D50 User Report
By Shawn Barnett
Through 2003 and 2004, it was starting to look like mighty Nikon was in danger of falling permanently behind its traditional camera-making rivals, especially in the area of SLRs, both professional and consumer. Canon's Digital Rebel announced in 2003 had surprised the market with its low price and excellent image quality, and Nikon's only early response was a pre-announcement of the D70 to keep Canon's sub-$1,000 SLR from wooing the many Nikon faithfuls eager to switch to digital SLR photography. With Christmas coming on, the Digital Rebel was looking pretty attractive. Canon's EOS 1D Mark II, 1Ds Mark II, and EOS 20D rounded out their semi-pro and professional lines, giving them market leadership in the professional digital SLR arena.
2005 has seen Nikon answer this challenge though, starting with the impressive Nikon D2X, a powerful professional digital SLR that offers the best of both high resolution and high speed photography in one camera, something Canon users would require two cameras to achieve (both the 1Ds Mark II and 1D Mark II). Though the D2X doesn't offer the 16 megapixels of the 1Ds Mark II, its 12 megapixel images are excellent, taking scaling to very large sizes exceptionally well. In a sense, it offers an alternative to the two Canons that makes a lot of sense for news agencies and pros of all kinds.
Whether it's by design or not, I notice a pattern when comparing the Canon and Nikon SLRs. None of the cameras Nikon is currently offering are directly comparable to their Canon rivals. The Nikon D70 was aimed at the Digital Rebel and EOS 10D, but it ended up somewhat closer to the more expandable and higher resolution 20D, and ultimately fell somewhere between the two in terms of price, capability, and even in the users it attracted.
The new Nikon D50 follows suit, offering a feature set that lies somewhere between those of the Digital Rebel and the new Digital Rebel XT in size, weight, cost, and capabilities. It has a 6 megapixel imager that produces excellent images in a lightweight package that is slightly smaller than the D70. While the D70 was targeted at the enthusiast crowd, the D50 is clearly aimed at the family photographer.
Feel
Like the D70, the Nikon D50 has a well-balanced feel in the hand. Though it is smaller, the D50 still feels substantial, as if it were carved from a solid piece of strong plastic. I would still say that the Nikon D70 has a better, more refined look and feel but the D50 is nonetheless very good, feeling less like a fragile camera and more like something that could survive the rigors of family life.
As with any camera, the first thing you'll notice is how well the grip was designed. Here the D50 again falls between other cameras on the market. We went on at some length about our opinion on the Rebel XT's grip. We felt it was too small for most male users, yet the informal survey I conducted among women indicated that they found the XT's small grip very appealing. I conduced the same test among a small sample of women, using the Nikon D50, Canon EOS Digital Rebel, and the Digital Rebel XT. All found they preferred the XT, with the D50 coming in second. On the other hand (no pun intended), men included in our survey strongly preferred the D50 and Digital Rebel over the XT for its superior grip area.
My own testing, which includes at least a few hours (sometimes months) shooting each of the cameras, indicates a preference for the D70's grip overall, with its deep cut inside the grip for the pads of the fingers to sink into, something missing from all other cameras I routinely shoot with. The 20D and Digital Rebel come in after that, then the D50. My only criticism of the D50 grip is a lack of rubbery texture to enhance the grip; other than that, I think it offers an excellent compromise for the target market, which will of course include many different hand sizes.
Controls
The number of buttons and dials has been reduced on the D50 compared to the D70. In general, this simplifies the controls, and brings them more in line with what the Digital Rebel offers. For example, while the 20D and D70 offer two control wheels for exposure control, both of the Digital Rebels and the D50 offer only one. On the D70, many users never know that the front Main Command dial is even there, and I've gotten email from folks who were frustrated by their inability to set aperture in Manual mode because they never noticed the front dial. (These folks just needed to read the manual, of course, but since most don't it makes perfect sense to remove controls that might cause confusion among amateurs.) Lacking the second command dial, both of the Digital Rebels and the D50, require that you press the exposure compensation button in Manual mode to adjust the Aperture.
Buttons on the D50 are also significantly bigger for easier identification, but are also more recessed than those on the D70, probably to help avoid accidental activation. As for button statistics on the various competitors, the D50 has 13 total (including the shutter and lens release buttons), the D70 has 16, and the Rebel XT has 19 buttons. Fewer controls are not always better, however. Two of the Rebel's more important buttons are dedicated to zoom in playback mode, a function that's a little more complicated with the D50. Nevertheless, the D50's control layout is excellent, with clear markings and only a few nested functions (buttons that serve multiple purposes).
LCD
The D50's 2 inch LCD bests all four other cameras mentioned here, with the D70, 20D and both Digital Rebels being 1.8 inches. Fonts naturally appear bigger on this screen, and the effect is something reminiscent of a preschool illustration, though it does not appear it is intentional. It is a bright, clear, readable screen, and an excellent menu system. A detailed status LCD sits on the camera's top panel, offering nearly the same content as the D70.
Momma don't take my SD card away
On the right side, opening with a slide toward the back, is a small door that conceals the SD card slot. This is the first Nikon SLR to use SD memory, though most of Nikon's point & shoot models and the latest Pentax SLRs use SD as well. For the market, this choice makes sense. Though high capacity CompactFlash cards are generally cheaper, it shouldn't be long before 2 and 4 GB SD cards are available at reasonable prices; and for now, you can get about 280 full 6.1 megapixel frames on a 1GB SD, quite a few shots in anybody's book. It is also true that Compact Flash cards can be had with greater read/write speeds, but the D50's sizeable buffer and fast write times mean that users should hardly notice a difference. In single shot mode, the D50 can take a shot every half second until the buffer gets full at around 23 frames. From there, it takes a shot every 0.7 seconds. Since most folks don't shoot that many frames in rapid succession, it's not likely to be an issue.
There are only two drawbacks to SD cards that potential buyers need to remember: They're easier to lose and they're easy to launch. Nikon has taken care of the latter problem. Usually when you press down on the card to release it, most SD-based devices are spring-loaded enough that they can launch the memory card across the room. Nikon appears to have taken some extra measures to keep that from happening. Just as with their battery retention mechanism, something holds onto the SD card even after it's been pressed in and ejected. A gentile pull frees it from the camera's soft but sure grip. This is the first consumer device I've seen with this kind of sophisticated mechanism. As for losing the cards, well, that's something you'll need to buy cases for, because SD cards are as light as potato chips, and I manage to find them in some of the strangest places. The only good news here is that I've never had one fail even after going through the washer and dryer. (Don't try this at home, though. ;-)
Lens
The first lens to come in the D70 kit was a high-quality ED glass lens with a metal body. It was an expensive lens going up against a reasonable quality Canon lens that came with a simple plastic body that was not very expensive at all. Nikon's new DX lens for the D50 is also an ED glass element, only now with a plastic body. Surely, just as with the Digital Rebel, it's one of the areas Nikon chose to cut costs to meet the $900 price point. Its build is tight, its appearance and action smooth, and its focus motor is quiet. This 18-55 lens matches specs exactly with what ships with the lowest price XT kit lens, with a f/3.5-5.6 aperture, except for the claim of Extra-low Dispersion glass on the Nikon optic. In our tests, relative to the excellent 18-70mm lens shipped as part of the D70 kits, the 18-55 gives up some optical performance, in terms of a bit higher chromatic aberration and softer corners at some focal lengths, although it's by no means a bad optic. Also available at the D50's launch is the ED 55-200, f/4-5.6, a lens that also has the lightweight build of the 18-55. Together, they should give photographers an excellent range of focal lengths, at a reasonable price.
Autofocus
AF speed is about equal to competitors, though differences in lens design make it difficult to do a side-by-side comparison.
One problem that I noticed in the D70 that seems to have migrated to the D50 is that neither focuses as well as I'm used to seeing from the Canons I've worked with. Though the D50 has an AF illuminator that works without the flash popped up (a very nice feature, as the Canon's flash has to be deployed because it uses a pulsed flash for AF assist), the Canon XT consistently performed better for me in low light and in low contrast scenarios. I had the XT, 20D and D50 arrayed on my desk for comparison, and was trying a few shots to see which shutter mechanism was quieter, aiming the cameras at my white polo shirt. It had texture and pattern to it, but it was mostly white. Both Canons focused instantly. The D50 ran all the way to infinity, then all the way back, and gave up. Trying to focus on text on a white page in a shaded window from five feet away got similar results. This isn't a huge problem until you try to focus with the AF point at the center in Single point mode and your subject is wearing a white, or other uniform-color shirt. You'll do better in these situations either moving the AF point manually, or setting the camera in another mode. Most often, the camera focuses fine, but I have been frustrated a time or two, more often than with other SLRs of this class.
Image capture
The D50 is a breeze to use. Like most modern SLRs, digital or otherwise, there's a nice, safe green zone to select so you can just compose your shot and press the shutter. The camera chooses the AF point, exposure, and pops up the flash if necessary, and the results are usually excellent. This bears emphasizing for the D50's target market: Set to green mode, it truly becomes a "point & shoot" camera. (So novice users in the family should have no need to feel intimidated by it.) There are also the traditional pre-defined exposure modes, like Portrait and Landscape, and the four modes that give the user more traditional photographic control, like Program, Aperture, Shutter, and Manual modes.
New to the mix is a mode that has long been needed in this range of cameras, which Nikon calls Child mode. I can't tell you how many emails I get from parents asking for a camera that can help them capture their active children, especially given how slow some digital cameras are at setting focus. Child mode not only sets the camera to focus on the closest object--most likely the child--it sharpens images and makes colors more vibrant while keeping the skin tones under control. In general, I recommend people with active kids look to an SLR, because only an SLR can really keep up with busy toddlers, or kids playing sports. I told my18 month old to run around while I snapped pictures, and got two out of four shots in focus and of reasonable quality. If you have a child of your own, you know that's pretty darn good. Child mode is a welcome addition that will be particularly popular for the D50's most likely group of buyers.
Also new is Nikon's default color choice. Instead of the D70's bias toward more technically accurate color, Nikon took a page from the Rebel's Parameter 1 setting and chose the more saturated IIIa (sRGB) mode as the D50's default, originally intended for nature and landscapes, according to the manual. Consumers have consistently shown that they expect color from their cameras that's more vivid than real life, so this was wise. Users can enter Optimize Image/Custom mode to change this color mode setting to either Ia for more "normal" color, or to Adobe RGB, but most users should leave it at its default.
Impressive
When I first heard there would be a new Nikon SLR below the D70's price point, I expected a cheap, stripped down, hollowed out shell; a shadow of the D70's excellence. Not so. The D50 is sharp, solid, and appears to be quite capable. It's in every way a credit to the Nikon line, and it stands strong against the other fine SLRs on the market. Based on its size, price, ease of use, and strong feature set, the D50 will be an excellent "family" SLR, one that offers room to grow as the family grows and changes. It would also make a natural second body for the D70 owner with an expanding lens collection. It's missing one key component that the enthusiast is likely to want, which is the ability to remotely control other flashes from the built-in strobe, but existing D70 owners already have cameras that can do that.
Competition is good, and it's nice to see Nikon back in the game with another solid offering. Though I said that the D50 falls between the 6 megapixel Digital Rebel and 8 megapixel XT, it compares well with either. The major difference most will focus on is resolution, but in all truth, there just isn't that much difference between an 8 megapixel and a 6 megapixel sensor. (Comparing the widths of the images in pixels between the D50 and the Canon Rebel XT shows a difference of only 15%, favoring the Rebel. To my mind, that doesn't amount to enough of a reason to go with one camera over another.) Ultimately, much will come down to your preferences in color, your level of comfort with the different-sized grips on the cameras, or fine differences between their respective feature sets. Definitely check out the sample photos from all three cameras in our Comparometer(tm), or examine the random shots captured with each in our Sample Photo Galleries. If possible, arrange to hold each in your hands before making the final purchase decision, as the ergonomics are quite different. Bottom line though, the Nikon D50 is an impressive offering in the entry-level digital SLR market, a camera that takes great pictures, is comfortable to hold, easy on the pocketbook, easy to use, and that has the features to grow with you as your skills mature. If you're in the market for an affordable digital SLR, the Nikon D50 deserves your very strong consideration.
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