Official word says Canon's
EOS 50D DSLR isn't
shipping until October 6th, but we've found a number of pre-orderers that would beg to disagree. Take enthusiast Roland Lim for example, who has acquired a production unit and ran it through a series of basic, but entirely relevant tests. He's admittedly leaving the "comprehensive technical review" to someone else, but his laundry list of impressions is quite stout. We're told that the body is "essentially the same as the 40D," with the buttons, dials and LCD in exactly the same spots. In the end, he attempts to answer the all-important "should I upgrade?" question; thanks to this one being a mere evolutionary advancement of the 40D, he didn't think it was all that compelling unless you were still rocking some seriously old kit. Hit the read link for the writeup and a plethora of sample shots to see if you agree.
posted Oct 2nd 2008 10:24AM
I think I'll wait for the 60D or jump to the 5DIII.
the 50D isn't enough to persuade me to change my perfectly fine 40D.
Not really perfectly fine if you're thinking of changing it. You're probably just suffering a bit from itchy wallet syndrome.
Not really. If I was thinking of changing it, I would have done. I was saying that as a 40D owner, its not really an attractive upgrade. If I was going to upgrade (which I'm sure I will at some point before the end of time, its more likely to be to a 60D or a 5DIII if money is no object).
Itchy wallet syndrome is as far from the truth as you can get! Empty wallet syndrome more like! lol
Just got one three days ago (Sept 29!) Loving it so far - as an upgrader from an original Rebel - this is a huge treat especially the 6.3 fps, and 15 MP.
I didn't think there were many of us original Rebel guys left. I pre-ordered a 5DII so that's two of us gone.
Still using my Rebel too.. Things keep coming up.. :( Car dies, fridge dies.... Hopefully won't be "camera dies" anytime soon!
I'm still using the original 300D here in Australia. The camera has just survived three years in the African bush! Hell of a camera, has survived more than 5 years of my punishment! Wish I could afford to upgrade to the new 50D!
the 50D is a great camera, offering 15mp., 6.3 fps, in a nice weather sealed, rugged body. it also sports a nice, new high res lcd, and the new live view system is much more refined, polished up compared to the 1st gen live view systems( 40D, xsi. etc...) personally i think this is a good camera, a good camera to upgrade for those who are currently using a 30D, xti, xt, anythin else below, especially for what it is offering. the camera like some will say is not gonna be worth upgrading if you already have a 40D. i work at aden camera in toronto, and we have it, come in and check it out!
If I had a 40D I don't think there would be enough to justify an upgrade, however I'm hopeful that the 50D's release will drop the 40D prices...and then I'm going to have me some of that!
I am more intrigued about the DIGIC IV I dont know what are the differences on the UI etc.
Fry's in San Marcos, CA has 5 Canon 50D cameras in stock since Tuesday.
I found that the VGA screen was more than enough to push me over. I've always been jealous of Nikon users in that regard. Not anymore! I felt that shooting any Canon SLR was pretty much like shooting film. You can't really tell what the hell you got until you load it up on a computer screen. Sure, the RGB histogram helps, but even if the histogram looks correct, I would still like to see my shot in a more accurate visual representation rather than a freakin' chart representation. The 40D's screen was a HUGE improvement over the 5D, but still not good enough!
Canon really shafted and caressed us at the same time with the 50D and 5d2.
Real nice
1.6x conversion factor, 1.6x conversion factor!
Why cant Cannon make a body thats priced in the range of 40/50D that does not mess up the focal length of my wide angle lenses? If someone drops 2,000 dollars on a Canon 14mm f/2.8L to take WIDE ANGLE shots and loses half of what they just paid for, what is the point!? Stop adding more megpaixels, lame preset modes, whacked out live view features and silly giant LCD screens. Just give me a mid range $1500ish camera without a conversion factor. Basically this body makes your spiffy new 14mm lens a 22.4mm lens (1.6 x 14). Which is all fine and happy and quite nice for telephoto, a little extra zoom never hurts. But for standard lenses and wide angle this is pure unaltered BS.
If you can afford a $2,000 14mm f/2.8L, why are you buying crop factor cameras? And instead of buying a 50D, why not just get a used old gen 5D? You'll get more out of your lens and for cheaper than a 50D. Besides, Canon is a business. And they have no one to compete with by offering full frame at mid-range prices. Nikon ain't doing it. All they'd be doing is taking away sales from their high end range. At the end of the day, people who are pissing and moaning about not having full frame at $1,500 are still gonna either buy Canon or Nikon's crop factor camera depending on which lens system they've already invested in since that's their budget.
I'd love to say crop factor cameras will be a thing of the past one day, but it won't be any time soon. This is evident in the fact that both parties are still releasing new crop factor lenses. They wouldn't do it if they planned on abandoning the format.
Could be the 5D fits your bill. You'll miss out on some of the niceties of the 50D or 5DII, but the price is right, the IQ is great and a 14 mm lens is 14 mm.
I already have an old 5D. What you say is true in a way. That was not the point. It all comes down to silly marketing. Leaving features out to push people to spend an extra grand+ for something that should be standard. Canon makes a great product, i think the company should take the first step in full frame on mid range SLRs thats all.
@ Big Bad Bun-Gee - Clearly most people that would upgrade to the 50D have their lens lineup geared towards 1.6x crop. Most people have a 17-50 2.8 Tamron (got one) indoor work if they are already using a crop body.
I can tell you that with the Tamron 17-50 2.8 (27.2mm-80mm equivalent) I find it more than plenty for indoor work and I don't have my back against the wall.
If you are doing any serious indoor work and have a 1.6 crop you can get a EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS for $1000 which will definitely have the edge with the IS over the 14L.
No doubt the 14L 2.8 is a great lens but it was clearly made for the full frame 5D.
27.2 equivalent is more than enough for nearly all indoor activities.
Look at it this way if you are have to do a group shot with 30 people in 2 or 3 rows chances are you are not going to be in a 12x16ft room :)
nice write-up. i was particularly interested in the high-iso comparison between the 50D v 40D v D3. however, i would've liked to see it compared to the D90 which is its main competition
The Canon 50D is not a competor for the Nikon D90, it's the Canon XSi. The price and specs show this. The Canon 50D is $500 more than the D90 and the D300 is the same price as the 50D at some places but most still have the D300 priced at $1800.
I've got a 3-year-old (IIRC) Rebel XT and as much as I'd love to get a 5D MkII, I can't justify the $3500 ticket for my use. However, I just came into enough money selling some photos to cover the purchase of a 50D. In for one!
Sorry, but where are you getting $3500, it's $2700, body only. This is USD, you are talking USD?
Umm, yeh, I picked up my 50D on the 22nd from Jessops Cardiff (South Wales), and they had them in on the Friday before. It's a lovely bit of kit, having upgraded from the 400D, it was well worth the money. To add my tupen'th to the 'should I upgrade' conversation...
In the same way that, for me, upgrading to the 40D wasn't a big enough step to warrant an upgrade from the 400D, the 50D probably isn't a big enough step over the 40D either.
Anyway, if you're using a sub 40D body and don't quite want to shell out for a *D, the 50D really is awesome. It's a classic example of yesterday's pro technology filtering down to today's pro-sumer. And mounting L series glass on this thing really makes all the difference. For all intents and purposes, the 50D is a gnat's better than the 5D mkI, save the full-frame sensor of course...
Really good value for money.
Yeah we have had the 50D on our shelf for over a week now, and I'm in Australia (we are always behind!!) engadget is a little behind on this front...
The body of the 50D & 40D may have the "exact dimentions" but the 40D is far more comfortable to hold! The grip is a smaller size so you hand fits around it an on the camera better. the 50D is no where near as comfortable!
yeah we had the 50d in last week at my store in Colorado...
unfortunately we cant sell it until the 5th (as far as i know this is the official release date for it...unless some retail chains just dont care lol)
i have opened and messed with it...the screen appears a little nicer than the 40d but without taking it out to the wild i couldnt really notice a big huge difference...
still on the wish list though lol
I have a 20d. Should I pick up a cheap 40d?
I'd say no, unless there's a specific reason for you to do so (more MP's, Liveview etc), but since you're asking you probably don't. Ergo, get a 50D or 5DII. I believe the 20D represents a real breakaway point in Canon technology. The 30D/40D/50D are just incremental upgrades. I still use a 20D, btw!
I say yes!
the 40D is a fantastic camera!!
Its faster, has better noise reduction, higher MP, bigger LCD with liveview (Opposite to "professional opinion" live view is sooo useful, you can get a sharper focus than auto focus, and if you're shooting at bizarre angles you can see what you are taking a photo of.)
but most of the other specs, ISO, sensor size, viewfinder, shutter speed etc are the same, so its up to you whether you would use these extras or if you just doing it for kicks...
Hope that helps
(ps 40D is heavier, about 100g or something)
I'd go for the 40D as well. I went from a 350D to a 40D, although I was looking at the 20D. The low noise performance is one big reason to upgrade, together with more MP and other improvements as well.
I wouldn't bother paying the 50D premium though, its just not worth it.
I went from a 20 to a 30 when mine was damaged (Insurance replaced it rather than fixing) and at around that point I realised that the one thing that was limiting almost all my shots was the wetware in the system (Me!)
If you think that you'd like live view then go for the 40, but unless a new camera does something specific that I need and my older one doesn't, I'll be holding on to my older body for a while yet.
Oct 6th? Are you guys idiots? McBain in Edmonton got these in yesterday, Oct 1st =P
I'm very impressed by the files I see here. I'm first on the local waiting list for the 5D MII and if the files look half as good as the 50D, then I'll be absolutely thrilled. I've never been more excited about a new camera!
I saw the 50D sitting in a shop in Japan, surprisingly. And of course, like with all camera shops in Japan, every camera sold by the store is on open display, so you can play with it.
Tell me something I don't know, Roland. I used a pre-production model of the 50D and will leave the "detailed analysis" to someone else but I have received my 50D now and think it's a worthwhile improvement over the 40D.
I have had my hands on a 50D for exactly two days, and have taken only a few more than 100 photos; however, it is clear to me that this is no "40D Mark II." It is a giant step-up from the 40D and, in my opinion, akin to a jump between the 20D and 40D (the 30D skipped intentionally). I can speak and write confidently of this because I own or have owned all four cameras. I have the 50D with EF 18-200mm IS Telephoto Lens, which came as an offered kit. Additionally, I own and have used the 50D with an EF 24-105mm f4L and EF 85mm f1.8. Here is my two day take : http://www.bestbuycp.com and http://www.bestbuycp.com/canon-eos-50d/ or http://www.cheapdslr4u.com
I agree with those who say that the 50D is the camera Canon should have introduced in its place. The camera is fantastic!
http://cheapdslrnow.com/canon-eos-50d-151mp-digital-slr-camera-body-only/