Canon EOS 50D review roundup

If you skipped over the EOS 40D in anticipation for the next best thing, and you don't feel like liquidating your kid's college fund in order to procure the EOS 5D Mark II, the EOS 50D has likely been blinking fiercely on your radar. The intarwebz as a whole had a chance to sit down and scrutinize the decidedly mid-range DSLR, and overall, impressions were pretty positive. For starters, just about everyone felt that it was more than a worthy addition to Canon's line, citing "a significant number of refinements to a proven design," a fantastic VGA LCD monitor and expectedly great image quality. Critics also found an improved interface, improved white balance and an ISO setting that was perfectly acceptable up to 3,200 (and 6,400 in a pinch). For DSLR newcomers, the 50D is a pretty safe bet; the only question comes in when trying to decide whether to upgrade from the 40D. Our take? Save the loot and spend it on some decent glass.

Read - PhotographyBLOG
Read - TechRadar
Read - PhotoReview
Read - CNET

[Conrad @ Oct 14th 2008 3:55PM]

I'll be sticking with my 40D for awhile and buying some more lenses instead.

[StalematE @ Oct 14th 2008 4:01PM]

?????? sorry this doesn't pertain specifically, but does anyone know what the best bang for 1000 bucks for a good DSLR? I don't know a lot about cameras but i have 1000 bucks to drop and yes, with a lens not just the body. thanks in advance.

[Tom @ Oct 14th 2008 4:39PM]

StalematE-
I would pick up a rebel XS (10 megapixel) or XSi (12 megapixel). Both have gotten fantastic user reviews and can now be had for $530 and $600 respectively -- http://www.techdealdigger.com/hot-deals/digital-cameras-sale/62 . I don't know how long these deals will last, but they are pretty phenomenal prices.

[atomicthumbs @ Oct 14th 2008 4:11PM]

Now I just have to figure out whether to save for months to buy this or get an XSi at Christmas.

[Boards of Canada @ Oct 14th 2008 4:18PM]

Still going strong with my 20D!!

should dedust the sensor though...

[drzeller @ Oct 14th 2008 7:58PM]

DPReview hasn't done a review yet -- that is a preview.

D.

[tom @ Oct 14th 2008 4:22PM]

Maybe he believes his kid will be very bright, no problem getting full scholarship.

2500 is all he puts in

[Joeb @ Oct 14th 2008 4:22PM]

Your mom goes to college

[Anthony.L @ Oct 14th 2008 5:43PM]

Come on Engadget, you forgot the best digital camera review site out there....DP Review!

http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canoneos50d/

I'm still rocking the original 10D that started this whole consumer level DSLR market some 6 years ago. It still takes amazing photos.

[Padre Esteban @ Oct 14th 2008 6:27PM]

Sorry pal, it was the Canon D30 that started it all in 2000.

[KJ @ Oct 14th 2008 6:43PM]

Sorry bud, Preview != REview. That preview is more or less based off a spec sheet and engineering sample. dpreview will be dropping a REview in the next week or so if the trends hold.

[tostitobandito @ Oct 14th 2008 7:35PM]

Sorry, but fredmiranda.com >>>> dpreview.com

Fredmiranda doesn't do staff pre/reviews per se, but they do have an excellent forum and review section with insight from numerous pro's and amateurs who shoot with the various products. The members generate the content, and as many of them are extraordinarily knowledgable and quite experienced, it's generally pretty solid and objective. It's also free from most of the immature e-peenery and flaming that is commonplace at sites like dpreview.

That said, the 50D is a solid body in the

[Chris @ Oct 15th 2008 8:28PM]

fredmiranda.com >> Dpreview

but:

getdpi.com >> fredmiranda.com

smaller group and the signal to noise ratio is about 3 to 1 of FM.

[dajimmers @ Oct 14th 2008 8:25PM]

I'll certainly be buying the 50D as soon as I have the cash. I've been rocking the 350D/XT for years now and feel the MP, frame rate, body/build, ISO, viewfinder, LCD, and AF are all leaps and bounds above what I'm used to. I spent a few minutes with one in Best Buy today and was mightily impressed. I've seen plenty of back and forth about how the ISO boost isn't as much as Canon said, and how AF could still be better, and especially how it isn't a major improvement on the 40D. But the 40D only came out last year, and this is an SLR we're talking about! I know things move faster in the digital realm but switching bodies every year is just silly. Pros certainly aren't switching their 1D's every year (not that they could).

While more MP/ISO/AF/FR/acronym of your choice is always great, I think they did pretty well this round. I do wish they had a video mode (Digic 4 can obviously handle it as the 5D does 1080P, and I wanna see what my glass can do in video darnit!) and I wish ANY DSLR started coming with GPS. Geocaching would be so fun if it were easy...

[ran @ Oct 14th 2008 9:15PM]

Looks great. Still rocking the 20D. However I think I'm going to save up for the 5D Mark II instead. Costs more, but worth it.

[Jeff @ Oct 14th 2008 9:47PM]

Nobody is 'rocking' any cameras, maybe nerding or dweebing. lol