Photo answers review
Photo answers rating 
Features & handlingIf you’re familiar with the EOS family you’ll need no introduction to this latest model. It feels familiar, solid, fast, comfortable and responsive – just what you’d expect from an EOS camera. You may argue that the big rear dial is a little primitive and needs a refresh, but most Canon users swear by it, and it’s easy enough to master.
The button layout remains pretty much unchanged. New users might find that the layout and menu take some getting used to, but no more so than any other enthusiast camera on the market. One welcome tweak is with the virtually redundant direct-print button on the back. This now activates Live View, so it may see some use now. Oddly though, Live View still needs to be activated in the menu before this shortcut button works.
Despite the new Digic 4 processor, the frame rate has actually taken a slight dip from 6.5fps (frames-per-second) down to 6.3fps. In continuous shooting mode, it’ll take one fewer frame in RAW mode compared to the EOS 40D, before slowing down. Still, 16 shots is perfectly adequate for most situations.
Construction is great and feels solid, but I’d have liked to have seen more weather sealing (like the Nikon D300). The EOS 50D is no lightweight, mind you. It will take a few knocks and survive a good dousing.
Just a few other handling niggles – to focus you press and hold the AF-ON button; a half-press of the shutter release would have made things easier. Also, there are two zoom settings for checking sharpness, accessed by hitting the zoom-in button when reviewing a shot. Issues arise when you want to go back to normal view as the zoom-out button doesn’t do anything. Instead, you need to cycle through both zoom modes first, which makes the system confusing. All said and done, however, it’s still one of the best systems I’ve seen.
PerformanceThe new LCD screen is a joy to use. It’s no bigger than the 3in screen on the EOS 40D, but boasts much higher resolution. The clarity, contrast and colour rendition give excellent feedback and will give you a real buzz when you get a good shot. It also improves the usability of Live View in the field.
The contrast AF system works pretty well too. The mirror stays up while focusing so is quieter and more intuitive to use. It’s a bit slow off the mark when light levels are low but it gets there in the end – just don’t try and shoot moving subjects. Face detect mode seemed to work okay, automatically focusing on faces in a scene. It’s a bit gimmicky but might prove useful.
The clarity and resolution of the sensor is very impressive, as you’d expect from a CMOS chip. It’s a great alternative to Canon’s full-frame cameras, as it gives a very large, clean file. In theory a smaller sensor has its advantages too, namely in the form of cheaper, lighter-weight lenses.
I found resolution so high that it really challenged the quality of my lenses – the EOS 50D showed up every flaw. So, before buying, factor in the cost of getting some better glass – potentially ‘L’ series lenses or equivalent.
With its massive 15.1MP sensor (the largest APS-C sensor to date), Canon claims to have improved ISO performance, increasing its range from ISO 100 to 3200. Two expanded settings, H1 and H2, take ISO right up to 12,800. There’s no leap in quality, but noise levels are certainly no worse than the competition. This is quite a feat considering the extra pixels they’ve crammed in. Even at ISO 1600, colour and contrast hold up well.
The expanded modes are nice to have but, realistically, are for emergencies only as contrast, colour and resolution fall off rapidly. Sadly, they don’t compare favourably to the Nikon D3 or D700 but this is no surprise considering the sensor size.
Noise was managed well by Canon’s own RAW converter (Digital Photo Professional), so there’s clearly some clever post-processing going on here.
Verdict
The EOS 50D is a no-frills camera – there’s nothing really exciting here to stop you in your tracks. It’s hard to complain, though, as it does exactly what you’d expect, and does it with style. It responds quickly and feels like it’ll last even in a professional environment.
That said, the EOS 50D does feel a bit weedy compared to its closest rival, the Nikon D300 (which is about £80 cheaper at the time of writing). It weighs less, though, and is arguably easier to navigate. On the downside, there’s still no built-in wireless flash trigger, the improved ISO performance is a little underwhelming, and movie mode seems to have arrived just three weeks too late. Even so, the EOS 50D gets the job done and is far from sloppy.
If you’re looking to upgrade from your six, eight or 10MP Canon camera, the EOS 50D won’t disappoint. Just don’t expect to get away with using budget lenses. You’ll love the screen – it’s a treat to use – and image quality is stunning at ISO 100.
Product Description
| Weight/size (WxHxD) |
822g/146x108x74mm
|
| Effective resolution |
15.1MP |
| Lens mount |
Canon EF/EF-S |
| Focal length conversion |
1.6x |
| Aspect ratio |
3:2 |
| LCD monitor size |
3in (920k dots) with Live View |
| File formats |
JPEG, RAW
|
| Card type |
CF/CF Type II/UDMA card
|
| Exposure modes |
Auto, program, aperture-priority, shutter-priority, manual plus six scene modes |
| Metering modes |
Evaluative, partial, spot and centre weighted average |
| Autofocus |
9-point |
| ISO range |
100-3200 (expandable to 12,800)
|
| Battery type |
Li-ion
|
| Software supplied |
Canon DPP |
| Start-up time |
Less than 1 second |
| Write times |
1 second (JPEG); 1.75 seconds (RAW) |
| Shutter speed range |
30 seconds to 1/8000sec +bulb |
| Flash sync |
1/250sec |
| Continuous shooting speed |
6.3fps for 60 frames (JPEG) or 16 frames (RAW); 90 (JPEG with UDMA card)
|