Nikon D50 Digital Slr Camera

Wonderful Camera
I don't know why this is considered a beginners DSLR -- sure it has a few less features, but it is capable of wonderful results with a minimum of work. I wish I had bought this first instead of the Olympus E510 I used to own. The D50 simply gets the job done! I bought the camera used but in good shape. I use the 70-300mm VR zoom lens with it and get great results. The images come out true to life with few anomolies or distortions. The shutter release is positive and professional feeling. Focus is accurate and fast (of course the lens is important here). The D50 fills an important gap between old world DSLR and modern: It has an iternal focus motor so older style lenses work perfectly. It uses an SD card instead of the clunky old CF. And while the D70 is considered more professional, the D50 corrects for sensor anomilies the D70 doesn't.

Some things you may want consider: The LCD is only 2", compared to 2.5" on most newer models. It is somewhat slower in processing, formating, direct downloads, etc. The number of sensor pixels is low (6.1MP) compared with newer models (8-10MP). The viewfinder doesn't see the entire frame. However, the viewfinder is bright enough for manual focusing, and a green light indicates optimum focus in the viewfinder when manual focusing. The lowest ISO is 200 (instead of 100 on most models). However, noise at higher ISOs is low compared with many cameras, and I regularly use 400 and even 800.

The D50 feels solid! I can't imagine a better feeling body. Compared with pro models it is a bit smaller, however it is full-sized and fits any hand well. With a good lens it's hard to imagine anyone being disapointed with this camera. Even with the many features newer cameras offer, none will produce better pictures (bigger, but not better).

Very nearly perfect camera!

My first digital camera was the Nikon 4300. Switching to the Nikon D50 was like going from a horse and buggy to a Ferrari!

There are cameras now with higher pixel resolution, but I have found the 6.1 still is plenty for my purposes.

The interface is very nice, with quick access buttons around the camera.

The battery lasts a long time, compared to my old 4300.

The quality of the images is wonderful!!

The only down-side is the plastic lens, otherwise I would give this camera a 5 out of 5. While I enjoy the light-weight aspect of the lens, I felt from the beginning that it seemed cheap, even fragile? Good thing I got the extended warranty because the lens broke after exactly 2 years of much use.

Over all this is a fantastic camera, but make sure to get the extended warranty!

Nikon D 50

I love this product and have used it at numerous functions. Pictures are excellent during the day. Flash is average, had to purchase another flash unit for evening and night shots. Do not try to use it if you are trying to take pictures of night football games. You need to change to many of the functions.

Problem!!! Flash unit needed repair. It just did not work after about 6 months. It took 9 weeks for it to be returned to me. I went through the store I purchased it from due to the warranty. Check this out before you send the camera in for any type of repair. Still having problems with the flash!

OK.....here is another problem....the control panel is going on and off. You are not capable of taking pictures when it acts up. You have no display at all on certain settings. This is a problem. More problems as the camera gets more use.