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Get information and user reviews for this camera from Amazon: Nikon D50 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX Zoom Nikkor Lens
Camera Labs
Launched at the same time as the D70s, the D50 will inevitably be viewed as a cut-down, beginners version of its more serious counterpart. But in use, the D50 rarely if ever feels compromised in any way. It starts instantly, responds quickly and delivers superb results in fully automatic modes, while offering sufficient manual control to keep most enthusiasts satisfied. Dig a little deeper on the basic specs and you’ll also find plenty of areas where the D50 excels over its rivals. Of course there’s equally areas where its rivals are better. At the end of the day, the choice of camera is a highly personal one. Once you’re sure it has all the features and delivers the quality you’re after, the choice boils down to look, feel and brand loyalty. Nikon’s D50 may not have 8 megapixels, but scores highly in every other respect. It looks smart, feels well built, responds quickly, delivers great pictures and is a joy to use. You can’t ask much more from a camera and as such it comes highly recommended. READ FULL REVIEW
Other Nikon D50 Reviews
Digital Photography Review
The D50 has improved auto focus especially in the area of motion tracking, it has a new auto AF mode … it has a lower resolution metering sensor but that sensor is a newer generation than the one used in the D70 (and D70s) – spot metering circle is also larger, the maximum shutter speed is 1/4000 sec, continuous shooting is 2.5 fps, it has a better viewfinder eyecup, the LCD monitor has increased to 2.0″ in size, the D50 takes SD cards (not CF) it’s slightly smaller and lighter than the D70 and several features have been removed or simplified to make the camera easier to use. … The D50 has the lowest noise levels of any of the affordable digital SLR’s we’ve tested. … The D50 feels as responsive as any film camera and is a pleasure to shoot with. The only change I would make would probably be a larger viewfinder view. I’m quite happy to give the D50 our highest rating, Highly Recommended, there’s little to dislike and for anyone looking for an affordable digital SLR it has to be seriously considered. READ FULL REVIEW
Steve’s Digicams
The D50 is Nikon’s lightest dSLR, weighing just 1 pound 6 ounces without lens. The body is marginally smaller than the D70s, it is quite comfortable to hold, the grip is tall and deep enough even for big hands. … The single image shooting performance of the D50 is very good. You’ll notice its responsiveness as soon as you turn it on; from power-on until capture of the first image took only 1/2 second. In continuous shooting mode, the D50 lived-up to Nikon’s promise of 2.5 frames per second, capturing 20 images in 7.1 seconds. The D50’s built-in flash, although limited in range to about 15 feet at ISO 200, performed well. … The D50’s image quality was excellent. The quality of the D50’s images at high sensitivity settings will be a compelling benefit to photographers upgrading from consumer digicams. As with any digital camera, there are some “gotchas.” Nikon does not offer an optional vertical grip/battery pack for the D50. Users of fixed-lens digicams will eventually discover another problem, keeping the imager clean. The D50 is a worthy competitor in the dSLR market. READ FULL REVIEW
CNET
The D50’s reliance on SD/MMC media instead of CompactFlash requires an investment in two memory card formats, and multiple differences in the control layout. Changes for the better include assigning the controls for switching between single shot, burst mode, self-timer, and infrared remote to two different buttons. … It provides accurate exposure with shutter speeds from 1/4,000 second to 30 seconds. ISO can be set only in whole increments (ISO 200, 400, 800, or 1600) … Similarly, white balance lacks fine-tuning capabilities … Sadly, the camera lacks a Commander mode for wirelessly triggering external flash … The Nikon D50 delivers all the digital-SLR performance you’d expect, from its 0.6-second wake-up time to first shot to its picture-a-second single-shot mode, which snaps off images as fast as you can press the shutter release, slowing to just 1.2 seconds between shots with flash. We were surprised at the generally good quality provided by the budget 18mm-to-55mm kit lens … Performance and features that rival those of more expensive digital SLR cameras make the 6-megapixel Nikon D50 one of the best entry-level options. READ FULL REVIEW
Photo.net
It looks like a pretty full featured camera. It does lack DOF preview, which a few Nikon users have already complained about – but if that’s all that’s wrong with it, it will be a pretty good camera! It’s also still 6MP which may cause some people look to the 8MP Canon Digital Rebel XT as an entry DSLR. The D50 incorporates several important new Nikon technologies to ensure a rich, yet simplified experience for consumers. With a new 6.1 effective megapixel Nikon DX Format CCD image sensor and a highly advanced image processing engine, the D50 produces dazzlingly faithful images capable of tremendous enlargement, yet manageable in overall file size. Shutter speed choices in the D50 extend from 30 seconds to an action-stopping 1/4,000 second. A high-speed flash sync speed up to 1/500 second makes great fill flash photography possible and Nikon’s i-TTL flash technology makes it automatic. READ FULL REVIEW
Ken Rockwell
I love the Nikon D50. It’s the camera I recommend for anyone who wants the best camera possible, and they sell for only $650, including lens. … This D50 is better than the D1H for which I paid $4,000 in 2002 and didn’t even come with a lens. The D50 is especially good for kids, sports and action compared to more expensive fixed-lens cameras. I prefer it over everything else from other makers because it’s so easy to use, works fast, focuses fast, responds immediately to your inputs and the image quality is fantastic. The D50 is a far cry better than any fixed-lens camera, even the much more expensive Sony DSC-R1. Unless you really understand abstract concepts like White Balance fine tuning you’ll never find anything missing from the D50. Don’t let the low price fool you: it’s a great camera and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between prints from a D50 compared to a $5,000 D2X. I’ve seen 4 x 5 foot enlargements from the D50 that look superb. The only limit to the D50’s picture quality is the photographer, not the D50. READ FULL REVIEW
Thom Hogan
Overall, the D50 produces better out-of-camera JPEGs than the D70s in most situations I’ve tried it in. There simply aren’t any specific image quality faults that are omnipresent or overbearing, even at ISO 1600, as long as you don’t underexpose. This makes the D50 a great print-from-camera DSLR, which I think is partially what Nikon intended. But it also makes it a pretty good all-around backup body for JPEG shooters, like wedding and other event photographers. READ FULL REVIEW
Photo Review
Designed and priced to attract ‘family’ photographers, Nikon’s D50 is the second DSLR on the market to use an SD card for image storage, rather than the CF card type used by other DSLRs. The saving in space has produced a slightly smaller and lighter camera than the D70 model, which remains on the market in the form of the D70s. It has many similar features, although some functions have been eliminated and others made simpler to use. Image files from the test camera with the supplied 18-55mm DX lens had above-average resolution and sharpness. Colour accuracy was very good, although the default colour setting produced relatively high saturation levels for a DSLR. The result was pictures with vibrant colours and a general look that is more in line with good minilab prints than the comparatively natural-looking colour reproduction of Nikon’s D70 and D70s models. The D50 is cheaper than the D70s, which will make it attractive to newcomers to DSLR photography. READ FULL REVIEW