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Featured Review: Canon EOS 50D Digital SLR
by The Digital Mage (Expert)
| Price Paid: $1119.00 from Circuit City Review Date: April 13, 2009 Used product for: 1 to 3 months Overall Rating: |
5 of 5
Summary:
I read dpreview’s disparaging summation of this camera. I thought, hey, this is CANON we’re talking about! A dud? Sorry, bud. Don’t believe it.
I had a 40D. I loved the 40D. I had not a single issue, or problem with it. I saw a 50D on at Circuit City, during their going out of business sale. I bought the cam and another 28-135 IS lens for the price you see, above. I did not need a camera. I could have waited a bit then sold it on Ebay, and made a little money. I just had to know.
Buying a camera in Feb. when you live in the Midwest is not a good idea. It just sits there, bugging you to use it. I did a few shots indoors – mostly at a local museum called Hulman and Company. That’s Tony Hulman – mafia dawn, and father of the 500 mile race. His old business, which supplied stock to hundreds of mom and pop grocery stores, still has many of the items that were used in the early 20th century.
When I got home I learned the meaning of the term “resolution.” The detail jumped off the image and hit me, right between the steely grays! Since then I have had the chance to use the cam a little more, but not nearly as much as I would like. In every pic it has taken that amazing detail is better then I ever got, with film!
I had a 20, 30 and 40D. I STILL may not know what I have in the 50D but I found out a lot more when I went to Louisville last month and shot the city at night, from across the river. I had done that shot several times before. The 50D made the rest look sick – REALLY sick!
My name is not Agnes. I don’t use the cam to shoot the grandkids (sic). My web site is http://www.MageProductions.com. I know what I’m talking about.
This cam has more IN YOUR FACE resolution than any other you can buy, today. Yes, the noise is a little higher at ridiculous ISO settings. But not that much. Anybody that uses those settings should expect noise. The noise I see it still a lot less than it would be with film. That kind of film aint cheap, and you don’t buy it at Wal Mart!
I have an image I shot with a 70-300 IS, 300 feet away from a log cabin. I can see spider webs, in the corners of the windows! The detail in the leaf litter is unbelievable and the purple fringing where the sky is behind the branches is GONE – completely gone! I have done about 15-20 minutes worth of post processing, using several filters, in order to get what comes right out of this cam!
Ah, but the bottom line is, will YOU like this cam? Maybe. Do you like resolution? Do you like to see detail in your pics? If you’re a portrait photographer, you are going to have to do some blurring. But you have to do that even with a 5D. The rest of it, well, it’s progressing too, and at a rate you would expect. The color rendition, the auto-focus, the metering – all marginally better on this cam, as is the burst rate, etc. And there’s enough gizmoz so you’ll need to grow another brain…
Bottom line – if you’re into image quality, this is the one (as of 04-2009).
Maybe dpreview got a poor copy … ???
Strengths:
resolution, Resolution, RESOLUTION!
Weaknesses:
a little more noise than the 40D, but not much.
Similar Products Used:
20D, 30D, 40D
Customer Service:
never used
Related Content:
All Canon Digital SLR User Reviews
Canon Review Page
Canon Cameras Forum
All Featured User Reviews
All Canon News & Articles
Canon Web Site
Congrats, The Digital Mage!
I agree, completely agree . This Camera is a winner through and through. although the noise at higher ISO’s is better than the 40D. Their are so many features and improvements that this camera cannot take a bad Pic, (the photographer could but not the camera).