Check out more buying guides ». Nikon Z9 initial review. Sony a7 IV initial review. Nikon Nikkor Z mm F2. Sigma mm F Discover more challenges ». Nikon Z9 3. Popular interchangable lens cameras ». Popular compact cameras ». Shedding some light on the sources of noise. Rodriguez, Jr. Mobile site. Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited. Flat view. Is selling my canon 50D for a canon 5D worth it? Oct 15, Oct 16, Jun 20, A Still Shooters' Powerhouse.
Sue Anne Rush. Scott Larson. Blake Cook. Auto Lighting Optimizer. The Auto Lighting Optimizer introduced on the Rebel XSi allows the photographer to expose for the highlights, and then the camera adjusts the image to open up the shadows during image capture. AE Bracketing. The new feature allows you to bracket images starting from four stops darker or ending four stops brighter than the meter's selected exposure value, over a two-stop range, when combining exposure compensation with AE Bracketing.
A new display makes it easier to understand the feature see animation at left. AF Sensor. It has the advantage of detecting both horizontal and vertical lines. Interestingly, the Canon 50D now includes the ability to detect the light source including the color temperature and whether or not the light is pulsing , and then take these into account and microscopically shift the focus as necessary. AF Micro-adjustment. The Canon 50D's lens micro-adjustment function allows focus to be fine-tuned for twenty different lenses, negating issues with back- or front-focusing.
The adjustment is then stored in the camera body for use whenever the lenses are attached. Lenses are identified by the combination of focal length and maximum aperture; the camera can't distinguish between multiple lenses of the same aperture and focal length. Many new SLR photographers assume their lenses will be perfect, but not all lenses are created equal. Each lens can have individual quirks that make them focus slightly in front of or behind the subject, among other variables.
It used to be that you had to send your camera and lenses to the factory to have them tuned to your individual body, but with the Canon 50D you can approximate that with the Micro-adjustment feature, nested in the Custom Function III menu.
Lens adjustment. You can adjust the focus point for each lens in your kit, or make one adjustment for the entire camera. I sat down with a set of lenses to try out AF Micro-adjustment and got fairly good results, though the process was a little confusing at first. Our test target is an array of AA batteries set in a diagonal line receding away from the camera from left to right.
The distance is approximately one battery-width per step. It's not a perfect target for this particular AF array, it seems, as my results at first were random with some lenses, first back-focusing, then front-focusing, regardless of the setting in the Custom Function dialog.
But once I got the camera pointed at the right part of the target, it went fairly well. In addition to adjusting for individual lenses, you can choose to adjust all lenses by the same amount, useful if all your lenses are off by a nearly equal amount, suggesting that your camera's AF sensor is out of adjustment. New menus. The menus on the Canon 50D have a new appearance, and a razor sharp font, as well as a subtle fade animation as you switch from item to item and tab to tab.
Create and select folders. Also new to the Canon 50D is the ability to create and select new folders on the loaded memory card. Once a new folder is created, file numbering starts over. You can switch between folders at any time. New DPP features. If you want to see which AF points were active when you took your shot, DPP will also show you all active points at the time of exposure.
DPP offers greater control, while the old Image Task was more like the camera's native conversion. HDMI output. Dust reduction. Yet another upgrade is in the Canon 50D's integrated cleaning system. Canon has now applied a fluorine coating to the camera's low-pass filter, which should make it easier for the existing ultrasonic dust removal system to remove sticky or wet particles the dust removal system vibrates the low-pass filter to shake off dust particles; wet or sticky particles obviously will adhere more firmly to the surface than dry ones would.
Storage and Battery. One caution I found in the manual is that Canon recommends against using Microdrives when shooting in Live View mode, as the drive's additional heat can combine with the heat generated by the sensor and start to degrade images.
Worthy of note for those who still use Microdrives. Canon says that the EOS 50D is capable of capturing up to shots when using the optical viewfinder, but only shots when shooting via Live View modes.
My experience bears this out, as I'm used to getting several days out of a single battery with the 40D and 50D, but switching to Live View is the fastest way to test the battery meter. UDMA card support. The best news for upgraders is that all the accessories for the 40D are still compatible with the Canon 50D, including the BP and BPA batteries, battery grip, wireless grip, and interchangeable focusing screens. The pack serves as a vertical grip, with duplication of the controls found on the 50D's main grip.
Compatible with A variety of transfer and security standards are supported, as well as GPS devices, flash memory keys; and an RJ Ethernet port supports wired transfer as well. Kit Lens. Canon is including the mm IS lens with the 50D.
It's an older design, so it doesn't focus quite as fast as the newer mm EF-S lens, and its image stabilization system isn't as advanced as others, but it's a good general purpose optic made better by the crop factor, which cuts out most corner softness. It also looks and feels great on the larger Canon 50D body, striking a good balance. The only major drawback is the lack of a true wide angle, since 28mm is roughly equal to a 45mm lens on a 35mm camera. Unfortunately, in our testing we found my personal copy to be a little softer than we'd expected, something we weren't able to improve much with the AF Microadjustment feature.
We can only conclude that once again, what looked quite good on a megapixel sensor appears softer on the finer-grained megapixel sensor. Though I prefer to shoot with primes when I can, this lens is a good all-around choice for general photography. There's nothing quite like an airshow for trying out a camera's capabilities.
The camera powers up fast, most of the controls are where I expect them, and quite a few are easier to access thanks to the new Quick menu integrated into the rear Status display. I find myself torn between using the top and rear Status display, which can cause some confusion; but I'm glad to have the choice all the same.
The Canon 50D feels great to hold, though those with smaller hands might think it a bit too big. The textured grip has just the right tack, and the leather texture is repeated on the back and left front for better camera control overall.
I'm not as crazy about having buttons along the bottom of the LCD, and the silkscreen icons caused a little confusion for me, as I occasionally pressed the Picture Styles button when I meant to press the INFO button. Zoom Range. The goes from Switching to Live View is generally a last resort for me, so I don't mind that its activation button isn't available to my right thumb as it was on the 40D.
I appreciate Canon's conservative approach with their semi-pro digital SLR design, which makes it easier to switch from a 20D to a 50D without having to re-learn too much that I've already applied to muscle memory. Judging focus onscreen is much better, and sunlight performance is also improved thanks to the new coatings.
The viewfinder is also sufficiently bigger that you can better judge focus before you shoot with many lenses, especially primes, whose depth-of-field is usually narrower wide-open. One of the main features that keeps me using Canon cameras primarily is the fast autofocus acquisition, especially in their semi-pro and professional digital SLRs. The Canon 50D scored an impressive single-point AF lag time of 0. Prefocused, the Canon 50D managed a very impressive 0. AF point selection is also very quick.
I usually shoot with just the center point for its greater accuracy with a wider variety of lenses. The mirror and shutter are nicely damped for a softer sound, without any perceptible winding sounds, as you'll hear from past models, including the Canon Rebel XSi and 30D. It's a better experience overall, and mirror blackout time is pretty quick, great for keeping your eye on the ball.
With the I took the 50D on my usual walk around town, but was also fortunate to visit a local airshow on a recent weekend for some variety. I took the new mm lens, hoping to demonstrate its suitability to such a venue.
Indeed, it was ideal for grabbing wide-angle shots of large airplanes, and zooming in to interesting features without having to move or approach the plane. Switching between shots of the kids touring the airplanes on the ground and shots of aircraft soaring overhead was also easy and natural. Old and new. Though it's equivalent to a mm lens on a 35mm camera, the mm setting doesn't always get as close as I'd like. Much of my disappointment stems from the fact that I wasn't actually close to the airstrip when I made many of my early shots; it's easy to underestimate distances at an airshow.
And though it was a beautiful Fall day, the Sun was low in the sky, streaming straight into the un-hooded lens, putting most of the airplanes in shadow, while washing out much of the contrast.
So while I got no award winners, I think I'll be able to Photoshop some of them into good decorations for my kids' rooms. The mm is not only of generally higher image quality than the mm, it comes with a large hood that helps improve contrast.
Though I have more than one hood with a 72mm opening, I was frustrated to find that none of them would fit the mm. Near miss. Tracking the center F while in shooting in high speed continuous mode captured this tense moment. I'd only hold up the static display shots as decent examples of what the 50D can do, except for one shot of the two Thunderbirds doing a near-miss pass in front of the audience. Though it was largely up to chance that I caught the very tense moment at its apex, the Canon 50D's 6.
The frames before and after this shot contain only the jet in the center, which I was following. Image stabilization with the mm is remarkable.
When we tested it in the SLRgear. When he waited that extra bit, his stabilization numbers went way up. I was impressed with some of the shots I got as well at surprisingly low shutter speeds, most of them without that signature IS smudge I see so often from my mm lens at lower shutter speeds. On the downside, the EF-S doesn't have a focus scale on the lens, while the IS does, and of course it's incompatible with full-frame digital SLRs, as it's designed only for APS-C cameras, while the is a full-frame lens.
As always with SLR lenses, you'll get better image quality with a wide zoom and a tele zoom to cover a given range than with one that covers the whole range, but there's something to be said for the convenience of a lens like the mm.
Note that this isn't just vignetting, but a halo surrounds the airplane. You can see this effect through the viewfinder, which varies depending on the focus distance. Vignetting with One problem that I encountered with the mm was the severe vignetting it exhibited at mm.
Apparently I had the vignetting correction on in my airshow images, but a shot I fired at a passing airplane a few days later reveals how the lens performs without the correction enabled. It's not just vignetting, but includes a halo around the middle that's unusual. The amount of vignetting at mm changes with the focus, getting worse toward infinity; it's a change you can see in the viewfinder. I focused on the engine in this shot, leaving the pilot slightly out of focus. This is a lens I'm quite comfortable with, but images are indeed softer with the mm, as our test shots bear out.
Though I use this lens frequently for candid shots at events and family snapshots, its roughly mm equivalent focal length makes it harder to get group shots or indoor photos. I stand by my statement that it's a good lens that's well-built, and a good first choice, especially if you like shooting candids, but there's no question that its images from the Canon 50D appear softer when viewed at percent onscreen than they do from the megapixel Canon 40D or 8-megapixel 30D.
Big files. But how much difference does the longer 40mm equivalent lens of the 'X' version make to the shooting experience? Click through to read more. Want to learn more about the Nikon Z9? Do you have a burning question you haven't seen answered anywhere else? Join us for a live Twitter Space on Thursday, November 11, and be part of the conversation. Click through for details. The four firmware updates bring improved autofocus performance in a number of different shooting modes, as well as support for Nikon's new FTZ II mount adapter and Nikkor Z mm F4 S lens.
Adrian Smith is back with another excellent slow-motion video of insects filmed with a high-speed Phantom camera.
The original Tamron mm F2. Now Tamron is back with a second gen version that promises to be even better. Does it deliver on that claim? Chris and Jordan did a side-by-side comparison to find out. Check out their gallery of sample photos to judge critical image quality for yourself. The lens will be a part of Panasonic's F1. Aptolux is a new company formed by videographers to create lighting solutions for videographers.
Its first product is the Aptolux MP-1, a modular, transforming LED light that can be as compact as a lunchbox when not being used yet deliver bright, efficient light. Sony's latest a7-series model is the most capable yet, but also the most expensive. We've been using Panasonic's new Lumix S 35mm F1. Panasonic has announced the Lumix S 35mm F1.
Panasonic has released firmware version 1. The Hubble Space Telescope is in safe mode as engineers work to investigate what's wrong with the telescope's onboard instruments. This is the second time the venerable telescope has faced extended downtime after being offline for a month earlier this year. Panasonic China has posted a pair of images to various Chinese social media sites that tease what appears to be a new lens launch. Gordon Laing is back at it again with another Retro Review.
In this episode, Laing goes back 25 years to provide an in-depth overview of Nikon's unique Coolpix camera, which was half compact camera, half PDA. The adapter includes optics to help offset the crop factor of APS-C cameras. OM Digital Solutions — the company that's bought the Olympus imaging division — has just launched the M. Zuiko Digital ED 20mm F1.
Click through for a closer look. Chris and Jordan tease-out the differences. After quickly selling out of its first batch back in , Lomography has announced that it's re-releasing its color-shifting LomoChrome Turquoise Film in 35mm, and format.
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View Comments 5. Comments All 5. I love the review and must revisit those for the 18, 20 and 24 MP 1. Surprisingly the D delivers the sharpest image! The 40D with the same lens is much softer. You may also like. Just posted! Canon EOS 50D review.
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