Nikon D50 - Good value for money?

April 25, 2006 12:41 PM

Any concerns with the Nikon D50 or indeed any better Digital SLR for the same money?

We are hoping to buy a Nikon D50 camera shortly. Anyone know of any concerns with this model or indeed any better Digital SLR for the same money (seems to be about £300 / $535 for the body)?

We are beginner amateurs moving into the SLR space for the first time and enjoy landscape photography plus really like depth of field photos.

posted by pettins to sports, hobbies, & recreation (10 comments total)

depth of field as in shallow dof?
then you'll need a fast lens (f2, f1.4 even better). just be careful with the focus then (you can find cheap used Nikon AF lenses on eBay). the D50 is very good. DaShiv here can help you
posted by PenguinBukkake at 12:48 PM on April 25, 2006

You won't go wrong with that camera. Later on, if you lose your amateur status, you might decide you want more camera (at a greater expense). But I can't see that camera limiting you for quite some time.

Get the kit lens and experiment with that for two or three months at least. Then you can go out and make an informed decision for another lens. Far too much thought goes into "what lens to buy" before a single picture has been taken.
posted by deadfather at 12:58 PM on April 25, 2006

The D50 is very very good. For another $80 you can get the Nikon 50mm f1.8, which will give you the shallow depth of field that you're looking for.
posted by bshort at 12:59 PM on April 25, 2006

DPReview.com is quite happy with the D50.
posted by docgonzo at 1:51 PM on April 25, 2006

Oh, and flickr's d50 keyword tag is a good way to see what some are doing with the camera.
posted by docgonzo at 1:52 PM on April 25, 2006

You'll be fine. You can agonize for years over features and which camera is best: or you can just go get a Nikon or Canon DSLR and start taking pictures. Most (all?) of their cameras are hard to lose with.

The D50 is very capable -- there aren't all that many features missing from a D70s, which is a damn fine DSLR. You'll be quite happy. I see many excellent images on Flickr taken with the D50.

And for what its worth, if you do decide to upgrade, it tends to be seemingly minor, but very expensive, features that you'll upgrade for (things like better viewfinders, more buttons instead of menus, mirror lock-up, a metal body that can take major abuse, ability to use older lenses, etc.) And if you get at all serious, you won't mind having the D50 around as a backup.
posted by teece at 2:32 PM on April 25, 2006

I've had a D50 since December and I can highly it. It just keeps getting cheaper too.
posted by nomad at 2:54 PM on April 25, 2006

The D50 is much closer to the D70 than the 350D to the 20D.

And I say this as someone heavily invested in the Canon system.
posted by jedrek at 3:30 PM on April 25, 2006

We just made the switch ourselves and for the same price and the Nikon D50 we picked up a Canon 350D which has an extra Mpixel or too. We love it.
posted by mule at 4:02 PM on April 25, 2006

Yeah, whether you chose Canon or Nikon, you'll be happy about enough with your camera to be obnoxious about it on internet forums!
posted by aubilenon at 4:53 PM on April 25, 2006