Nikon D50
(Digital SLR Camera

I happened to mention to a professional photographer friend of mine that I was thinking of buying a digital SLR camera. He suggested I tested his Nikon D50 before I made my mind up, as he reckoned it was one of the finest digital SLR cameras around aimed at the more serious photographer. I had been thinking in terms of a Canon, but thought I would give this one a try.

I was pleasantly surprised at the feel of the camera when he handed it over. It was lighter than it looked, even with its lens one and felt very strong and robust – not that I was intending in testing its robustness. No, this would be handled like a fragile egg until I returned it to him.

Being a Nikon, I was a little concerned at the price, but my friend assured me that I could probably get one brand new from the net for £500 or less.  That evening I went on line and found a complete D50 kit from Amazon.UK for £452  and Amzaon USA - $670 (Priced in December 2005) and that included AF-S Zoom Nikkor 18-55mm Lens.

The following day was a bright sunny day and to my wife’s delight, I decided to take her out and about the Gower Coast to test the camera.  Most of the time, the camera was set in auto mode and I have to admit, that it produced some pictures that looked terrific on it’s small screen and equally brilliant in printed from and on the computer later.

Other modes of photography could be selected like makro (close-up), portraiture, and particularly good was its low-light capability for shooting without flash.  For creating wild and weird photos, the camera could be switched into manual mode to alter shutter speeds and manually focus the lens. I didn’t actually use this facility, because I feel that a tripod is needed for much of that sort of work, but my friend showed me some of the shots he had taken and I have to admit they were excellent and in my opinion, would not looked out of place in a photography magazine.

Downloading the shots I had taken on to my PC was simple (I run Windows XP and have USB2 sockets).  A window popped up without me having loaded any software asking me what I wanted to do with the photographs.  I just simply created a new folder in My Pictures named “Nikon” and saved them all in there.

The Nikon D50 has a 6-megapixel resolution - more than adequate for my photographic needs and my decision is that this is definitely a camera that I have now put on my "must have" list.

Thanks for reading.

USA Purchase

If you have any questions about any products on this site, please   to email me and I will do my best to help you.

Click here for more Website & Computer Hardware/Sofware Reviews

Home