50D first impressions

[William Nguyen]

Hey guys,

To my surprise my local store had the 50D's in stock! As usual I couldn't help but give-in to temptation and put it on plastic ;D

Here's my brief first impressions of this new release from Canon...

- 15.1mp!!!! Yes, more cropping ability
- Huge RAW files ~ 25-30mb (fullsize @ 15.1mp)
- 3 RAW sizes available! 15.1mp, 7.1mp and 3.8mp
- 920k LCD screen - beautiful! At last a preview screen you can really make out the finer details. This is definitely worth the upgrade alone
- Build quality, design, looks are very similar to 40D... so no big changes here.
- 6.3fps is very good considering the higher MP count, beware it fills up CF cards fast!
- Digic 4 processor is very snappy, AF appears quicker than the 40D when teamed with the 300 f2.8 IS. Definitely a higher BIF keeper rate than my 40D.
- ISO performance is very good... on par or slightly better than the 40D though I haven't tried the higher ISOs 3200,6400 and 12800.

Here's a shot of the 50D attached to the 300 f2.8 IS


For samples please go to the bird images section:


Cheers
William

[Romy Ocon]

Congrats Will!

It would be nice if you can also post crops from the 600 f4 + 1.4x...... let's see if 15 MP on a 1.6 sensor can already outresolve that combo. Of course, high ISO crops would be eagerly pixel-peeped too.


BTW, my dealer called me this afternoon, giving me first crack at their first shipment of 50D (local warranty, USD 1330 - body only). I decided to pass, and wait for the 5d2 first before choosing which body I'll bust my pocket with, hehe.

[William Nguyen]

Thanks Romy, will do! Hopefully I'll get a chance tomorrow to give the 50D a workout with the 600 f4 + 1.4x

[Lydia Robledo]

Hi William,
Congratulations on your new upgrade. Which is your local store and how much is it? What goes with it?
Thanks for sharing.
lyd

[Lydia Robledo]

Oh aaagh! You are in Darwin!

[William Nguyen]

Thanks Lydia, sorry I'm not in the Philippines lol... I paid 1730 AUD for mine which works out to be about $1450 USD for the body only.

[Lydia Robledo]

Whew! So it is cheaper here. I'll wait a couple of months more if buying a 50D is better than grabbing the plummeting price of the 40D because of this intro and the 5D as well. Gosh, I am coveting the 5D in my dreams. I'm wishing it for Christmas. lyd

[Ralf Nabong]

Speaking of 50D. It is now locally available in Megamall. I saw 3 units with local Canon Warranty.