The Canon 50D was confirmed as of August 21, 2008 and was officially announced on August 26, 2008. Read the full Canon press release here. The Canon 50D carries a retail price of $1399.99 for body only and $1599.00 with the EF 28-135mm kit lens.
You can order the Canon 50D now from Amazon.com via the following links:
Canon 50D (w/ 28-135mm kit lens)
The Canon 50D is pictured top left with the simultaneously announced EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens, which carries a retail price of $699.99 USD.
Read Photography Bay’s Canon 50D Review.
Canon 50D Key Features
- 15.1 megapixel CMOS sensor
- DIGIC 4
- 1.6x crop
- Dust Reduction
- Auto Brightness Processing
- 95% viewfinder .95 magnification
- 9 point af (All Cross Type)
- 35 meter area equipped with high-precision sensors
- AF Fine Tuning
- ISO 100-12800
- 6.3 fps (high speed) 3fps (low speed)
- Buffer: 16 RAW – 60 JPG – 10 RAW+JPG
- 920,000 points VGA 3.0-inch LCD monitor
- 100,000 cycle shutter
- Rugged magnesium alloy body
Canon 50D Reviews
The camera offers a lot of functionality for photo enthusiasts and professionals, yet still has a small handful of scene modes and Creative Auto mode which appeal to users who want to enter and test the waters of the digital SLR world (if they’re daring enough to start out with this camera).
The Canon EOS 50D performs very well and deserves an excellent rating among DSLR cameras. Image quality is certainly good with low-noise, good color accuracy and reliable exposure.
Overall, the 50D is an excellent photographic tool that’s flexible and delivers very good image quality.
The Canon 50D is a great mid range camera. Not quite a professional level camera in that it’s not using a “full frame” sensor but by no means “entry level” This camera will produce great results for you.
The combination of speed and performance makes this the perfect camera for the enthusiast or anyone looking to upgrade from an entry-level dSLR.
The ultimate test of a camera for me is whether I’d want to own it, and I’d want to own the EOS 50D.
If you are serious about your photography in general and can afford the higher price, the Canon EOS 50D is my recommendation over the XSi.
The 50D continues to prove that Canon has one of the fastest (if not the fastest) AF systems, extremely high-resolution CMOS sensors with very impressive high ISO performance, and now offers (for some users, at least) a functional live view system.
So while the 40D is great, and will remain in the market, the Canon 50D incorporates plenty of enhancements worth the couple-hundred extra bucks. The Canon 50D is an excellent digital SLR.
It is an all-round DSLR camera for the enhanced hobby photographer who can deal with any branch of photography with this camera.
Below ISO 1600 image output is clean with well balanced contrast and colors and as you would expect from a DSLR with a 15 megapixel sensor the 50D delivers a fair amount of detail.
The 50D is a solid performer, but didn’t outshine the alternatives. If you’re already a Canon user, possibly moving from entry- to mid-level SLRs, and with a lens or two already in your hands, then it could be a good choice for you.
The Canon EOS 50D is a worthy update to the already excellent EOS 40D, equipping it not just with the latest features, but also a significant boost in resolution without compromising noise levels.
Though the 50D isn’t the successor to the 40D, it offers numerous improvements that may be worth the upgrade–or the outright new purchase–depending on your priorities. After having experienced the quality and depth of color in the new LCD screen it will be very difficult to go back to the 40D and to other comparable models in its class.
Interestingly, low-light performance was generally outstanding, with no visible noise in shots right up to ISO 1600 and very little noise at ISO 3200. By ISO 6400, noise was visible – although not obvious.
The extra resolution, and the addition of three anti-reflective coatings makes a huge difference to clarity and visibility in both bright and poor light. Arguably, the EOS 50D is the first Canon DSLR that really shows sharp images as properly sharp on the LCD, which makes checking critical focus in playback much easier than it was in the past.
Considered on its own terms, the EOS 50D is a more than worthy addition to Canon’s semi-pro DSLR line-up. It boasts a significant number of refinements to a proven design that current EOS users will welcome, whilst adding enough features to catch-up with and in some ways surpass the Nikon D300.
It is overall a nice camera and I don’t think most poeple would be disappointed with getting the 50D. However, the only caveat is that, do not expect the 50D to show any real imrpovement in high ISO performance comapred to the 40D and the competition.
One of the most striking differences is the provision of a greatly improved LCD. The size remains unchanged at 3.0″ but the resolution rises from 230,000 dots to 920,000. This is effectively a change from 320 x 240 RGB pixels to 640 x 480 RGB pixels, putting it on a par with the latest high-end Nikons and Sony A700.
Canon 50D Official Images
Canon 50D ISO 1600 Official Sample Image (Click for Full Size)
” 3? High Resolution OLED LCD ”
Is the display OLED or LCD? It can’t be both.
they probably just mean OLED electronic viewfinder. still OLED would be awesome!…and somewhat expensive, i would imagine.
Sure it can:
it can be LCD illuminated by OLED, instead of either illuminated by electro-luminescent or cold-cathode fluorescent tube, right?
I just wish Canon’d treat their customers right & fix the 1D/1Ds III focus problem, instead of pretending it doesn’t exist, & hoping everyone drops ANOTHER $8000 when they put out a new version…
Pretty sleazy way to be “loyal”.
Also, their dead-goddamn-slow card-writing, too:
by switching to Nikon, you can DOUBLE your card-write-speed, which means you lose less shots.
Canon cares?
no evidence of it..
Nikon’s Microsoft Windows RAW format 6000 Coolpix proves they aren’t trustworthy, either.
Both of ’em committed to being ignorant, gotta wonder..
Coool pretty cool.
I saw above what is expected from Canon. Not so much but certainly not so less.Canon always made a very precise balance among specifications of upper and new models according to old ones.Very smart trade action.So the old model’s sale do not drop instantly and the new model left some room for next generation and the market changing cyle which is about 2-3 year for a new DSLR body.(Which is approxiamtely the time of death shutters for normal pro usage )
50D seems to hit the above target.Let us wait the output from the camera.I read so many articles about D700 and D300 also D3 just D700 seems to me a great output performer against Canon flagships. At base iso I do not like the jpegs of D3 after 3 years innovation I expected to see much more ahead result from Nikon.(especially in fine detail and previous yellow overcast in some jpegs) But the resultof D700 just cought and a little up the image quality of 5D.( especially at high iso)
I give importance 3 basic and for me the most important additions in specifications.Those are;
15.1 megapixel CMOS sensor
DIGIC 4
9 point af (All Cross Type)
Others are to be found among others:) even better.But the three musketeers are the real power of the Canon.
A crop sensor which reaches 15 mp somewhat reach the border of smilating the 35mm formats film lines.I guess it is something above 16,2-4 mp.For a crop sensor this is a big test. Canon may maxmimize the new Cmos technology’s light sensitiveness in order to make pixels gather optimum light and reduce the noise signals.
DIGIC 4-Faster is better of course but I want Canon will catch the delta scores of Olmypus E3 below 7 may be 6,75-50.(I know this in not the only factor I herad someone say Zuiko Lens) Canon has the potential to do this.
9 point af-Canon almost unbeatable about AF and precision.(every company may face AF problems after new models debuts especially pro or semi-pro class) I hope all this points covers f2,8 :)
Ok everthing seems right but it will be the right time to make areal conclusion after seeing images straight from the camera… the most important thing of the tendecy among photoworld is iso as pop photo says iso 1600 becomes new 200 ann the iso cronws may reply well to Nikonians especially at this point.At least I hope so..
So it it VGA or 902k pixels? Cuz VGA is 640×480 = 307,200 pixels, about a third of the 902k mentioned.
It’s [VGA resolution] x 3 (i.e. number of R/G/B sub-pixels in pixel). That’s the way the photographic companies use to describe their LCD so it looks better.
But why not a SD card. CF is on the way out.
I think you got the viewfinder magnification wrong. It is .95 and not .97.
@Ano – Duly noted and corrected. Thanks.
What difference will a newbie like me see with the 12800 ISO rating (over the 40D 3200)? Will this make a big difference to me?
Canon has the best customer service out there… I was doing a shoot in a abandoned building a historical society we the floor collapsed sending me and my 1Dk3 down almost 2 stories I was ok for the most part the 1D took it hard busted the screen and cracked the casing but I was still able to finish the shoot and when I sent the camera in for repair Canon fixed it and sent it back no charge… Can’t beat that. And they fixed the focusing problem while they had the camera. They did the same thing for a friend of mine with a 5D with water damage. I will always have a Canon on my shoulder and I push Canon whenever I can.
Would it be worth up-grading to the 50d if I already own the 40d?
I was thinking of getting the 50d and using my beloved 40d as my backup. It has been an amazing camera and has given me some wonderful photos. But then, I really do want a full frame camera–portraits,landscapes, wide angle, underwater to complement the 1.6 crop factor on the 40d which has been great for telephoto work. So, I am waiting for the follow-on to the 5d. OTOH, I may keep the 40d anyway and still get the 5d followon. Nice choices to contemplate.
Try to get rid off 40D as soon as possible, 50D is close math with better features.
As far as my statistics for pre-orders of 50D tells – they are huge !!!
http://www.canon50d.us
I bought mine in New York 7 days ago.
So far I got Err99 while using the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro once, after 10 photos.
Switched off & replaced battery, error not reappeared.
One Major Problem:
Neither my 100mm macro nor my 100-400 IS wil not focus properly!!
They worked fine with my now sold 40D body.
The problem is easily explained:
When going from a close focus to distant focus (and distant to close), there is no focusing whatoever.
I will have to manually focus, only then will the autofocus kick in & it focuses properly.
Have anyone heard of thois problem?
Returning the body for a replacement is not straightforward, as I live in Dubai & it has a USA & Canada warranty only.
Canon made a 50D one year after the 40D because of the Nikon D300. Great news for me, because I’ll get the 40D with the 17-85 IS USM soon :)
Has anyone noticed a pink cast on the photos on white? it comes out on screen and on prints the same does anyone know if you can tone a certain colour i only have had the 50d for 2 days upgraded from the 30d so am still getting to know it
As far as I am concerned the 50D is junk- the images are soft or fuzzy when a long lens is used- I use a Canon 300 2.8. Them images look smugded and when blown up to 100% lack any sharp detail. I have sent it back to Canon for repair and they tell me its the lens- Note I use all Canon pro lens and when used on my other Canon bodies the images are sharp.
mycamera50d &mylense18to125sigma
probalam err 01 coming
i want to buy manual of canon 50d or magazine of 50d..i really need it..thanks