Nikon D50 VS Canon 350D

Hello!

Nikon D50 VS Canon 350D

I´ve seen both taking static and moving shots mainly of wildlife – condors, blue-footed boobies… the usual stuff(!)… but not of aircraft 😮

I am presently traveling in South America so walking into a 1st class camera shop to try the two out is not an option, but once I land in OZ, I want to be able to walk into a shop with an informed idea of what is on offer.

Iam currently starting to search the web for reviews, but wondered if you guys and girls could be of any assistance?

With the exception of a the megapixel count, what are the main differences in the two cameras from the point of view of a novice DSLR user, and which would you recommend ( any lense advise would be excellent.)

I am going to be using the camera for airshow shots on my return to the UK, but also for the good old Holiday snaps for the next 6 months. …

Bit of an open question, but I´d prefer to know from my truster Forumites, rather than a shady sales man in a cmera shop.

Thanks in advance.

APC104 🙂

APC104 just posted this stuff for Delta, but their is more than Canon and Nikon out their so before you buy anything, check out the New Olympus E500. This camera is priced in the EOS 350D Nikon D50 range but has the features of the 20D. Not only this, but the Olympus kit lens are far and away the best on the market, and the build quality, is second to none. Just ask the shops how many come back for repair. Also the Olympus is the only manufacturer that can offer wide angle.

The twin lens kit (14-45mm + 40-150) is outstanding value for money. Also the Olympus DSLR’s are the only cameras with self cleaning sensors. You will note that the focal length of these lenses produces a field of view equivalent to twice the focal length, so a 150 is like 300. Combine this with the 1.4 converter and you have 420 with no loss of quality. Or the single lens kit, and buy the outstanding 50-200 that will give 560 equivalent in combination with the 1.4 converter.

Camera bodies are being upgraded/ replaced every three or 4 years currently, if not more often and it is better to put your money into quality glass than it is to spend on bodies and cheep glass. Also the Olympus lenses are new and designed for digital, and if you do not have the investment in Canon or Nikon lenses then it is worth looking about.

Panasonic is due to release and body next year that will be compatible with the four thirds system, where all bodies and lens built to this standard are completely interchangeable. This will improve the choice you will have going forward and if you look at how Panasonic has revolutionised the camcorder, then you have to assume that they would not invest in a system that does not have a big future. Checkout the following links and visits the various forums. It’s very enlightening, and will help you make your decisions.

http://www.4-3system.com/ This site is a good site for all that is available in the 4/3rds system.

http://www.dpreview.com/ this sight is good for camera reviews and the forums will give an insight into reliability. I urge you to check them out.

http://www.myfourthirds.com/ This sight for images taken by ordinary photographers like you and me that demonstrates the superiority and potential of the system.

I myself got my first Olympus camera an OM1 in 1975, followed by an OM2 in 1980, and an OM4 in 1984, along with 7 lenses and have never had to have any repairs done other than one lens checked out after it was dropped. (cost me £35). This is a record not match by my friends who followed the flow and bought other makes. I’m currently awaiting the new E3 due out next year.

Hope this helps

🙂 Does anyone know if the Nikon has a similar function to the Canon for tracking a fast moving object and maintaining focus?

Yes it does. However, from my limited experience of the D70s I am not sure how effective it really is for fast moving aircraft, at least with a Sigma lens (70-200mm EX DG APO). It might work better with a marque lens, but I have no experience of this.

🙂

Does anyone know if the Nikon has a similar function to the Canon for tracking a fast moving object and maintaining focus?

Tar! 😉

Yes, it does in the AF-C mode. For an in-depth description/review of the D50 you could visit this site http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50/

My .02 cents ..

Both bodies are good.. both system are also very good, but, but ignore all that for now..

Decide on what kind of photography you are going to do.. Then decide on the lenses you are going to buy today and what you are going to spend on in future. Check out offerings from both manufacturer and it should be obvious where you wanna be..

Budget for lenses before you start looking at bodies.

Cameras and features are 10% of the story..
Technique is 50% and lens 40% atleast according to me. Some of you may disagree but thats okay..

Nicer your glass is, better will be your percentage of keepers.

Again when buying lenses, avoid buying the cheapest bargain basement lens, but dont wait for ever to buy the best of the best.

🙂

Cheers for the advise!

Does anyone know if the Nikon has a similar function to the Canon for tracking a fast moving object and maintaining focus?

Purely from reading reviews and talking to friends the Nikon option is looking slightly stronger, despite the lower Pixel count.

Any advise on a good zoom lense that will allow me to produce results at airshows, but also fit the holiday/ general use bracket quite well?

Tar! 😉

Handling is very important too. Try both if you can. Personally I have a Nikon D70s and find the handling excellent and I have no reason to doubt that the D50 is as good. Everything that you might want to alter regularly, apart from the focusing modes, can be accessed from buttons on the camera body eg ISO, white balance, metering mode. No rummaging around in hard to see menus on the screen, unlike some of the competition. In short it handles like a proper well thought out camera.

It is also generally observed that the current DSLR Nikons turn out sharper looking images than Canons, even with fewer pixels to start with. I think this is probably something to do with the strength of the anti aliasing filter. The downside of this is that my D70s does very occasionally cause slightly jagged edges on prints in very high contrast situations.

However, either of your possible choices are good cameras. So try both if you can and then make a decision. And buy a good lens to go with the body….the Canon kit lens is not a good performer. Nikon’s offering is very good.

At the end of the day they are both very good light boxs . the question you must ask yourself when looking and holding a nice new camera body in the slr area is .
Lens if you want to shoot aircraft static and flying you need lens this is the bit that gets the best pics . crap lens crap pics in a lot of cases. so you must look at them 1st really what size and what price and will it give you the quality shots you are after .

I bought a Nikon D50 last week and am very pleased with it – I used it at the weekend in auto mode to see how it coped and was impressed – I had the good fortune to be in the garden as Breighton’s Mustang “Susy” flew over in a clear blue sky- too high for the standard zoom to give a good picture but the autofocus locked on the “dot in the sky” very quickly and the picture was good enough for me to enlarge it and confirm that it was “Susy” the rest of the weekend the only flying things I saw were seagulls but again the auto focus and autoexposure did not have a problem.
Not wanting to get into the Canon vs Nikon debate (as I doubt you will feel restricted or disappointed with either – they are both very good makes – which is why choosing between them is so difficult on a camera vs camera basis) I will just say that after much comparison I just prefered the sample images I saw from the Nikon, the handling of the camera and the standard lens supplied with the kit seems very good (sharp, quick and quiet).Studying the features and technical side of both I found neither had enough of a clear advantage over the other to make my choice – it was a difficult one to make.

Both exciting digital SLR for beginners but I find both lacking in some key features in PRO digital SLR… Not much different in handling. I’ve useds the Canon 300D and D70 which are the older versions and with those I’d recommend the D70 because it dosen’t handle like a novice camera the way a 300D does. D50 is actually sort of a step down model from D70 where they have included better motion focusing but deleted Wireless flash, rear command dials, No DOF preview button, No White Balance fine tuning, 1/8000 sec exposure to 1/4000 sec, less Sensitivity steps from 1/3 EV steps to 1 EV steps. Which makes it sort of a newbie camera…like the 350D

For a little more I’d bet on a used EOS 10D or a EOS 20D. Both would give you roughly same results but a better built body and some handy extra features you might need later.