Canon EOS 50D

Front
The front of the 50D is dominated by the lens mount, which is an EF style that's compatible with most Canon mount lenses, including the cheaper EF-S ones used on many low-end SLRs such as the Digital Rebel. Other features of note include the pop-up flash that's hidden under the Canon logo, the lens release button to the right of the lens mount, the shutter button on the top left and the AF illuminator to the shutter's right.

The front of the D50 is mostly dominated by the lens mount

Back
The back of the D50 is where the real action is. The main feature that leaps out and grabs you is the screen: a big 3-inch LCD with an impressive 920,000 pixels. That provides a very sharp image, which is excellent for checking the focus during playback or when shooting in Live View mode. Around the screen are the controls; underneath are buttons for going into playback mode, for deleting images, for putting info up on the screen, for setting the picture mode and accessing other functions. Next to these buttons is the on/off switch, which also acts to enable or disable the scroll wheel above it. In the middle of this scroll wheel is the set button, which selects menu options. Above this is the 4-way joystick control, which is used for navigating around the menu structure.

Above the screen are more buttons; the menu button and the Live View button. Next is the viewfinder. Finally, on the top left of the back are a group three buttons; one for enabling the AF in Live View mode and two for zooming in and out in the playback mode. When shooting, these buttons also double as the focus point selector and the exposure lock. All three are within easy reach of the thumb when holding the camera in one hand, making for easy control of these features when shooting.

The back of the D50 is a busy place, with a 3-inch LCD
screen and lots of buttons

On the left side, the ports are located under
two rubber covers

The right side is significantly less interesting; there are no major features here except the loop for the neck strap connection and the cover to the memory card slot. Canon seems to be fighting the trend towards SDHC Cards that we've seen in other manufacturers (and in Canon's own lower end Digital Rebel models); the 50D uses CompactFlash cards to store its photos.

The top of the 50D positions a lot of function dials and buttons in one place

Bottom
The bottom of the 50D is not a hugely exciting place, unless you happen to be a tripod. If you are, this is where you connect to the camera,  through the tripod socket in the center of the camera base. On the right is the cover for the battery cavity.

The bottom of the 50D is home to the tripod socket and
the battery compartment