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Canon EOS 50D

Digital Camera Review

This review is organized into 15 pages

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Physical Tour

October 28, 2008 By Tim Barribeau

1 Comments
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Section The Good The Bad

Tour

Rugged body

Uninspired design

Testing/Performance

Good overall results

Did not perform particularly well in any test

Components

High quality, 3-inch, 920,000-pixel LCD screen. Vastly improved Live View

No in-camera image stabilization

Design/Layout

Solid and well designed camera, good menu system

Weighs over three pounds with lens and battery

Modes

Fast burst mode, Creative-Auto Mode for simplified manual controls

Minimal editing controls in playback

Control Options

Very wide range of ISOs and white balance options

Only one fluorescent white balance preset

Image Parameters

Multiple size RAW files

Limited picture effects

Connectivity/Extras

Industry standard plugs for all inputs, great battery life

Included software is uninspiring

The 15-megapixel EOS 50D is Canon's newest mid-range SLR. Available for $1399 for the body alone, or packaged with a variety of kit lenses, it's the successor to 2007's 40D. After putting the 50D through a rigorous body of tests (undertaken using the 28-135mm lens, part of a $1600 kit set), we came out with an impression of it being a solid, dependable camera, but without any amazing new features. The improved Live View functionality is a pleasant addition, as is the new, 920,000 pixel LCD screen, and the bump up to 15 megapixels. However, the 50D didn't blow us away in any of our tests, instead maintaining a universally average result. The 50D showed itself to be a solid, incremental upgrade in the mid-level Canon cameras.

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