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ePhotoZine Nikon D50 SLR Digital SLR R...Macworld Nikon D50Photography Review Nikon D50 ReviewSteve's Digicams Nikon D50Ken Rockwell Nikon D50 |
Below the image, the D50 displays shooting data in a panel of green text, accompanied by icons: focus confirmation, focus area and focus mode, flash exposure lock, shutter speed, aperture, flash and ambient exposure compensation, shots remaining on the memory card or shots remaining in the buffer, white balance preset, flash ready indicator, autoexposure lock, analog exposure display, Auto ISO indicator, and USB connection mode indicator. It's quite a bit of information, and mostly useful while you're shooting. There are a couple exceptions: the autofocus area is already indicated on the image, so it's redundant; and the Auto ISO indicator seems like a setting that could be on the control panel display exclusively.
Color LCD
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Shutter speed
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Exposure compensation
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Flash compensation
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ISO
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ISO mode
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Battery status
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Flash sync mode
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Image Quality
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Image Size
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White balance
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Shots remaining on card
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Shots remaining in buffer
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White balance recording
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PC mode
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Beep status
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Aperture
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Exposure Compensation Value
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Flash Compensation Value
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Flexible Program indicator
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Focus Area
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Autofocus mode
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Metering mode
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Self-timer/ remote control
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Bracketing progress
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Bracketing mode
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Clock battery status
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Drive mode
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A fair number of these data are modal – you only see the Exposure compensation value when you hold down the proper button, for instance – but the display is still pretty crowded. While the D50 is Nikon's most simplified DSLR, the displays are still organized for control, not to insulate the user from complexity.
In fact, the D50 display feels a bit more jammed that the displays on Nikon's pro-level D2 series cameras, because they have a third display, and therefore a bit more room to spread out the information.
Flash (7.0)
The Nikon D50's pop-up flash is a small unit that pops up directly above the lens, which helps prevent
ugly shadows when shooting horizontals. The flash has an ISO 200 guide number of 49 (in feet), which gives you f/5.6 at about nine feet. The small size of the flash reflector makes the shadows it casts very sharp, which would not be ideal for portraits – such harsh light plays up wrinkles and blemishes.
The camera's hot shoe accepts Nikon's excellent line of accessory flashes. The camera offers flash sync up to 1/500 of a second – a big advantage for users who want to use fill-flash outdoors. By contrast, the Canon Rebel XT syncs at less than half that speed at 1/200th of a second.
The D50 offers a wide range of sync modes: front-curtain sync, slow sync, red-eye reduction, red-eye reduction with slow sync, and rear-curtain sync.
Zoom Lens (8.0)
The D50 comes with an 18 to 55mm, f/3.5 to f/5.6 zoom lens that's comparable to a 27 to 82mm lens on a 35mm camera. That range will offer a variable perspective that begins as a reasonable wide angle and extends to a telephoto that's nice for portraits.
If Nikon is trying to be competitive with this lens, it's only on the basis of price. The 18-55 range is very common on kit lenses. The aperture is just as common, and it's a real problem. F/5.6 is not a useful maximum aperture for indoor, available light shooting – or for shooting with the built-in flash, for that matter. The flash won't light up a subject more than 9 feet away at ISO 200 at that aperture. The lens has a plastic mount, rather than metal, and feels insubstantial.

The lens offers only auto and manual focus modes, not the A/M setting available on some better Nikon lenses, which permits manual tweaking in autofocus modes.
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