Canon EOS 50D - Expert Reviews

Review summary: Canon's 50D is quite possibly its most controversial digital SLR to date. Since it stole an early lead on other brands in the DSLR stakes with the (at the time) radically low-priced 300D, Canon has gained a reputation for using its market share as a ...

Verdict: But, lately, this approach has worked less well, with competitors like Sony, and especially old rival Nikon, gaining kudos for both the features they've introduced, and the image quality that results. Canon has appeared too often to be introducing ...

Award: Recommended!

Review summary: Canon's latest semi-pro DSLR has a 15.1MP CMOS sensor and 6.3fps continuous shooting

Review summary: Will the EOS 50D, complete with new image processor, put Canon back in contention for the enthusiast's pound?

Pros: Resolution, ISO range, frame rate, 'out of the box' sharpness, loads of useful software

Cons: Pricing, not much else I can find to complain about

Verdict: Having used an EOS 40D for much of this year, I would never describe it as a bad camera - far from it - but the EOS 50D improves on it in so many key areas. The higher ISO sensitivity, the impressive pixel count and the ballistic frame rate (when you ...

Review summary: Boasting a 50 percent increase in pixel count, the Canon EOS 50D is an update to the hugely capable but underrated 10Mp EOS 40D digital SLR.

Verdict: The new Canon EOS 50D is a superbly versatile piece of kit. If you’re an existing Canon owner in search of a rugged APS-C format camera, there’s no need to look any further. But, if you’re in the market for a new system, it’s not quite as ...

Review summary: This is a 15 megapixel single lens reflex, supplied with an 18-200mm lens with effective optical stabilisation. This is the evolutionary replacement for the 40D, with more pixels and a high resolution 75mm LCD to bring it into line with Nikon and Sony ...

Pros: Image quality is exceptionally fine, as we expect from this line of cameras. Skin tones are natural and colours are accurate. The long zoom lens works better than expected, focussing smartly at all focal lengths but with some distortion at the ...

Cons: A three exposure auto-bracket for a camera in this price range is inadequate.

Verdict: Some reviewers have been harsh in their criticism of the 50D, generally concluding that its image quality is not as good as the 40D. We tried extreme pixel peeping and there does seem to be some fall-off in sharpness and contrast but we doubt that it ...