50D Comments from new users please

Could be the settings/lens/user??..​....my wife was using the 40D with a Tokina 11-16 and canon 50 1.4....i was using the 50d with canon 24-70 2.8 & Sigma 50-500

to be honest the pics on my website done do it justice...but had to shrink files for the web..

Ray.Petri wrote in post #6370469
Ok Whitlam - Thanks - so we'll some results or comments from you shortly - Yes?

going away for a few days down south so it will get a real work out.

Like the 40D it feels well sorted

Whitlam wrote in post #6370515
going away for a few days down south so it will get a real work out.

Like the 40D it feels well sorted

Looking forward to hearing your views on it, have a great trip.

In the middle of a field trip to the south of Western Australia.

Taken about 800 shots with the 50D in various conditions. Very windy today, with heavy cloud cover.

The 50D seems to focus faster than the 40D (especailly with the 100-400 L series lens on) and certainly has better and quicker focus in lower light conditions.

The LCD is a bit of a mixed bag - viewing the images is realy great (the details fantastic). However it seems to be a smudge magnet (despite Canon's claims that it is smudge resistant) - and the fingerprints / smudges seem harder to clean off than the 40D (a very small price to pay for the quality of the screen).

In direct sunlight the LCD seems to be a blue / black colour (when it doesn't have an image on it).

Need a bigger memory card as 8gb gets chewed up fairly quickly (abt 400 RAW shots) - although I always carry 3 spares with me.

Love the menu system - very good.

Overall it does seem to be a step up from the 40D - certainly in the focus department.

A couple more days to go before I get home and process the pics.

So far, so good.

Hello Whitlam - Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. There seems to be very little feedback on the 50D at present - I will most probably press the button on this when the price settles a bit - or maybe sooner. It would be nice to see some great shots from someone - I can't find many on the forum yet. Forumwise - the 50D seems to have gone quiet.
You seem to have a fairly noteworthy collection of Canon at your disposal - I am building up but I like the 1.6 crop for telephoto work - I am glad your impression is that the 100-400 AF is faster - it certainly needs speeding up a bit - and also my 100-400 might just benefit from a tweak on the focus adjustment.

Keep the comments rolling in - Please.

I posted this elsewhere, but I think it fits nicely with what you're looking for Ray.....

I know one thing a lot of of you have been interested in is how well the new 50D performs in AI servo mode. Especially after the issues Canon had with the early 1D mk III models.

Well today I went to a Birds Of Prey centre to do my own tests. I'm no expert when it comes to wildlife shooting, nor do I pretend to be. My field is weddings and portraits but I do enjoy shoting birds in flight hence my test. I also felt semi-qualified in that for a short time I owned a 1D mk III and hence can compare the two.

In terms of the AF tracking I can honestly say that the results I achieved were almost identical between the ID mk III and the 50D. I had two or three in a sequence out of focus (OOF) with both cameras but I wouldn't say one camera had less OOF than the other.

With regards to IQ I realise that the 50D has a greater pixel count but I actually feel the IQ was better from the 1D mk III. In focus shots were somehow "cleaner". Although there's not much in it. With regards to the 50D's performance against the 40D I would say the 50D is a lot better at tracking moving subjects.

I realise that all of this is purely anecdotal and you'll obviously want to read the pro reviews for yourselves. But I know some people are considering an upgrade or a change and I thought this might be of interest. Also, sometimes it's nice to see what the "average Joe" can achieve in real world environments.

Anyway, if you want to see some of my results you will find them at www.ryanjarvisphotogra​phy.co.uk under "events". Just look for the birdies.



P.S Meant to say - these were all taken with a Canon 70-200 F/2/8L IS lens.

I'm holding out a bit longer. There are two thing I'd like to see resolved before I pull the trigger, those and it's not yet available here. But the banding issue looks as if it might be the beta ARC but then again.. The other is that many of the shots look plain soft when compared to the 40D. Need to get a few more cameras out there and get more real world experience before I jump in.

gjl711 wrote in post #6392957
I'm holding out a bit longer. There are two thing I'd like to see resolved before I pull the trigger, those and it's not yet available here. But the banding issue looks as if it might be the beta ARC but then again.. The other is that many of the shots look plain soft when compared to the 40D. Need to get a few more cameras out there and get more real world experience before I jump in.

I've not experienced any softness from the pictures I've made. The only one's that were soft were down to user-error

In fact I took a few candids today and was really impressed with the overall IQ.

I've owned a 40D and don't feel there's a difference in sharpness at all. Maybe the pro reviewers can put the argument to bed for us?

ryanyboy wrote in post #6393025
I've not experienced any softness from the pictures I've made. The only one's that were soft were down to user-error

In fact I took a few candids today and was really impressed with the overall IQ.

I've owned a 40D and don't feel there's a difference in sharpness at all. Maybe the pro reviewers can put the argument to bed for us?

That's what I'm hoping to hear, that it's user error or beta conversion tools. The samples posted so far are all over the place. Some look horrible and others look great. I'll probably pull the trigger as soon as they start showing up anyway As my 40D will soon have a new home and I need a replacement.

Ok Ryanyboy - I thought the birds were good. It seems we are now collecting a few positive comments on the 50D.
I was never over-impressed with my 40D IQ and when I saw the results of the450D I felt the 450D had an IQ adventage - Just a feeling perhaps but the extra few MPix were making a difference. I should hopefully notice a similar difference at 15MPix.

However, there seems more to this upgrade than MPix alone. Faster AF - Better LCD - Better ISO noise and the ability to micro adjust lens focus. Is that worth £1000+?

I too am waiting, amazon is doing the 40D for half the price of the 50D.
hopefully it will take a drop in price once it is in full circulation,

my 20D is still going well but it is starting to get on a bit!!

Ray.Petri wrote in post #6394715
...I was never over-impressed with my 40D IQ and when I saw the results of the450D I felt the 450D had an IQ adventage - Just a feeling perhaps but the extra few MPix were making a difference. ...

I had the exact same impression. I upgraded mainly for live view and maybe my expectations were set too high, but I was expecting that a xxD camera would have offered at least a marginal improvement over the xxxD body I had at the time.

Ray.Petri wrote in post #6394715
However, there seems more to this upgrade than MPix alone. Faster AF - Better LCD - Better ISO noise and the ability to micro adjust lens focus. Is that worth £1000+?

That was the main reason I upgraded to the 40, features and that is again the reason I'm upgrading to the 50D. I really need microfocus adjustment for my 100-400. It's just a little off and Canon can not get it any closer. It's been back a couple of time. It's close, but I can see it in nearly every picture and it buggs me.

Hi John gjl711 - It's a pity that there is isn't a more consistant quality control when it come to expensive lens - I'm waiting to tweak my 100-400L IS. I did return 2 copies before I was reasonably satisfied though.

It seems the 40D is the sort of camera that needs some practice for the best results - I found I could no longer be a bit haphazard as I was with the 20D, and 30D. I expect the 50D will fall into the same bracket.

Ridebmx wrote in post #6397120

seems a lil OOF... fixed it a lil for ya

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.