Compared to... (features & specifications)

Despite its cut-down feature set the D50 still manages to trump the competition in several areas, most notably flexibility of image processing, build quality and operational speed and performance (except continuous shooting rate). Price wise it slots in between the Pentax *ist DS and the Canon EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT). Obviously the big decision for anyone who hasn't yet committed to a particular lens mount is should they spend a little more and get the eight megapixel Canon EOS 350D (Digital Rebel XT) or decide that six megapixels is more than sufficient (and trust me, for most people it is) and have a wider choice. Of course in our opinion one of the most important factors in any selection decision must be image quality, and we're comparing that on the following pages...

	Nikon D50	Canon EOS 350D	Pentax *ist DS
Price body only	$749	$899	$599
Price kit	$899	$999	$799
Announced	20 Apr 05	17 Feb 05	13 Sep 04
Review	You are here	Click here	Click here
Kit lens	18 - 55 mm F3.5 - F5.6G (27 - 82.5 mm equiv.)	18 - 55 mm F3.5 - F5.6 II (28.8 - 88 mm equiv.)	18 - 55 mm F3.5 - F5.6 AL (27 - 82.5 mm equiv.)
Body	Plastic	Plastic	Plastic
Sensor	6 megapixel CCD	8 megapixel CMOS	6 megapixel CCD
Lens mount	Nikon F	Canon EF / EF-S	Pentax KAF2, KAF, KA
FOV crop	1.5x (Nikon DX)	1.6x	1.5x
Modes	Auto, P, S, A, M, 6 preset scene	Auto, P, A, S, M, A-DEP, 6 preset scene	Auto, P, S, A, M, B, 7 preset scene
Image formats	JPEG, RAW	JPEG, RAW	JPEG, RAW
RAW+JPEG *1	One RAW, One JPEG	One RAW, One JPEG	No
Image params	Auto Sharpness (6 settings) Tone (6 settings) Saturation (3 settings) Hue (7 settings) 7 preset parameter sets	Contrast (5 settings) Sharpness (5 settings) Saturation (5 settings) Color tone (5 settings) 3 preset parameter sets	Saturation (5 settings) Sharpness (5 settings) Contrast (5 settings) 2 preset image tones
Color space	sRGB (2), Adobe RGB	sRGB, Adobe RGB	sRGB, Adobe RGB
ISO	200 - 1600 (1 EV steps)	100 - 1600 (1 EV steps)	200 - 3200 (1 EV steps)
EV steps	1/3 or 1/2 EV	1/3 or 1/2 EV	1/3 or 1/2 EV
Exp. compen.	+/- 5.0 EV	+/- 2.0 EV	- 2.0 to +4.0 EV
Flash exp compen.	-3.0 to +1.0 EV	-2.0 to +2.0 EV	-2.0 to +1.0 EV
Metering	3D matrix II, CW Avg, Spot	35 zone, Partial, CW Avg	Multi-seg, CW Avg, Spot
Shutter	30 - 1/4000 sec	30 - 1/4000 sec	30 - 1/4000 sec
Flash X-sync	External up to 1/500 sec	1/200 sec	1/180 sec
AF mode	Auto, Single, Continuous	One shot, AI Servo, Auto	Single, Continuous
AF area mode	Single, Dynamic, Closest	Single, Dynamic	Auto, Manual, Center
AF assist	White lamp	Flash strobe, must be up	Flash strobe, must be up
AF system	5-point Multi-CAM900	7-point TTL CMOS sensor	11-point TTL Phase matching sensor
Continuous *2	JPEG: 2.5 fps, 12 images RAW: 2.5 fps, 4 images	JPEG: 3 fps, 14 images RAW: 3 fps, 4 images	JPEG: 2.8 fps, 8 images RAW: 2.8 fps, 5 images
Self-timer	2, 5, 10 or 20 sec	10 sec (3 sec with mirror lock-up)	2 or 12 sec
Mirror lock-up	No	Yes (custom function)	Yes, with self-timer
WB	Auto, 6 preset, Manual	Auto, 6 preset, Manual	Auto, 6 preset, Manual
WB fine tuning	No	Yes	No
Bracketing	AE, White Balance	AE, White Balance	AE
Flash sync	Front or Rear curtain	Front or Rear curtain	Front curtain, Rear only with external flash
Viewfinder	Pentamirror Eyepoint: 18 mm Magnification: 0.75x (-1.6 to +0.5 m-1 dioptre)	Pentamirror Eyepoint: 21 mm Magnification: 0.8x (-3.0 to +1.0 m-1 diopter)	Pentaprism Eyepoint: 20 mm Magnification: 0.95x (-2.5 to +1.5 m-1 dioptre)
LCD	2.0", 130,000 pixels	1.8", 115,000 pixels	2.0", 210,000 pixels
Orientation sensor	Yes	Yes	No
Custom functions	6 or 20 settings	9 functions with 24 settings	20 settings
Storage	Secure Digital (SD)	Compact Flash FAT16 / FAT32	Secure Digital (SD)
Power	Lithium-Ion EN-EL3	Lithium-Ion NB-2LH	4 x AA batteries
Connectivity	USB 2.0 (Hi-speed)	USB 2.0 (Hi-speed)	USB 2.0 (Hi-speed)
Text comment	Yes (set on camera)	Yes (set via PC software)	No
PictBridge	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dimensions	133 x 102 x 76 mm	127 x 94 x 64 mm	125 x 93 x 66 mm
Weight (no batt)	540 g	490 g	505 g
Remote release	Infrared (optional)	Wired (optional) Infrared (optional)	Infrared (optional)
Vertical grip	No	Yes, optional	No
Status LCD	Top of camera	Rear of camera, backlit	Top of camera
Command dials	One rear	One top	One rear
Power on	Virtually instant	Virtually instant	Just over one second
Shutter release	Very fast	Fast	Fast
Build quality	Very good	Good	Good

*1 D50: RAW + Basic quality JPEG, 350D: RAW + Fine quality JPEG, *ist DS:
*2 These are conservative figures with a standard card