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Outstanding speed and resolution for the discerning photographer: the EOS 50D

Canon 50D

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 26 August 2008: Canon today strengthens its EOS range with the addition of a powerful new digital SLR: the EOS 50D. With a 15.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor, 6.3 frames per second shooting and Canon’s latest DIGIC 4 image processor, the EOS 50D delivers unparalleled speed and resolution at a price point that is unique in today’s market.

Outstanding, clean images
A newly designed 15.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor delivers ultra-detailed, low-noise images – ideal for large-scale reproduction or creative cropping. New manufacturing processes, plus redesigned photo diodes and microlenses, extend the light gathering capabilities of the sensor – allowing more pixels to be fitted on the CMOS sensor without compromising image quality. These changes ensure improved high ISO performance and low noise. High-speed, low light shooting is enabled by ISO levels of 3200, expandable to an ultra-sensitive 12800.

The EOS Integrated Cleaning System – including the improved Self Cleaning Sensor Unit with a new fluorine coating – increases protection of image quality by helping to reduce, repel and remove unwanted dust from the sensor. Stubborn particles can be removed automatically in post-production with Dust Delete Data and Canon’s included Digital Photo Professional software.

Rapid-fire performance
Canon’s new DIGIC 4 processor is fast enough to allow up to 6.3fps continuous shooting, in bursts of up to 90 JPEGs with a UDMA card. Used with Canon’s wide area AF system, which locks onto subjects with 9 individual cross type sensors, stunning action sequences can be captured – even in low-light conditions. This makes the EOS 50D particularly suited to sports and wildlife shooting.

DIGIC 4 works with the CMOS sensor to deliver 14-bit image processing, for smooth gradation and natural-looking colours – as well as ensuring ultra-fast startup times and near-instant image review after shooting.

See everything
A new 3.0” Clear View VGA LCD provides extra-large and wide angle-of-view image review, with plenty of clarity for accurate focus checks in playback. By switching to Live View mode – which displays a real-time image on the LCD – photographers can enjoy simplified shooting from awkward angles, or connect to a PC for remote shooting. Live Mode now offers three ways to auto focus: Quick AF, Live AF, and new Face Detection Live AF, which optimizes focus based on faces detected in the frame – for fast, spontaneous portraiture.

Control and ease
The famously intuitive EOS menu system includes a new Quick Control screen, for instant access to the most commonly-changed settings. A new Creative Auto mode offers automatic focus and exposure – while still allowing creative ‘tweaks’ to settings such as background sharpness.
“For advanced amateurs and semi-professionals – or professionals looking for a powerful backup model – the EOS 50D stands alone,” said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging, Europe. “No other camera in this price bracket offers a comparable combination of speed and image quality.”

Technologies Explained

CMOS
Canon’s CMOS technology is one of the company’s key competitive advantages, with noise reduction circuitry at each pixel site delivering virtually noise-free images. In comparison with CCD technology, the lower power consumption characteristics of Canon’s CMOS sensors also contribute to longer battery life.

Signal conversion in Canon’s CMOS sensors is handled by individual amplifiers at each pixel site. Unnecessary charge transfer operations are avoided, vastly speeding up the process of getting signal to the image processor. Noise generation is reduced, power consumption is limited and faster frame rate potential is increased.

DIGIC
Image data captured by the CMOS sensor is processed by Canon’s purpose-built DIGIC image processors before being written to the camera’s memory card. DIGIC technology uses advanced image processing algorithms to ensure precise, natural colours, accurate white balance, and advanced noise reduction. Ultra-fast processing speeds result in highly responsive camera operation and near-instant start-up times.

DIGIC chips work with a high speed DDR-SDRAM image buffer – reading, processing, compressing and writing image data fast enough to keep the buffer clear during long continuous shooting bursts. And because DIGIC integrates all key processing functions, power consumption is kept to a minimum.

EOS Integrated Cleaning System
The EOS Integrated Cleaning System combats sensor dust in three important ways: Reduce, Repel and Remove.

1. Reduce – Internal camera mechanisms are designed to minimise dust generation. The redesigned body cap prevents dust generation through wear on the cap itself.
2. Repel – Anti-static technologies, including a special fluorine coating, are applied to the low-pass filter covering the front of the sensor so as not to attract dust.
3. Remove – A Self-Cleaning Sensor Unit uses hi-frequency vibrations to shake dust from the infrared filter for a period of approximately one second after each start up. For instant shooting after power up, this feature is disabled immediately the shutter release is depressed.

Canon has also developed an internal Dust Delete Data system, which can map the position of visible dust on the sensor. This can then be deleted automatically after the shoot with the latest Digital Photo Professional software.

Picture Style
Picture Style pre-sets simplify in-camera control over image qualities. Picture Style pre-sets can be likened to different film types – each one offering a different colour response. Within each selectable pre-set, photographers have control over sharpness, contrast, colour tone and saturation. The camera’s factory default configuration is set to deliver immediately-usable JPEG images without need for additional menu settings. Picture Style presets applied to a RAW image can be revised with Canon’s Digital Photo Professional software.

The six pre-sets are:

1. Standard – for crisp, vivid images that don’t require post-processing
2. Portrait – optimises colour tone and saturation and weakens sharpening to achieve attractive skin tones
3. Landscape – for punchier greens and blues with stronger sharpening to give a crisp edge to mountain, tree and building outlines
4. Neutral – ideal for post-processing
5. Faithful – adjusts colour to match the subject colour when shot under a colour temperature of 5200K
6. Monochrome – for black and white shooting with a range of filter effects (yellow, orange, red and green) and toning effects (sepia, blue, purple and green).

Software

Digital Photo Professional Software
Digital Photo Professional software provides high speed, high quality processing of lossless RAW images. Processing with Digital Photo Professional allows real-time display and immediate application of image adjustments, giving control over RAW image variables such as white balance, dynamic range, exposure compensation, noise reduction and colour tone – plus the ability to view Auto Focus points on an image. The Lens Aberration correction tool allows precise correction of different types of distortion caused by certain cameras. Images can be recorded in camera with sRGB or Adobe RGB colour space.

Digital Photo Professional supports sRGB, Adobe RGB, ColorMatch RGB, Apple RGB and Wide Gamut RGB colour spaces. ICC (International Colour Consortium) profiles can be attached to TIFF or JPEG images when converted from RAW. This allows faithful reproduction of colours in software applications that support ICC profiles, such as Adobe Photoshop. For improved efficiency, a set of image adjustments can be saved as a recipe and applied.

EOS Utility
The latest version of EOS Utility provides essential support for Live View remote shooting, camera configuration and image transfers. Tightly integrated with Digital Photo Professional, EOS Utility can be configured to monitor ‘hot’ folders, automatically renaming and moving incoming images to a structured file system. Users can also tag their images with EXIF data, including copyright information.

Picture Style Editor
Picture Style Editor allows users to create individual Picture Styles that fit with their personal requirements. Each Picture Style contains detailed information on how specific colours should be represented within an image. Once new Picture Styles have been created, they can be uploaded directly into the camera and applied to JPEG or RAW images. When working with RAW files in DPP, both personal Picture Styles and the 6 predetermined Picture Styles can all be adjusted.

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It is clear that Canon needed to do something against the success of D300 produced by Canon’s biggest rival, Nikon. So Canon upgraded 40D as expected. But soon everybody saw that 50 D was better than expectations of the photographers and people of the photography industry. We can obviously see some major differences between 50D and 40D, such as the totally new image processor Digic 4. It’s price is also quite good for this kind of DSLR. It is cheaper than Nikon D300. Canon 50D Body Price is $1400 in Amazon.com pre-order (While D300 costs $1600 in the same website). Long story short, with this new semi-pro model, Canon will surely satisfy the customers.

Canon 50D

Basic Features of 50 D

• 15.1 Mega-pixels CMOS sensor
• 6.3frame per second continuous shooting, maximum burst 90 JPEGs with UDMA card
• DIGIC 4 image processor
• ISO 100-3200, expandable to “12800″
• 9 point wide area Auto Focus
• 3.0” Clear View VGA (640 x 480) LCD with Live View mode & Face Detection Live Auto Focus
• Magnesium  body
• EOS Integrated “Cleaning System”
• HDMI connection : for high quality viewing and playback on a High Definition TV
• Compatibility with Canon EF and EF-S lenses.

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Pros:

1. High quality images.

2. High Resolution (12.2 Mpixels)

3. Live View is quite accurate.

4. Lens Kit comes with Anti Shake System (Image Stabilizer)

Cons:

1. Live view is not as fast as Sony A350

2. Screen is fixed. (Sony A350‘s screen can tilt up and down)

Average Body Price: $720

Average Kit Price: $800

(One of my favorite DSLRs)

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Pros;

1. Superb Build

2. Weather Seal

3. This camera is fast; 6 fps Shooting

4. Great Auto-Focus System; 51-Point AF

5. 3inch VGA screen

6. Live View

7. Excellent Viewfinder ; provides %100 coverage

Cons;

1. Anti-Dust system is not so effective.

2. A little bit expensive
Average Body Price ; $1600

Average Kit Price ; $1900

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Pros;

1. Quick handling; a good body shape

2. Live View ability

3. Anti – Dust System

4. PC control

Cons;

1. It is only 10 megapixels, not good enough for a semi-pro SLR

2. Non-VGA screen

3. No HDMI

Average Body Price : $1000

Average Kit Price : $1300

Pros;

1. There’s a built-in anti-shake system in e510

2. Anti-Dust system is quite effective.

3. Live View feature.

Cons;

1. Small Viewfinder

2. Manual focus is motorised.

Average Kit Price: $560

Sony Alpha DSLR – A350

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Pros

1. There is a built-in Anti-Shake system in Sony A350.

2. LCD screen behind the camera can tilt up and down.

3. Live View is pretty fast.

Cons

1. Viewfinder is small.

2. Slow continuous shooting

3. Live view is not %100 accurate.

Average Body Price : $700

Average Kit Price : $800

These two cameras are the most preferred semi-pro digital SLRs. Both of them are great cameras, it is hard to decide which one to buy. I don’t know which one i’ll choose if i decide to change my camera. Each one of these cameras have their own advantages. Nikon D300 has a wider ISO range which is from ISO 100 to ISO 6400 also it is faster than Canon 40D a little bit (start up time etc.). In addition D300 has relatively better auto focus system and faster transfer speed. But is is $500 more expensive than Canon 40D. What makes the situation more complicated is the tiny differences between them. It looks like D300 has better technical features. But 40D is quite good too, for example, it has a good autofocus system also and maybe you don’t even understand which one is better when you are using these cameras. 40D has ISO speeds up to 3200 not ISO6400 like D300 but how many times will you use ISO6400 and i can’t even imagine level of noise in ISO 6400 while i’m not happy with the results of ISO 1600. What i’m trying to say is; technical and performance differences between these two great cameras are so so tiny. and the question is; is it worth to buy D300 and paying $500 more?

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I couldn’t find the answer. You decide which one has a better price/performance ratio…

I never used 450D or Rebel Xsi but i read about it a lot. It seems it is quite better than other cameras of the series (Digital Rebels). It has Dust Control System, Lİve LCD screen and it is 12 Mega-Pixels. Plus it is light and compact also it comes with a lens with image-stabilizing ability. I think it is a good deal, but considering it’s price it is so close to more professional cameras like 30D and 40D.

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The average price difference between Rebel Xsi (450D) and 30D is $100, and between Rebel Xsi (450D) is $250. If you can afford a Rebel Xsi (450D), you probably can afford 30 D and 40 D too. These cameras are semi-professional, unlike Rebel Xsi (450D). They are faster than Rebel Xsi and have higher ISO speeds are available. Their fastest shutter speed is 1/8000 second, and highest ISO value is 3200, these values for Rebel Xsi (450D) are 1/4000 second and ISO 1600.

Both of these cameras are good, and preferable. But if you ask my opinion about these three, i’ll pick 40D.

There’s a web site that i appreciate; Imaging Resource. You can easily make a technical comparison between these three by clicking the following link

Compare Rebel Xsi (450D), 30D and 40D