Comments on: Canon wises up with 50D sensor and new zoom

I've been eying every possible upgrade to my venerable Canon Rebel XT. With the 50D's new high-sensitivity sensor, this is the first time I've been seriously tempted.

[IcyNeko]

This article is rather misleading.

The boost in megapixels does mean much if the image processing is shoddy. If the sensor/image processing firmware sucks, then it just means your poster print will have more artifacts.

As for the "higher iso = canon does serious work in noise reduction".... that's not a factual statement. Tons of other manufacturers sport higher iso factors, but their noise is unbearable. Higher ISO has more to do with the sensor than anything else.

Now, Canon has a good reputation for great image processing, and likely this will be reflected in the quality of the 50D. Fine. But if posts are misleading, people may buy cameras for entirely the wrong reason and spend money/time/energy wastefully.

[sevort]

"Tons of other manufacturers sport higher iso factors, but their noise is unbearable." You, obviously, haven't tried the latest Nikon gear...

[megachand]

Canon's 50D might be promising with 3" 920,000 pixel screen but Nikon has been there already with 3.0" 922,000 pixel on their D300 and upper models. The specs comes from dpreview.

[thomrebe]

Nikon's D300 though an older camera is rated over 2500$ vs. the brand new canon 50D being less than that even though a much newer camera. I think its a little idiotic to compare the two because lets face it: Nikon doesn't really make anything for startup DSLR photographers (especially students like me)

[IcyNeko]

Reply to thomrebe:
I'd hardly call the D300 old considering it just came out end of last year, and costs $1600 for body. It is totally comparable.

And for the record, Nikon makes plenty of cameras for starting students. For non-students, the D40X is great. I started on the D50 and know other photography students who started on D50's. The D80 is another low-cost alternative for beginners. And now Nikon's D60 can also be considered beginner material.

I think your statement was a bit shallow and one sided.

[cps08]

To IcyNeko,

Most everything you say is valid but at the end you say...

"I think your statement was a bit shallow and one sided.", which to me is ironic since that was exactly how I felt about your first comment.

You were the first to make a comment and you tried so hard to not sound bias and one sided but from beginning to end you made it obvious that you had an agenda. I didn't know you were a Nikon user till this 2nd posting you made, but I pretty much assumed you were from your first post.

Its funny how you're criticizing others when you were the first to make a bias comment :).

[husky91]

I don't think you can necessarily assume that the boost in sensitivity means they have reduced noise. They're really unrelated. It sounds like they've made an effort to reduce noise, but in also increasing the pixel count by 50%, that could be a tall order.

[IcyNeko]

Very true, and if they didn't do a good enough job to really improve image processing, the increase in pixel count will end up in even more distortions. Instead of having a crisp image on a poster, you'll get a large poster full of blocky pixels.

[Shankland]

In the very competitive SLR market, you can bet that Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, etc., will put the highest ISO they possibly can on a camera, and the ISO limit is from noise. Canon specifically said they got 1.5 stops more sensitivity with the new sensor. And you're right that increasing the pixel count *and* sensitivity is a tall order; that Canon claims to have done both is the reason I found the camera promising and why I wrote this post in the first place. Next step is the reviews, though, so see if Canon really did do what they promised.

[jasonschlachter]

I never understood the rush to higher megapixels in these prosumer DSLR models. I'd take more features and better quality photographs (i.e. sensitivity) over megapixels given the more than adequate amount of pixels already on the 40D.

[Shankland]

You're not alone. I agree with you--I'm far more often constrained by available light than I am by sufficient megapixels--and so did 94 percent of people who responded to a poll I ran earlier on the subject:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13580_3-9858266-39.html

More megapixels is often nice, but you're right that it comes at a price. It baffles me that consumers are still so fixated on megapixels, but I do think they're slowly getting more clever. The difference between 2 megapixels and 4 megapixels matters a lot more than the difference between 12 and 14, and people who see the vastly better images produced by a 6-megapixel Nikon D40 compared to a higher-end 12-megapixel compact camera are getting clued in.

Nikon's was bold and gutsy to stick with 12 megapixels for the full-frame D3 and D700, letting the company push to the market-leading ISO 25,600. No doubt they'll eventually come up with some high-megapixel model that works better under studio lighting conditions where ISO 200 is fine, but I give them credit for setting the agenda.

[sqjaw]

I agree with the writer as to Canon's lack to produce a Weather sealed camera for the same price of the EOS50D or the price of the Pentax K20D or the other manufactures that have such a camera, I did not buy a 30D nor a 40D nor will I buy a EOS 50D because its not weather sealed, If I have to I will change ships , I started with canon with The F-1 and have stayed with them but their loseing ground as far as I am concerned:

[proudpidoy]

I just hope that the new CMOS sensor and DIGIC 4 image-processor chip can produce better images than its predecessor.

[codocee]

Hows your computer for handling 21mp files, especially the raw stuff. Leaves me out for now but thats OK...5D works fine.

[codocee]

Sorry,

I was thinking 5D replacement

[why do i need a name?]

RE: megachand

To say that sensitivity and noise are unrelated is a bit simplistic. There are two things that you can do to increase the "sensitivity" of a sensor:

1: lower the noise floor such that the signal to noise ratio goes up (ie: lower the background noise)
2: increase the quantum efficiency in the photon-to-charge conversion (ie: increase the signal for a given number of photons)

There are lots of tricks to deal with both of them, and again lots of noise sources to take care of. The highest performance CCD's in the world have very low noise floors, measured in electrons by the way.

As was mentioned in the article, one of the ways that they're doing this is through microlenses. Given that some portion of the "pixel" has to be dedicated to non photo-sensitive stuff (especially in CMOS devices) having a microlens that can take the light from that portion of the sensor and focus it onto the photo-sensitive device is a good idea. In forming the lenses though, a "gap" had to be formed in the material between pixels to allow them to form right. Having a gapless process will allow more of the non-photo-sensitive area to be "focused" onto the sensitive area, thus an increased signal.

But, I'll bet that there is more to it than that given what they're doing.

[djacobow1]

An earlier commenter said that just because they raised the max ISO doesn't mean they did so because noise is better controlled. But this is Canon introducing a prosumer camera, and it is not in their interest to introduce "garbage" ISO settings. My guess is that noise will, in fact, be better and the IQ will be excellent, esp. w.r.t. similar priced models from other manufacturers. In any case, we'll know better in the upcoming days and weeks as reviews and tests trickle out.

I think it's an interesting upgrade. Now, I wonder how improved the AF will be! I'm happy to see the AF microadjustment feature has trickled down from the xD's.

However, like SS, I'm going to see what the upcoming FF model will be like (and cost) before I make any new photographic investments.

[RainCaster]

Has Canon added manual mirror control yet? Without that feature, it's not worth my $$ to upgrade.

[d_marc_brown]

re: your comments on the "dummy modes" and storing as jpegs

With the 50D, you can save images taken with the "dummy modes" as RAW files.

This definitely a winner for a lot of us.

[WayneBirch]

This was a great intro of the new 50D. Thanks for posting it, Stephen.
It's good to get digital news from other than 'regular' places. I've waited years for Canon
to produce a 15MP camera with a great new sensor and I almost went Nikon. My 'old 300D'
has done what it could as far as being pushed for larger printing photography and general
photography. Canon seems to have listened to users and responded to Nikon's great stuff
lately. Thank you Nikon. I'm glad I waited for the 50D.

[FOS2007]

With my Digital Rebel (the first one!) starting to have issues with it's part-way focus button, I'm looking at a new body like the 40D, and now the 50D (need something to match my 100-400 white lens! LOL!). While I'm strictly an amateur shooting for the love of it (and for my daughter's sports events), the 50D is probably overkill for me but thankfully, will now push the price down of the 40D...yeah!

[bas2000]

Will the 50D record video ?

[kwhsy82]

I just read the Nikon review in the NY Times. I think the video on that camera sounds pretty killer. I'd love at times to switch into video mode with my lenses.

And yes, I agree with the others: higher ISO doesn't mean less noise necessarily, but one would hope that Canon isn't upping the ISO without commensurate noise reduction..

[Special(e)]

"Finally a modern canon ultra zoom"

Huh?
Canon has been making the 28-300 for years now...
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/319784-GREY/Canon_9322A002AA_28_300mm_f_3_5_5_6L_IS_USM.html

[webj]

I'm certainly not a pro, but I love shooting. My dilemma is do I go for the 15 megs (pending reviews), or do I try to pick up a price-reduced 5D with full frame 12 megs (assuming that prices will reduce with the 5/mk 2 coming)?

[cps08]

It depends on your need the Canon 50D is going to help if you're shooting wild life and other type of photography where you need a zoom, and fast fps. The 50D will probably still be cheaper the the 5D when the 5D replacement is launched in late November. From my sources the original 5D will sell at a reduced price of $1799 which is 400 more then the 50D.

Make a list of goals you want to achieve with your photography and maybe go to your local camera store and see what they recommend. Also look at the lenses you think you'll need and how much you can spend on them and which manufacturer will give you better options. You can also get adapters that allow you to use a different manufacturers' lenses as well.

I wouldn't ask for too much advice here, it seems like the first few posts are pretty bias against canon and the factual data is not too accurate. They're comparing $1700 Nikons to $1400 Canons, claiming its comparable etc., I don't think it'll help you any. Both Nikon and Canon have great cameras to offer you, as well as Sony.

Best wishes on finding the right one.

[jordanjanine]

Hello, I am new to the photography business, and I have been shooting wedding and reunions with my rebel xti I have the top of the line lenses, and I am now getting ready to buy a new upgraded camera, I was thinking the canon 40 D, my husband says the canon 50D is the way to go........ I want to use my rebel as my back up, and I want the really expensive lenses I have purchased to match up with my new camera..... where do I go, what do you think?? Thanks so much for any advice.
Janine

[Jim Petersen]

This is April 2009 are there any updated reviews of this camera since it has been on the market?