Canon 50D Hands On Review

The EOS 50D is a light versatile DSLR with many features you would expect to get on larger more professional DSLRs, it is easy to use and with features such as Live View can be adapted to any style of photography. With good battery life and weather sealing it is useable in any environment for large periods of time when combined with a large memory card. The cameras buffer has been improved further from 75 shots to 90 hence the lower frames per second of 6.3 to 6.5. This larger buffer is of use mainly for photographers taking images in the sporting or wildlife genre, allowing you to catch those decisive moments without the chance of unwanted pauses.

As a replacement for the Canon EOS 40D the 50D has large shoes to fill. The previous model was the first camera to have live view and the start of consumer level cameras to have a larger buffer allowing the user to take a string of shots in quick succession. To improve this further Canon have increased resolution to 15 megapixels, the screen at the back is now noticeably three times clearer due to its 920,000 dot screen. The ISO has been increased from 3’200 to 12’800 out performing all its rivals by working in darker conditions with faster shutter speeds.

With these features it would be perfect as a smaller lighter sports or wildlife camera possibly a back up for a professional using a Canon EOS 1D. When combining the camera with any L series lens you can easily get great results, with vibrant colours and pin-sharp images your subject will really stand out from the background. If you are combining it with a larger lens for motorsport photography I would strongly suggest a Battery Grip to aid balance allowing you to pan with your subject more accurately. During my time testing this camera I took a multitude of different pictures from snapshot portraits to animals, and on my last day I took it to Brands Hatch and the European Drift Championship, in all these genres it consistently provided me with good images especially within the Black and White mode. There were some occasions where it struggled, for example at Brands Hatch the camera’s auto focus struggled to deal with the smoke from the cars’ tires as effectively as my Canon EOS 5D or 1D Mark II. I found the screen at the back to get dirty very quickly a due to its size, an eye piece extender from Canon will solve this issue however.  I found the results from this camera surprising almost matching the capabilities if the Canon EOS 1D Mark II but also offering Live View and almost twice the megapixels. Although the camera is environmentally sealed, it is not to the same extend as Canon’s professional cameras. The main advantage over the 1D series is that the sensor is smaller therefore the focal length on the telephoto lenses is extended by 1.6x providing a greater magnification.

In summary yes I would use this camera for motorsport it is fast, has a high output resolution and has high ISO so that I can use it for night racing such as endurance racing. But crucially like all DSLRs it needs to be customised to suit your purpose for motorsport I would attach a Battery Grip for balance and extra life, a Sandisk Extreme 3 8GB memory card to match the powerful buffer on the camera and large enough for the 15 megapixel files. A Lowepro rucksack to protect it from the elements and to aid in carrying comfort, and team it with a Canon L series telephoto lens for sharpness and speed of focusing.    

Here are some images taken at Brands Hatch while I was testing the camera, these images stood out from the rest due to their sharpness and vibrant colours, both these attributes are thanks to the lens and remarkable detail the sensor captures. With only minor editing need afterwards such as increasing the contrast and saturation these changes only appealed to me after I got home, this could have easily been set up on the camera beforehand saving me time later on. Overall I was very impressed with the cameras ergonomics while using it and its image quality while back at home on my computer and came to the conclusion that I would be very pleased with this camera as a part of my motorsport photography equipment.

Images taken using Canon EOS 50D with an EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS - 5th July 2009