D50 question

[cnhoff]

Hi,

 

my girlfriend wants to buy a D50 to replace her aging F65, but the

lack of DOF preview is a major disadvantage for her, as she is

constantly using this feature on her film camera.

 

Now i don't want to start a discussion wether one needs to have DOF

preview or not, she alone has to decide that for herself.

 

What i wanted to know is, are there any workarounds for this? Can you

see the difference in DOF on the display or is this impractical? Are

there any other solutions?

 

Secondly is there maybe a firmware hack or something that enables DOF

preview?

[Richard Williams]

I find it hard to judge DOF from a small LCD - others may disagree. Sounds like a good reason to go for the D70/D70s instead.

[cnhoff]

Yes, but 200$+ for a DOF preview button???

 

She likes the small (and silver ;) package the D50 comes in...

[Richard Williams]

Yes, 'product differentiation' sucks doesn't it? I seriously doubt there's really a $200+ difference in production cost.

[ShunCheung]

The general rule of thumb is that retail price is about 4 times (some say 5) of production cost. Therefore, if the final price differs by $200, the difference in production cost is roughly $50.

 

I would say the D70s is generally a better camera than the D50, which is extremely "consumer grade." The D50 is clearly intended for digicam users to upgrade to such that they can continue to use their SD memory cards. You get a more solid DSLR (although still within the higher-end of consumer grade) in addition to the depth of field preview button for your $200.

 

Whether that is worthwhile or not is your (girlfriend's) decision. IMO it is very difficult to judge DOF from the review LCD screen on the back.

[work-page]

I've been pondering this to no end before I finally decided to buy a D50. I'm accustomed to using DOF preview both on 35mm and medium format film SLRs, and was already aware that the smaller the viewfinder, the less you can use DOF preview reliably. But when I looked through the viewfinders of consumer level DSLRs, I found the view smaller still compared to 35mm cameras, and got the impression that I wouldn't be able to judge DOF with DOF preview on those at all..

 

And sure enough, though it's different from a dedicated preview button, I find the LCD on the D50 gives a reasonable indication of DOF.

 

There's a con and pro (isn't there always?) to using the LCD:

 

CON: an LCD doesn't give instantaneous feedback like a DOF button. You need to take a picture first..

 

PRO: an LCD doesn't go completely dark at f22

[ramon_v__california_]

IMO it will be hard to use the lcd for DOF preview. you said your girlfriend constantly use DOF. she will miss it for sure, if not right after the purchase of the D50 because of her excitement, but after sometime, she will crave for it.

 

late this month or in december when the D200 comes out, there might be rebate programs for the D70 and D70s. any one of them will be your girlfriend's best bet.

[dan park]

Everybody dogs the D50 for the lack of a depth of field button. Get over it. The D50 is a great camera and a bargain to anybody that doesn't have an extra 2 bills lying around to pay for the D70. I got mine for $599 from adorama with free shipping and a 1 gig 66x SD card for $49 from newegg. Oh and yes, as an added bonus I CAN use my SD card in my minidv cam. The D50 has a lot of bang for the buck which is why its so apealing for anybody looking to move from film to digital. The lack of some of the higher end features on the D50 does not say anything about the intended market for the camera other than they might just be thrifty.

 

Happy Shooting

Dan

[drew_dalziel2]

I would have gone for the D70 for this alone but having tried it I found it was pretty poor by SLR standards and not worth the extra money. I'd advise she tries out the DOF preview to see if it's any good for her before she chooses any dslr on that alone.

 

I got the D50 with the 18-70. my money better spent I think.

[w. shinn ii]

Christian, with the digital and a reasonble size memory card you can shoot the preview the results. The D50 has a good sized LCD display that is significantly larger than the D100... yes I have both. As I recall, stopping down the lense to visually check the depth of field significantly darkens the display making it more difficult to see. The LCD image appears normal brightness levels which makes it somewhat easy to gage. It may not be the best, but it is a good compromise. While I love the D100, I find the D50 a super value and well worth the purchase price. I can't imagine getting started in digital with any better camera for the price.

[ilkka_nissila]

I use the LCD playback to see how the image will look in terms of depth of field. I always found the darkening due to conventional DOF preview unacceptable - in many cases it's difficult to see anything at all that way. With the LCD screen you see more or less how the image will look like and this is helpful in estimating the aesthetic effect of the f-stop. In most cases I'm interested in how the blurry areas look for which the playback is great, while for precise sharpness evaluation the LCD playback is not adequate, aat least in the zoom level available in the D70. But if I need to know the depth of field I generally use the DOF markings on the lens (and add 1 stop just in case). For the evaluation of bokeh, playback is better.

 

I've taken some pics outdoors with the D50 and it doesn't seem to me to be any worse in any practical way than the D70. In practice one can use them interchangeably. The SD card allows the camera to be smaller and lighter, and storage space in your bag for the cards will also be smaller. This may actually be a bad thing as the SD card is much easier to misplace ... with a gigabyte of pictures!

 

I think the difference in money is much better spent by buying the 18-70 DX zoom over the 18-55 DX. The latter is very small and compact but it doesn't allow full-time manual focusing and it doesn't give the same feeling of confidence in its build. YMMV.

[michael_millard]

I have both cameras.

 

The D50 is less capable (no CLS, no DOF preview, etc...)

But, for most people, you can get the same quality photos from either camera. I gather your girlfriend "fits" into this category because after awhile, you get a "feel" for DOF at f/8, f/11 and so on.

 

That said...

On the D50, to change metering modes, you have to go through the menu.

It's not a deal-breaker, but I find this to be much more annoying than no DOF.

 

Also, the command button is reversed from the D70 to scroll through pictures on the LCD. (Why did Nikon do this?!)

 

Finally, I've noticed the D50 tends to color-saturate (vivid?) a bit more than the D70. I mostly shoot jpg, so it's probably just a variation on file processing. It is not objectionable in my opinion.

 

Another gripe is there's no light for the LCD info window.

...and it would have been nice if it used CompactFlash (at least for me since I have the D70).

 

I should probably mention that I mostly use the D50 as a backup, and sometimes when I'm out and want to keep a certain lens handy, etc...

I am not an expert by any means, but the D50 is a very capable camera. Unless you truly need the few extra features on the D70 (most notably the Creative Lighting System), I suspect the D50 is a better buy for most "serious-amateurs".

[jv1]

Uhm. Why not the usual old trick? Doesn't it work on the D50 for some reason?

 

Unscrew the lens slightly (the white dot on the lens pointing to the last "N" of "Nikon") et voila, there's your DOF preview. Not all that 'dangerous' or 'tricky' as some people make it seem.

[andrew_ds]

To reply to Jonas: The "Old Trick" is not possible with those naffy kit "G" lenses, having no mechanical aperture ring (why, oh why have SLR manufacturers made the simplest way of changing a cameras setting obselete?)

 

To get back to the original thread: Firmware hack would be a much welcome addition to the D50, just a couple would make me love this camera (rather than considering returning it as I am doing):

ie Change the Self-timer and Continous shooting buttons (neither of which I use that often) to Buttons for changing metering & focusing modes (somewhat more vital features). These important features really should not be hidden in the menu.