Nikon D50 review

Nikon's D50 is designed to be a lower-cost alternative to the popular Nikon D70.

It's a well-specified camera for those who want performance and features on a budget, and it certainly doesn't hurt that it typically sells for around £400 with the standard 18-55mm 'kit' zoom lens.

This camera is a bit bulkier than the Canon 350D, although its slightly bigger dimensions played to its advantage - it was easier to hold. It proved to be a reliable performer and easy to master, with its controls placed just where fingers and thumbs needed them. We particularly liked the fact that the LCD info panel shows the number of shots that can fit onto the memory card, even when the camera is switched off.

The Nikon D50 uses SD cards rather than the Compact Flash format found in most digital SLRs. It was as responsive as the Canon 350D for most tasks, although we found that it was outpaced when it came to continuous shooting speed. The D50 also lacks a way to preview the current aperture, but this will be a minor point for most people.

Its kit lens was, as expected, no better or worse than the Canon's. It's good value as part of the kit, adding just £65 or so to the body-only price, but you should upgrade as soon as you can afford to do so. Image quality was impressive - even deliberately under-exposed shots were free of digital noise and colours were natural, bright and clean.

The menu system uses extremely large text, but while you won't struggle to read these options, the titles are rather short as a result. A help button shows information about selected menu items, so you don't always need to open the manual.

Despite its lower resolution light sensor, we preferred the Nikon D50 to Canon's 350D. It was easier to use, has a longer battery life and produces excellent pictures in almost all conditions.