With the Nikon D50, a 6.24 million
pixel CCD measuring 23.7 mm x 15.6 mm captures images, producing
a maximum image size of 3008 x 2000 pixels from its 6.1
million effective pixels. The D50's CCD sensitivity begins at
200 ISO, and can be set to 400, 800 or 1600 ISO.
Because it is slightly smaller
than a full 35mm frame — 35mm frames measure 36 x 24
mm — any 35mm lens mounted on the D50 have their focal
lengths effectively multiplied by 1.5, and when mounted on
the D50 a 200mm lens becomes equivalent to a 300mm lens on
standard 35mm camera.
Whatever the lens mounted on the D50, the shutter speed
range it offers covers from a fast 1/4000 second to a full
30 seconds, and extends to a Bulb mode that is time unlimited.
Because of its Nikon F lens mount the D50 is compatible
with numerous Nikon lenses — with the exception of lenses
made for the F3 AF and IX Nikkor lenses — but is specially
well adapted to Nikkor G or D AF type lenses
which have a CPU. However, with some older or specialty lenses,
the camera can only be operated in Manual mode, the metering
may not function, and focusing needs to be done manually.
The D50 provides three image size settings:
3008 x 2000 (Large)
2256 x 1496 (Medium)
1504 x 1000 (Small)
Images can be saved in either JPEG format at any one of
3 compression levels (Fine, Normal, or Basic), or with Nikon's
proprietary RAW format (NEF) but only at the
highest resolution, or in combination of the two that stores
one RAW format image and a Basic JPEG copy.
NEF files can only be viewed using the software supplied
with the camera: PictureProject or the Trial version
of Nikon Capture, both programs that allow a copy of
the NEF image to be saved into a more commonly supported format.
(For more information about the software included with
the D50 see the Interface and Software section of the review).
The image quality and size settings, along with the ISO
and White Balance settings, can be set using buttons on the
camera, or in the Shooting menu of the D50. The Shooting
menu is presented in the second section of the 4 sections
of the complete menu, the first being the Playback
menu (see further), and each section of the menu is
identified by a tab in the left side of the display
It consists of a single screen containing the following
options:
Optimize Image: In P, S, A, and M modes image enhancement
options can be selected from:
Normal: the default.
Vivid: enhances saturation and sharpness.
Sharp: sharpens outlines.
Soft: softens outlines.
Direct Print: optimizes images for printing
directly to a printer via the USB connection.
Portrait: lowers contrast.
Landscape: enhances saturation for greens and
blues and sharpness.
Custom: allows customizing sharpening, contrast,
colour reproduction, saturation, and hue.
Long Exp. NR: On or Off. Applies noise reduction
process to exposures that are 1 second or longer.
Image Quality: as outlined above.
Image Size: as outlined above. Notice that
this option is greyed out when the image quality is set
to RAW.
White Balance: Auto, Incandescent, Fluorescent,
Direct sunlight, Flash, Cloudy, Shade, Preset. Preset offers
2 sub-options: Measure which uses a neutral gray or white
object under the ambient lighting to establish the white
balance; or Use Photo which uses the white balance setting
in a photo that is already in memory.
ISO selects the CCD sensitivity: 200, 400, 800,
1600.
And even more settings are grouped in the Custom Settings
section of the menu.
Clearly inspired by the Custom
functions of the D70, the D50's Custom function are limited
to 20 instead of 25, but nevertheless allow for a great deal
of customization according to the user's preferences. The
Custom Settings menu is the third section of the complete
menu:
R
Menu Reset: returns
the settings contained in Custom Settings menu to their
default values.
01
Beep: On or Off. Controls
the beep sound produced by the D50 when the shutter is
released, or during some operations.
02
Autofocus has three
possible settings:
AF-A (default): the D50 automatically selects
either AF-S (single-servo auto focus) or AF-C (continuous-servo
auto focus) according to shooting conditions and whether
or not the subject is moving.
AF-S: Single-servo auto focus adjusts focus
when the shutter release is pressed, and locks it
when the release is held halfway.
AF-C: Continuous-servo auto focus adjusts
focus continuously while the shutter release is held
halfway. The AF-Assist lamp is turned off automatically.
03
AF-Area Mode also
has three options:
Single Area: user selects focus area manually
with the Multi-selector.
Dynamic Area: user selects focus area but
the D50 uses information from other focus areas to
determine focus point if the subject is moving erratically.
Closest Subject: lets the D50 select the
focus area automatically on the subject that is the
closest to the camera. If the subject leaves the focus
area, the D50 will focus based on information gathered
from other focus areas. This mode is intended for
subjects that have a high contrast when compared to
the background.
04
No SD Card? decides
how the D50 responds when the shutter release is pressed
without a memory card being present in the camera: Release
Locked, or Release Enabled.
05
Image Review: On or
Off. Determines whether photos are automatically displayed
in the monitor after shooting
06
Flash Level (flash
compensation) serves to adjust the power of the flash
when the camera is set to P, S, A,
or M modes. Note that this function can also be
accessed by pressing the flash button in conjunction with
the exposure compensation button and turning the Command
dial.
07
AF Assist: On or Off.
Controls whether or not the D50 uses its AF assist lamp
when the ambient light is too soft for the autofocus to
work reliably. Note that Continuous Auto Focus cancels
the AF assist lamp.
08
AF Area Illumination
controls whether or not the active focus point lights
up red in the viewfinder when the camera focuses: Auto,
On, or Off.
09
ISO Control is an option
reserved for the Digital Subject Programs and the Auto
Shooting mode. When On, the camera controls the sensitivity
in these modes. When set to Off, the user can select the
sensitivity manually.
10
ISO Auto On or Off.
When set to On, the D50 automatically adjusts CCD sensitivity
from 200 to 1600 ISO, and the shutter speed threshold
at which the camera will increase the ISO can be selected
(1/125, 1/60, 1/30, 1/15, or 1/8 second).
11
EV Step decides the
EV increments to use for compensation: either 1/3 or 1/2
EV.
12
BKT Set
controls the type of bracketing to be done:
Off: no bracketing.
AE and Flash: camera varies exposure and
flash level over 3 shots, bracketing the exposure
determined by the metering.
White Balance: reserved for JPEG only images,
the camera brackets the white balance setting over
3 images.
13
Metering serves
to select the metering mode:
Matrix, the default, meters a wide area of
the frame based on composition, distance shading and
colour. Matrix metering is available with CPU-equipped
lenses only.
Centre-weighted meters the entire frame but
assigns greater weight to the centre.
Spot meters the active focus area only, and
if Closest Subject, or AF-Area Mode
is selected the camera meters the centre focus area
only.
14
AE-L/AF-L decides
the function assigned to the AE-L/AF-L button;
AE/AF Lock, the default, locks both the
exposure parameters and the auto focus when pressed
and held.
AE Lock only locks only the exposure parameters
when pressed and held.
AF Lock only locks the auto focus only when
pressed and held.
AE Lock hold locks exposure when pressed
once, and releases it when pressed a second time.
AF On causes the camera to focus when pressed.
Pressing the shutter release halfway does not auto
focus.
FV Lock locks the flash level when pressed
once, and only releases it if pressed a second time.
15
AE Lock serves to
further refine the operation of the Auto Exposure Lock:
AE-L button is the default setting and locks
the exposure when the AE-L/AF-L button is pressed.
+Release button is the alternative, allowing
either the shutter release when pressed halfway or
the AE-L/AF-L button to be used.
16
Flash Mode controls
the operation of the built-in flash:
TTL: (default) adjusts flash output automatically
according to conditions.
Manual (P/S/A/M mode only): provides control
over output Full, 1/2 power, 1/4 power, 1/8 power,
1/16 power.
17
Monitor Off decides
how long the monitor will remain on when the camera is
inactive: 10 or 20 seconds, 1 5, or 10 minutes.
18
Meter Off serves to
choose how long the camera continues to meter the subject
when no operations are performed. The default setting
is 8 seconds, but the value can also be set to 4 or 16
seconds, or 30 minutes.
19
Self-Timer selects
the delay assigned to the Self-timer: 2, 5, 10 or 20
seconds.
20
Remote serves to decide
how long the camera will wait for a signal from the remote
control before ending the remote mode: 1, 5, 10 or 15
minutes.
As explained earlier, the first section of the menu system
of the D50 is reserved for Playback options:
Delete: provides 2 options, Selected (for
images within the designated folder) and All.
Playback Folder selects the folder from which images
will be played back: Current, or All which select all images
in all folders.
Rotate Tall: automatically rotates images captured
vertically as long as the Image Rotation option in
the Setup menu was turned On (see the Interface and
Software section of the review for a listing of the
options of the Setup menu).
Slide Show: starts a slide show with a selectable
frame interval (2, 3, 5, or 10 seconds) which can be set
to loop or not.
Print Set: serves to create a Print Order, images
that will be printed by a PictBridge or DPOF (Digital Print
Order Format) compliant printer. Photos can be selected
one at a time, or all, and whether or not the date is imprinted
on the image can be specified.
Small Picture: serves to create small JPEG copies
of selected pictures so they can be used on the Web or e-mailed.
Images can be copied at 640 x 480, 320 x 240, or 160 x 120.
The fourth and final section of the D50's menu is the Setup
options, and an overview of the section can be found in the
Interface and Software section of this review.
In Playback the D50 images
can be displayed as thumbnails, either 4 or 9 to a screen;
or one at a time, or with a histogram overlaid on the image,
or with the highlights — potentially overexposed areas
of the image — blinking. In addition, 2 pages of shooting
data are available, and can be displayed atop the photo.
Switching from one image to another is controlled with the
up and down arrows of the Multi selector, and the type of
information displayed with each photo is controlled with the
right and left arrows.
Although kits that include a lens and a memory card are commonly
offered, Nikon does not normally include a memory card with
the D50. Nevertheless, the chart below is offered as a guide
to show how many photos can be stored using a 1GB SD card:
JPEG
RAW
+ Basic
Resolution
RAW
Fine
Normal
Basic
3008 x 2000
136
286
555
>1000
120
2256 x 1496
—
498
945
>1700
—
1504 x 1000
—
>1000
>1800
>3100
—
Power for the D50 comes from
a Lithium Ion battery pack (EN-EL3), the same as is used in
both the D70 and D100. The battery fits inside the grip and
is secured by a latching door. A charger, MH-18a, is included
in North America which recharges the battery is approximately
2 hours.
In
addition, an optional AC-DC adapter (EH-5) can be plugged
into the camera's DC jack to power the D50 directly off of
household current.
Two other external connections are
provided on the left side of the camera, along with the DC jack.
At the top is the USB 2.0 Hi-speed port which can be used to
connect the camera to a computer or to a PictBridge compliant
printer; and below is a Video out port which can be configured
to output either an NTSC or a PAL signal.
Compare Prices for Nikon EN-EL3A D70S/D50 Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery
Characteristics
In
addition, an optional AC-DC adapter (EH-5) can be plugged
into the camera's DC jack to power the D50 directly off of
household current.
