Upgraded from Digital rebel XTi primarily for functionality (heavily invested in Canon lenses, so Nikon wasn't an option)... I am the person who doesn't usually care for "fancy" features, but the first thing that you notice is the difference in the LCD display. Makes it very easy to review pictures ... I usually shoot my indoor shots without flash, I like the warm feel of pictures it produces, but often causes the pictures to be blurry. Often you can't see that the picture is blurry until it has been downloaded to the computer and then it is too late to rewind time and fix it. So LOVE the detail this LCD shows and the excellent contrast it offers.

The wheel makes browsing through pictures a lot easier. The joystick based menu makes it easy to customize your settings. The LCD display on top gives you a quick glance at all the settings without having to look inside the viewfinder (also great for checking/showing a newbie what settings you are using and why). The C1 and C2 settings can be used to remember your favorite custom settings for tricky conditions and can be a real time saver.

The Higher ISO settings (3200,6400) can come in pretty handy for taking pictures in low light without a flash, despite the noise - I prefer using the noise reduction features with the high ISO despite of the loss of detail that comes with it. Excellent camera!

I'm a beginner and love this camera! I had read the negative reviews, as well as the positive ones, but decided to buy it anyway. I took a risk and now I'm being rewarded - this camera takes fantastic pictures. It's easy to learn and use also. I also bought two great lenses (135mm f/2L, 24-70mm f/2.8L) which bring out the best in this camera. Don't listen to the negative stuff, this camera takes awesome pictures!

After checking out the camera, I found that there's a lint on the focus plate that would not go away, it does not affect the picture but annoy the hell out of me. I emailed Amazon's customer service and got a response the same day, I was offered 3 very good options and I picked the replacement option. One day after I picked the replacement option (I could get full refund, a good discount or replacement), a new replacement was delivered. I am thrilled. As for the camera, there's not much I can say other than that it exceeds all my expectations. It is a bit heavy but it takes amazing pictures. It was between the Nikon D90 and the Canon 50D for me, since I plan to use the camera on a trail taking pictures of wild life and birds, I think the Canon 50D will serve me better. Most people think Nikon has a better UI, but it took me around 2 hours to learn most of the features and operation of the camera even though I never used a Canon DSLR before so I don't think the UI on the Canon is unfriendly as some people claim. I have no interest in holy war between the camera camps, I think both Canon and Nikon make good cameras and I just happen to think this camera is better for me.

I just received my new Canon 50D. I have to say that I am in love with this camera, no, it's not perfect. I would have loved to see a full frame CMOS sensor, but I can't have everything and price too! I find the images to be crisp and clear and the operation easy to use. I have shot over 300 pictures with this camera so far and I am very happy with the quality of images, especially at the high ISOs. I also gave it to a novice photographer to use on Thanksgiving and they loved it as well and had no problem operating the camera

A couple of nitpicks - First, on the new CA mode, I completely understand the need for this setting, there are many people picking up these cameras who have never used an SLR before and don't understand aperture or shutter speed. However, this feature is only as good as the lens. If someone is using a lens that doesn't have an aperture of 2.8 or 1.4 then they won't get the background to be too blurred. Second, the exposure compensation is now on the rear dial, this is more a preference and I will most likely get use to it, in time :).

ETA: Another thing that would have been nice is a video setting like the 5D and the Nikon D90. But again, you can't have everything.

One of the most impressive things to me was how it handles low light situations. I shot at the full range of ISOs and liked how the camera handled color, sharpness, and tone. I see many reviews saying that Nikon or other cameras hold up better in low light, that might be so, but that doesn't make the 50D horrible or bad, it makes it different. I don't suspect that people are taking low light pictures at the ISO setting 3200 or even 1600 all the time, if they are, then I might recommend a lens change, something is wrong.

And just a note -- to add light on the whole sensor/processor thing- look at it from this prospective film photographers will be disappointed because this camera wouldn't be able to compare against Kodachrome 25 ISO where you don't see grain at all or to the big bold grain of the Konica 3200 ISO - Nor can it fully replicate the Kodak/Konica infrared film where exposure was a best guess. So, in other words you can't please everyone. So choosing a camera body is like choosing film in the old days, each has their own uniqueness about it, but unlike film, you can't change easily.

I consider myself a photographer having been shooting for well over 25 years, and have basically shot everything from 8X10 cameras to Polaroid Land Cameras (pull apart). I have used Holgas to Hasselblads. I have had access to some type of Digital Camera since Kodak came out with the Digital Nikon F3 with a top resolution was 1.3mp. I remembered when Kodak dropped the price of their pro-digital cameras from 25,000 to 10,000 that was something!

Well a big woopie do for me, so, I have been around. The reason why I am telling you all this, is not to impress you, but hopefully you will listen to some advice. I wasn't only a photographer but I sold high-end equipment. In the end you have to feel comfortable with whatever you buy, and you have to ask yourself what are the pros and cons of my purchase, can I afford it, and what do I want to do with my equipment? These are all personal reasons and one persons reasons are as valid as anyone else's reasons.

One thing about Photography that I learned early on, learn the basics. Learning basic photography before you buy the big wiz bang camera may help you understand what you want to do with the big wiz bang or that you might not need the biggest or bestest wiz bang thingy.

A camera is only good as its lens, and with Digital you really have to *marry* both lens and camera. The one pitfall that I see people make is that they buy too much camera and not enough lens. In other words they run before they can walk. From my experience, with a few exceptions (like the 28 - 135 mm F3.5 - 5.6--I think that this is a good lens- or the 24-105 F4 IS), the kit lens, IMHO, are made for a single reason, for cost. They won't give you a bad image, but if great images are what you want, then the lens makes all the difference in the world. In the film days I would say the body doesn't matter (to some extent), buy the lens first and then work your way up to the bigger and better camera. It will help you, cameras with less features will help you understand photography more. Does this mean everyone has to buy a Canon L lens, no, there are some good lenses, but you have to research which ones are right for you.

Lens - I saw many reviews about different lens how this one is better than that one. One person couldn't tell the difference between a *lens kit* and an L lens. I would say to the person, you aren't paying attention to the detail and you are paying too much attention to the subject. The L lens system is the best quality glass in the canon system; it's designed to be better than any other lens in the system. L lens are also designed for the working professional. It's made to last and they do. Lens that are in the kit aren't made to last and aren't designed with the working professional in mind, they are designed for people who want to keep cost down.

The Canon 50 1.4 and 85 1.8 are, IMHO, the best prime lens on the market. They will give you the best image quality, period.

As for the reviews on dpreview and image-resource, they still highly recommend this camera. Neither said that the camera was a horrible camera, nor did they blast it, they said that compared to others that certain features were better.

I purchased a 50D because I do a fair amount of bird photography, and I thought that the additional pixel count in this camera would yield better images, and also allow for more cropping room. While the images were very good, they really weren't any better than those I have taken with my 40D. I was also disappointed with the high ISO performance of the 50D, as I thought the 40D was just as good or better.

Even so, the 50D is still a very good camera. If you are upgrading from a 10, 20, or 30D, you will notice substantial improvement in features and better image quality. If you have a 40D, I think it becomes tougher to justify the upgrade. In the end, I decided to return my 50D and take advantage of Amazon's excellent return policy.

I am about 1,000 images into the new 50D. So far it's been a pleasure. I am switching from a Nikon D200. Nikon, to me, has superior ergonomics - the buttons and functions are so well thought out. Canon works well too but sometimes I feel like I need to be double jointed to change a setting. I do not like the wheel on top; the silver color is not great and it turns to easily. I have switched modes in the middle of shooting and not known it. But, the camera feels solid, the screen is absolutely amazing, the menus are super easy to navigate, the 6 frames per second is impressive. 15 megapixels; well, you only need it if you are printing larger than 20" or so. I've done 26" prints with a 10 megapixel, and if you know what you are doing and use a great printer it's flawless. As for low noise - well, it's low, but I'm not blown away. Remember all your lenses will be 1.6 times their focal length, so it's hard to go wide angle with this camera. But, it's easy to get super tele photo. I use it with the 24-105 L lens, which costs almost as much as the camera is worth it.

This decisions is tricky - it's very solid, I recommend it. But if I were a first time DSLR buyer right now looking at mid-range cameras, Canon has no advantage over Nikon. The D90 is terrific and cheaper, the D300 and D700 are amazing. Why did I switch to Canon? Simply because I like their lenses better on the high end. The Nikon 80-400 is slow as a dog, although sharp. I would much rather have the Canon 100-400 L. Nikon's high end lenses seem to be a little more expensive, and frankly, there are fewer out there so they are harder to find, new or used.

Good luck, happy shooting, this a great camera.

I used the 40D for a year, purchased the 50D based on positive user reviews here and at other online merchants, but as soon as I started taking photos with the 50D I noticed it had more noise and was softer than the 40D. Within a few days, people and review sites started posting comparisons and they all showed the same. Many people are raving about the 50D's greatness, but the photos tell a different story.

The 50D does have a much better LCD, does handle colors slightly better, but has more noise in photos than the 40D at ISO400 and up, as well as softer images. Taking softness and noise into consideration, you're not getting the clarity you should with 15mp, when compared to the 40D's 10mp. Even when downsizing photos to a smaller, web-sized image, more noise artifacts were visible in the 50D. Since I mostly shoot concert photography, I did not feel this was a worthwhile upgrade, so I returned the 50D and purchased another 40D.

If you shoot outside or in bright light you'll have better use of the 50D, but I don't think you're getting a great use of those 15mp. The 5D is 12mp and produces sharper images than the 50D - yes, it has a larger, better sensor - but my point is to show how you're not quite getting the most out of the 15mp on the 50D. You're paying for 15mp, but how useful are they? If the 50D were 12mp, then producing sharper images with less noise than the 40D, I would have found that to be a worthy upgrade. The battery also drains faster in the 50D because of the LCD upgrade, if you use LCD much.

While the 50D may be great for some, I'll wait to see what's next. I highly recommend getting the 40D instead; save money, get better lenses, upgrade later (hopefully the next xxD) and shame on Canon. Their claims of the 50D having less noise must have been based on its blotchy in-camera noise reduction quality and the more aggressive default settings of DPP's (Canon's Digital Photo Professional software) noise reduction as well.

| am an advanced amateur with a good experience with Canon equipments ( 40D,5D plus 5 L lens) and 15 years shooting mainly landscape and wildlife.

After a Safari to Africa, I realized I needed two things

- Higher ISO capacity to get better shots on the dark. Even with my 70-200 2.8 IS I missed some great shoots because ISO 3200 was not high enough

- More resolution to crop bird pictures that my 40D with a 100-400L could not fill the whole frame

So the 50D seemed like the perfect upgrade to my next photo safari to Tanzania. It have all the specs I wanted plus some cool features such as the VGA view.

After three days using the camera I am glad I bought it. I can not compare this camera to the Nikon, since all my gear are Canon, but compared to the 40D and the 5D the performance of this camera is great ( it have more noise than the 5D but it is much more user friendly and 6.3 pictures per s is perfect for wildlife).

Highly recommended!

I have to say they have improved over the 30D I had. The sensor was what I wanted to get. After comparing photos to my D300 Nikon I would have to say at this point that the Nikon has an edge in Photo Quality. Of course this is just my opinion. That could take in several points,different lens,not as familiar with this camera as I am with my D300 yet. I have always thought that their is not that much difference in the two brands.

This camera is a very good camera and has all the bells and whistles that I am qualified to use. Both the Canon and Nikon take very good photos. So I would say it is a personal preference to which one you like or have the accessories for.

I am surprised to see that the images on the 40D are better than the 50D. I would think logically it would be better to have the CMOS updated on the 50D, but when you compare images side by side 100% crop, the 40D wins. More Pixels doesn't mean better, and that's what the camera factories would want you to believe. The big reason I would want the 50D is for the totally improved LCD screen, which is like the D300, to see if you are getting the shot you want. If you're looking for improved image quality, stick with the 40D. That's truly a great camera!