your needs. And most professionals I know would not turn down the D50. As a matter of fact, on the cruise, I was approached by two of the shipboard photographers who noticed I was carrying the D50. Each said it was a quality camera that they could and would use in their work. I thought that was a pretty good endorsement. Regarding the speed of the camera overall: I was watching the glass enclosed external elevators used in the atrium. There were four of them. We were watching to see when all four of them stopped at the same floor at the same time. Kind of like a slot machine - waiting for the 7's to roll up. One of my party yelled "There they are!" I grabbed my camera, which was in the OFF position. As I raised the camera, I clicked the on switch and started rotating the barrel of the lense as the camera was coming up. As it came up to my eye, I got it at the right focal length, pressed the shutter release button halfway for it to focus, and snapped the picture just as one of the elevators started up. All this happened in what you might call a split second. The camera caught the scene with no blurr. It was like a quick draw. How much faster does anyone need for a camera to be? Buy it! You'll love it! Oh, yeah, it is instant on, too. No waiting. ________________________________________________________________

          
Absolutely awesome camera!!, April 16, 2006
Reviewer: Nikon Enthusiast
I'm a casual photographer and used a Canon AE-1 SLR for years, then for a short time had an auto-focus Pentax SLR. Then I went digital and bought a point-and-shoot Nikon Coolpix 2500 and really enjoyed being able to take a lot of photos and just delete the ones I didn't like. It was fun for awhile, but I began to miss the speed and versatility of an SLR.

I started reading product and user reviews about different brands and models of digital SLRs, including the Canon Rebel, and narrowed it down to either the Nikon D70 or D50. The D70 has a few more 'bells and whistles' but, for me, the differences didn't justify the extra cost. For instance, I never used the depth-of-field preview function on my old Canon so I knew I wouldn't miss that. The D50 also doesn't have a backlit LCD screen but I haven't had a problem with that, either.

I've used the D50 for a few months now and I couldn't be happier!! The day I got it I unpacked it, attached the lens and started taking photos and they turned out beautifully just using the auto setting. Since then, I've been using different modes, like aperature and shutter priority, and I'm totally blown away by the quality of the photos and what this camera is capable of.

I'm very happy with this 18-55mm DX lens. It focuses fast and the photos are very sharp. I wanted a longer lens, too, so I recently ordered the Nikkor 28-200mm G and I'm thrilled with it. Since it's not a "DX" lens, on a digital Nikon it's the equivalent of 42-300mm and I've gotten some great, sharp photos with it.

The more I use this camera, the more I love it and I'm having lots of fun with it. There's been a definite learning curve for me because it's capable of so much, but it's also easy to use on the auto setting.

Some recommendations...

- For the SD card, the SanDisk Ultra II Plus is handier than heck because you just take it out of your camera, fold it and plug it into your computer's USB port - no need for a card reader.

- The wireless remote is great to have instead of using the camera's timer.

- The Nikon CF-D50 case is very nice and I use it all the time when I take my camera with me.
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Superb Value! Minor moire issue!, March 30, 2006
Reviewer: Michael P. Kukielka "BORG"
Thanks to cameras like this, there has been explosive growth in the digital SLR camera business. This is an excellent entry-level SLR camera which scales very well for the advanced user. There is a significant learning curve for cameras of this type, but that is part of the fun! Once you've commanded the basic principles of photography and learned to use the features of the camera, there is nothing you can't do in any situation! I can't imagine ever going back to a traditional digital camera unless I need to keep one in my pocket for 'discrete' occasions. The advantage with SLR is control! You are not at the mercy of a digital cameras limited or inaccessible control features.

There is no need to fear! This camera is designed for the SLR newbie! It has all the standard automatic modes but implements them FAR better than any non-SLR digital camera (not to mention far more quickly). However, if you really want to take advantage of this camera's unique capabilities, you will want to learn how to use it without the automatic features. I consider this camera an investment; it has been instrumental in fostering my understanding of photography. You won't be able to use it to its maximum potential right away so be prepared to practice extensively.

My only complaint, and I bring it up only because I haven't really seen it mentioned, is that the Nikon camera seems prone to producing moir� in some situations (like a car's radiator or thinly striped shirt). This has been something of an annoyance and probably would be unacceptable for most advanced photographers, but is not a common occurrence in most of my photographs.

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Good camera but high learning curve, March 19, 2006
Reviewer: R. J. Vaughn
The manual is almost useless. Best to play around with it. The preprogammed settings do things you may not like but there is no indication what they are until you are left with a post-processing chore.

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