The Nikon D50, announced in April 2005, is an entry-level digital single-lens reflex camera, intended for the consumer market. The D50 has a CCD sensor with a resolution of 6.1 megapixels and size of 15.6x23.7mm.
The Nikon D50 is a very interesting milestone in the history of creating cameras, as it is the first and the last Nikon amateur camera (in contrast to the advanced amateur ones) with an additional monochrome display and a focus motor. Later the entire range of amateur cameras, starting from the D40, a successor of the D50, and up to the Nikon D5200, does not have a monochrome display and a focus motor.
Despite the fact, that the D50 has supportive, user-friendly features, it is not an advanced amateur camera, because its functionality is limited. Firstly, the Nikon D50 lacks an additional selector, a dial under the index finger, which is responsible for the aperture control. The Nikon D50 has neither the depth-of-field preview button, nor the FN button. There is no backlight for the monochrome display, and it lacks a protective cover for the main display. Of course, the Nikon D50 does not have very useful flash modes, remote control of external flash and high-speed sync mode. In general, the Nikon D50 is something in-between the Nikon D70 and the Nikon D40.
The Nikon D50 light sensitivity is ISO 200 - 1600. You can use the Auto ISO option, but for this function you cannot set the maximum ISO sensitivity in the camera menu, and the fastest shutter speed that can be set to the Auto ISO is only 1/125sec. Manually you can set only four ISO values: 200, 400, 800, 1600. Too bad that in the Nikon D50 and the Nikon D40, which cannot use ISO 100, the minimum shutter speed is 1/4000sec, which is not convenient when working with large-aperture lens in good light. But the X-sync speed is 1/500sec, which is a very good feature of the Nikon D50, D40, D70, D70s cameras.
The Nikon D50 uses the 6.1-megapixel sensor, which allows you to take pictures up to 3008x2000 pixels. In general, Nikon has released as many as five cameras based on the matrix of the Nikon D50. They are the D100, D70, D70s, D40, D50 models.
The Nikon D50 and the Nikon D40 are the slowest Nikon digital single-lens reflex cameras. They can shoot at a maximum speed of 2.5 frames per second. Nikon D50 uses a 2-inch display with 130,000 pixels, the same as the Nikon D70s. The display is really small and is not suitable for viewing the images.
The D50 is attractive for its compactness and ease of shooting. It fits easily in your hand and produces pictures of superb quality. Surely, for professionals the Nikon D50 is not the best option. For amateurs, who want to have a digital SLR, the entry-level D50 is the most optimal choice with regard to its performance, quality, and price.
