
Nikon D50 – A Mistake?
My first digital SLR was a Nikon D80. I actually can’t remember this, but I know it must be the case because some of the EXIF data on my photos tells me it was. Eventually I upgraded to the D7000 primarily because it did 1080 video and I had plans for that. I have to say I loved my D7000, it was a big solid camera and I gathered quite a few lenses (f-mount) for it and it’s done a lot of travelling with me.
I had planned to move to the D850, which was briefly Nikon’s flagship cropped sensor DSLR, but it’s time at the top was short lived and Nikon stopped making DSLRs in favour of mirrorless cameras (with a new mount: Z-mount). So I held off for a year or so and at the beginning of 2024 I purchased the D50.

The first thing I noted when I got it was how small it was. Some might say compact but compared with my previous DSLR the grip was tiny (and I don’t have particularly big hands) and I find myself inadvertently pressing the function buttons next to the lens mount quite often. There is also a lack of prime lenses for the cropped sensor – although this is changing rapidly and I have to use the FTZ adapter ring for my f-mount lenses. On the upside TTL features still work on these, even my wide angle Sigma.
Another thing I miss is the LCD screen on the top which was a quick and energy efficient way of seeing what the main settings were (shutter speed, ISO, etc.)
But I shouldn’t get too negative about it, there are quite a few features I really like from the camera which is about ten years older than my last one. In no specific order:
Tilt Rear Screen with Tap-to-Shoot
This was a real game changer for me. I’ve always preferred looking through the eyepiece, but having a screen that tilts up and down and allows me to tape on the screen to focus and shoot has some big advantages. This is especially true when trying to take shots from as high as possible (I am short) or when trying to get low down (I am old). In macro it’s not a function I use unless I am using a tripod to take the shot. But for some situations (especially water) it is brilliant.
Crouching low on the harbour wall in Venice at the Riva degli Schiavoni, it was easier to get into position by tilting the screen up I didn’t have to make a spectacle of myself by lying prone on the harbour wall. To be honest it was the wrong time of day for this shot and the various levels have been highly adjusted in Lightroom.

In Camera Stop Motion & Slo-Mo
While the D7000 did have the ability to take time lapse shots, these had to be combined in post to create a movie. The D50 can do time lapse in camera and also has up to 5x HD slow motion capture as well. Combing this with macro makes for some very different perspectives.
Face Recognition & Pet Eye Focus
There are a number of ‘scenes’ which can be employed as well such as face recognition and pet eye focus. This is really good when using a wide aperture (low depth of field) and trying to nail the eyes in the photographs of my dog (and other animals).

This is my dog Jura who we adopted from a dog pound in Cypress. She is a good girl – mostly and is a whole bunch of fun to be with. This shot was testing the D50’s pet eye focus feature and was taken with a 50mm lens at f2.8. You can see the eyes are in sharp focus, while her booper is slightly out. I always struggled with this type of shot with more traditional focussing methods.
Also this is a relatively new camera to me – so there are probably a host of functions and features that I have yet to find. I guess I am just getting too old and longing for the days when manufacturers provided a printed manual that you could sit down and read with a cup of cocoa and a chocolate digestive!
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