Canon EOS 350D v Nikon D50 Review |
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Initial Impressions |
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My first impressions of the D50 were ‘it’s not working!’ as I first started looking at the cameras while the batteries were charging and the D50 requires power for the viewfinder to work (without it the viewfinder is dark and out of focus). The Canon battery charged first and so I got to play with the 350D first. My first impression of it were not particularly favourable. I found the feel of the camera to be inferior to my old Canon 300 35mm SLR. The camera’s body and grip is made of a very strange plastic which is rough to the touch. Also the grip does not feel comfortable in my hand. It doesn’t seem to be much smaller than the grip on my Canon 300 but it doesn’t feel anywhere near as nice. The standard kit lens on the Canon EOS 350D also feels quite cheap – especially the manual focus ring which has a very unrefined action. |
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| The feel of the D50 blows the other two out of the water though. It has a big chunky grip and the quality of the plastics used on the body and grip is superb. The lens also feels of a higher quality, although the manual focus ring still isn’t of the best quality. However the D50 is simply a better made camera, and it feels great to hold. There’s also a big difference in the quality of the colour LCD screens. The Canon screen is a half hearted 1.8 inch affair which is quite fuzzy to look at and quite dim even at full brightness. The Nikon on the other hand boasts an excellent 2 inch screen which is both bright and sharp and a pleasure to use. |
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| It’s a shame both cameras use rubber covers for their connection sockets. I don’t like these and feel that a proper door like the memory card socket’s use would be a better option. Also the Canon EOS 350D has no cover for the flash hotshoe contacts. When I pay this much for a camera I expect such features as standard and the Nikon D50 obliges. | ||
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