Back to the EOS 50D

One of the factors in my decision to sell my EOS 1D Mark III was the fact that I still have a good condition EOS 50D which I bought from LensRentals last Summer and which I can't really sell due to it's high, over 100,000, shutter count. Although at the price I was willing to sell it for, together with the cost of a new shutter from Canon, it still would have been a bargain camera body.

Here are some of the things that the 1D Mark III added over and above the 50D:

• dual card slots, 1 CF and 1 SD, so I was able to have a 32G card in each slot
• integrated vertical grip in weather sealed body
• much longer battery life
• built in eyepiece cover
• 10 frames per second with a second, slower fps selectable by the user. (I chose 5fps)
• capability to use up to 7 frames in auto exposure bracketing vs. 3 for the 50D
• 100% viewfinder coverage
• more auto focus options (although I only use the center point on all bodies)
• 1.3x crop factor vs. 1.6x for the 50D (sometimes a plus, sometimes not)

Here are some things that I prefer about the 50D:

• 15 megapixel sensor vs. 10 megapixels for the 1DIII
• Digic 4 processor vs. Digic 3 for the 1DIII
• nearly identical operational controls as my main body, the 5D Mark II
• 1.6x crop factor vs. 1.3x for the 1DIII (sometimes a plus, sometimes not)

Here are some things that I wish were different about the 50D:

• They kept the old BP511A battery instead of the new LP-E6 battery which was introduced less than a month later in the 5DII
• They kept the old battery grip from previous XXD bodies which doesn't have a separate back AF button like the body itself does.

The EOS 60D, the current body in that lineup of cameras was a step backward in terms of build quality, view finder coverage, frame rate and some important features like micro focus adjustment which were present in the 50D. There are rumors that the 70D is soon to be announced and that it may bring that line of cameras back to where it was before the 60D was introduced. If that's so, the sale of my 1D Mark III would cover the cost of that new body. In the mean time, I'll use the 50D for when I want a faster frame rate than the 5DII or the longer reach of the 1.6X crop factor.

[UPDATE 3/31/13: Instead of waiting to see what the 70D brings I decided to pick up a used 7D body with battery grip. The 7D lacks all the shortcomings of the 50D I mentioned above plus has a 100% viewfinder, 18 megapixel 1.6x crop sensor, 8 frames per second and dual Digic 4 processors.]

Here are a couple of shots from the past week or so made with the 50D and the 300mm f/4L IS USM lens.

Table for One - Eastern Gray Squirrel

Bird's Foot Icicle