Appreciate the 50D Review

[SidSP]

Hi Bob,
Just a note of appreciation for your typical reasoned and practical review of the 50D.  It stands in marked contrast to much of the hyperventilating about it when it is compared to the 40D in the blogs and forums around the net. 

I have had a 50D since the first week it was available, and based on my experience and several thousand shots with it and about 9 months and 5000 shots with the 40D, I think you captured its strengths compared to the 40D very accurately.

Good job!

[mike_tee_vee]

I second that!  The review was very balanced and fair.  It also includes comments on real life experiences, rather than dwelling on lab results.

One thing in particular I liked about the review, and noticed with the new DXOMark is the nice reminder that pixel level differences in noise, DR, and color response will not be immediately noticeable on a downsized print, say a 8"x12". 

Digital photography has a substantial following that obsesses over every possible scientifically measurable detail without giving much consideration to the "art" of photography. 

I much prefer Bob's practical reviews for every day photographers, as opposed to the patron saint of digital camera testing across the pond.

[Bob Atkins]

Thanks guys!

I usually only get a few days, maybe a week, with a camera, so that also limits the amount of testing I can do. Usually I find there's something else I should have done when I'm writing the review up, but at that point the camera has gone back. It's good to hear that someone who has owned and used the camera than I did comes to the same conclusion about it.

I do agree that "scientific" testing has almost gotten out of hand. Not that the numbers aren't interesting, but they are open to misinterpretation by those who think a slight differences in DR or noise levels is more important than new features or the quality of actual prints (something that is rarely tested). I guess the availability of software packages for testing from companies like Imatest and DxO means that scientific testing is getting easier to do and so more sites are doing it. Sometimes I think some of them almost forget that it's a camera rather than a piece of equipment to be tested and that most users won't be shooting high contrast sujects at ISO 6400 and making 24" x 36" prints very often!