Digital SLR Reviews Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Viewfinder’

Canon EW83E Lens Hood for EF 16 35mm f 2 8L or other UWA Canon SLR Lenses

Specially designed Lens Hood for the CANON 16-35 f/2.8L USM Lens & the CANON 17-40 f/4.0 L USM Lens (CAN 17-40MM/USM)

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars I wish it had been included with the lens
A lens hood is essential. All of my Canon high-end lenses came with the hood packed in the box. The 10mm-22mm lens is a very fine quality lens and feels like one of the pro “L” lenses in construction and in image quality. It is also expensive enough to qualify, so why not include the lens hood?

Since it was not included however it is a necessary purchase.

3 Stars Lens hood for 10-22mm wide angle zoom
This is way overpriced for what it is and Canon is too cheap to include it with the lens– shame on them. It is just crazy to have to be “taxed” an additional $30+ on a $700 lens that should come with a lens hood. It works fine, it is just the price that is the issue. I’m kind of sorry I didn’t take the risk of buying a third party brand lens hood. The Canon hood is just made of plastic as is the third party brand (BTW I thought the third party brand was also overpriced at $15+). To me, this hood is worth maybe $10 but certainly no more than $12. Part of the reason I bought the Canon is that Amazon provided free shipping since it was over $25. The $15+ hood got bumped up to over $20 with the shipping. I would have tried the third party brand but there is no telling the quality of those plus the cost difference was to close with the shipping so I just decided to bite the bullet and pay up. It is wise to have the hood especially for bright days but the price is definitely a rip.

5 Stars Does what its supposed to!!!
First of all, this particular lens hood is “recommended” for several different lenses. I suspect that is why some people find that it is “visible” when looking through the viewfinder at widest angle settings, while others do not. I purchased this for the Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens (used on an EOS 50D) after reading lots of positive reviews. I am a firm believer in the philosophy of always shooting with a lens hood in order to add more protection to the front of the lens, as well as to protect against glare from peripheral light sources.

This hood fit the 10-22mm lens perfectly and is snug. It can be reversed and mounted on the lens for storage, just as with other Canon lens hoods. While it’s usable on several Canon lenses, its flower petal seems to be sized for the 10-22mm lens. I say this because if you experiment with a 1/8th inch tab projecting in to the viewing angle of the lens when set at 10mm, you’ll see the tab paint out a perfect rectangle in the viewfinder as you trace the petal contour. (i.e. the petal is JUST out of sight at 10mm)

The large 77mm front of this lens is hungry to capture stray light from any source, and this hood does a good job blocking some of that unwanted light. I noticed less glare on outdoor shots right away.

As claimed in other reviews, this lens hood does have a large diameter. It’s large petals (top and bottom) are 4.25″ diameter, while its small petals (left and right) are a whopping 4.75″ diameter. The 10-22mm lens is 3.25″ in diameter where the hood attaches. However, this “oversizing” of the hood is intentional and if you look at its molding, you can see that the designers took every possible opportunity to step and flare the petals outward, in order to allow projecting the petals farther in front of the lens (and blocking more peripheral light) without becoming a regular unwanted subject in your photo’s shot at 10mm.

This hood won’t fit in to any of my lens cases while attached to the lens. I’ll live with that for now, but will look to upsize a couple of my cases to remove the step of adding/removing this hood between shooting and lens storage. I don’t mind the extra step, but feel like the less one has to handle any lens, the less likely it will be to get dropped. For that reason, I always mount the lens first, and THEN the hood. Likewise in reverse, always remove the hood while the lens is on the camera, and then remove the lens and move it directly to its case.

I’d strongly recommend this lens hood for the EF-S 10-22mm lens. It’s cheap insurance and does a good job with reducing glare.

3 Stars I guess its a good lens hood
But I purchased it for my wide angle and I guess I’m not doing something right or the lens wouldn’t make a shadow on all of my pics. I just don’t think this lens should have a hood.

Otherwise, it’s like all of the rest of my hoods. Seems sturdy enough.

5 Stars Extra, because 1 just isnt enough
I bought this for my L series because although buying the lense brand new and it comes with one alraedy, i’ve seen that the hood gets scratched.

So i bought another one, in times where i just want to be flashy, i can pull out the new hood and make it look good, haha.

And in case my hood breaks, i have a replacement.

Buy/More Info

Canon EOS 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3 inch LCD and 28 135mm f 3 5 5 6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens

Made to be the tool of choice for serious photographers and semi-professionals, the EOS 7D features an all-new 18.0 Megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor and Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors, capturing tremendous images at up to ISO 12800 and speeds of up to 8 fps. The EOS 7D has a new all cross-type 19-point AF system with improved AI Servo AF subject tracking and user-selectable AF area selection modes for sharp focus no matter the situation. The EOS 7D’s Intelligent Viewfinder, an entirely newly-designed technology, provides 100% coverage and displays user-selected AF modes as well as a spot metering circle and on demand grid lines. New iFCL Metering with 63-zone dual-layer metering system uses both focus and color information to provide accurate exposure even in difficult lighting. The EOS 7D also captures Full HD video at 30p (29.97 fps), 24p (23.976 fps) and 25p with an array of manual controls, including manual exposure during movie shooting and ISO speed selection. The EOS 7D features a magnesium alloy body that is dust- and weather-resistant and shutter durability of up to 150,000 cycles. Compatible with over 60 EF and EF-S lenses as well as with EOS System accessories, the creative opportunities – not just with stills but also with video – are beyond amazement. Intelligent Viewfinder with 100% field of view, wide viewing angle of 29.4 , high magnification of 1.0, intelligent viewfinder with glass pentaprism and an overlaid LCD display in viewfinder supports various shooting styles Image Sensor – CMOS sensor 18.0 megapixels Image Sensor Size – 22.3 x 14.9 mm (APS-C size) Media – CF Card Type I and II, UDMA-compliant CF cards, via external media Monitor – 3.0 TFT LCD monitor Viewfinder Type – Eye-level pentaprism Live View Functions – Still photo shooting & video Recording Image Type – Still – JPEG, RAW (14-bit, Canon original), sRAW, mRAW, RAW+JPEG; Video – MOV (Image data – H.264

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Canon’s Newest Crop SLR Packs a Powerful Punch
I’ve had the Canon 7D for about two weeks now and after about a thousand shots:

Introduction. A very impressive high megapixel count for Canon’s new professional/consumer digital SLR, but keep in mind that, as you approach higher resolutions, you need to ensure the lens on the SLR can resolve that much detail. Being that I only purchased the body, I’ll be anxious to see how the lens kit fairs with this new camera. The shots I’ve seen so far across the internet are impressive, however. The lens I’ve used with this camera so far is my Canon 24-70 f/2.8L. A huge jump in ISO performance over my XSi, but that’s to be expected. I’m having troubles with focusing, but I’ll touch on that in a minute.

Image Quality. Outstanding. Perfect Colors in comparison to my Canon G10 and XSi. No color banding, excellent sharpness.

ISO. Canon 7D’s ISO performance is great for the amateur photographer attempting to get great photos (and the semi-pros who know what their doing…I’m the former). As I said previously, I had the opportunity to take photos in a restaurant at about the same time using the same lens with both the XSi and the 7D (different days). The difference in quality and keeper rate was amazing! I am one that will stop shooting at a higher ISO once the grain starts showing more predominantly, but at an ISO3200, I found pretty nice photos in a barely lit restaurant. The LCD screen is the same as the Canon 5D Mark II (3″, 920K Pixels), clear and fully visible even in bright sunlight. In comparison, the Canon XSi SLR also has a 3″ LCD, but with 230,000 pixels.

Size/Build. This build of the camera is substantially well made. It’s supposed to be made of a magnesium body and weather proof. Either way, I have no fears of taking this camera out in the elements. It’s more substantial than the XSi, and after only a few hours of shooting with the 7D, picking up the XSi felt like a children’s toy. I have small hands (ms_ladi hands), but still have no problems carrying the 7D body with the 24-70 lens.

Video. I am not interested whatsoever in the video aspect of SLR cameras and can never understand why this feature is included. Well, yes I can understand. I tried out the video for a few minutes and here are a couple of things I did not like. I also searched a few forums and found a couple of the same opinions. When I start shooting, I have to focus prior to shooting, but if I pan somewhere else, the camera won’t focus again–did I do something wrong???? Also, while I was taking snapshots during shooting, the video paused and the sound of the picture taking was heard. Since I’m not a fan of shooting on cameras, I’m not sure this is normal. The playback, however, is pretty amazing…lifelike, very realistic colors.

Autofocusing. Canon’s new 7D packs 19 AF points. I didn’t include this first because I’m still not sure if this is my lens, or my inability to learn the camera to the best of my ability. Although I’m getting excellent pictures, I fear I’m having problems with autofocusing. I point, shoot and the photo is blurry. The same picture with my Canon G10 comes out fine. After a few more attempts–concentrated, adjust, adjust, focus, focus, manual focus, manual focus, shoot (!!), the photo comes out well. I took a picture of a decorative frame and a photo. The shot came out with the frame in focus and the photo not (!!). Odd. Anyway, again, this is just an initial review as the elements are the user, the camera, and the lens.

Conclusion. For the price, the new Canon 7D is the most excellent camera that Canon has released. For the amateur like myself, by itself or coupled with a Canon G10 for the “low-pro” times, one has a one-two power combination. For the semi-pro, this is the probably the best crop to date. The camera is intuitive enough for those new to photography to pick and learn easily, yet configurable enough for advanced amateurs.

5 Stars Does the 7D beat full frame cameras?
No, but it’s so good that one starts to contemplate this question, which was never the case before the 7D was introduced. Both systems, crop and full frame, have their pros and cons and place in photography. But before I get into that let me say I have not been as excited about a camera since the introduction of the 5D MK I four years ago. That’s because the 7D raises the crop camera bar to the point where crop users will not feel at a disadvantage to full frame camera users, especially if coupled with awesome ef-s lenses such as the 17-55 f2.8.

How so? The 7D sets a new standard in four major ways.

1. It produces whopping 18MP pictures, which are just 3MP shy of the current top of the line full frame Canon cameras. Just few years ago most pros were producing stellar results using the 1Ds MKII 16MP camera. Now you have more MPs in a crop sensor, that’s a major achievement. This achievement translates into bigger prints and, perhaps more importantly, cropping power. Out shooting wildlife with a 300mm instead of 400mm? You can crop the 7D files down to 50% of their original file size and still obtain sharp pictures. It’s just not that easy with the 1D MK III 10MP files.

2. Many worried that extra MPs in small crop sensors would translate into nosier pictures, but the amazing thing is that this camera produces images with what seems to be less noise than the 1Ds MKII. The noise level is very good. At ISO 1600 I still prefer pictures coming from my 5D MKII, but below ISO1600 they are very close. Frankly, I can go with either camera because most of my professionally shot portraits and product pictures are shot at ISO100. At ISO100 both produce very clean files and are practically indistinguishable.

3. Focus is the one area that was lacking on the previous 1.6 crop Canon cameras and this camera changes that. It’s not a 1D in focus speed and accuracy, but it’s the next best thing compared to them. It’s faster than the Canon 5D MKII, which is known to be slightly faster or around the focus performance range of the 50D and 40D.

4. The drive chain is fast, so fast it’s beyond anything I needed in my professional work in portrait, commercial, and product photography. Going through pictures taken at 8fps produces very little difference from frame to frame. One probably has to shoot a very fast moving subject/object to see the advantage of such fast drive system.

There are obviously many other things that I have not covered in this review. But based on the above, all I can say is that this camera has really raised the bar for all cameras and made it much more affordable to obtain a professional level camera for all types of photography. If you were considering buying the 5D MKII as an upgrade give this camera a test because it might be all you need.

As for the advantages of crop cameras I always find it odd that casual users who shoot many things but focus on landscape think they need a full frame to realize their potential. Crop cameras such as the 7D and 50D are fine for most users and offer many advantages including:

1. greater depth of field at lower aperture for landscape photography

2. greater tilt and shift effect because of sensor size relative to effect (8 degrees in shift are greater in effect relative to a 22mm sensor compared to a 35mm sensor)

3. greater magnification with micro lenses and extension tubes because of smaller sensor (1:1 in full frame equals 35mm, 1:1 in crop equals 22mm)

4. smaller lighter lenses with wider aperture that achieve greater reach (such as the 17-55 2.8 vs the 24-70 2.8 similar reach but much lighter and smaller)

Traditionally the three areas full frame cameras outshine crop cameras are a bigger brighter viewfinder, shallower depth of field for portrait photography, and better ISO performance, which on the last point the 7D has proven not be an issue anymore.

And for the second point really, most beautiful low depth of field portraits are done around f2.8-2.0 in full frame (going wider will make depth of field too narrow to place two eyes in focus). Hence, if one is using a wide prime, a crop sensor will produce the same depth of field at 2.0-1.4. Considering an affordable 50mm f1.4 lens on crop has the same field of view as 85mm lens on full frame there is really no reason to discount a crop camera any more as the 7D levels the playing field.

Buy/More Info

Opteka Professional 1X 2X Right Angle Viewfinder for Canon Nikon Olympus Sony and Pentax Digital SLR Cameras

Ever find it hard to get your SLR in just the right angle to take that perfect shot you’ve always wanted. Optekas Professional Right Angle Viewfinder let’s you line up an off the deck shot without needing to crawl on your belly. The Opteka finder features include a built in diopter with 1X and 2X capability, full 360 degree rotation, and universal mounting attachments for most Digital SLR cameras including Canon EOS, Nikon, Olympus EVOLT, Pentax, Sony Alpha, & many more. Padded leather-like pouch for easy handling included.

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Good quality and good price
I bought this for my Nikon D60. It is not the kind of thing I use a great deal, but it is very helpful for low angles. I bought it primarily for macro photography, although the 2X magnification is very nice when the camera is on a tripod. The finder is well made and it fits perfectly. I noticed comments on loose fitting with Canon cameras, but this is not the case with Nikon. It produces a clear image with good contrast. Its only problem is a narrow angle of view, i.e., you have to look straight into the eyepiece. This is a minor issue. At roughly 1/4th the cost of the Nikon right angle finder, this is a real bargain.

3 Stars Ill-fitting adapter
This was the most reasonably-priced angle viewfinder on the market. After reading the reviews of it on Amazon I decided to buy it since I made a new year’s resolution to do more with macro photograhy this year. The viewfinder arrived quickly and was packaged in a nice leather (or pseudo-leather pouch). Because the viewfinder is “universal” it comes with several different adaptors for different makes and models of DSLRs. I have a Canon 50D, so I immediately selected that adapter and tried to attach the viewfinder to the camera. Unfortunately the adapter is a shade larger than the viewfinder on the camera that it attaches to. The end result is that the viewfinder is loose on the camera–to the point that it might even fall off if you don’t hold it firmly against the camera with your finger. I don’t know if this was an error in packaging of the adapter or not. I did not read anything about this in any of the other reviews, I can certainly still use the viewfinder, and it appears to function adequately, but it is going to be kind of a pain to have to hold it tight with my finger.

5 Stars Using Opteka’s Professional Right Angle Viewfinder
Who would have thought that an accessory like this could be so much fun. I bought this item for the purpose of getting into closeup photography at different angles.

I must have used this in the regular position, looking down like an old box camera, for who knows how many shoots.

I experimented with turning the viewer to be able to look around corners. Actually, the viewfinder can be turned to 4 different positions. A whole new world can be seen from almost all of these options.

4 Stars Nice performer for light duty
I purchased this device for occasional, light duty and it fills that requirement very well. The fit on my Nikon D80 and D90 is slightly lose but not so lose as to cause problems given my limited usage. It certainly makes ground level flower photography much easier and is very handy when I attach my camera to my astronomical telescope. If I were a professional photographer or used a right angle viewfinder for a majority of my work, the $230 Nikon viewfinder would make sense but for the more limited work I do with it, this $60 device fills the need and performs very well.

5 Stars opteka right angle viewfinder
This item does a good job for the purpose of it’s design

has quality optic’s and works well.Recommend item

Buy/More Info

Canon EOS 7D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3 inch LCD Body Only

Made to be the tool of choice for serious photographers and semi-professionals, the EOS 7D features an all-new 18.0 Megapixel APS-C size CMOS sensor and Dual DIGIC 4 Image Processors, capturing tremendous images at up to ISO 12800 and speeds of up to 8 fps. The EOS 7D has a new all cross-type 19-point AF system with improved AI Servo AF subject tracking and user-selectable AF area selection modes for sharp focus no matter the situation. The EOS 7D’s Intelligent Viewfinder, an entirely newly-designed technology, provides 100% coverage and displays user-selected AF modes as well as a spot metering circle and on demand grid lines. New iFCL Metering with 63-zone dual-layer metering system uses both focus and color information to provide accurate exposure even in difficult lighting. The EOS 7D also captures Full HD video at 30p (29.97 fps), 24p (23.976 fps) and 25p with an array of manual controls, including manual exposure during movie shooting and ISO speed selection. The EOS 7D features a magnesium alloy body that is dust- and weather-resistant and shutter durability of up to 150,000 cycles. Compatible with over 60 EF and EF-S lenses as well as with EOS System accessories, the creative opportunities – not just with stills but also with video – are beyond amazement. Intelligent Viewfinder with 100% field of view, wide viewing angle of 29.4 , high magnification of 1.0, intelligent viewfinder with glass pentaprism and an overlaid LCD display in viewfinder supports various shooting styles Image Sensor – CMOS sensor 18.0 megapixels Image Sensor Size – 22.3 x 14.9 mm (APS-C size) Media – CF Card Type I and II, UDMA-compliant CF cards, via external media Monitor – 3.0 TFT LCD monitor Viewfinder Type – Eye-level pentaprism Live View Functions – Still photo shooting & video Recording Image Type – Still – JPEG, RAW (14-bit, Canon original), sRAW, mRAW, RAW+JPEG; Video – MOV (Image data –

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars Does the 7D beat full frame cameras?
No, but it’s so good that one starts to contemplate this question, which was never the case before the 7D was introduced. Both systems, crop and full frame, have their pros and cons and place in photography. But before I get into that let me say I have not been as excited about a camera since the introduction of the 5D MK I four years ago. That’s because the 7D raises the crop camera bar to the point where crop users will not feel at a disadvantage to full frame camera users, especially if coupled with awesome ef-s lenses such as the 17-55 f2.8.

How so? The 7D sets a new standard in four major ways.

1. It produces whopping 18MP pictures, which are just 3MP shy of the current top of the line full frame Canon cameras. Just few years ago most pros were producing stellar results using the 1Ds MKII 16MP camera. Now you have more MPs in a crop sensor, that’s a major achievement. This achievement translates into bigger prints and, perhaps more importantly, cropping power. Out shooting wildlife with a 300mm instead of 400mm? You can crop the 7D files down to 50% of their original file size and still obtain sharp pictures. It’s just not that easy with the 1D MK III 10MP files.

2. Many worried that extra MPs in small crop sensors would translate into nosier pictures, but the amazing thing is that this camera produces images with what seems to be less noise than the 1Ds MKII. The noise level is very good. At ISO 1600 I still prefer pictures coming from my 5D MKII, but below ISO1600 they are very close. Frankly, I can go with either camera because most of my professionally shot portraits and product pictures are shot at ISO100. At ISO100 both produce very clean files and are practically indistinguishable.

3. Focus is the one area that was lacking on the previous 1.6 crop Canon cameras and this camera changes that. It’s not a 1D in focus speed and accuracy, but it’s the next best thing compared to them. It’s faster than the Canon 5D MKII, which is known to be slightly faster or around the focus performance range of the 50D and 40D.

4. The drive chain is fast, so fast it’s beyond anything I needed in my professional work in portrait, commercial, and product photography. Going through pictures taken at 8fps produces very little difference from frame to frame. One probably has to shoot a very fast moving subject/object to see the advantage of such fast drive system.

There are obviously many other things that I have not covered in this review. But based on the above, all I can say is that this camera has really raised the bar for all cameras and made it much more affordable to obtain a professional level camera for all types of photography. If you were considering buying the 5D MKII as an upgrade give this camera a test because it might be all you need.

As for the advantages of crop cameras I always find it odd that casual users who shoot many things but focus on landscape think they need a full frame to realize their potential. Crop cameras such as the 7D and 50D are fine for most users and offer many advantages including:

1. greater depth of field at lower aperture for landscape photography

2. greater tilt and shift effect because of sensor size relative to effect (8 degrees in shift are greater in effect relative to a 22mm sensor compared to a 35mm sensor)

3. greater magnification with micro lenses and extension tubes because of smaller sensor (1:1 in full frame equals 35mm, 1:1 in crop equals 22mm)

4. smaller lighter lenses with wider aperture that achieve greater reach (such as the 17-55 2.8 vs the 24-70 2.8 similar reach but much lighter and smaller)

Traditionally the three areas full frame cameras outshine crop cameras are a bigger brighter viewfinder, shallower depth of field for portrait photography, and better ISO performance, which on the last point the 7D has proven not be an issue anymore.

And for the second point really, most beautiful low depth of field portraits are done around f2.8-2.0 in full frame (going wider will make depth of field too narrow to place two eyes in focus). Hence, if one is using a wide prime, a crop sensor will produce the same depth of field at 2.0-1.4. Considering an affordable 50mm f1.4 lens on crop has the same field of view as 85mm lens on full frame there is really no reason to discount a crop camera any more as the 7D levels the playing field.

5 Stars Canon’s Newest Crop SLR Packs a Powerful Punch
I’ve had the Canon 7D for about two weeks now and after about a thousand shots:

Introduction. A very impressive high megapixel count for Canon’s new professional/consumer digital SLR, but keep in mind that, as you approach higher resolutions, you need to ensure the lens on the SLR can resolve that much detail. Being that I only purchased the body, I’ll be anxious to see how the lens kit fairs with this new camera. The shots I’ve seen so far across the internet are impressive, however. The lens I’ve used with this camera so far is my Canon 24-70 f/2.8L. A huge jump in ISO performance over my XSi, but that’s to be expected. I’m having troubles with focusing, but I’ll touch on that in a minute.

Image Quality. Outstanding. Perfect Colors in comparison to my Canon G10 and XSi. No color banding, excellent sharpness.

ISO. Canon 7D’s ISO performance is great for the amateur photographer attempting to get great photos (and the semi-pros who know what their doing…I’m the former). As I said previously, I had the opportunity to take photos in a restaurant at about the same time using the same lens with both the XSi and the 7D (different days). The difference in quality and keeper rate was amazing! I am one that will stop shooting at a higher ISO once the grain starts showing more predominantly, but at an ISO3200, I found pretty nice photos in a barely lit restaurant. The LCD screen is the same as the Canon 5D Mark II (3″, 920K Pixels), clear and fully visible even in bright sunlight. In comparison, the Canon XSi SLR also has a 3″ LCD, but with 230,000 pixels.

Size/Build. This build of the camera is substantially well made. It’s supposed to be made of a magnesium body and weather proof. Either way, I have no fears of taking this camera out in the elements. It’s more substantial than the XSi, and after only a few hours of shooting with the 7D, picking up the XSi felt like a children’s toy. I have small hands (ms_ladi hands), but still have no problems carrying the 7D body with the 24-70 lens.

Video. I am not interested whatsoever in the video aspect of SLR cameras and can never understand why this feature is included. Well, yes I can understand. I tried out the video for a few minutes and here are a couple of things I did not like. I also searched a few forums and found a couple of the same opinions. When I start shooting, I have to focus prior to shooting, but if I pan somewhere else, the camera won’t focus again–did I do something wrong???? Also, while I was taking snapshots during shooting, the video paused and the sound of the picture taking was heard. Since I’m not a fan of shooting on cameras, I’m not sure this is normal. The playback, however, is pretty amazing…lifelike, very realistic colors.

Autofocusing. Canon’s new 7D packs 19 AF points. I didn’t include this first because I’m still not sure if this is my lens, or my inability to learn the camera to the best of my ability. Although I’m getting excellent pictures, I fear I’m having problems with autofocusing. I point, shoot and the photo is blurry. The same picture with my Canon G10 comes out fine. After a few more attempts–concentrated, adjust, adjust, focus, focus, manual focus, manual focus, shoot (!!), the photo comes out well. I took a picture of a decorative frame and a photo. The shot came out with the frame in focus and the photo not (!!). Odd. Anyway, again, this is just an initial review as the elements are the user, the camera, and the lens.

Conclusion. For the price, the new Canon 7D is the most excellent camera that Canon has released. For the amateur like myself, by itself or coupled with a Canon G10 for the “low-pro” times, one has a one-two power combination. For the semi-pro, this is the probably the best crop to date. The camera is intuitive enough for those new to photography to pick and learn easily, yet configurable enough for advanced amateurs.

Buy/More Info

Canon EOS 50D 15 1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF 28 135mm f 3 5 5 6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens

Canons new EOS 50D bridges the gap between the novice and the seasoned pro with a perfect combination of high-speed and quality. It features an APS-C sized 15.1-megapixel CMOS sensor for tremendous images, new DIGIC 4 Image Processor for fine detail and superior color reproduction, and improved ISO capabilities up to 12800 for uncompromised shooting even in the dimmest situations. It features a refined 3.0-inch Clear View LCD (920,000 dots) monitor, supercharged Live View Function with Face Detection Live mode, plus a number of new automatic Image Correction settings and HDMI output for viewing images on an HDTV. Pick up the EOS 50D and youll experience true digital inspiration!

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars You get what you pay for
I have a Canon 1DIII, and was looking for a more compact second body. I was not happy with the prospect of either the 50D or 5DII but decided to give the 50D a try first. It’s not that it’s such a bad camera, it’s just leagues away from the 1 series, and in my opinion, leagues away from the Nikon D300. Why do I say this?

First, it’s not at all weatherized, which does matter to me as I do mostly outdoor shooting, and there are competing products from Nikon, Pentax, Sony, that are pretty well weatherproof.

Second, the viewfinder is small and dark, and there’s only 9 AF points, compared to 50 something in the Nikon D300, and at least 11 in most other cameras. I don’t need 50 points, but the little rhomboid pattern in the Canon amateur and prosumer lines is really sub-par for the industry.

Third, there’s more pixels, but then there’s also more noise, and fewer pixels would have been just fine, along with less noise. What good does ISO 12800 do, when the pic is unusable?

In summary, Canon has been resting on their laurels, made mainly cosmetic improvements in each iteration since their 20D came out, and I sold the camera a month after I bought it at a substantial loss on ebay. Good riddance, money can be recouped.

5 Stars Completely Satisfied
The Canon 50D is great. I added the Tamron AF18-270mmm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical [IF} Macro (Model Bo003) lens from Amazon to this camera and I am extremely satisfied with their performance together. The quality of my pictures with the new camera and len are significant. I was using a Canon Rebel Xt with a Tamron 18-200 lens.

5 Stars New Amazing Product for Best Available Price
Bought for my wife’s Birthday (professional photographer), she loves it over the overpriced, under performing, Nikon that she was using in her 1 year professional photography program. Camera, lens and all accessories are high quality and in perfect condition, never been out of box, packaged excellently and arrived almost 2 weeks before the beginning of the estimated shipping time frame. Amazing deal especially considering that I had to cancel my order from a mainstream photography equipment company who said it was out of stock for over 2 months, and is now charging almost $400 more than Amazon.com for the same exact thing, even though it still says out-of-stock.

5 Stars I love this camera.
I had dreamt of buying a good digital camera for a long time. I had been shooting films until now since I could not afford a digital camera that produced the quality I desired.

In short, this camera is worth every penny (in my opinion of course). I totally fell in love with it the day I received it. The picture quality is awesome. The pictures are both sharp and the colors are spectacular. It has all kind of great features but what matters most for me is the picture quality. I already have one of my pictures taken on this camera displayed on a wall in the living room, it is 5.2 feet wide and even despite of the size, the picture quality is good.

5 Stars How to make your wife happy.
I don’t know much about photography so you may want to pan this review but my wife loves taking pictures. Her rebel was acting up so we bought this beauty. Although a little costly it was worth it to see how excited my wife was when she got it.

Buy/More Info