Through the Lens

Disclaimer: I am not a professional photographer and my experience in using a SLR camera is 3 Days (Yup, you read that right). This is just what I feel after using the camera for 3 days and is not a review of this camera as such.


I was really excited about getting my first SLR and I went for the D-50 based on popular opinion that it is probably the best Nikon SLR for a beginner. I got the 2 lens package that Nikon offers - 18-55 and 55-200.

I was using a canon A610 before getting this camera. To start with, the D50 felt heavy and large in hand. After a few shots, you get used to that and actually appreciate the stability you get for shots with long zooms or longer exposures. Most of the common controls like Aperture, Shutter speed, WB, ISO can be changed with the help of dedicated buttons. I had to read the manual to find out how to access the other features provided. It is a quick read and does help you exploit the many features of this camera.

Removing and attaching the lens is another thing that I was not used to doing. Both lenses are not very heavy. The 18-55 gave me enough wide angle for most of the shots I took so far, although the focusing zone in Manual focus mode is very very narrow. Most of my shots were blurred because of this. Once you get a hang of it, It must be easy. But I would prefer a wider focusing range. I did not try many auto focus shots, so I am not going to comment on those.

The 55-200 lens gives a good macro area and good enough telephoto ( actually equivalent to a 82-300 for my camera ). I did not attempt a lot of telephoto shots but the pictures that I did take came out very well.

WB setting seems to be normal although strong color casts in both fluorescent and incandescent mode. A FLD filter is must for fluorescent light shots. All other modes seem to be working fine for me.

Depth of field preview is missing in this one but I did not miss it in most of my shots as you get a ball park focus area/depth while framing the shot. It will be of great help for landscape shots as one could see what the camera is seeing and frame the shot better.

All in all, I am satisfied with my buy and hope to learn as much as I can with this one. One thing I strongly suggest is buying atleast a polarizing filter and UV haze filter. It protects the lens as well helps a lot while shooting in bright sun light like I did.

After a really hectic week at work, Today was a welcome relief with the hiking and photographing. Had it not been for my enthusiasm to use the new camera, I would never have gone to the trail. I am glad that I did. It was great to just get cut off from the usual sounds of the city and witness the wilderness.

PS: Graduated tint effect has been added to all pics above to compensate for exposure.