50D BirdPark Test Drive

[Allan Teo]

Hi
Went to the bird park to check out the 50D.
All af is AF AI Servo Single center Point

ISO 400, 300 F4 using 1/1000, F7.1, size Reduced, unsharpened, Manual Handheld, IS set to PAN
Highlight recovered on head via PS .. This is on shot in focus out of 10 shots. .AF gets easily
confused.

** seems dynamic range improved, I can recover all of the 'blown head' **


Photos on Tripod, no shutter release with and without TC all using 400 F5.6
Bird under shade, Side light

ISO3200 - Denoised and sharpened - Very little noise when there is enough light.
400 F5.6, 1/250 F7.1 No TC - However shorter exposures will bring up ugly Luma and
red noise!

ISO 800 Crop and 1.4tc.. the 1.4tc adds a little softness. ISO 800 Photos at F7.1 and F8
Photo with TC was downsized by eye to match the Eye size of the bird without TC.

Rescued Vulture in flight, sharpened, a bit of Velvia, ISO 400 300 F4

Without any TC, the 300 F4 had a hard time locking on to the birds at the
Raptor Arena area because there are so many leaves, people etc.. I think
bird against the sky its very good. Its a hard place to focus. However under
the same situation the D300 AF works!

However in contrast my D300 can track on coming birds the 50D, so far
it has failed to do that under the same conditions.

* I found an annoying issue with the 50D. IN Manual Mode Auto ISO is FORCED
into ISO 400 unless you set it manually. So basically there is NO 'auto iso'
in manual mode.

I think this is a very limiting factor given that we have improved noise qualiies
and is not able to take advantage of it on the fly. I would have liked to
set a Shutter of 1/1000 and F5.6 + ISO = Auto so that I can catch flying
birds at the lowest possible ISO depending on the lighting situation..
Too bad I cannot.



Anyway hope these photos help you make the decision to buy one.

Allan

 

[Allan Teo]

To make a comparison of the AF focus, just because its nine point does not mean it is bad.. I set the D300
to Single Point because I dont want the camera to 'tikum tikum'

So at the same place under the same conditions.. here are the
D300 - with a OLD LOUSY SLOW screw drive AF 80-400 hand held.

The 50 D AF completely gave up .. So its the Same old Software as the 40D-

I hope canon quickly fixes this.. THe new Digic processor should be capable of
this..

However one thing I like about the 50D is that the Liveview focus is
very easy to use.
Allan

 

[akababy]

very nice shot! especially the first pic

 

[doodah]

So, after all the pics etc, all you are trying to say is that the 50D sucks. :bsmilie:

Is there ANYthing at all, apart from the liveview focus, that is appealing to you?

AI servo does not perform. High ISO is awful. Bad ergonomics. Awful flash. What else is new?

 

[insanekvn]

50D Rules!

 

[heheapa]

I just wonder if the 5D Mark II AF will be better....

 

[Rubber_Duck]

Nice love the 1st pix...!!! :thumbsup:

 

[doodah]

I just wonder if the 5D Mark II AF will be better....

The 5D2 should have better AF tracking given its 6 extra invisible points.

However, in low light/poor contrast situations, the peripheral AF points are gonna disappoint. You'll have to stick to the center AF point.

Edit: I think it's the color tracking ability that gives the D300 its extra edge, apart from the 51 AF points.

 

[hammie]

Nice pic~~ however I am stuck with Canon....... canon all the way for me now... Changing system is not for the poor

 

[eow]

i remember that Brutus Ostling(wildlife photography) mentioned that the AF is one of the fastest AFs on any camera.
Have u try sending it in?
or perhap u still not used to canon ?
at what f stop did u shoot the nikon with?

 

[Dream Merchant]

After using the 40D and 1D M2 for some time ... and by doing a lot of research ... I realized that when it comes to AF AI servo, acquisition, locking and tracking issues, a lot of it depends on the way the system is programmed and in the case of the 1 series cameras, the way the AF system is customized (the levels and degrees of customization available in a 1 ser cam is mind-boggling!).

I'm not an expert, and i would love to discuss more with users of the 1D M2 onwards ser bodies about how they configured their AF systems ... but straight off the bat, from what I have noticed from casual observations, the D300's AF system seems a lot more aggressive and accurate ... and dare I say, capable. Please do NOT take this as an opportunity to engage me or anyone, or try to enter into a brand war.

 

[Allan Teo]

i remember that Brutus Ostling(wildlife photography) mentioned that the AF is one of the fastest AFs on any camera.
Have u try sending it in?
or perhap u still not used to canon ?
at what f stop did u shoot the nikon with?

Actually I saw the canon marketing video on this one.. Ok I would say that
the situation that was presented was plenty of birds, nice sky .. So I think that
the 40D should do equally as well. I dont have a 1DSMKIII so I cannot make
any comparison, I have a few friends that have every single Canon Camera
and almost every single Canon L lense.. so I will know soon.

I think that the 50D AF behaviour is similar to the 40D.. The 20D and 30D AF
used to beat even high end Nikon cameras. When the D300 and D3 came out
there was dramatic changes.

If you want super duper Auto Focus on a canon camera go for the 1DMKII series.
Its amazing. It all depends on the algolrithm in the camera.. the extra points may help
but the truth lies behind all the firmware in the camera.

You also need to take into perspective the uses of AF. Some of my friends use
MANUAL FOCUS 90% of the time to control the outcome of the Image. AF is not
a cure all. They are buying the 50D for more resolution, lowernoise and pricepoint.

Finally another point to note.. The 50 D could be replaced with a 60D in 400-500 days
since Canon replaced the 40D so quickly.




Allan

 

[Pinoy]

Finally another point to note.. The 50 D could be replaced with a 60D in 400-500 days since Canon replaced the 40D so quickly.

And the point of this paragraph is? :dunno::sweat:

:Later,

 

[hammie]

Its get what u need at the moment.... maybe Digic V out by that moment?

 

[Guncon]

since we just had F1, here's a comparison of comments:

Amateur car racer-boy: This car sucks. The colour so boring, the cockpit ergonomics suck, it is lacking in power, the handling is not quick and responsive. Yes I bought this car and I have the right to whine and gripe about it anyway I like. This car cannot make it.

Professional F1 driver: For the quicker cars, there is not much time difference. We will just do the best job we can tomorrow. (Lewis Hamilton)

Substitute "car" with "camera" and related words accordingly and the effect is the same.

In short: the gadget boys whine. the pros (and those with the same professionalism attitude) go out and do the best job they can with their equipment on hand.

 

[zj2000]

since we just had F1, here's a comparison of comments:

Amateur car racer-boy: This car sucks. The colour so boring, the cockpit ergonomics suck, it is lacking in power, the handling is not quick and responsive. Yes I bought this car and I have the right to whine and gripe about it anyway I like. This car cannot make it.

Professional F1 driver: For the quicker cars, there is not much time difference. We will just do the best job we can tomorrow. (Lewis Hamilton)

Substitute "car" with "camera" and related words accordingly and the effect is the same.

In short: the gadget boys whine. the pros (and those with the same professionalism attitude) go out and do the best job they can with their equipment on hand.

d300 vs 50d is not really ferrari vs mclaren. More like F1 vs F3000. Regardless of whether you're a pro or a gear collector, for the same amount of money you will always want to get the better equipment.