I presently own a Canon 1D Mark IV, a Canon 1D Mark II, a Canon 50D, a Canon 350D, a Canon Powershot 210SX, and a couple of older compact cameras. I only use a few of them.

I bought the 50D as a walk-around camera and as a substitute for my aging Canon 350D. The choice fell on the 50D as it is fairly new, fairly fast, fairly cheap and has AF micro-adjust. I am a stickler for image quality, and that’s a feature I just won’t live without. I’d rather take a slightly noisy photo due to a high ISO settings than an out of focus photo.

Ergonomics

The 50D is well-built and quite a bit heavier than I would have liked. The grip has some sharp edges, and the camera is so small that my right pinkie neither fits on nor off the grip. In fact, this is the first camera that I haven’t felt comfortable holding. The 350D is so much better in that respect. Obviously the 1D Mark IV is perfect in this respect, despite its weight. I’ll probably have to invest in a battery grip for the 50D, making my walk-around camera both heavy and bulky – something I wanted to avoid.

Bottons and Menus

I am happy that the 50D has inherited the menu system from the 1D Mark IV. There are a couple of settings missing on the 50D, that I have become used to on the 1D Mark IV – most notably the ability to see the yellow numbers in the view-finder while shooting AI Servo. I don’t know why it can not do that, the 350D could. Next issue is the Info button. On the 1D Mark IV it is located on the top of the camera, while on the 50D it is on the bottom. Very confusing indeed.

Image quality

The 50D performs reasonably well. It is not as sharp as the 1D Mark IV, but still better than the 350D. I continue experimenting with the AF micro-adjust, but despite a perfect focus adjust, it just isn’t as sharp as the 1D Mark IV. I guess the tiny sensor is to blame.

City Escapes

I bought the 50D as a substitute for the 350D. Should I bring the 50D with a 24-105mm f/4 L lens or the 350D with a plastic lens when I go on my next holidays?  There is also the additional option of just bringing the Poweshot 210SX. The powershot takes great photos, has the equivalent of a 24-400mm zoom lens and IS.

Museum visits

I often visit aeroplane museums to take photos of old airplanes. I normally use the 350D for that. It works great, if combined with a big-ass off-camera flash. One problem with the 350D and airplane photography is that it doesn’t have a live-view mode. Sticking the camera in under a wing and aiming it upwards when trying to take photos of wheel-wells etc. has always been a hit and miss affair. With the 50D’s live-view mode, this should be better. The other option here is my Powershot 210SX compact camera, but the shutter lag and the write time makes taking photos with this compact camera a slow affair.

Birding & Wildlife

Conclusion

Once you go 1D with L glass you never go back. While the 50D is a great camera with a ton of professional features, the image quality is just not up to that of the 1D Mark IV.