colleague of mine has bought
Nikon D50 with
DX
AF-S Nikkor 18-70 mm 1:3.5-4.5G ED lens. I just had it in my hands.
What I also did I brought my Nikon F100, just to compare few things like
viewfinder, speed of focusing and general handling. I also was interested
how AF-S lens will work on my Nikon F100. I know that comparing these two
bodies is not completely right, but on other hand currently they are
comparable by price when looking for F100 at second hand market.
Viewfinder of Nikon D50 is smaller, but has more contrast than on
mine Nikon F100. The lack of contrast could be also caused by the fact that
viewfinder on my camera could be just dirty a bit, but I do not think so. I
must say I like the additional contrast on Nikon D50 and I wish my Nikon's
F100 would have same contrast and clearness.
Handling of Nikon D50 is little bit tricky. My hands are on smaller
size and they hardly fit in grip. My small finger has no place there. With
mentioned Nikkor DX AF-S 18-70 mm 1:3.5-4.5 G ED lens there is also other
problem. Camera has tendency to fall in front as the lens with its weight
has moved the central of balance too much outside of camera body. That
makes not comfortable feeling in the hand holding camera. When I have mount
the lens on F100 it was just perfect and hand was not stressed at all even
the total weight was higher. Mounting mine 50/1.8 Nikkor on D50 has the
same effect, perfectly balanced camera.
Focusing on Nikon D50 with AF-S lens is fast and completely silent.
Even photographer itself can hardly hear any sound. When same lens is
mounted on mine F100 the focusing speed is same and sound is also close to
nil. Little more is heard from body, but it is only little tick when
focusing starts, which can be caused by by age of mine F100. Nikon D50 is
focusing faster with 50/1.8 than with AF-S zoom mentioned here same is true
for F100. AF-S lens is just a little slower than 50/1.8 AF-D. My Nikon F100
of course is limited as the AF-S lens is DX so I can see black corners and
therefore amount of light coming into the camera is limited, but still it
is enough to cover all focusing points.
