Canon EOS 50D: yours to preorder for just ...

While we wait for the long-rumored replacement of its EOS 5D, Canon has recently unveiled its EOS 50D.

It's a big change from the EOS 40D - so much so, in fact, that it's not replacing the earlier model, which is staying on the manufacturer's list for now as an 'expert entry-level' camera, whose fast speeds and excellent rapidity make it a great prospect for amateur sports photographers everywhere.

Innovations

The EOS 50D brings with it a new sensor.  As well as rising up to 15 Megapixels, Canon has also claimed better sensitivity thanks to two innovations:

• a new Digic 4 image handling processor, with better electronic noise handling

• a new network of micro-lenses, focusing light over a wider spread of photosites, each one of which is slightly smaller.

We're looking forward to testing these out, and in particular to comparing the results with its most serious competitors, the Sony Alpha 700 and the Nikon D300.

The new Canon model is also blessed with a screen that is worthy of comparison with these two big hitters, a 3 inch VGA that improves on the EOS 40D's QVGA.

The EOS 50D brings face recognition technology for focusing on the screen and an 'automatic creative' mode which will interest those who don't really understand shutter speeds and depths of field, and which seems a strange omission from another recent model, the EOS 1000D, apparently destined for technophobes.

Pricing

All of these strong points aside, we're still rather worried by Canon's pricing, which has so far been called at 1499 euros.  The good news is that several Internet retailers have already adjusted this, with at least two respected resellers offering the model for preorder at 200 euros below its recommend price;

> Our comparison of digital reflex cameras