The D50 is Nikon's first entry-level digital SLR. Launched in June 2005 with the updated D70s, it's designed for consumers looking to upgrade from all-in-one compacts to their first digital SLR.

The D50 may be Nikon's new entry-level digital SLR, but closely resembles its predecessor the popular D70. They share the same 6 megapixel resolution and at first glance look physically very similar, although when placed side by side, the new D50 is slightly smaller and lighter; it also has a bigger 2in screen and switched from Compact Flash to smaller SD memory cards.

The fastest shutter speed has halved to 1/4000 and continuous shooting slowed from 3 to 2.5fps, but Auto Focus is actually improved and there's a newer, albeit lower resolution metering sensor. And along with the usual array of scene presets is a new Child mode which, according to Nikon, "makes it easier to take memorable pictures of the little ones with the right amount of vivid colour and contrast".

In this review we'll take an in-depth look at the Nikon D50, and compare it against both the competition and the higher-end D70 / D70s models; when referring to both the D70 and D70s at the same time we'll describe them as the D70(s). The unit we tested was running a final production firmware version 1.0.

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