Nikon D50, is it even worth it?

One of the photos that I noticed heavy noise is this one, DSC_4169, a
pic of the moon with a blue sky.

That's a straight crop. Take a look at the largest version on flickr.

Exif extracted with exiflist.exe from the NEF raw file.

FILE: dsc_4169.nef

Camera
Image Type : Thumbnail
Main Image Width : 160
Main Image Length : 120
Main Image Bits/Sample : 8 8 8
Main Image Compression : None
PhotometricInterpret. : RGB
Make : NIKON CORPORATION
Model : NIKON D50
Strip Offsets : 30994
Orientation (start point): Upper Left
Sample per Pixel : 3
Rows per Strip : 120
Strip Byte Count : 57600
X Resolution : 300
Y Resolution : 300
Planar Configuration : Chunky
Resolution Unit : Inch
Firmware Version : Ver.1.00
Date/Time Modified : 2006:04:09 16:59:50
Reference Black&White : 0.00 255.00 0.00 255.00 0.00 255.00
Date/Time Taken : 2006:04:09 16:59:50
Unknown Field 0x9216 : 01000000

Image
Exposure Time (sec) : 1/200
F-Number : 5.6
Exposure Program : Program Normal
Date/Time Taken : 2006:04:09 16:59:50
Date/Time Digitised : 2006:04:09 16:59:50
Exposure Bias (EV) : 0.00
Max Aperture : 5.7
Metering Mode : Spot
Light Source : Auto
Flash : Not Fired
Focal Length (mm) : 200.00
User Comment :
Subsec Time : 60
Subsec Time Original : 60
Subsec Time Digitised : 60
Sensing Method : One chip colour area sensor
File Source : Digital Still Camera
Scene Type : Directly Photographed Image
CFA Pattern : 0002000202010100
Custom Render : Normal Process
Exposure Mode : Auto Exposure
White Balance : Auto
Digital Zoom Ratio : 1.00
Focal Length (35mm equiv): 300
Scene Capture Mode : Standard
Gain Control : None
Contrast : Normal
Saturation : Normal
Sharpness : Normal
Subject Distance Range : Unknown

Maker Note (Nikon Type 3)
Version : 0210
ISO Setting : 0 200
Quality : RAW
White Balance : AUTO
Sharpening : AUTO
Focus : AF-A
Flash Setting : NORMAL
Flash Mode :
White Balance Bias : 0
Field 0x000d : 00010600
Exposure Difference : 0.00
Flash Compensation : 0.00
Field 0x0013 : 0 200
Field 0x0017 : 00010600
Field 0x0018 : 00010600
Field 0x0019 : 0.00
Focal Length : D50
Tone Compensation : AUTO
Lens Type : 14
Lens : 18.00 200.00 3.50 5.60
Flash Used : None
AF Focus Position : Unknown value
Bracketing : 0
Field 0x008b : 40010c00
Color Mode : MODE3a
Lighting Type : NATURAL
Hue Adjustment : 0
Unknown Field 0x0093 : 1
Noise Reduction : OFF

TIFF Image
TIFF Image Type : Thumbnail
TIFF Image Compression : JPEG Compression
TIFF X Resolution : 300
TIFF Y Resolution : 300
TIFF Resolution Unit : Inch
TIFF Jpeg IF Offset : 131072
TIFF Jpeg IF Byte Count : 707296
TIFF YCbCr Positioning : Datum Point

TIFF Image 1
TIFF Image Type : Main
TIFF Image Width : 3040
TIFF Image Length : 2014
TIFF Image Bits/Sample : 12
TIFF Image Compression : 34713
TIFF PhotometricInterp. : 32803
TIFF Strip Offsets : 838608
TIFF Orientation : Upper Left
TIFF Sample per Pixel : 1
TIFF Rows per Strip : 2014
TIFF Strip Byte Count(s) : 4102141
TIFF X Resolution : 300
TIFF Y Resolution : 300
TIFF Planar Config : Chunky
TIFF Resolution Unit : Inch
Unknown Field 0x828d : 2 2
Unknown Field 0x828e : 02010100
Unknown Field 0x9217 : 2

Nikon NEF Thumbnail
TIFF Image Compression : JPEG Compression
TIFF X Resolution : 300.00
TIFF Y Resolution : 300.00
TIFF Resolution Unit : Inch
TIFF Jpeg IF Offset : 7346
TIFF Jpeg IF Byte Count : 22650
TIFF YCbCr Positioning : Datum Point



--
Joan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joan-in-manly

"sgtdisturbed" wrote in message
ups.com...
: One of the photos that I noticed heavy noise is this one, DSC_4169,
a
: pic of the moon with a blue sky.
:

It's not junk, but I didn't start to post on flickr until after I
bought the 18-200, however, the NYE shots were with the 18-55 kit
lens.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joan-in...7594081834128/

I think most of those are crops, so the largest size on Flickr might
be 100%.

If you want more info any, just quote the number.

By all accounts the 18-70 is better. The 55-200 is considered bad and
I didn't get one. I took the kit with the 70-300 bonus. However, I
can't really hold the 70-300 still at 300, so keep it for tripod work.
The 18-200 is a fabulous walk-about lens.

--
Joan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joan-in-manly

"sgtdisturbed" wrote in message
oups.com...
: Ya I kinda figured that a good lens makes a difference in pic
quality,
: but how much would a good Lens go for? I understand that the D50
comes
: with a lens, is it just junk, or can I take half-way decent pics
with
: it?
:

On 10 Apr 2006 04:20:47 -0700, "sgtdisturbed"
wrote:

Ouch, I am noticing the same problem I had with the Nikon Coolpix 4600,
on the pics you have, where there is one solid color covering a big
area, like the sky, there is significant noise, and the picture isnt
even enlarged. Were these taken at more sensitive setting than ISO 200?

Those are compression artifacts, and are a result of the image being
made smaller to handle being transferred over the internet. The
original image will, in all likelyhood, print and view just fine.
--
Bill Funk
replace "g" with "a"

I love our new D50. My wife decided to get one for a trip to China-
last trip she lugged 25 rolls of film with her. This trip she merely
bought a 1 Gb card!

We both have film SLRs, and I have a digital P&S (Oly 3000Z) No
comparison. The D50 is great!

Now, in GENERAL the faster the film, the tinier the grain. But not
always. Emulsion technology advanced the state of the art, so that a
200 film of the 1980s might well have as sharp a resolution as a 100
film of the 1940s.

Plus, changes in ISO-based exposure time have a completely different
mechanism and effect- it is not on resolution, but on noise. We have
taken a fair number of dim pics with the D50, and noise is not a factor
at 200.



sgtdisturbed wrote:
I have been seriously interested in a digital SLR camera since I got
rid of my Nikon N55 film SLR. I am seriously terrible with film, and
out of 10 rolls, only about 30 pictures came out how I liked, and I was
fed up with waiting for the film to develope at Sav-On, and I didn't
like having to pay for film and not know if the picture came out until
the film was already wasted. I have seen some great pictures taken with
a Nikon Coolpix 4600 (4 megapixel), and they were brilliant, vivid, had
great auto exposure, and could handle some complex lighting situations,
but had a good amount of noise came up in the pictures. I heard of the
Digital SLR cameras, and was thrown to the ground at the sight of the
prices, but found a Nikon D50 that would still put a major dent in my
wallet that I would feel every time I sit down, but it was low enough
to handle. I saw the 6 megapixels and thought "well, thats an
improvement on 4 megapixels". Also, I noticed the difference in CCD
sensor size, it is huge comp ared to point and shoot cameras that have
6 megapixels. Also the Nikon D50 has all these cool manual funcions,
but I read that it only goes as low as 200 ISO. Now, one of a few
things I remember about using film as that 200 speed gave much better
picture quality than 400 and 800, where it doesnt have alot of
graniness, but since the D50 is digital, will it be like the Nikon 4600
and have noise regardless of ISO setting? I have Adobe Photoshop
Elements and Photoshop CS2, so I can tinker with some of the noise, but
I would like to have a digital camera that doesnt have much noise so I
dont have to go and tinker with it to get it right. Again, as a simple
recap, does the D50 have the kind of noise that the Coolpix 4600
produces, will the lowest setting on the camera 200 ISO produce much
noise, and pretty much, is it worth the money, like, is it a good
deal? Thanks for any help!

Hi,

What are Exif , flickr, nnd NEF?
Please enlighten me. TIA. Craig



"Joan" wrote in message
...
That's a straight crop. Take a look at the largest version on flickr.

Exif extracted with exiflist.exe from the NEF raw file.

FILE: dsc_4169.nef

Camera
Image Type : Thumbnail
Main Image Width : 160
Main Image Length : 120
Main Image Bits/Sample : 8 8 8
Main Image Compression : None
PhotometricInterpret. : RGB
Make : NIKON CORPORATION
Model : NIKON D50
Strip Offsets : 30994
Orientation (start point): Upper Left
Sample per Pixel : 3
Rows per Strip : 120
Strip Byte Count : 57600
X Resolution : 300
Y Resolution : 300
Planar Configuration : Chunky
Resolution Unit : Inch
Firmware Version : Ver.1.00
Date/Time Modified : 2006:04:09 16:59:50
Reference Black&White : 0.00 255.00 0.00 255.00 0.00 255.00
Date/Time Taken : 2006:04:09 16:59:50
Unknown Field 0x9216 : 01000000

Image
Exposure Time (sec) : 1/200
F-Number : 5.6
Exposure Program : Program Normal
Date/Time Taken : 2006:04:09 16:59:50
Date/Time Digitised : 2006:04:09 16:59:50
Exposure Bias (EV) : 0.00
Max Aperture : 5.7
Metering Mode : Spot
Light Source : Auto
Flash : Not Fired
Focal Length (mm) : 200.00
User Comment :
Subsec Time : 60
Subsec Time Original : 60
Subsec Time Digitised : 60
Sensing Method : One chip colour area sensor
File Source : Digital Still Camera
Scene Type : Directly Photographed Image
CFA Pattern : 0002000202010100
Custom Render : Normal Process
Exposure Mode : Auto Exposure
White Balance : Auto
Digital Zoom Ratio : 1.00
Focal Length (35mm equiv): 300
Scene Capture Mode : Standard
Gain Control : None
Contrast : Normal
Saturation : Normal
Sharpness : Normal
Subject Distance Range : Unknown

Maker Note (Nikon Type 3)
Version : 0210
ISO Setting : 0 200
Quality : RAW
White Balance : AUTO
Sharpening : AUTO
Focus : AF-A
Flash Setting : NORMAL
Flash Mode :
White Balance Bias : 0
Field 0x000d : 00010600
Exposure Difference : 0.00
Flash Compensation : 0.00
Field 0x0013 : 0 200
Field 0x0017 : 00010600
Field 0x0018 : 00010600
Field 0x0019 : 0.00
Focal Length : D50
Tone Compensation : AUTO
Lens Type : 14
Lens : 18.00 200.00 3.50 5.60
Flash Used : None
AF Focus Position : Unknown value
Bracketing : 0
Field 0x008b : 40010c00
Color Mode : MODE3a
Lighting Type : NATURAL
Hue Adjustment : 0
Unknown Field 0x0093 : 1
Noise Reduction : OFF

TIFF Image
TIFF Image Type : Thumbnail
TIFF Image Compression : JPEG Compression
TIFF X Resolution : 300
TIFF Y Resolution : 300
TIFF Resolution Unit : Inch
TIFF Jpeg IF Offset : 131072
TIFF Jpeg IF Byte Count : 707296
TIFF YCbCr Positioning : Datum Point

TIFF Image 1
TIFF Image Type : Main
TIFF Image Width : 3040
TIFF Image Length : 2014
TIFF Image Bits/Sample : 12
TIFF Image Compression : 34713
TIFF PhotometricInterp. : 32803
TIFF Strip Offsets : 838608
TIFF Orientation : Upper Left
TIFF Sample per Pixel : 1
TIFF Rows per Strip : 2014
TIFF Strip Byte Count(s) : 4102141
TIFF X Resolution : 300
TIFF Y Resolution : 300
TIFF Planar Config : Chunky
TIFF Resolution Unit : Inch
Unknown Field 0x828d : 2 2
Unknown Field 0x828e : 02010100
Unknown Field 0x9217 : 2

Nikon NEF Thumbnail
TIFF Image Compression : JPEG Compression
TIFF X Resolution : 300.00
TIFF Y Resolution : 300.00
TIFF Resolution Unit : Inch
TIFF Jpeg IF Offset : 7346
TIFF Jpeg IF Byte Count : 22650
TIFF YCbCr Positioning : Datum Point



--
Joan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joan-in-manly

"sgtdisturbed" wrote in message
ups.com...
: One of the photos that I noticed heavy noise is this one, DSC_4169,
a
: pic of the moon with a blue sky.
:

Try Google.

--
Joan.
http://joan.colley.name:85
"Craig" wrote in message
...
: Hi,
:
: What are Exif , flickr, nnd NEF?
: Please enlighten me. TIA. Craig
:
:
:

Is there a way that I could see a copy of the nef raw picture? I
couldnt find any nef uncompressed pictures for this one: dsc_4169, the
one with the moon in blue sky. Could you send me a better copy than the
online compressed one?

Don Stauffer wrote " We have
taken a fair number of dim pics with the D50, and noise is not a factor
at 200. "

Could you send me one of your pictures taken at 200 ISO?

"sgtdisturbed" wrote in message
ups.com...
Don Stauffer wrote " We have
taken a fair number of dim pics with the D50, and noise is not a factor
at 200. "

Could you send me one of your pictures taken at 200 ISO?

The D50 is a really nice camera. The build quality is good, the body size
is nice (not too big, not too small), and the photos generated by it are
great. Noise is not a problem with the D50 at ISO 200, here is a link to a
few photos I snapped yesterday with it
http://ntotrr.smugmug.com/gallery/1350279/1/63728881.

Only you know what camera suits you but I would bet that you'd be very happy
with a D50.