Nikon D50 - great camera at great price

I've been a semi-serious photographer for over 40 years and own several older Nikon bodies, a dozen lenses, and basic accessories. I also went digital a few years ago and now own two Olympus Camedia cameras, which take excellent pictures. Just before a family vacation to Japan, I broke down after months of debating whether to buy a new digital SLR. I banked on Nikon after reading numerous reviews. I had a couple of days to read the manual and get familiar with the D50's many features. I actually took less than a dozen test pictures before leaving for Japan—normally not a good idea for a serious shoot! Well, I took over 1,700 pictures over 18 days in all conditions (dar interiors, bright sun, shaded forest, light rain, people candids, grab shots from a moving train, closeups of flowers, etc.). Except for poorly composed or mistimed pictures—no fault of the camera itself—the pictures came out really great, much better than expected. The optics are really good with the 18-55 and 55-200 DX lenses. The camera functions very well and is user-friendly. The resolution, color, tonal range, everything were all superior. Having prior knowledge of photographic techniques is definitely helpful (i.e., selective focus, using shutter speeds, ISO settings, composition and timing, etc.) but the camera can function just fine in automatic mode. My pictures were mostly taken in normal fine setting, so most of the pictures were between 1.5 and 2.0 MB each. I already made a few 8x10 prints and they look just as good as pictures taken with conventional SLR cameras.

I can't think of anything negative about the D50, not at all. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants a great camera at a great price.