Blow me down.

Well, I'll be. Im gonna get a Nikon D50, Ive decided. Sooner than later, even.

Color me surprised at this.

I'm surprised for this camera was such a long shot, I had thrown it into the mix only because .. shit, no.. it had no chance. A crippled, built for cost consumer class dSLR? No.

But even cursory research shot the camera ahead of the pack. Far ahead of the pack. For image quality, it gives up little to its higher-priced bretheren the D70/D100, and based on the images Ive seen on flickr, it betters them in some respects.

Image quality. Thats big with me.

And it seems to be built up to Nikon quality, plus there is the availability of years of Nikon lenses out there. (I will be browsing flea markets and craigslist.)

Add that it can be had brand new for less than 500 bux, and it's owners wax rhapsodic over it, that eclipses my deal breaker about it - it only takes small, expensive SD cards.

Wow.

Based on how fast the prices are dropping, this thing is seriously under-rated. By people like me, apparently.

Next step, I'll be fondling the demo at the local camera store. Due diligence, natch.

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