August 26, 2008: Canon EOS 50D has just been announced

Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 26 August 2008: Canon today strengthens its EOS range with the addition of a powerful new digital SLR: the EOS 50D. With a 15.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor, 6.3 frames per second shooting and Canon's latest DIGIC 4 image processor, the EOS 50D delivers unparalleled speed and resolution at a price point that is unique in today's market.

Outstanding, clean images
A newly designed 15.1 Megapixel CMOS sensor delivers ultra-detailed, low-noise images - ideal for large-scale reproduction or creative cropping. New manufacturing processes, plus redesigned photo diodes and microlenses, extend the light gathering capabilities of the sensor - allowing more pixels to be fitted on the CMOS sensor without compromising image quality. These changes ensure improved high ISO performance and low noise. High-speed, low light shooting is enabled by ISO levels of 3200, expandable to an ultra-sensitive 12800.

The EOS Integrated Cleaning System - including the improved Self Cleaning Sensor Unit with a new fluorine coating - increases protection of image quality by helping to reduce, repel and remove unwanted dust from the sensor. Stubborn particles can be removed automatically in post-production with Dust Delete Data and Canon's included Digital Photo Professional software.

Rapid-fire performance
Canon's new DIGIC 4 processor is fast enough to allow up to 6.3fps continuous shooting, in bursts of up to 90 JPEGs with a UDMA card. Used with Canon's wide area AF system, which locks onto subjects with 9 individual cross type sensors, stunning action sequences can be captured - even in low-light conditions. This makes the EOS 50D particularly suited to sports and wildlife shooting.

DIGIC 4 works with the CMOS sensor to deliver 14-bit image processing, for smooth gradation and natural-looking colours - as well as ensuring ultra-fast startup times and near-instant image review after shooting.

See everything
A new 3.0" Clear View VGA LCD provides extra-large and wide angle-of-view image review, with plenty of clarity for accurate focus checks in playback. By switching to Live View mode - which displays a real-time image on the LCD - photographers can enjoy simplified shooting from awkward angles, or connect to a PC for remote shooting. Live Mode now offers three ways to auto focus: Quick AF, Live AF, and new Face Detection Live AF, which optimizes focus based on faces detected in the frame - for fast, spontaneous portraiture.

Control and ease
The famously intuitive EOS menu system includes a new Quick Control screen, for instant access to the most commonly-changed settings. A new Creative Auto mode offers automatic focus and exposure - while still allowing creative ‘tweaks' to settings such as background sharpness.

"For advanced amateurs and semi-professionals - or professionals looking for a powerful backup model - the EOS 50D stands alone," said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging, Europe. "No other camera in this price bracket offers a comparable combination of speed and image quality."

Canon EOS 50D Sensor Cleaning System
These changes ensure improved high ISO performance and low noise. High-speed, low light shooting is enabled by ISO levels of 3200, expandable to an ultra-sensitive 12800. The EOS Cleaning System which has been integrated in the Canon EOS 50D - including the improved Self Cleaning Sensor Unit with a new fluorine coating - increases protection of image quality by helping to reduce, repel and remove unwanted dust from the sensor. Stubborn particles can be removed automatically in post-production with Dust Delete Data and Canon's included Digital Photo Professional software.

Canon 50D perfect for sports and wildlife photography
Canon's new DIGIC 4 processor is fast enough to allow up to 6.3fps continuous shooting, in bursts of up to 90 JPEGs with a UDMA card. When using the Canon EOS 50D with Canon's wide area AF system, which locks onto subjects with 9 individual cross type sensors, stunning action sequences can be captured - even in low-light conditions. This makes the Canon 50D particularly suited to sports and wildlife shooting. DIGIC 4 works with the CMOS sensor to deliver 14-bit image processing, for smooth gradation and natural-looking colours - as well as ensuring ultra-fast startup times and near-instant image review after shooting.

Canon EOS 50D incorporates CMOS technology
Canon's CMOS technology is one of the company's key competitive advantages, with noise reduction circuitry at each pixel site delivering virtually noise-free images. In comparison with CCD technology, the lower power consumption characteristics of Canon's CMOS sensors also contribute to longer battery life. Signal conversion in Canon's CMOS sensors is handled by individual amplifiers at each pixel site. Unnecessary charge transfer operations are avoided, vastly speeding up the process of getting signal to the image processor. Noise generation is reduced, power consumption is limited and faster frame rate potential is increased.

Live View mode integrated in the Canon EOS 50D
The Canon EOS 50D features a new 3.0" Clear View VGA LCD, providing extra-large and wide angle-of-view image review, with plenty of clarity for accurate focus checks in playback. By switching to Live View mode - which displays a real-time image on the LCD - photographers can enjoy simplified shooting from awkward angles, or connect to a PC for remote shooting. Live Mode now offers three ways to auto focus: Quick AF, Live AF, and new Face Detection Live AF, which optimizes focus based on faces detected in the frame - for fast, spontaneous portraiture.

Canon 50D developed for semi professional photographers
The famously intuitive EOS menu system includes a new Quick Control screen, for instant access to the most commonly-changed settings. A new Creative Auto mode offers automatic focus and exposure - while still allowing creative ‘tweaks' to settings such as background sharpness. "For advanced amateurs and semi-professionals - or professionals looking for a powerful backup model - the Canon EOS 50D stands alone," said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging, Europe. "No other camera in this price bracket offers a comparable combination of speed and image quality."

Canon EOS 50D offers Picture Style pre-sets
Picture Style pre-sets simplify in-camera control over image qualities. Picture Style pre-sets can be likened to different film types - each one offering a different colour response. Within each selectable pre-set, photographers have control over sharpness, contrast, colour tone and saturation. The camera's factory default configuration is set to deliver immediately-usable JPEG images without need for additional menu settings. Picture Style presets applied to a RAW image can be revised with Canon's Digital Photo Professional software. The six pre-sets are:

• Standard - for crisp, vivid images that don't require post-processing
• Portrait - optimises colour tone and saturation and weakens sharpening
• Landscape - for punchier greens and blues with stronger sharpening to give a crisp edge to mountain, tree and building outlines
• Neutral - ideal for post-processing
• Faithful - adjusts colour to match the subject when shot under a colour temperature of 5200K

• Monochrome - for black and white shooting with a range of filter effects (yellow, orange, red and green) and toning effects (sepia, blue, purple and green).

Canon EOS Digital Photo Professional Software
Digital Photo Professional software provides high speed, high quality processing of lossless RAW images. Processing with Digital Photo Professional allows real-time display and immediate application of image adjustments, giving control over RAW image variables such as white balance, dynamic range, exposure compensation, noise reduction and colour tone - plus the ability to view Auto Focus points on an image. The Lens Aberration correction tool allows precise correction of different types of distortion caused by certain cameras. Images can be recorded in camera with sRGB or Adobe RGB colour space.

Canon EOS Utility on the EOS 50D SLR camera
The latest version of EOS Utility provides essential support for Live View remote shooting, camera configuration and image transfers. Tightly integrated with Digital Photo Professional, EOS Utility can be configured to monitor ‘hot' folders, automatically renaming and moving incoming images to a structured file system. Users can also tag their images with EXIF data, including copyright information.

Canon EOS 50D price & availability
The Canon EOS 50D (body only) is available in Europe from the end of September 2008 priced at €1599.99 / £1199.99 inc. VAT. In the United States, the Canon EOS 50D digital SLR camera is scheduled for October delivery and will be sold in a body-only configuration at an estimated selling price of $1,399 USD.

Sources:
letsgodigital.org/en/news/articles/story_19745.html
whatdigitalcamera.com/news/Canon_launches_new_digital_SLR_news_266240.html
dpreview.com/news/0808/08082605canoneos50d.asp