Ok guys... It's only been oh lets see... 7 Months!
(life, who knew that it could become so incredibly busy), I am finally going to continue this 50D investigation
I'm going to update the Canon firmware to 1.0.7 today (just for the sake of it), and put the camera through its paces tonight. I have a ACK-E2 AC power adapter on the way, however that is not expected to arrive until early next week. Until then I will still try the following:
1) Pushing the images straight to the CF.
For anyone that's interested, I will post results after the run.
Michael
edit: /sigh, clouds and high speed winds put an end to any attempt last night
(standing by for clear weather...)