Why Canon?

[jimtfoto]

For general interest, why did you guys choose Canon?
The reason I ask is that the other day I was chatting with a friend who wants to buy a point-and-shoot digital. I just naturally steered him in the direction of Canon products when I showed him a flyer from a camera store. "Why Canon?" he asked, pointing out that some of the cameras in the same megapixel range were cheaper than Canon. I just told him I'd always shot Canon and was extremely happy with their products.
That, of course, got me to thinking why ...
Years ago, when my job at the newspaper involved photography, I shot Pentax (I had a friend who worked at a camera store ... God, I wish he were still there now!!!), but my job changed and the camera bug that bit me sort of ran its course.
About eight years ago, I got bitten again ... couldn't find the Pentax and dropped in to my friend's store. He pointed me to a Rebel kit (great valued for the price) to get back into photography ... and I guess that was it. Over the next six years, I added two more Rebel bodies and several lenses ...
Than last year, we made the switch to digital, picking up first a 10D and a few months later, the DRebel for my wife ... it just seemed the natural thing to do, stick with Canon.
Any thoughts ... comments ...
jim

[belmondo]

I think my devotion to Canon has been largely evolutionary. Years ago I was a Canon manual focus 35mm shooter. When I finally became seriously interested in digital, the Nikon 995 was widely hailed as the best consumer-level camera on the market (at least in PC World), so I bought it. It was a fine camera, and is still taking good pictures in my brother's capable hands. Eventally I became interested in the Canon G2, largely influenced by the favorable reviews and 'best buy' status in PC World.You know, it's funny. I never took their advice on computers, but bought at least three cameras that I can think of based largely on their opinions. I suppose I was thinking that 'digital' meant computers, and thus had far less to do with actual photography. In hindsight, that sounds pretty stupid now.Back to the story. The G2 really impressed me, and even though it was technically a P&S, it felt, looked, smelled, and sounded like a real camera. When the 10D came out, it was a no-brainer to me. I suppose it was brand loyalty as much as solid reasoning since I really didn't have any EOS lenses worth speaking of. I guess I felt that the same people who designed and built the G2 had to be pretty good in my book.

[vvizard]

I shoot Canon because I saw an ad for the Drebel, and thought _THIS IS IT_ I'm getting that one! Finally I have a good reason to sell my ***** DiMage 7i and get happy =D So I did, but I bought the 10D, and got even more happy ;) Now that I've started building up lens-collections and accessories for EOS-bodies, I guess I'm quite locked to Canon forever. And actually.. Microsoft gets sued for anti-competitive actions? Then what the heck do you call L-glass? =D

[Cadwell]

Mmm... why Canon indeed? I have no emotional attachment to the Canon brand. I've had a passing respect for their laser printer engines in the past but that's about it.

It was really down to two factors when I started looking at dSLRs. First, I liked the lens range available for the Canons (although they didn't match my requirement for a long fast tele-zoom hence my Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 ). Second, I knew I was going to be shooting mostly motorsport - watching motorsport is my main hobby - and I noticed with interest that the vast majority of pros track side were shooting Canon... I figured they might just know something... ;)

[Jesper]

A few years ago I had a Minolta 505 si Super - I sold it with two lenses and switched to Canon (EOS 30 with 28-135 IS USM).

I switched to Canon because I knew that sometime in the future I wanted to buy a DSLR, and in my opinion Canon is the number one in the DSLR world. Also, after some research (mainly on Internet) it seemed that Canon had the best choice in lenses and Canon products are generally just a bit less expensive than Nikon products - for example, the 10D was about 15%-20% cheaper than the D100 here and Canon has IS even in cheaper lenses like the 28-135 - Nikon only has VR on really expensive lenses.

So I chose Canon because it's a large, well-known brand, it has the best choice in cameras, lenses and accessories, it's generally cheaper than Nikon and Canon are #1 with DSLRs.

[Tom W]

Why Canon? Well, I had and still have a perfectly good functioning 35 mm SLR called the FT that I "bought" used from my Father around 1978 or so. Its been a fine camera, never failed to operate properly. The 50 mm f/1.8 Canon lens (FL Breech Lock mount) operates with the same silky-smooth slickness that it has always had.

So, if the old Canon is so good, who else should I turn to for the new? Canon, of course.

[PacAce]

Here are all the SLR cameras I've ever owned in my life:

Pentax Spotmatic
Canon TLb
Canon AE1
Canon T50
Canon A1
Canon EOS Elan IIe

I guess in my case the answer to "Why Canon?" is rather obvious. :)

[WebErika]

So I chose Canon because it's a large, well-known brand, it has the best choice in cameras, lenses and accessories, it's generally cheaper than Nikon and Canon are #1 with DSLRs.

What he said ...

Though when I took photography in high school (we did cool B&W stuff :D) We were taught on Nikon 35mm equipment.

But years later, I became addicted to my mothers Canon 35mm ... and when I was starting to work with didgital media and prints, I was exposed to more Canon - Canon copiers, Canon paper, etc.

I'm just a Canon type of girl :D

[mttmrphy]

Originally I owned a Kodak DC215 1mp. I think I paid around $400 for it when 1mp was a high end camera. Last year I decided it was time to upgrade and I did A LOT of research to be sure I bought the best P&S I could find. So, I bought the Canon G3...

I've been a loyal Canon customer since. (almost too loyal)

[CyberDyneSystems]

Canon has the best collection of lenses.

Period.

Canon is at the forefront of Digital SLR tech...

[CoolToolGuy]

My first SLR was a Canon TLb, in the early '70s. At the time, Canon and Nikon were the top brands in terms of quality, and Nikon gear was more expensive, for no apparent reason. From there, it has been pretty much Canon all the way, including 35mm point & shoots for the wife. I did get one Nikon P&S for her along the way, but it was no more exceptional or long-lasting than the Canons, so that was a one-time foray into Nikon.
I fooled around with a couple of digicams to do eBay stuff, but when I saw the G3 I realized it was the first reasonably priced digicam that would let me do photography. Then I started longing for a 10D, realizing I would have to start fresh with lenses (none of my FD lenses would work). Then Canon announced the Drebel, and the rest is history.

[Andy_T]

Actually, I came to Canon a lot by chance ... but my G2 and this forum have made me quite a loyal Canonite...

Since about 15 years, I've had a Nikon 601 AF with a very moderate collection of lenses - Nikkor 1.8/50, 35-70, Sigma 24-50 and Tamron 70-210, all of them consumer junk (except the prime). However I didn't use the camera much, because developing photos was always a p.i.t.a. to me and somewhat expensive if you shoot a lot of photos.

I also got a Canon Ixus (film) when APS saw the light of day that was used for mediocre holiday snapshots (just so much more portable than the 601).

I did not think much about digicams until about Christmas 2002. Sure, the ones I had used (Sony and Kodak) were nice toys, but the all-automatic modes did not thrill me that much.

That changed a lot when a colleague showed me his Canon S40 and I noticed that you had all the creative modes like on a 'real' camera and 4 MP resolution to take great pictures. Plus, you dabble as much as you want for no additional money, once you got the camera (boy, was I naive then :lol:)

So I decided to get a digicam soon and began my research. Actually, I was pretty much down to the S40 or S45, its predecessor. What I *wanted* was the Olympus E20 or the Nikon 5700 (5 MP fixed-lens DSLR's) , but I didn't feel that shelling out some US$ 1,500 for that hobby was adequate (like I said, naive). Like Belmondo, I consulted reviews in reputable computer magazines and noticed that the G2 was hailed for giving 'similar picture quality as the E20 or 5700'. But then, it was exensive, bulky and ugly ... so it was the S45 for me.

So when I took my wife to a camera shop to show her the S45, I also picked up a G2 to demonstrate it to her: 'Now look at that one, as an example. OK, it's supposed to take pictures that are a little better than the S40, but it's so big and quite expensive' ... But then my wife replied 'Well, to me it doesn't look *that* big' ... and I started wondering ... 'Hmm, I could fit an external flash here .... and a wide angle and tele converter ... and it has a f/2 instead of f/2.8 lens ...'

So I ordered the G2 thinking 'Well, it's not a Nikon ... but most likely Canon is a decent brand, as well :lol:'.

A little later I was searching the net for information on which converters to get and I came across that forum ... and I was hooked for good.

Using the G2, and learning about Canon DSLR's, I 've come to the conclusion that I definitely will pay get a Canon DSLR and some decent lenses.

I had started bidding on some Kodak DCS 520 (Canon EOS 1N with 2 MP sensor, the closest I could get to the 1D below US$ 1000,-) on eBay this January, but then made up the decision (for personal reasons too lengthy to explain here, not just money-related) that I will not get the DSLR in 2004, but rather continue to use my G2 for the time being. So most likely in January 2005 (as soon as the shops open :lol:) I will get either a 10D, a used 1D or a 10DMKII (if it's more interesting than the 1D) and some lenses to go with it.

I've re-adjusted the budget to set aside for this ... only have to figure out a way to not bother my wife with the exact figures... :lol

Best regards,
Andy

PS: Hope I didn't bore off your pants...

[IndyJeff]

I can't give any specific reason why I choose Canon except the fact that 2 of my best friends shot Canon.


Canon is losing customers tho. Since AP went all digital at the Indy 500 there are at least 4 guys who shot Canon film that have now gone to Nikon Digital. One guy told me the reason he did was because Canon had 3 frames per second and the the only 5+ fps camera was too damned expensive, nothing in between for a reasonable price. On the otherhand, there were used Nikon's available but, no used Canon's so he went with Nikon.

[CyberDyneSystems]

...Canon is losing customers tho. Since AP went all digital at the Indy 500 there are at least 4 guys who shot Canon film that have now gone to Nikon Digital. One guy told me the reason he did was because Canon had 3 frames per second and the the only 5+ fps camera was too damned expensive, nothing in between for a reasonable price...

This totally defies logic?
(though I am certainly not arguing your statement.. only the reasons given by the people who switched)

Untill the D2H came out mere months ago there was NO Nikon Digital capable of high speeds except for the lowly 2 mega pixel D1H.. and that was totally out classed by the 1D.. in fact the D2h three years later has merely caught up with the identical speeds to the 3 year old 1D?

...plus 1D bodies (the original) are all over the internet for sale used. For less than a D2H certainly..

I just don't get it... ?

[Laziferous]

I chose Canon because of consumer reviews initially. I bought a little A10 to play around with. When I realized that I would never be able to print anything over 4x6, I decided I should buy another camera, capable of prints of up to 8x10. I read all of the reviews I could, and found the G2 to be something that seemed to be what I needed (okay... wanted). I also liked the fact that it had a lot of manual controls, and would accept an external flash, as well as filters and lenses, should I ever choose to get creative. I chose to. Never did buy an external flash by the way :roll:

So, once I became interested in photography as an art, I started to feel the limitations of my G2. The autofocus was slow, and erratically accurate, while the "manual focus" left a lot to be desired. The lens also has a max aperture value of f8.0, which is less than ideal also. I invested in the CrystalVue LX8, and some miscellaneous filters, which kept me satisfied for a while however...

I decided that I was finally good enough with my G2 (debatable of course), to justify the upgrade to a DSLR. The combination of the G2's performance in comparison to other digicams in it's range, and the vast catalogue of EOS lenses available, made the 10D seem like the logical choice forward. I still think it's overpriced though.

As CDS stated, Canon seems to be at the forefront of digital technology, and have a better selection, and quality of lenses. Now that I own the 10D, and will be investing in those lenses, it only makes sense to stay with Canon... in my opinion anyway. I always thought Canon was better, but had no proof, since the only other camera I had before the A10 was a Pentax 35mm P&S. I really had no absolute brand loyalty until I became the owner of the 10D. It would be silly to switch, after buying a bunch of EOS lenses.

So, that's "why Canon" for me. I'm with Andy... hope I didn't bore you. I know I did me :o

[Pekka]

My first digital camera was Olympus C-2000 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympusc2000z/). That was not actually a bad camera at all, but after a while I realized I needed to have two things: external flash and low noise. Those two things where the most problematic at the time. The came G1 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canong1/) and I was impressed of low noise and overall film-like quality of the image - I got one and have not had any reason to change brands since. G1 had its problems like fringing, but it had RAW!


When I decided to go DSLR (based on various reasons, mainly on artistic ones) I of course could have changed brands at that point, but I really liked RAW, 550EX and the G1 batteries matched the EOS D30 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canond30/), too.

The D30 felt after a while somewhat inadequate in speed, so after that I got briefly EOS D60 (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneosd60/) (only a minor improvement to D30) and EOS 10D (http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos10d/) which is quite good a camera, excellent for the money. But it still has too much noise in ISO 800-1600 and AF is "acting odd" sometimes, so I decided to stop this yearly gradual updating for a while and got EOS 1D Mark II couple of weeks ago. It's an amazing camera, great for any occasion from church to sports arenas.

With all these DSLR's the term "EOS" is the most valuable asset - it defines a camera system which lets you interchage parts between all EOS cameras - film or digital. Every lens and accessory works in your next EOS, too. And the most important thing in a camera is the lens: EOS lens list is pretty long and very good low light lenses are available.

And one more very important thing I respect in Canon: Canon can produce excellent goods and put them on market and not just announce vaporware which is already outdated when (if ever) released. They also offer firmware updates, and every product is an improvement to previous.

[JZaun]

At the time I knew very little about photography. I was looking for a P&S with changeable lens and a faster shutter than my Nikon 885 :? Went to Ritz and the guy there sold me on a Nikon D100. He didn't have a canon in stock. I had to sleep on it and went to another photo store just to compare. The salesman there used the 10D and raved about it. I still wanted a Nikon but let him talk me out of it for a 10D,. I have never been sorry :D I do wish that Canon turned on as fast as Nikon though :?

JZ

[Lone Wolf 75]

Well, my first camera was a Canon Snappy 20, which was a birthday present. I loved that camera, and recently found it in my parents' garage, some 21 years later. I bet if I put batteries in that and took some pictures it would still work.

Eventually I graduated to a Canon T80. I loved that camera, but I wasn't really ready to get into photography, as I still had most of my teen years ahead of me. Them high school and college came and I sort of forgot about or was too poor to afford a good camera. I had various "el cheapo" P&S 35mm cameras that I would use, or I would just borrow my Dad's Nikon when I wanted to take pictures.

Then digital came along, but I was not impressed much, until my father bought a Nikon Coolpix 5700 and I started playing with it. I played with it a bit, but found it to be less user friendly than my Canon T80, also, I think my dad was getting a little annoyed that I kept borrowing his camera. So, I did some research, saw, and played with the G5. I decided to buy one in mid-april 2004 and the rest is history.

[daaaveman]

Cause Belmondo and Cyberdyne told me to!!!! :lol:

[belmondo]

Cause Belmondo and Cyberdyne told me to!!!! :lol:

Good lord! I never realized we wielded such power!
:lol: :lol: :lol:

[Ideaspark]

being branded is lame and there are many other manufacturers who make excelelnt cameras, but one of things I say when I'm SELLING cameras (mostly consumer level) is that they are safe with a canon camera, they can be sure it's going to give them good shots. There are plenty of Nikon cameras I like and a few pentax and olympus ones but the digic processor makes a huge difference in the digital world, and well no one has really caught onto that yet (though olympus has apparently made a new processor)

I chose canon because i had a selection of EF lenses from my days of shooting my Elan2 (still a great camera that my family uses) and because the Drebel was well priced. I've shot with the d70, and it has some very nice features, but I end up having to do a lot more cleaning on the postwork because of the mediocre nikon processor. My canon I just load up the image and the art begins..very little correcting first.

That being said I did install the firmware hack so I could get some flash exposure compensation control, because both the pop-up flash and the 420 (and i suppose any dedicated flash) underexpose by about 2/3rds of a stop.

[where1]

I chose Canon way back when the AT1 came out. My friend bought one and I liked it, so I bought one. We could use each others lenses and knowledge. I went wide and he went telephoto. It made for a variety of lenses with minimum spending. As time went on, we were able to support our own lenses, but in the beginning it made sense. I purchased an AE1 and an A1 also. I sold the AE1. Later, my wife bought a film Rebel and a couple of lenses. I really liked her pictures alot, so when the DRebel came out, I jumped at it, having immediate access to a couple of other lenses.

[pradeep1]

I have been a long time fan of Canon cameras. They seem to be the first out of the gate for a lot of things technology-wise. They also bring out their innovation in the middle grade cameras first, then migrate to top level line, so if you are in the bang/buck sweet spot, you can stay there literally forever buying the middle grade cameras (especially SLRs). That happened with my EOS Elan II, G3, A80, and 10D. Those are all sweet spot cameras in their respective classes.

What do you guys think?

[HKMonkey]

I can't even remember what camera I used when I took my photography class in college. It belonged to my father-in-law (future father-in-law at the time). Anyway, when I wanted to get a camera of my own, I wanted to get a digital camera since my major was Computer Information Systems. I looked at a lot of reviews and saw that the G2 at 4mp performed as well as a lot of the 5mp cameras out there. Since cost was an issue, I went for the cheaper G2 than the spendier 5mp cameras. Also, my friend at work said that Canon has the best lens quality, and one of my friends in Hong Kong (this is when I was still in South Dakota) owned a G2 and said he really liked his. That's about it. Nothing much to it, but I can tell you that I plan on sticking with Canon in the future, because I have been extremely pleased with the quality of their products so far.

[ReSpawN]

Why Canon....hmmm interesting. Had not really thought of this question cos no one ask me in the begining...hehe.

At that time i was interested in Nikon F90 instead of my current Canon 100, primary because of the design and layout of Nikon. After some research and chatting with friends...they recommended Canon ( dun ask me why....forgotten already ). That was how i started my collection of Canon Lenses and Flashlight.

I believe Canon provides one of the best lenses in the market..Image Stabilizer (IS) etc and that why i'm sticking to Canon till this day.