new to canon forum....seeking advice

[Aliria]

I am a long time user of Nikon film products and about 15 months ago used, and liked, a Nikon 4300 point and shoot digital camera. Still, I am strongly considering a Canon...specifically the new top of the line 1Ds Mark II, or perhaps another Canon digital. However, to complicate matters, I saw that Nikon deeply slashed the price of the D2H two days ago, so that it can now be had from about $1000 to $1800, street price. I know the big difference in megapixels for each camera...and the huge price difference. Price is not a driving factor for me. Still I like to get value, and the D2H seems a very good value. I do not have a big investment now in Nikon glass, so changing to Canon is not a big deal. Also, to let you know, I am not a pro photographer....just someone who goes all the way when it comes to hobbies. Any thoughts on D2H vs Canon?

Also, can a high-end notebook with 128 graphics card, and either 1440 x 900, or 1920 x 1200 pixels be used to effectively process digital RAW? Color problems? I am going to Thailand for a couple of months in the spring and intend on taking a camera and notebook. Any thoughts on adequacy of a notebook?

I assume that Photoshop is the current standard?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Aliria

[CyberDyneSystems]

Welcome to the Forum :) :)

At $2,000.00 the D2h remains a good buy if MP is of no concern... (it is hopelessly out of date as far as megapixels go,. it was infact hopelessly out of date the day it was released.. but that's another story ) .. but other than the Megapixels .. it is a fine Camera!

I'm not sure where your seeing it new for $1,000.00? $1,900.00 seems the real street price, unless your considering used.

These days though.. for $1,500.00 a 20D with 8+ MP is nearly the equal of the D2h in many other specs.. and superior in many as well.. (including MP of course)

The pro options of course are the 1D MkII wiht 8.2MP, the 1DsMkII with 16MP , the older 1Ds with 11MP (used for about $3,800.00).. and the original 1D .. now nearly four year old tech at 4MP.... (used for under $2K)

Your notebook and PhotoShop sound fine.. to process Canon RAW files you will not NEED anything other than what comes with the cameras.. but having the most recent Photoshop CS helps .. as it has a built in RAW converter.

My feeling is that if you di not have a large investment in Nikon Glass,. now is a good time to jump over to Canon Digital.

Either the 1Ds pro bodies or seriously take a look at the 20D.. it offers a LOT for 1/3 the price of the 1D MkII.

[gramps]

I started usung Canon film equiptment in the late 70's. About 2 - 3 years ago I bought my first digital.....A Nikon 950. When Canon came out with the 20 D I looked at it real hard, got it and am GLAD I did. I strayed once from Canon but never again. Look at the 20 D, I'll bet you will be very impressed.

[Aliria]

Thanks for the views on Nikon and Canon...bye the way, the Nikon D2H can be had at Express Cameras for $1104....not a grey market...and I even saw a few other for about $800....though I would not trust that price...all in all, I think I may go with a Canon, as I am not sure that the 4.1 mp Nikon is sufficient for my needs....I do need to look at all the Canons, and not just the new Mark II....thanks for the sage wisdom...Aliria

[robertwgross]

Aliria, prepare yourself to read some negativity about Express Cameras.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

---Bob Gross---

[charlesu]

Thanks for the views on Nikon and Canon...bye the way, the Nikon D2H can be had at Express Cameras for $1104....not a grey market...and I even saw a few other for about $800....though I would not trust that price...all in all, I think I may go with a Canon, as I am not sure that the 4.1 mp Nikon is sufficient for my needs....I do need to look at all the Canons, and not just the new Mark II....thanks for the sage wisdom...Aliria

I expect that a good guideline for what you can truly buy the camer for (the complete package with no tricks) is B&H's price. They want $1999 so I'd guess anywhere within 10% of that is reasonable. The other offers are probably scams. Otherwise B&H would be buying their cameras from those dealers instead of Nikon, USA. Trust me, dealer net is well above $1104.

The low sales price on that camera speaks volumes. Anyone who has followed it (as I have) since it's debut knows it's anything but a great camera. In fact, it was a huge failure for Nikon both technically and from a marketing perspective. They announced it and the main features JUST matched the already dated Canon 1D. Shortly after it's release Canon announced the 1DMKII. Then, right out of the gate, there were image issues with the D2h. At one point Nikon was considering a major recall and re-chipping operation. For most newspapers I don't think there is an issue. So, it's less critical than if it were a studio camera. I think now they've decided to let it die quietly.

Nikon has had a lot of other issues. Mostly about getting products to market both R&D and actual shipping. I think a word to the wise might be to look to the Canon and then see if Nikon can meet or surpass the offering.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Reseller ratings gives "expresscameras.com" a .98 on a scale of one - ten... thats. DECIMAL POINT.98

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller1805.html

As Charles says... most likely the d@H will actually sell for about $1,999.00 or thereabouts ;)

[ron chappel]

I've recently heard of the nikon price drop for the D2H as well as some gossip that it may possibly be because they will soon upgrade that model to compete with canon in megapixels (from what i've heard it is very good in all other areas-including that stunning wireless option they had allmost from day one! canon take note....)

So if nikon are possibly releasing another model soon it may pay to wait...?
In the end it wouldn't hurt to swap to canon but try to time it right to minimise the drawbacks and maximise the benifits