Canon VS Nikon

Use to be an active photographer and a member of this forum years ago but went through some tough times that required me to sell off my equipment. I am now on the hunt for some new gear so I can get back into it! I had been using Canon gear(40D w/ 17-40 F4L and 70-200 F4L) and enjoy it but I am having a hard time locating used gear in my local area and it seems a lot of people here wont ship to canada. However, I do see quite a bit of Nikon cameras for sale and was just wondering what are some pros and cons between the two brands. Any help is appreciated.

Performance wise they are both the same, it mostly comes down to lens selections for your particular application and ergonomics.

Do a search on the forum and internet, you're not the first person to try and decide between the two biggest brands in photography..

Both are good and you can't go wrong with either. I think the general consensus is that Nikon bodies have better dynamic range than Cannon, but Cannon lenses are slightly better than Nikon.

You might also want to consider Sony. Some people swear by them these days.

I had the Nikon/Canon dilemma in 2009 when I moved to digital. I have no idea how this applies today, but back then Canon had better glass for less money. Please don't hang me, that is my considered opinion after a vast amount of reading, nothing more.

The other reason I chose Canon was a bit more esoteric. Back in 2009, Nikon cameras were just plain ugly. Near as I can tell, that is still true.

Nowadays you get more features and better performance for a cheaper price with Nikon.

I've shot both quite a bit, presently own only Canon. You can't go wrong with either. Excellent systems all around. It usually comes down to the small things so I suggest trying them if you can. I moved away from Nikon mostly because of ergonomics and even though Canon repair service isn't always excellent it is heads and tails above the utter buffoonery offered by Nikon in my area. In the past I felt that Canon had better lens options but 3rd party glass has definitely made things interesting of late. Nice choices to have. Best of luck.

When you choose a camera brand, you are buying into a system. Lenses are a big part of these systems. If you will be pursuing general mainstream photography, I don't think there will be big differences in the lens lineup for you, so any of the big three (Canon, Sony, Nikon) should be fine. But if you think you might be doing specialty photography in the future, then have a close look at what lenses the manufacturers make for those areas. Examples of lens lines to consider would include specialty macro and long-tele lenses.

You might also want to look at format size - "full frame" 35mm, "crop frame" APS-C, and micro-four thirds. Bigger formats have more light-gathering power and that gives advantages, but smaller formats are cheaper and lighter, and still give excellent image quality. Heck, even many phones take fantastic photos.

Where are you located ?

There are a number of Canadian "photography for sale" groups on Facebook.

Most US sellers will ship to Canada, if asked nicely

All it requires is filling out a form at their local post office.

If you are not aware, avoid UPS like the plague ! Their brokerage fees are killer...

With the dollar exchange right now, you would be better off looking for Canadian sellers.

Cheers, Don

Don't believe anyone saying one company has a better price for more features than another, some companies have older models, some are expected to release new models soon, set your budget, prioritise what features are important to you and look at the ergonomics. You don't say what you like to photograph so no one can give you an answer as what models and/or lenses may suit you. If you are familiar to Canon cameras from before it is still a good starting place, however Nikon have good cameras too and so do Sony. You really must get a hands-on some models to see what feels best to you, in your hands.

gscrocker wrote in post #18329692
Use to be an active photographer and a member of this forum years ago but went through some tough times that required me to sell off my equipment. I am now on the hunt for some new gear so I can get back into it! I had been using Canon gear(40D w/ 17-40 F4L and 70-200 F4L) and enjoy it but I am having a hard time locating used gear in my local area and it seems a lot of people here wont ship to canada. However, I do see quite a bit of Nikon cameras for sale and was just wondering what are some pros and cons between the two brands. Any help is appreciated.

You have 2 great lenses, and it would seem a shame to get rid of them to switch systems. The cameras I suggest looking at would be:

- 7D (crop like the 40D, just alot better)
- 6D (full frame)
- 80D (crop like the 40D, but with a newly designed sensor for DR, and many new features and better IQ than the 7D and 70D)

These days you can pick up a 1D4 for a reasonable amount, and that sits right between the FF and APS-C crop. As to shipping to Canada, if you can strike a good deal for you from US sellers, they can generate a shipping label and the necessary customs data right online from Paypal or USPS, and the costs aren't that much more, perhaps about 30-40% over US shipping. As long as you are willing to cover that delta (and some of the insurance maybe), I see no reason why somebody in the US wouldn't ship north. The exchange rate might make that difficult though.

Thank you all for your replies!

Don - I am in Nova Scotia

TeamSpeed - I HAD those lenses wish I still did.

do consider the brand as a system (body + lens).
I once had this extended discussion over beer with a photographer in Japan

https://photography-on-the.net …read.php?t=1462​842&page=1

hope it helps!

Thanks! I enjoyed the read.

However my last 3 cameras were Canon, so I think due to this fact I am going to stick to Canon. The only reason I asked is because all that was available around my area that was local seemed to be Nikon. However, I seem to have located a 7D mark 1 that I am going to check out sometime this week!

If you have decided on Canon, I would recommend the EOS 80D or you may want to wait for 6D mark ii.
Have fun!