Canon over Nikon?

Hi

I went with Canon as that was (at the time, ~ 5 years ago) what I could afford / justify. Nikon had just come out with the D100 which wasnot cheap, and I picked up a 2nd hand Canon D30. Knowing a few people with Canon stuff meant I had the opportunity to borrow lenses, etc.

These days I would say that the prices are all similar, and the performance is all within the same ball park (with the bod holding the camera being very important). Go with what feels right to you would be what I would normally say.

Canon and Nikon both have a good selection of lenses. Some of their competitors have quite limited selections. Added to which the main aftermarket supplier (Sigma) has a range geared towards Canon and Nikon, with less support for the others. Not a problem if what you want is available though.

If she is experienced with a Nikon camera then she will probably feel most comfortable with a modern Nikon digital body. If she has a few old Nikon lenses then they will probably work on the digital bodies (exception is the D40 / D40x / D60, but the D50, D70, D80 and upwards will all be fine).

All the best

Keith

I chose Canon because at that time, the 20D performed better than the D200, IQ wise and it was cheaper. I've played with Nikons, and I just don't like them.

I don't either like the too downnoised images from the newest Nikons.

I started with a Nikon D50 and it was great .......


...... but the color out of a Canon was better.

L lens options as well.

.

I originally picked the 20D over the D70 or whatever else was around at the time due to high ISO performance.. the gap seems to be less these days so who knows what I'd go with were I to be starting afresh with minimal knowledge like I was then.

Canon's lens lineup looked better at the time, too.. again, seems to be less of a difference these days. I saw Nikon's 24-70L equivalent weeks ago at a gig and it looks notably slimmer, which was nice...

I think that in a couple of years the lineup between manufacturers will be quite similar with crop and FF options and a better lens lineup overall.. especially if you take into account third-party lens options.

I'm in the position where I really do want to surprise her only because if I don't it's almost a guarantee she'll want me to spend the money on something for the family. This means I won't be able to take her to the store to have her test it out before I get it. And as much as I would like to buy a new stove for her, I want to make the 10th anniversary a little more personal. She's basically given up her art (photography and painting) to support our family and take care of our kids as they've grown up. Now that the littlest one is almost two, it's probably time for her to think about doing something for herself.

One of my colleagues at work is lusting after the Rebel XTi and the 17-85 IS and 70-300IS lenses. He seems to have faith in Canon, and I have no reason not to trust him. But as with anything, I'd be doing myself a disservice if I didn't explore all options.

My wife only has a 35-70 Nikkor lens for her old camera, so this will pretty much be starting from scratch. I'm not a fan of limiting oneself to an entire system based on one lens, unless it's a really good lens.

I'm leaning toward the Rebel XTi only because it looks like there's no way to go wrong with it. I have yet to hear anything bad about it aside from the fact that it's not a top of the line camera. And that's not really a knock against a camera that wasn't designed to be the absolute best.

I guess the fact that most of the pros seem to shoot Canon suggests to me that there's more upside with Canon than Nikon. I honestly have no idea how far my wife wants to take this. So I'm inclined to leave it open-ended.

I appreciate all the frank responses. There's a lot of good information here. I look forward to reading more of the forum. There's so much to learn!

I started with Nikon - the D70, a nice little camera - and after a year and a bit with it felt ready to take a step up to the brand new and "fantastic" D200...

And what a piece of cr@p that camera was.

After putting myself through hell to figure out what I was doing wrong with the camera that would explain the horrible IQ I was getting from it, I finally concluded that it was the camera that was the problem - not me - so I gave up on it and Nikon, bought a 30D, and have never looked back.

One thing that would really help is budget. Once you set an upper limit of what your willing to invest, then it becomes much easier to offer suggestions. The XTi, 17-85, 70-300 is a great kit and not terrible expensive. If you want to toss in a few more $$$, add in the 10-22 wide angle as well. Another option is to wait until next month when the XSi comes out. It looks to be a better camera offering a couple features not available on the XTi. The XSi is being couples with the 18-55IS lens, add in the 70-300, 10-22 and you got a rocking system.

Feel like tossing an a few more$$, add in the 430EX flash as well. The built in flash os ok and will give you shots a bit better than the high end P/S cameras, but it is not adjustable. A external flash with a tilting head allows for much more artistic use of light.

well I tried a D40 at the local target while I was shopping around yesterday, and now comparing it to my XTi it was like a toy car with broken wheels. 3 AF points, hardly any buttons on the back and a very confusing layout. I couldnt figure out how to change aperature or iso while in M mode in the store and the shutter just sounded soooooo fake and cheap.

It was smaller than my XTi, but was suprisingly comfy in my large hands. Tho once I moved my hands into a position to use the shutter and wheel the akwardness came on.


I originally held this camera first back when I purchased a sony H2. Later on I held a XT and decided to go ahead and order the XTi

gjl711 wrote in post #4838305
One thing that would really help is budget. Once you set an upper limit of what your willing to invest, then it becomes much easier to offer suggestions. The XTi, 17-85, 70-300 is a great kit and not terrible expensive. If you want to toss in a few more $$$, add in the 10-22 wide angle as well. Another option is to wait until next month when the XSi comes out. It looks to be a better camera offering a couple features not available on the XTi. The XSi is being couples with the 18-55IS lens, add in the 70-300, 10-22 and you got a rocking system.

Feel like tossing an a few more$$, add in the 430EX flash as well. The built in flash os ok and will give you shots a bit better than the high end P/S cameras, but it is not adjustable. A external flash with a tilting head allows for much more artistic use of light.

For now I'm just focusing on the camera body itself and probably an inexpensive lens. I don't know what types of things my wife wants to shoot, and I can't really prod her for information without giving away the surprise since I've never shown interest in cameras before. So I don't want to end up with a great lens that she's not interested in.

The other factor is that I'm going to have to spend around $10k in the next couple months on a new furnace and air conditioner. Not looking forward to that, but that's home ownership for you!

With those two factors taken into account, I don't mind getting a lower-end lens for the time being. Once she gets back in the swing of things, I think she'll have a better idea of what she wants to upgrade to. I figure that I'd rather spend money on a decent camera now and get the lenses in the future. With the furnace/AC looming in the immediate future, the whole she-bang isn't an option.

Also, if I know her she'll want something she can use for capturing family memories as well. So I'm looking for something that will be comfortable for her. She's rather petite, and I don't know if a hulking piece of equipment is something she'd like.

ETA: Oops. Forgot to add that for now I'd like to keep it under $1000 total.

For under $1,000 total for a body + lens I would be trying to draw conclusions between the 30D kit vs the D80 kit. Or if she has small hands and doesn't mind a somewhat plasticky body the new Canon Xsi (450D) vs the Nikon D60 kits (the new Image Stabilized/Vibration Reduction kit lenses perform a lot better than their previous gen counterparts and you can extend the reach further by purchasing the new 55-200ish IS/VR lenses while hovering at ~$1,000). Just make sure whatever you do, buy it from a credible source online for the best prices. B&H, Adorama, etc to name a few (out of state = no tax!).

Bronkowitz wrote in post #4838236
I'm leaning toward the Rebel XTi

if your deadline is June...you should be able to get a better deal by waiting until after the xsi is on the market

Hi again,

Well you could easily get the XTi with a kit lens (18-55) for under $1000.

Shop around, you might be able to upgrade to the 18-55 IS lens, or the 17-85, for just a little more. I've heard the new 18-55 IS is a better lens optically, in addition to having Image Stabilization, but haven't actually used any of these lenses personally.

Ultimately, lenses are more important than the camera body. Personally, I might even buy the cheaper XT, instead, if that allowed for a significantly better lens. (But it's more likely to be bundled with an even cheaper lens in any kit.)

The cameras always come with software, a manual, a battery and a charger, and cable to the computer.

She'll need one or two compact flash cards right away. Needn't be real expensive ones, either. 80X would probably do fine. Maybe 120X or 133X. A CF card reader to plug into the computer is nice to have, too. Sometimes comes bundled with certain CF cards. Shop around, Newegg.com and Outpost.com have good prices on these.

Other nice extras to get just starting out include an extra battery (needn't be a Canon, Stirlingtek cost about half as much and are fine). A lens hood is also nice to have. And an accessory flash (better than the built in one), if you have any budget left.

A book about the camera in addition to the manual can be very helpful getting started, too. There are the Magic Lantern Guides, among others. Oh, and software for the computer, such as Photoshop Elements, if you don't already have it (although one can get by pretty well with Canon's software).

B&H Photo (www.bhphotovideo.com) and Adorama.com are reliable online sources. Amazon.com can be pretty good, too, sometimes even beats the camera stores' prices. Be a little suspicious of anyone else advertising very much lower prices than B&H or Adorama though. You can check out many online vendors at www.resellerratings.co​m

sadatk wrote in post #4837902
Shooting wide open at such large apertures will almost give you more CA or softer images.

Yay. Canon will give you CA or softer images at f/2. I'm just saying there's glass that won't.

I don't want to stop down to 2.8 or so, because I want to shoot at f/1.8. But it gives me some chromatic aberrations at 2.8...

If canon can't build a good 1.8, I'd rather have an 85/2.8 which is great wide open. And no, I didn't have a bad copy.

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #4839501
Yay. Canon will give you CA or softer images at f/2. I'm just saying there's glass that won't.

I don't want to stop down to 2.8 or so, because I want to shoot at f/1.8. But it gives me some chromatic aberrations at 2.8...

If canon can't build a good 1.8, I'd rather have an 85/2.8 which is great wide open. And no, I didn't have a bad copy.

Something definitely doesn't sound right if you're seeing such harsh problems with the 85 1.8. Make a new thread and post some images with the exif. It could be either body or lens related.

From photozone: The lens performed OUTSTANDING in the lab and that's at ALL aperture settings (at least till f/8). The performance peaks at f/4 but even at f/1.8 the results are more than impressive. The lens was designed for full-frame cameras so the 8mp APS-C sized sensor takes only advantage of the sweet spot which certainly helps here.

The chromatic aberrations (CA) don't exceed an average of 0.61 pixels at the image borders so they're quite low and usually no problem. However, in extreme light situations you can observe some purple fringing (see fountain shot in the samples section).

Again, this is a $300 lens we're talking about. (possibly one of the best $300 lens new) If you're concerned over something so trivial at this price range then...I have no answer. lol. This won't make a bit of a difference when making prints but if you really do mind, it can be corrected with some simple PP.

C comes before N alphabetically....that​'s the only reason I picked Canon.

Seriously, the reason I picked Canon was because a co-worker sold me his 300D for real cheap, and that was my gateway into DSLR's.

I also did read some reviews and back then it favored Canon, especially on the Noise front.

Once I committed to Canon with lens purchases, that was it. In fact I haven't thought about Canon vs. Nikon even once.

I look at Nikon's latest releases and think they are pretty nice bodies. But what's even the point? I am ecstatic with my current gear. Grass will always be greener...sometimes it's your lawn, sometimes it's your neighbor's lawn.

I think the bottom line is, you can't go wrong either way. Pick what makes sense for you...do you see glass with the features that you like? Does Nikon have a counterpart to Canon's lens offerings at a similar price?

Take for instance, the EF-S 17-55 f2.8 IS. I don't think Nikon has anything like that...I could be wrong, but last I checked they didn't have one. (I think they have one similar to the 17-85...)