Canon 500D & Nikon D90 curiousity gone!!!

A few months back when i was still deciding what to get between these two cameras i read a lot, but when the time comes for me to buy i made a huge mistake (buying without ever handholding either one of these models).

i chose the 500D because its cheaper by $400 and i have a canon service center near me, 3 years warranty and crumpler strap. While the nikon D90 only has a 1year warranty from the Nikon Authorized distributor here in our country which is a few islands away...

then suddenly after a few weeks of excitement, i had a buyers remorse, i keep think what if i bought the nikon d90, they all say its better ergonomics wise, feature wise etc etc... so yesterday, i had a chance to buy 1 for my brother, i was expecting to get blown away by it, i tested it for a few hours checked its features, settings and buttons and came to the conclusion that i did made a good decision a few months back.

except for the shutter sound, grip and uhhhmmm what else? ahhh nothing else. i just did not like the layout and suddenly appreciated my 500D more.

It's a good camera, I started out with a rebel as well and it served me very well until I upgraded. My only real complaint about it was that it was a bit small in the hand and the burst rate, other than that it was a great camera. I'm sure you'll enjoy yours for several years to come

500d is a good camera but the 90d is better IMO. Better AF accuracy and speed, very good low light performance and good fps rate. Canon's layout is a bit better especially their menu structure but I suppose it's based on what you're accustomed to.

monk3y wrote in post #9520575
A few months back when i was still deciding what to get between these two cameras i read a lot, but when the time comes for me to buy i made a huge mistake (buying without ever handholding either one of these models).

i chose the 500D because its cheaper by $400 and i have a canon service center near me, 3 years warranty and crumpler strap. While the nikon D90 only has a 1year warranty from the Nikon Authorized distributor here in our country which is a few islands away...

then suddenly after a few weeks of excitement, i had a buyers remorse, i keep think what if i bought the nikon d90, they all say its better ergonomics wise, feature wise etc etc... so yesterday, i had a chance to buy 1 for my brother, i was expecting to get blown away by it, i tested it for a few hours checked its features, settings and buttons and came to the conclusion that i did made a good decision a few months back.

except for the shutter sound, grip and uhhhmmm what else? ahhh nothing else. i just did not like the layout and suddenly appreciated my 500D more.

I bought the 500d at first too, because I thought it was a better value, and I still believe that is the case. however, the d90 has much better low light performance, it has an awesome auto iso feature (you can select the minimum shutter), it has awesome out of the box jpg performance, much better auto white balance, and you can select WB temp in Kelvin, you can apply limited post processing right ON the camera, the continuous speed is better, the viewfinder is much better(pentaprism vs pentamirror), the autofocus is better, the grip is better (rebels grip SUCKS, but is 100x better once you grip it). haha. yea, I loved the d90, but the t1i is much cheaper, and it is still the better bang for the BUCK.
I played with my coworkers d90 almost everyday, so I knew it better than most nikon shooters

well yes, i also noticed the better AF performance in lowlight with its 18-105 kit lens, as well as a very quite AF... but after looking at the pictures taken with both camera, i liked the pictures from my 500D more.

i know that the d90 trumps the 500D feature wise but i like the button lay out of the canon better.

Enjoy the camera. It will be a great platform to learn on.

I like my 500d but I have noticed that I've missed quite a few shots due to bad focusing that I'm pretty sure isn't my fault. We aren't talking focus thats slightly off - sometimes the focus is completely off even though I have it at center point and spot metering. On moving subjects the keeper rate isn't amazing. I've been thinking of getting a 1dmark2 as another body and comparing.

Glad you like your camera. It is a good one.

spiralspirit wrote in post #9522599
I like my 500d but I have noticed that I've missed quite a few shots due to bad focusing that I'm pretty sure isn't my fault. We aren't talking focus thats slightly off - sometimes the focus is completely off even though I have it at center point and spot metering. On moving subjects the keeper rate isn't amazing. I've been thinking of getting a 1dmark2 as another body and comparing.

A couple of things - is the center point on a very constrasty area? And what kind of lens are you using for moving objects? Are you using AI Servo mode?

EDIT: I noticed basketball was shot with a 50mm 1.8. That lens is not exactly known for a stellar AF. My experience was that it hunts fairly badly even on static objects and would probably be a complete mess for anything moving.

That_Fox wrote in post #9520598
It's a good camera, I started out with a rebel as well and it served me very well until I upgraded. My only real complaint about it was that it was a bit small in the hand and the burst rate, other than that it was a great camera. I'm sure you'll enjoy yours for several years to come

Same here. I started out with the XT and didn't like the fact that my picky and ring finger didn't fit on the body. The xxD line is a bit better about this, plus it has a magnesium body to boot!

IMHO, use what you have and then upgrade. The rebel line, as much as I refuse to use it (too small!!), honestly was a good stepping platform for me. I learned a lot through my XT.

it is also a bit small for me thats why i bought a grip

ups wrong post

spiralspirit wrote in post #9522599
I like my 500d but I have noticed that I've missed quite a few shots due to bad focusing that I'm pretty sure isn't my fault. We aren't talking focus thats slightly off - sometimes the focus is completely off even though I have it at center point and spot metering. On moving subjects the keeper rate isn't amazing. I've been thinking of getting a 1dmark2 as another body and comparing.

Speaking of focusing, do most people prefer to have it fixed at center point, or let it automatically find several focus points? I've tried both, but was just curious what the general consensus was.

fixed at the center point.. at least you'll know that when you point, it will focus on that exact spot

I never let the camera determine the focus points. i may not always use the center focus point but I will always use just one focus point.