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Nikon vs Canon

mulester7

mulester7

LIVE from Lake Ouachita
.....ok, these two companies in the photography industry appear to be the market leaders in DSLRs....which did you choose, and have you owned both to help you form your final decision?....please let us discuss this as grown-ups :D.....

.....I currently own and use a Nikon D200....my last camera was a filmed Canon EOS System, which I loved and hated to see go, but we had to go digital, didn't we?....based on using this D200, I'll say I really like the challenge of digital, where the bracketing is inexpensive :thmbsp:.....

.....I had a Sony 27 inch television for about 5 years up until about '94, and followed it with a Mitsubishi 35....I noticed right off the bat the picture of the Mitsubishi didn't have the warm saturated colors of the Sony....but, the image quality of the Mitsubishi seemed to be a "bit" sharper, but only a bit....in retrospect, I also see their pictures as somewhat of a "matte" and a "slick" finish, with the Mitsubishi being the slick.....

.....comparing the two leading brands of DSLRs, I see the pictures of Nikon as if I were watching the Sony, and pictures posted here by Canon Users, the Mitsubishi........all I know is, I saw magic on that Sony....aaand, your opinion on Nikon vs Canon?.....
 
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I have been using Nikon film cameras for most of my photographic career and have always have had good luck with them. I have owned several Nikon bodies but my go to 35mm film camera for the past 20 years or so has been the F3HP equipped with an MD4 motor drive. That beast has never failed me and I cannot even begin to guess at the number of shutter actuations I have made on that camera.

About 2 years ago I bought my Nikon D200 from a former student of mine who graduated way back in 1981 and I like this camera as much as my F3HP. Great thing is that I can use my film lenses on the D200 body which is a big plus. Not so with Canon film lenses to digital bodies.:no:

However, I would certainly consider Canon DSLR's if I were starting with nothing already but my experience would probably still lead me to Nikon. The quality of both cameras are very similar and their optics are, for the most part, quite excellent.

Funny thing is that none of us would ever be able to guess what camera was used when we look at pictures posted here on AK or anywhere else for that matter. I have always believed that the "eye" behind the camera is more important than the "eye" in front of the camera.

Just give me a camera, any camera, and I will make it work for me.
 
mulester7 said:
....which did you choose, and have you owned both to help you form your final decision?.
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I shot Minolta exclusively with film. So I had to evaluate both brands when making the switch.

I picked the Canon up without reading any instructions, reviews, manuals, spec sheets. I could not make heads or tails out of it. I could not navigate the menu.

I placed the Canon on the counter and picked up the Nikon. I could make the Nikon work. I could navigate the menu with ease and without any instruction.

End of story.
 
I started out with my folks's Pentax Spotmatic years ago and then got myself a K-1000. I would have stayed with them when I went to school in the mid 90's but the Canon EOS system had just hit it's stride and the EOS 630 was an incredible camera, so I picked it to get me through school. There wasn't anything from Pentax to compare that I knew about.

So the switch to digital was a no brainer. I love the XSi, things work very similarly to my old 630. I am comfortable with it. When I upgrade to a pro body in the semi-near future I will stay Canon.

I will admit that the way Canon screwed it older lens owners was a bit of a downer. I don't own any older lenses though, so it doesn't really effect me that much.
 
mulester7 said:
.....should a perspective buyer compare glass more than bodies?....
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As Handy said, the Canon cameras (bodies) seem to be more difficult to navigate when accessing the menu and I would concur with him on his point. My wife has a Canon 40D and compared to my Nikon D200 I found hers to be exasperating at times but when I got my D200 it seemed too be more intuitive when accessing it's features.

Now having said that, I am sure that with time the Canon becomes intuitive and so it becomes a non-issue. For me, the Nikon cameras have always felt good in my hands but, again, it is what I am used to.

I would much rather spend time visualizing and composing the image instead of fiddling with buttons, switches, menus, etc. Oh crap, maybe I should have bought a PAS instead. :D :no:

I purchased 3 Olympus E-520 DSLR's for my photo classes and I find them to be very good cameras and easy to operate and find them to be fun to use and with very good results to boot.
 
.....this forum is lucky to have you, PioneerVato....how could we live without clickable compensation wheels on our cameras?.....
 
Nikons twist backwards

And the camera has very little to do with what you see on your print or screen. It's the optic's and since Canon stopped using Nikon made lenses in the late 40's Their in house optic's have never failed to come through for me.

I have Canon lenses dating to 1951 (as well as Canon Rangefinders dating to 1951) and if my technic is up to it I never fail to get the keepers I want.

It's the lens not the box
 
Mark W. said:
the camera has very little to do with what you see on your print or screen. It's the optic's
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.....I can definitely go along with this, Mark....yes, the optics, (the glass), including the UV/Haze/Protection filter on each lens....ever since my first real camera, a Yashica TL-Electro, I've used a Hoya Skylight 1B on my lenses....it performs fine for UV and haze, but it also has a pink tint that enhances and slightly warms reds, oranges, yellows, and browns for positive effect....there's not enough warming factor to be rated for compensation, just a little bit of pink....for me, it has always warmed the skin tones of our favorite subjects, humans....try one....Hoya Skylight 1B....for higher spectrum colors and skin tones, making them deeper and more saturated.....
 
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pioneervato said:
...Great thing is that I can use my film lenses on the D200 body which is a big plus. Not so with Canon film lenses to digital bodies.:no:
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Just for the record, this is an incorrect statement. Canon switched to EF lenses for the auto focus feature some 25-30 years ago placing the motor in the lens and changing the bayonet style to accomodate. Since then, numerous film cameras were produced following the EF standard.

Nikon kept the mount the same but the AF motor had to be mounted on the camera body. This was changed a few years ago with the AF-S lenses and now some newer camera bodies only accept AF-S lenses.

One can't go wrong with either of the two companies. They both make top rate glass and bodies, while carefully positioning the cameras so that they don't directly compete with each other. You can't find a Canon and a Nilkon body that have same features only to differenciate at the price. So, depending on which exact models you choose, you will certainly rule in favor of one of the models, which will be more expensive.

BTW, I chose Canon for the film SLR some 30 years ago and again Canon for a dSLR, 3 years ago.
 
I'm a Canon person, but I have no issues with Nikon. To me, they're more or less the same in the consumer realm of bodies and lenses. However, Canon's pro digital lineup and pro lenses seem more advanced and more numerous than Nikon's. This is, however, just a semi-informed observation from a film guy, so don't take it too seriously. :D
 
Lately I pretty much just set my Canon to manual or AV mode and go with it. I have turned most of the in camera stuff off and do all my shooting in RAW. It has a lot of great features, but since I use all my flashes in manual or auto I don't use the flash settings either.

Most of the needed sttings are thumb click and the front scroll wheel controlled. Not sure if that is easier than the Nikons, but pretty easy once you use it a bit. The more technical adjustments are buried in the menu. That just keeps them from being changed on accident. Like everything else, once you get used to it, it is pretty intuative.
 
SaSi said:
Just for the record, this is an incorrect statement. Canon switched to EF lenses for the auto focus feature some 25-30 years ago placing the motor in the lens and changing the bayonet style to accomodate. Since then, numerous film cameras were produced following the EF standard.

Nikon kept the mount the same but the AF motor had to be mounted on the camera body. This was changed a few years ago with the AF-S lenses and now some newer camera bodies only accept AF-S lenses.

One can't go wrong with either of the two companies. They both make top rate glass and bodies, while carefully positioning the cameras so that they don't directly compete with each other. You can't find a Canon and a Nilkon body that have same features only to differenciate at the price. So, depending on which exact models you choose, you will certainly rule in favor of one of the models, which will be more expensive.

BTW, I chose Canon for the film SLR some 30 years ago and again Canon for a dSLR, 3 years ago.
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I guess I should have made myself more clearer in that the older MF Canon lenses are not compatible with the DSLR bodies whereas the MF Nikkor lenses are compatible with their DSLR counterparts. Thanks for pointing that out.
 
......what are the comparative costs on bodies between Canon and Nikon?....and lenses?....anyone been comparing costs lately?....isn't Nikon a bit higher?.....
 
MisterFishey said:
I'm a Canon person, but I have no issues with Nikon. To me, they're more or less the same in the consumer realm of bodies and lenses. However, Canon's pro digital lineup and pro lenses seem more advanced and more numerous than Nikon's. This is, however, just a semi-informed observation from a film guy, so don't take it too seriously. :D
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I'm a Nikon person but I have no issues with Canon. When I was in college I knew this jackass that worked at All Star Audio and if you owned something he wouldn't buy, he would let you know his stupid opinion. He was a Canon guy and tried to tell me my Nikon FE was a POS, and that you suck if you have anything other than Sansui electronics and Cerwin Vegas.
 
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