Nikon vs. Canon
 

I have talked to some local photographers here. Its funny because everytime i ask them what is the best camera they always to defend what they are using. Its a little biased i think but they have their point. how about you guys. what do you use? what has the best quality of image?how about sharpnest? is it in the camera or the lens? or is it in the photographer. :upsidedow

Lens + Photographer is the most important. This is why both usually cost more than the camera.

I shoot with a Canon but have no problem whatsoever with Nikon. I hear Nikon makes some great stuff.

i have a canon, but i dont do it professionally

Nikon eventually caught up with where Canon was 4 years ago

You cannot go wrong with either setup if you understand lighting etc etc...

I feel the same way.

Canon has never failed me. knocks on wood.

whatever you choose will be your investment that you stay with... both work just fine. I shoot Canon and am loyal to Canon because I have invested so much in their lenses.... too expensive to switch over even if I wanted to. Canon is great for me.

I like Cannon better just out of personal preference, but if you had to choose between the two brands you cant go wrong. However, if you don't know what you're doing with either brand your pictures wont look as good as they can be.

These days, IMO its more about video footage...
I used to shoot with a canon 20D but aside from the front end of the tours... Who really signs up to view pics? OK some top photographers sites perhaps... But for the average punter and the average website, I think its more about the vids... Not the stills...

I have to disagree with you.

90% of the time I look at photos only. I also ran a poll 4 months ago on a few of my sites and a large majority of the members wanted more high res photos. Don't recall the exact number but it was in the high 60% of them who wanted more pics.

Just because every site has video these days doesn't mean that is what all members want. Pics will never go out of style, and they don't even have to be the best shot to be hot.

With Nikon and Canon they are both great systems. I stick with Nikon as i have so much Nikon glass ( 30 plus lenses) and i like the way the new D300 and D3 make pictures.

I am more of a Nikon guy. My first 35mm was a Nikon, my new D300 is an absolute joy to shoot with.

Too bad it's such a terribly expensive hobby. I must have spent probably $7k on lenses and gear in the past month.

I hope you are right :thumbsup

I shoot Nikon, but it is really about what feels best to you. If you have no lenses yet try both brands and see what fits.

It's like Mac versus PC. They both do the same thing, just in different ways.

Jay

Nikon D3... and me..:thumbsup

Canon has a huge following, not in the least because of the amount of lenses available. Once you go with one system you tend to stick with it because of the investment (again, lenses come to mind).

So if you are looking to have the largest number of lenses available to you, Canon is (as of now) your better bet.

Canon and Nikon both offer very good products, if you are starting from scratch(do not own any lenses), any of the 2 will be a good choice, canon is probably a bit cheaper. It is true that the Lenses will make the diference, as well as the photographer. I personally have shot with Nikonn for a couple of years and am very happy with the results, I would recommend that you do not buy a very expensive camera to start with, resolution really only matters if you are printing big size, a 6-8M pixels camera from Nikon or Canon will deliver great photos, invest in good lenses, and once you know how to properly use the camera, get a better one.:2 cents::2 cents:

I shoot Nikon, however Nikon has a HORRIBLE white balance and tends to have a red shift you need to fix in post.

It's the photographer, who knows how to use his equipment is the only thing that matters. Are you talking about making hot porn or just taking a nice photo. Two completely seperate things. Have seeen hotter images from a $200 digital camera than some of the guys boasting $5k and up setups.


IMO Canon is a better choice. More places sell and service Canon than all other brands combined. Depends on what you're producing, if you need full frame and all that jazz. But nothing is better for work flow than knowing your equipment and getting it as close to right when you take the photo, instead of the 'hey we'll fix it in post' attitude.

Obviously you have to know for what purpose you want the camera. That will probably determine what camera you should get.

I've shot nikon, fugi and now I'm shooting with a canon. I prefer the nikon menues and the way the camera fits in my hand. another nikon feature I like is the flash system. canon has a nice selection of glass. to me a camera is just a tool, no more. really depends on your investment in glass...

I prefer sony vid cams however I'll shoot with what ever I have on hand with no problem.

-bmb

yes, the lowest common denominator for sure. this is why my HD vid looks every bit as good as my stills. you can actually use 'real screen caps' for thumbs from the video I shoot. -bmb

do you think that's particular to trannys or across the board?

I don't experience that issue at all. -bmb

Horrible white balance??? Which Nikon? Try using the kelvin scale.. Also learn how to use manual white balance. That works very well too. That picking the cloud, the mountain, the bulb and the florescent bulb is not the proper way to white balance if you are a pro. It only works on vacation when you are drunk with a point and click. lol

I shoot 5,000+ pics a week and look at each one through post and never get a white balance shift. The few times i did in the past was do to my ere. I had the kelvin set to daylight balanced bulbs when i was using tungsten. That was my fault, not the camera:2 cents:

i shoot nikon, have never used a canon for photos.. started with fuji which took nikon glass and when the fuji s2 needed replacement nikon was a natural choice. never looked back or wondered what if canon.. i have held a canon and found it to be less ergonomic than nikon.
all cameras have weak areas, as a photographer it is part of your job to know what those are and work around it (or hire someone to do it for you). no problems with white balance here btw.

nikon :thumbsup

nevertheless i dont have anything against canon either, as people above said - personal choice.

This has been a great review guys at least from the users point of view. Better than those reviews ive googled.

Thanks everyone :)

Agreed, I'm saying stock out of the camera the nikon's white balance is NOT as good as Canons..

Have you tried the expodisc? Every since I got mine, I haven't used the preset WB settings once. And my colors have been dead on.

what he said.. works for video wb also..

I have said this before and will say it again. The real difference is in dependability.

If you are only going to use it in the studio either one is fine. If it will ever be subjected to a harsh environment Nikon hands down.

I did a shoot in Red Rock Canyon in AUG 114 degrees constant dry wind...like being in front of a blow dryer all day. I was using a sony video camera and a Nikon still camera. My buddy was using a canon xl1 and a canon still camera.

both canons got sand in them from the wind and died

the sony and the nikon still work great to this day....that told me all I ever needed to know about why Nikon has been the choice of photojournalists worldwide for decades.

thats one of the BIGGEST questions, ALWAYS canon or nikon.... anyway the biggest difference of course is made by the photographer, if you can mentally build the photo in your head before shooting.... i always had nikons so i'd say nikon, and right now the D3 really rocks ;-) but then again... it doesn't matter what camera you have as long as you have a great eye you can shoot nice photos even with a small one, then of course it will have its limitations when it's dark and stuff like that!

cannon all the way. when buying get L series lens with good F stop, they make a whole load of difference. I love it. I have heard good things about nikons too. Also when buying amazon.com had better deals than the local camera shop for me. Some of the telephoto lense I bought were almost $300 $400 dollar different.

Canon! if your just starting with a dslr then try the canon t1 the quality is great for a 800$ camera and it's 15mp. a friend of mine used his 40d lense on it and i was shocked how good the pics looked. i'm not going to downgrade, but would def say it's a great camera to start with!

I wish I had money to buy either type of camera.
When you are a poor broke loser like me either Nikon or canon will work.
Now, that is something to think about.

What if you really wanted to shoot poon, but did not have either system, due to low finances?
If someone handed you either a Canon or Nikon, you will find a way to make it work.

I have faith in other humans. You can do it!

I shoot with a Nikon D300 and love it, very easy to access all the needed settings on the fly. And I have no issues with the white balance

I use Canon but I'm not a fanboi by any means. Nikon produce good quality cameras as well. I have a significant investment in lenses, bodies and software knowledge so I'm sticking with Canon for now. :2 cents:

Here's a novel way to do manual white balance when you don't have a proper reference: http://www.gimpfaq.org/tutorials/pringles/

Do you know that Nikon provides lenses for Canon in the 60's, it's okay since Nikon where not making cameras at that time..

www.kenrockwell.com have good reviews of both brands.