might be an old question - Nikon or Canon?

cmca2415

A friend and I are going to be taking a photography course in January. I've never owned a DSLR and would like to take the plunge. I'm not a professional but I absolutely LOVE taking photos, sometimes waiting for very long periods just watching my kids at the ready with my finger on the button. I would love to take more shots outdoors, I have a fondness for close-ups, but most of all I take tons of pics of my kids and our new puppy.

My husband has a tendency to spoil me at Christmas so I want to make sure I have plenty of say in what we buy when it comes to a camera.

I'm looking here for some advice as far as where to do my research and such.:dunno

much thanks!
:thumb

swintonphoto

You really can't go wrong with any of the brands. They have all developed excellent products. My recommendation is to figure out what is most important to you. Size, price, features, etc.
I will as always put a push for Olympus DSLR's. They are the most feature packed bang for the buck cameras in my opinion. They are also very good size - not too big.
But really, you will be happy with whatever you choose.

jonh68

Go to your local store and pick up the cameras you are interested in. Play around with the buttons and scroll the menus. Go with the one that feels best to you, and try other cameras besides Canon and Nikon. Any camera these days are going to give great results. Pick the one you feel the most comfortable with.

One thing about a DSLR though, is you are also buying into a system. Canon and Nikon have more to offer in this area.

Richard

cmca2415 wrote:

I'm looking here for some advice as far as where to do my research and such.

much thanks!

Hi there and welcome to Dgrin .

This is, indeed, an old question. You might want to look at this and this. The good news is that both are great, so you won't be disappointed.

digismile

cmca2415 wrote:

I'm looking here for some advice as far as where to do my research and such.

much thanks!

One of the websites you may want to visit is www.dpreview.com

Justiceiro

Unless you shoot exclusively Leica bodies, with Zeiss glass, you are not a real photographer? Do you still have a house, a family, normal social relationships with other human beings? Then, my friend, you are not and will never be a real photographer. You spend too much money on trivilalities like food and transportation, and not enough on gear.

Also, you must wear a hair shirt. Preferably pink.

And that other thing; Canon, of course

ziggy53

Justiceiro wrote:

Unless you shoot exclusively Leica bodies, with Zeiss glass, you are not a real photographer? Do you still have a house, a family, normal social relationships with other human beings? Then, my friend, you are not and will never be a real photographer. You spend too much money on trivilalities like food and transportation, and not enough on gear.

Also, you must wear a hair shirt. Preferably pink.

...

... and you are not a "real" photographer until you spend countless hours within the confines of the "Digital Grin", soaking up the ambiance of thousands of fellow photographers, sorting life's photographic problems and nuances, pouring over the product reviews until your eyes bleed, and sending yourself into sweet dreamland with visions of yourself with the latest and greatest of photographic hardware and software and accessories and ... Zzzzzzzzzz

Canon, Fuji, Leica, Nikon, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, Samsung, Sigma and Sony, (KEH sequence by dSLR manufacturer, alphabetical, I added Samsung) all make dSLRs that have features and quality that make beautiful images.

The market is dominated by Canon and Nikon and in the dSLR market they are neck-and-neck. Sony and Olympus are next and those 4 manufacturers make up 95 percent of dSLR sales for 2007. (Imaging Resource)

Canon and Nikon brands have the best third-party support, especially in lenses and used lenses.

If you purchase one of the new dSLRs, released in the last 6 months, it's actually hard to find a truly bad model from anyone in the game.

The comment about trying the cameras in a store, or going to a camera club and viewing them in person with owners' comments and opinions, is probably a great way to become rapidly familiar with features and individual likes and dislikes, including your own.

NikonsandVstroms

I thought you were not a real photographer unless your hands constantly stink of stop bath

I don't miss those days at all!

colourbox

jonh68 wrote:

One thing about a DSLR though, is you are also buying into a system. Canon and Nikon have more to offer in this area.

This is true and I'd extend that to say that because both Nikon and Canon bodies are excellent, you might want to start by choosing the lens and flash system you want to use (e.g., the best lens to make portraits of your family), because the ones you choose there may be what tilts you to one brand or the other. For example, many prefer the Nikon flash system, while for others, certain Canon lenses seal the deal.

Don't worry about the body brand, and don't believe anyone who says one is better than the other, because whichever one you pick will be leapfrogged by newer models on both brands in just 18 months or less...

Tee Why

Check out some that you are interested in in the store to see how it feels.
Both are good cameras and should serve your needs well.

The Canon XSi and the even lower/cheaper XS are pretty nice IMO. The 55-250mm IS lens should serve you well.

The Nikon D40 and the D60 with similar lenses are nice as well.

My personal feeling is that the CMOS sensor in the Canon has less high ISO noise vs the CCD sensor in the D40/D60/D80, so I prefer Canon's. However, it's not that big of a difference and would let price and how the cameras fit your hands be a more dominating feature you consider on your purchase.

Good luck.

NikonsandVstroms

I'm a big fan of Nikons obviously, but if you're going for a entry level DSLR the Olympus offerings are amazing for the features you get in that low price range. They're limiting factor is high ISO work, but if you don't do much low light it's a great pick. Plus their kit lenses are a lot nicer than Canon and Nikon. That's one of the things I can't stand about both Nikon and Canon, their 18 to 55 lenses just feel incredibly cheap.

Internaut

Technology wise, it has gotten to a stage where it doesn't really matter which system you buy into unless you really need a particular strength of any. Nikon have worked hard to usurp Canon's lead over the last year but unless you need the specific performance characteristics of the latest Nikons, Canon will do. I would find it hard to chose from the Canon 450D and Nikon D90 (unless I needed movies, which I don't).

As others have mentioned, there are alternatives to both (I use an Olympus DSLR and a Panasonic compact and was happy for a time with Nikon DSLR).

Brascole

cmca2415 wrote:

A friend and I are going to be taking a photography course in January. I've never owned a DSLR and would like to take the plunge. I'm not a professional but I absolutely LOVE taking photos, sometimes waiting for very long periods just watching my kids at the ready with my finger on the button. I would love to take more shots outdoors, I have a fondness for close-ups, but most of all I take tons of pics of my kids and our new puppy.

My husband has a tendency to spoil me at Christmas so I want to make sure I have plenty of say in what we buy when it comes to a camera.

I'm looking here for some advice as far as where to do my research and such.

much thanks!

How much are you willing to spend and what is your level of expertise. Then the many members of this forum will be able to recommend a camera system by all the companies ziggy mentioned. Of course you will get advise on a camera because of "fanboyism", that's cool. Then research what is recommended, online reviews, in store if possible and make your decision.

Just give us an idea of how much you have to invest.

BMW Kurt

If I had to choose between Nikon or Canon I would probably choose... Olympus!