UKC

Typing this in full awareness of the Nikon vs Canon arguments that frequently rage between photographer friends of mine!

I'm thinking about upgrading my knackered Fuji bridge camera to a DSLR and budget being fairly limited, I've whittled it down to these two. With my limited knowledge of SLRs they seem very close in spec, would anyone here have any preference? Both come with a kit lens.

In reply to Toby S: have you tryed playing about with them yet? i know there's no jessops in many places anymore so it might be harder, i went down the canon route just becuase i found it weighed less than nikon

In reply to Toby S:

i have a canon 7d and my old man has a 550d. i love them personally. Guess there's not that much in it really but i would go canon, have a look what lenses you might be interested in and then decide which e.g. canon/nikon ones are best for you. up to you though really!

In reply to HarmM:

Our photographer at work uses a mix of the two brands and said he'd let me have a play. Although his are much higher spec and it'll probably just make me wish I had more money to spend!

For the future I'll be looking for lenses that'll cope with awkward lighting at concerts and festivals.

In reply to Toby S:
Whichever model you can mooch lenses for!
(Some Nikon digicams allow you to use old manual focus lenses)

In reply to Toby S: I went for the Nikon. The thing that swayed it for me was the autofocus in video that the Nikon does and Canon can't. Other than that I couldn't really find anything between them. If I had more money at the time and with hindsight I would have gone for the next model up Nikon as with the hacks around the video would have been better for what I wanted. But that was more money which I didn't have!!! With the low end Nikon you can only use lenses with AF motors in them. Some of the higher spec ones have the AF motor in the body which gives you a bigger choice of lens and cheaper lenses.

In reply to Toby S:

make sure you use the specific cameras. For example a 400d doesnt feel anything like a 7d and so buying either based on how the other handles would be a mistake.

In reply to Toby S:

Canon for me. A quick 'hmm, let's think' poll of all the pro photogs I know is about 80/20 in favour of Canon too.

In reply to Toby S:

Keep an eye on Amazon Warehouse deals:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-1100D-Digital-Camera-3-5-5-6/dp/B004MPQXZA/re...

This is the Non-IS kit lens. We picked up an 1100D with IS kit lens for site work for £266 a while back.

In reply to Toby S:

Hi Toby.

There is really no right or wrong answer, unless one model has something specifically that you require, that the other hasn't. Otherwise the choice is best made by handling both camera's, and going for which one feels right , and has a layout that works with you.

In reply to mountain_bikerider:

but then you can load magiclantern onto many canon DSLR's (including the 1100D) which gives you a lot more control over video.

is autofocus for video a good idea anyway? do you not get a lot of focus hunt on automatic?

In reply to rallymania:

MagicLantern is a great bit of kit. I'm still getting used to the complexities of it, but for basic-level fiddling for occasional video, I find it to be brilliant.

In reply to rallymania: It does hunt a little in low light but otherwise I find it really useful. With a fast lens it works really well

In reply to Toby S:
Go to a shop and try them. I'm left-eyed, so dislike Canon's placement of the EV comp. button, my thumb is too close to my eye.
Both will take very good pictures, both brands have (AFAIK) 50 f/1.8 & 35 f/1.8 offerings, which aren't too expensive.

In reply to Toby S: whichever feels best in your hand. It really is as simple as that.

In reply to mountain_bikerider: the age-old "issue" that people always voice about lower-end Nikons not having a focus-motor in the body, really makes sod-all difference to you, as I have come to realise from owning Nikons for the last 5 years.

If it was a genuine issue, do you really think a company like Nikon would have let it continue, when they've got Canon to compete with?

To cut a long story short, it's not an issue because the lenses that you will want to use with your focus-motorless-Nikon bodies, will have their own focus motors. End of!

In reply to Andy S:

In reply to Toby S: whichever feels best in your hand. It really is as simple as that.


Hmmmm, selecting a camera just on how it feels in your hand?

That would be pretty daft, there's lots of different reasons to buy a camera. Do a little research online, and choose the one that's suits you best in terms of features, pro and cons.

It's you're first, but definitely not your last.

In reply to Toby S:


If that's important make sure you check out the low light performance of the camera, which is almost 100% down to the sensor. Good high ISO perdormance makes a huge difference to shooting in low light and can save you a lot of dosh on lenses.

A false equation is "maker of best top end cameras = makers of best £500 cameras", eg just because loads of pros use top end Canons that doesn't make their entry level range the best.

In reply to xplorer: I meant from his current point in time i.e. choosing between the two cameras he's already whittled it down to.