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hey jamie,

Nikon or cannon are the two best choices as far as digital slr value. Not for any fangirl/boy reasons but mostly because what you want is to be able to buy lenses for them thats going to last your entire career. Unlike your DSLR body that will last 3-4 years, lenses are made to last forever. Theres no point spending a grand on one lens for an olympus when in a few years your gonna need a camera with some extra grunt... and that lens has to be put aside with that olympus body.

Other brands just dont have the choices in pro lenses or pro cameras that nikon or canon do. This may not sound appealing now but your going to save money in the long run. My 85mm f1.8 nikkor lens that i have on loan is close to ten years old and nikon still sell it as one of their premier lenses.

As far as the technical diference between both brands most beginners tend to go with the Cannon range. Not for any real reason other than thats the brand that most people use, and thats what most tafes tend to tell their students use. I seem to remember their slighly cheaper too. I use Nikon because of their reputation for making better portrait lenses. I never tend to lean towards either brand... both are reliable cameras that are going to get you the results you want. My advice to you is go to a camera store, have a hold of a canon or a nikon and see wich one feels better in your hand and wich one feels more intuitive when you use the menus ect ect. Nikon to me felt a little bit more like a real camera.

Ask to see the Canon 400D, Canon 450D, The Nikon D60, The Nikon D80 and the Nikon D90. Also the Nikon D5000 may really appeal to you with its swivel screen.

The 400D and the D60's are both going to be the cheapest deal. The D80 may be cheaper again. if you can affoard it though go for the 450d and the d90. The d80 may be good move also.

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Gee Greenslade [Link to www.missgee.net]

/\ what she said, that is the best overall non sided comment on cameras you could say, anything other than this is personal opinion.

What i recommend, find a price range, go into a speicalised camera store (teds, camera house etc) and ask to see cameras in the nikon or canon range and just try them out. See how they feel, what the menu systems is like etc. dont worry about which photo looks the best, because you can change all the settings and colour balances and all that stuff in camera, so it isnt a great way of telling (espically on the small camera backs). Look at the features you like, talk with the guy instore as they tend to be helpful. That would be the best way of picking... Screw all the technical stuff, just go what you feel is the camera better for you. In the end you will get better photos being more comfortable with a camera that with one you think is technically better.

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It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

amen to that. I think people sweat too much over the technical info much rather than whats going to work for them. Fortunately this isnt like a pc or mac debate. Here the pros and cons of both nikon and canon are so close there isnt a point in worrying. Both get the job done better than any camera on the market. Both kick butt.

Apparently cannon deals with low light better than a nikon will, and a nikon has more tonal range and deals with portraits better. Im not sure how true that is, personally its not like i look at a photo and go "oh look... thats shot with a nikon" or "oh look thats a cannon" in the end, as you said brychan, its better to use a camera that makes sense to you. Unless its not a cannon or a nikon... then avoid that like the plague.

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Gee Greenslade [Link to www.missgee.net]

It is true, I really wanted an olympus E3 but I had a look at the lense range.... it was fail... I was sad...

What im really sad is that pentax havent broken into the pro digital market... I was a big fan of pentax on film... mind you means it is easy to find good cheapish lenses for them as everyone is jumping ship 2 bad i havent bought any for the same reason lols.

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It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

yeah I was looking at pentax to begin with as well. I really wanted the K10D i think it was.It was so long ago now i cant remember. maybe it was the k100d. I have all pentax film cameras. But... in the end, I had to jump ship too. Nothing really could compete. Sad, I have a little pentax camera that taught me photography in the first place that doesnt get any love at all. I wish i cared enough about film to use it

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Gee Greenslade [Link to www.missgee.net]

Yeah, it is so sad they have just more or less gone off the radar in terms of pro cameras

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It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

maybe we need to write an angry letter

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Gee Greenslade [Link to www.missgee.net]

LoL well they are obviously still in buiness, maybe they think that the consumer market is more at the mid level, not the high end? 2 big companies might be enough, they are happy to sit where they are?? I dont know...

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It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

Thanks, that is some very good advice

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Please support us and post a [Link to www.digitalartsfront.com] on your website.

no probs

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Gee Greenslade [Link to www.missgee.net]

im in a rush (out to lunch with the inlaws) so ill explain a bit more soonish. Brychan may have extra to add to that also.

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Gee Greenslade [Link to www.missgee.net]

D80. No looking further

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the d90 is looking pretty swish though...

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Gee Greenslade [Link to www.missgee.net]

Yeah the D90 stands in well next to the D300 but at a cheaper price, you really cant do wrong with it.

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It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

Looks swish. is swish. It is a personall matter of course. The D90 has more pixels, bigger display and handles lenses seamlessly. [that said, no 18-135 contact problems] . The D80 is famous for it's technical problems but i have never encountered one yet.

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really? I havent ever have an issue either. I know the d70 had back focus issues. But not a sould i know has ever said that the d80 has tech issues

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Gee Greenslade [Link to www.missgee.net]

Jamie and Matt, Do you mind if i move this to the photography forum and sticky it? I get asked this same question fairly often and I wouldnt mind linking people to the answers nice and easily.

cheers.

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Gee Greenslade [Link to www.missgee.net]

Yea ok

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Please support us and post a [Link to www.digitalartsfront.com] on your website.

thanks!

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Gee Greenslade [Link to www.missgee.net]

Oh noes....

Im looking at finally geting a digital SLR.... Im poor so I havent been able to afford one, but now I can ...

But im stuck....

I havent picked up a camera for awhile now so all camera are feeling awkward for me atm...

I have 2 cameras in my price range

Nikon D90
Canon 50D

Between the 2 there is only a $100 difference which really isnt enough to sway me to one or the other...

Now i went into the store and played with both of them... and honestly, playing around with them I just couldnt pick... They both have a different feel, but one didnt really feel better than the other... which is strange as canons have always felt a bit off, but I guess as I havent used a camera in awhile this seems to have gone :0 which was a pain as I was hoping that would seal the deal for my choice...but alas no it didnt.

Anyway
Im sided towards the 50D as you can get a kit that has a better quailty lense.
but you can get a D90 that has 2 lenses, yeah of lesser quality, but nikon kit lenses are known for being decent.

The nikon has the movie feature, which im not 100% sure on.... I dont think I would really use it...

nikon also has the Built-in wireless flash support which I like, being able to use it as a central flash unit to set off the others...but anyone who has been in a studio knows that you can do that easily manually... but still is something I think would be handy in the long run...

Nikon has a better Auto focus system with an assist beam for low light focusing compared to the Canon were the flash has to be raised in order for the AF assist feature to function. Also has the 11 point 3D Focus Tracking where the canon has the 9 point auto focus system.... but I dont really use auto focus much anyway...

The canon tends to have better images in this match up, the exception being low light photography, where the nikon seems to pull ahead I think because of the less noise... but this is only going by reviews and they all say different things...

canon also comes with a better software package, espically having the (cant think of the name for it, but allows you to hook your camera upto your pc via usb, and lets you control your camera from your pc) that comes for free, unlike the nikon you have to pay $200 or something for it...

Also what ive been reading canons tend to have a better system for attaching other brands lenses to them, as they have easily avalible and good working coverters.

I really dont know.......

I think I might have to flip a coin or something... Ive always liked nikons over canons... but usually that was because I just liked the way they felt, but holding the two of them, and playing around with the menus etc, shooting, button lay out... i just couldnt make up my mind....

Ohwell I will figure something...

mind you the D60 is rumoured to be coming out in feb...hmmmm
the D300s does look good, but that is well over budget

and there is the Pentax K7.... but im not comfortable jumping on the pentax boat as they dont have any high end cameras for me to move up into...

Im leaning towards the canon due to the better lenses you can get in certain kits, but really I could just go and buy either body and pick and choose my lenses so that isnt that big of a factor...

I dont know...anyone got any sugestions...

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It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

I personally would go for the Nikon , though the final differences between a picture from a Canon and Nikon are very little , the Canon sometimes has better colours. but it can be easily fixed if you take pictures in NEF./RAW format. it means you can very simply change all the colours again for a perfect picture.

From what I've read in your post, you don't really mind to buy any body.

The D90 is perfect as a starters kit and you really could simply expand it later [ Ext flasher, body battery grip, lenses]

But it's really a personal choice. Some shops have great kits for less. It's just finding the right one.

I'd go for nikon. It feels more stable and has a more rigid body. The Canon camera's are great but they somehow don't fit me with their deep black shiny bodies. It's like its going to break off any moment lol.

My two cents

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Yeah I thought the same until i got both of them in my hands, I thought the nikon would be, but in this case the Canon suprised me with how it felt. with the magnesium body and environmental sealing, it is a more rugged camera than the Nikon d90....The erganomics of these 2 cameras are very very simple, and the canon is heavier, but I really dont mind that at all and kinda liked the weight. The menu system on both of them seemed logical and easy to figure out...

My big concern is the pixel density of the canon, under 1600 the images are sharper and more detailed than the nikon (as it seems to have very soft images) but the nikon over all iso performs more constantly. also with the chromatic aberration means that you know that no matter the lense you will get an ok picuture, but with the canon you really need a good quality lense to get the most out of it.

Both cameras are really good and I will be happy with either one, it is just hard trying to weed out what it is that I want from my camera. They both have clear good parts and bad parts.... I need a combo of the 2 cameras....

I think im heading more towards the D90 because it is a more constant camera, but the wireless flash commander I can see will be a very useful option to have (and as we all know the Nikon Creative Lighting System is really well above Canons) and I know more people have have nikons which means I can borrow lense etc off them if I beg enough

I dont know, im going to change my mind about 50 times before I buy a camera.....

edit:
It is ALLLLL GOOD, im hands down getting the nikon... you ask whhhhy???

PC-E NIKKOR
24mm f/3.5D ED


enough said...
yeah atm this lense cost a fair whack ($2000) but i wont be getting it straight away, but gives me something to look forward to getting.

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It is ok, I wouldn't talk to me either...

Glad to hear. It's just that what fits you best, If you like Canon, you get that, Nikon? You get that

My buddy has a Nikon and a Canon, which is also possible

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