Camera Labs

Hi,

I am planning to buy a new DSLR camera. After checking several reviews and visitng shops etc I am confused between Canon and Nikon. Most people rate the 2 brands similarly. Now before deciding on which brand to buy and to stick for the rest of my life I need answers to some questions:
1) In terms of image quality which one is better?
2) Lenses--This is a huge investment. Which one makes better and more affordable lenses Canon or Nikon
3) In terms of general all round use which one is better. Pls note that I do not have any specific type of phography needs but in general i like to click sceneries and moving objects and family members.

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Regards,
adutta

A few points to your questions, for consideration...

1. There is no 'better' between Canon or Nikon. They are both brands that make a variety of camera bodies and lenses that each have their own compromises and benefits, and each individual photographer needs to decide what best fits them ergonomically, feature-wise, IQ-wise, and budget-wise.
There is also a wider market of camera makers out there who also make equal and competitive cameras to Canon and Nikon, including namely Sony and Pentax in the DSLR market, and Sony, Olympus, and Panasonic in the compact system camera market. None of these brands is 'better' than any of the others - not in ergonomics, design, or image quality. A good photographer can get good photos from any of them, a bad photographer can get bad photos from any of them.

2. Lenses: no one manufacturer makes 'more affordable lenses' than another. In fact, lens prices vary greatly and widely, and one lens maker may have competitive prices in short primes, another may be better in long primes, another still better in zooms and telephotos, and a 4th may be best in wide and ultrawide. One may have cheaper or better consumer-oriented lenses while another has the best priced professional lenses. And so on.

3. There is no one camera better for all-round photography. No matter how general your shooting style, you may find yourself more often shooting in some particular style or situation, and should look for the camera and the lens that best works for YOU in that situation. Being comfortable and satisfied with the camera, and learning and liking the controls, is key to getting better photographs - moreso than the brand name, the lens brand, or even some specific statistic where one camera ranks technically better than the others. A camera that shoots 7 frames per second while the competitors are 5 frames per second holds no advantage for a photographer who will never need to shoot more than 3 frames per second. The camera that is marginally best at high ISO performance doesn't provide anything useful to a photographer who never shoots over ISO800.

You need to pick a camera based on what feels good in YOUR hands, has the features YOU need or want, has available the lenses YOU intend to use, and fits YOUR budget. Being happy with the camera, and enjoying using it, will make you a far better photographer than buying a camera brand because others told you that it is somehow supposedly better.

I understand being in India that maybe your selection of brands is limited - possibly Sony or Pentax doesn't have strong representation in your area - if that's the case, then obviously you'd have to omit them from your search; otherwise I'd include them as worth a look as well. But even choosing between Canon or Nikon isn't a matter of better or worse - it's just a matter of picking the best fit for you.

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Justin Miller
Sony DSLR-A580 / Sony 18-250mm / Minolta 50mm F1.7 / Sigma 30mm F1.4 / Tamron 10-24mm / Tamron 200-500mm / Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro / Minolta 300mm F4 APO
Sony NEX5N / 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 / 55-210mm F4-6.3 / Pentax K adapter / Konica K/AR adapter / bunches o' Konica & Pentax lenses!

Galleries:
http://www.pbase.com/zackiedawg

after doing all of the above and you still can't decide... do a coin-toss...

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Canon 60D, EFS 15-85mm IS USM, EF 50 F1.8 II

To avoid the whole "Brand 1 is better than Brand 2" discussion, there are some things that make each brand unique.

For example, for a long time, Olympus led the way for lens quality, sometimes I wonder if I can find a way to get Zuiko Olympus lenses on my Canon and even Oly Kit lenses are just so much sharper and built better than their Canon and Nikon brothers.

Nikon tends to be touted for its ISO performance - so the higher the ISO, the more grainy the pictures get or noisier. Nikon handles noise that little bit better than Canon sensors.

Canon tends to be a leader in technology and releasing new features etc - for Decades Canon always released better cameras than Nikon. Canon had USM lenses and Fluorite and IS etc in their lenses when Nikon were scratching their heads on how to replicate the technology. But now that Nikon has caught up that gap has narrowed and Nikon and Canon are in a release war at the moment, with fan boys duking it out on forums (unlike this forum, I hope) But Canon tends to try its best to push forward ahead of Nikon and also, since Canon was a leader a few decades ago, most sports photographers got canon cameras and just stuck with it, why you see so many of those sexy white lenses. Not saying Nikon wasnt a professional camera system, but it doesnt have the history Canon has.

Nowadays the prefferences is purely personal, how it feels, what are the limitations of each camera etc. So minus all the past history - people tend to be pretty happy with their cameras as long as they are comfortable to use, has the features that they NEED not what they want (I mean I WANT 12 frames persecond but I only need 5) and people tend to be happy as long as the camera performs the way it says on paper.

Leo

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1) Olympus OM1 [Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.8]
2) Pentax MZ-60 [Sigma 28-90 & 100-300]
3) Canon 7D [EF-S 15-85 & 70-200mm f/4 IS]

Leo's Flickr Page

say what you need in a camera and a lot of people in this forum will try to give info on what camera is best for you... but ask them what brand is the best? good luck!!! it's like gunfight in OK Corral but instead of the pistoleros shooting at each other, they're teaching each other how to shoot better...

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Canon 60D, EFS 15-85mm IS USM, EF 50 F1.8 II

1) Pentax
2) All of them have great lenses; there isn't so much difference. More affordable lenses are built by Sigma and Tamron, available for almost every mount - Sony, Nikon, Pentax, Canon, etc... but Pentax has the coolest pancake lenses
3) Pentax

No, I'm no Pentax user - I'm using Canon stuff.
Still the Pentax K-5 is the camera with the best crop frame sensor at the moment. It's weather resistant (to get this in a Canon or Nikon you'd have to pay about 50% more), has built in image stabilization working with any lens you attach (you don't get this with Nikon or Canon - you'd have to pay the image stabilizer with every lens you buy. But there are lenses that aren't even available with IS), 100% viewfinder....

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Canon EOS 500D + Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Canon EF 24-105mm 4L IS USM + EF 100-400mm 4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 100mm 2.8L Macro IS USM + Sigma 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM + Canon Speedlite 580 EX II + Nissin Speedlite Di 466

I would advise that you disregard any opinion saying one brand is conclusively "better" than another and don't confuse that with somebody saying which brand they prefer.

Much of the time, fanboys/fangirls making such comments have only a self-serving interest in recommending a brand to you because it affirms their beliefs and eases their insecurities through proselytism. They seldom have any interest in your tastes or preferences, they just care that you follow them just as blindly.

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Bodies: Canon EOS 550D w/ Magic Lantern
Lenses: Tokina AT-X 116 Pro DX f/2.8, Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II, Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
Accessories: YongNuo Speedlite YN-468 Flash, Neewer Macro LED Ring Light, Meike Battery Grip, YongNuo RF-602 Wireless Flash Trigger & Receiver YongNuo WR-128 Wireless Remote Control