Canon, Nikon or Sony ?

[Adrian Hoskins]

Hi all

Every photography forum, and every photo magazine gets inundated with questions about which make or model of camera is best for this purpose or that purpose, or for whatever budget the would be purchaser has available.

As a photographer with about 40 years experience of cameras and lenses from almost every manufacturer, I can tell you that at any particular stage in history, including right now, there is virtually nothing to choose in terms of quality and specification between the top makes.

Currently the "big 3" digital SLR manufacturers are Canon, Nikon and Sony. All have ultra-fast autofocus, all have extremely accurate metering, all have superb lenses, and there is little to choose between them in terms of cost.

Camera enthusiasts tend to be very brand-conscious. Brand loyalty is high, simply because all the cameras are excellent. My advice is to ignore recommendations about brand or model, because everyone is biased towards the system they own.

Instead, work out your budget ( including the cost of a macro lens ) and make a shortlist of the models available within that budget. Then go to a camera shop ( NOT on a busy Saturday ) and ask the salesperson to let you try several models.

I can guarantee that you will find one model that "feels right", fits your hands well with knobs and dials in a position that suits you, and has a viewfinder that you personally like much better than the other models.

You are going to use whatever camera you buy for at least a year, and will probably get tied in to a system of lenses that will force you to stay with the brand for several years, so it's important to make the right choice first time.

A camera that feels awkward in your hands, or has a viewfinder that you don't like, will not get better with time. You are stuck with it. A camera that has ergonomics that suit YOU is far more important than some minor advantage in specification.

Don't base your decision on recommendations or paper specifications - try all the models within your budget, and see which one FEELS right - that is the camera that you will enjoy using, and that is the camera that will produce the best photographs !

Adrian Hoskins

[Pete Eeles]

Well said Adrian.

"You ... will probably get tied in to a system of lenses that will force you to stay with the brand for several years."

Yep - that's me

Cheers,

- Pete

[Martin]

Personaly I think that Sony are not in the same league as the other two...nowhere near...and would n't even consider one. They just don't have a range of lenses that comes to 10% of the other two.

Martin.

[Mike Young]

While I agree with the majority of what Adrian has said, I also agree with Martin..... both Nikon and Canon have a massive system of lenses and other accessories to draw on.
And as I suspect few photographers on this site specialise in photographing Butterflies exclusively, this has to be a big consideration in choice of brand.
Even forty years ago when I first aquired my Nikon, this was one of the major deciding factors and one I have never regretted.

[Rogerdodge]

I find this all very interesting.
I have been "locked into" Canon for years now.
However, most of my lenses are now non-Canon.
Sigma 24-70, 50-500, 180 Macro, 500 F4.5.
My only Canon lens is the so-so 17-85 that came with my 20D.
If all my gear got nicked or something, I would, however, give very serious consideration to Olympus, but probably still end up with Canon!!
Sony just don't cut the mustard (yet!) and I really couldn't bring myself to own a Nikon - but can't explain why - my only 'ism I suppose.
Roger

[Martin]

I really couldn't bring myself to own a Nikon

I feel the same, but for purely practical reasons. Every Nikon I've held in my hands feels boxy, and the knobs, dials and buttons just don't feel right...also the menus are not intuitive. Nikon make great kit, but it just doesn't suit me.

M.

[Mike Young]

I refuse to get into running other brands down, I find it somewhat negative and distastful, fine if a model has some sort of serious fault or is missing a particular function, then thats a fact.

what I will say is , given that all the major brands of equipment have reasonable mechanical and optical potential.....its user that makes the final difference.
My camera has become like an extention of my arm, I rarely even think about knobs and dials let alone menus.

As Adrian has said, prospective purchasers should read the spec and then handle all the brands they think may suit their purpose, from this they should be able to find the model that suits them.

[Rogerdodge]

Mike
I am sorry.
I have never "knocked" Nikon.
I am firmly of the belief that they are the second best DSLR on the market.
Indeed many of the finest photographs ever taken have been taken on Nikon, and only a fool would rate them any where lower than the top 3 of DSLR manufacturers.
It is just my (unjustifiable) opinion that I would not wish to own one.
I do not know what it is - the 'feel' in the hands, the ergonomics, the ..... I don't know what.
Mike - I have seen many of your photographs, and they are invariably superior to my efforts.
I bow to your superior photographic skills and knowledge, but please, allow me this one prejudice - it is the only one I am allowed to have nowadays.
See you soon
Roger

(DSLRist)

[Mike Young]

Roger

You are a wag.....

As far as I'm concerned you didn't run Nikon down, you just said you couldn't bring youself to own one, thats very different in my book.

I also am prejudiced in my choice of equipment and its likely I will never own a Canon......but I'll not run em down, it just aint necessary.....in the right hands and I include you in this they take great images

[Bryan H]

Camera enthusiasts tend to be very brand-conscious.

Well, the responses to your thread certainly bear this out, Adrian!

I really can't believe, Martin, that you would cease delighting us with beautiful butterfly shots if you were compelled to use a Nikon, nor you, Mike, if a Canon had been thrust in your hand at birth.

Are you really saying that you may have missed some of your best shots if a particular button was not in a particular place, where it suits you best?

It suits you best because that's what you've got used to. I 'enjoy' using my camera because I bleedin' have to and I can't afford to change it each year! If your equipment is up to the task (and Adrian's point is that most of it is, regardless of brand) and you know exactly what to do with it when the chance presents itself (and that is simply a case of getting to know it) then the rest is down to you.

We have hardly chosen the easiest of subjects for our passion. If you look at the consistently good 'performers' in the monthly photo comps the results have surely more to do with a bloody-minded persistence and determination (and time spent) in the field! After all, the critters themselves don't care who you are!

You're all being very silly boys (as well as a marketing pro's dream)!

I'll get me coat

Bryan

[Mike Young]

Sorry Dad...err I mean Bryan

You are of coarse quite right, it is the user that is important, and I may have used other brands if the circumstances at the time had been different.
Even if I did want to swap brands now, one of the biggest reasons I won't is the fact that I have so many lenses and accessories, that it would be financially difficult and silly to change now.

I apologise if I came across as a grumpy old git, quite like the idea of being a "silly boy" though.

[Rogerdodge]

I am sitting on the 'Naughty Step'

Roger

[Martin]

I agree with everything that has been said here. I hope I didn't come across as a Nikon basher...I certainly didn't mean to, hence "Nikon make great kit" etc. Unfortunately I was talking about my favourite subject again...me . I was trying to say that, after using Canon for years, I fit thier cameras, all the others feel alien. I'm a square peg and Canon is a square hole...I could get into the triangular hole that is Nikon but it would be very uncomfortable in the beginning until I got used to it. Anyway...rambling again...I'm off before I say too much

Martin.

[Gruditch]

You've already said too much, wait till Eccles reads your "Personaly I think that Sony are not in the same league as the other two...nowhere near...and wouldn't even consider one." comment


Gruditch

[Martin]

You've already said too much, wait till Eccles reads your "Personaly I think that Sony are not in the same league as the other two...nowhere near...and wouldn't even consider one." comment


Gruditch

That was aimed at thier "range" of lenses, not thier quality

Martin.

[Rogerdodge]

Can I get off the 'Naughty Step' now please?

Roger

[George]

Somebody told me once that the best way to take better pictures was to take more pictures - practise often enough and learn what works and probably as importantly learn what does not work! I used a Panazonic FZ7 for a year whch was brilliant but found that I didn't rely have to think about things like composition and shutter / aperture etc as it was such a bril camera.

Then I wanted to get more into photography and looked at Canon, Sony, Nikon and Olympus but found that the Canon (400D) felt "right" as soon as I held it.

Now I have to think more about each shot (still strugling to get sharp handheld shots!!) and it is much more rewarding (and frustrating at times!)

So practice and whatever works for you I guess is the way to go.

[Bryan H]

Can I get off the 'Naughty Step' now please?

Roger

Of course you can...with a Canon

Bryan

[Chris Pickford]

I remember asking one of our pro photographers at work why all of our 100+ digital cameras were Nikon. His reply was that Nikons still worked after they had been dropped. It would be interesting to know whether you folks out there would agree with that...?

[Martin]

If ther're pro cameras then yes, but that goes for the others too