Once in a while a friend/acquaintance approaches me with this question. "Iam looking forward to buying a new DSLR and i would like to have your opinion". Invariably the next question to me would be "Nikon or Canon". Mostly the person would be new to the world of DSLR's and want to have an entry level DSLR that provides excellent image quality while maintaining ease of use. Both the Canon and Nikon fanatic fan following (in which i must say both are almost equals) who would vouch for their brand and finds no good reason to buy the other. Now where iam I?, Canon fan or Nikon fan? Honestly, i would say iam somewhere in between or to be more precise, i believe that a photographer's talent produces better pictures than a good camera. Owned three Nikons and three Canon's in my quest and i must admit that i was never completely let down by either, though little generic nicks nagged me at times.
Coming back to the topic, is it Canon or Nikon? Before proceeding, let me explain some typical traits of the enquirer:
As i mentioned previously, its a really close call. With the above requirements in place, iam giving my call. Its 'Nikon' and here's why:
1) Distortion Correction: Newer Nikon DSLR's have a nifty little feature integrated into them called "Lens Distortion Correction". To be frank i never cared about the lens distortions until one day i applied the lens distortion correction filter in Adobe Camera Raw and i was totally taken aback with the difference. Is this feature worth making the buying decision over Canon? In my opinion (and with the above requirements), YES. As mentioned earlier, the typical user won't be spending correcting the lens distortions in the computer and would like to have good right out of the camera pics. Moreover the kit lenses (both Nikon and Canon) have pretty bad distortions at the wide end which really ruins the pics.
For pro's its not much of an issue as they can correct this in PP. Myself being a bit paranoid about post processing, this single feature is a enough to lean to the Nikon camp though the below ones are just marginal advantages.
2) Kit Lens: Nikon's 18-55mm VR kit lens is better than the Canon's 18-55mm IS kit lens, though the difference is marginal.
3) Metering Performance: Nikon does have its edge over Canon here. Most user's would be using the full auto mode or Programed auto for shooting and metering does makes a difference. I rarely had a botched shot due to bad metering on all my Nikon's (from age old D40 to the newer D3100), while my Canon 450D and 500D has substantially more bad shots due to metering performance (i mostly use the P mode) and happens mostly in indoor shots with flash. The newer iCFL metering on the newer Canon's would have improved this, however i haven't used the same.
4) Jpeg Output: Most of the entry level user's won't be caring to shoot in RAW and spend time post processing the images. Here also Nikon leads by a small margin. Nikon's jpg engine produces much better jpg output than Canon. This is a matter of personal preference, i prefer Nikon's default jpg output over Canon.
5) Annoying flash strobe AF assist: Having to open the inbuilt flash and using the same for AF assist seems weird, atleast for me. Its annoying when you click in a pic in a place where the bright flash strobe is a real mess.
6) Help is always just a button press away: Really helpful to the budding photographers, Nikon has a "?" button which displays a brief info about the selected function. Canon don't have one.
7) Guide Mode: Helps in getting a picture the way you want it without needing to know any technicalities of capturing such an image. Canon don't have one.
There are some more, but the above given ones are the ones that really matters to a beginner when it comes to making a purchase decision.
By the way its not a complete Nikon domination. Canon has got quite some advantages. The main ones are:
* For the price, Canon does provide extra features over Nikon. Though the usage of the same depends totally on the user. The ones that comes immediately are the dedicated ISO button, DOF preview button and bracketing. Thus it offers a bit more headroom.
* Canon offers a better choice of lenses are a bit cheaper too. Nikon has messed up by removing the AF motor for low end bodies making a good share of the lenses incompatible. So if you are planning to take your photography to the next level and on a tight budget, Canon is for you. It has got a cheap 50mm prime and a good 55-250mm tele, both are very much VFM options.
This article is written with my limited experience with DSLR's and consequently might be incomplete or incorrect. Feel free to post your opinions/suggestions/info.
Coming back to the topic, is it Canon or Nikon? Before proceeding, let me explain some typical traits of the enquirer:
- Would be looking for an entry level camera.
- Want ease of use of a P&S and IQ of a DLSR.
- Won't be spending much on extra accessories (lenses, flash guns etc).
- Wants good pictures right out of the camera and don't want to spend much time on post processing.
- Kit lens are like an integral part of the camera (won't be buying better or more lenses).
- Would like to play around with the camera settings a bit, but would be refraining from advanced photography techniques or never finds time to go that pro.
- Not much familiar or don't know much technical details like ISO, shutter speed, aperture etc.
As i mentioned previously, its a really close call. With the above requirements in place, iam giving my call. Its 'Nikon' and here's why:
1) Distortion Correction: Newer Nikon DSLR's have a nifty little feature integrated into them called "Lens Distortion Correction". To be frank i never cared about the lens distortions until one day i applied the lens distortion correction filter in Adobe Camera Raw and i was totally taken aback with the difference. Is this feature worth making the buying decision over Canon? In my opinion (and with the above requirements), YES. As mentioned earlier, the typical user won't be spending correcting the lens distortions in the computer and would like to have good right out of the camera pics. Moreover the kit lenses (both Nikon and Canon) have pretty bad distortions at the wide end which really ruins the pics.
For pro's its not much of an issue as they can correct this in PP. Myself being a bit paranoid about post processing, this single feature is a enough to lean to the Nikon camp though the below ones are just marginal advantages.
2) Kit Lens: Nikon's 18-55mm VR kit lens is better than the Canon's 18-55mm IS kit lens, though the difference is marginal.
3) Metering Performance: Nikon does have its edge over Canon here. Most user's would be using the full auto mode or Programed auto for shooting and metering does makes a difference. I rarely had a botched shot due to bad metering on all my Nikon's (from age old D40 to the newer D3100), while my Canon 450D and 500D has substantially more bad shots due to metering performance (i mostly use the P mode) and happens mostly in indoor shots with flash. The newer iCFL metering on the newer Canon's would have improved this, however i haven't used the same.
4) Jpeg Output: Most of the entry level user's won't be caring to shoot in RAW and spend time post processing the images. Here also Nikon leads by a small margin. Nikon's jpg engine produces much better jpg output than Canon. This is a matter of personal preference, i prefer Nikon's default jpg output over Canon.
5) Annoying flash strobe AF assist: Having to open the inbuilt flash and using the same for AF assist seems weird, atleast for me. Its annoying when you click in a pic in a place where the bright flash strobe is a real mess.
6) Help is always just a button press away: Really helpful to the budding photographers, Nikon has a "?" button which displays a brief info about the selected function. Canon don't have one.
7) Guide Mode: Helps in getting a picture the way you want it without needing to know any technicalities of capturing such an image. Canon don't have one.
There are some more, but the above given ones are the ones that really matters to a beginner when it comes to making a purchase decision.
By the way its not a complete Nikon domination. Canon has got quite some advantages. The main ones are:
* For the price, Canon does provide extra features over Nikon. Though the usage of the same depends totally on the user. The ones that comes immediately are the dedicated ISO button, DOF preview button and bracketing. Thus it offers a bit more headroom.
* Canon offers a better choice of lenses are a bit cheaper too. Nikon has messed up by removing the AF motor for low end bodies making a good share of the lenses incompatible. So if you are planning to take your photography to the next level and on a tight budget, Canon is for you. It has got a cheap 50mm prime and a good 55-250mm tele, both are very much VFM options.
This article is written with my limited experience with DSLR's and consequently might be incomplete or incorrect. Feel free to post your opinions/suggestions/info.
