Which camera do I buy now?

Question

In the beginning, I was deciding on the Nikon D80 and the Canon Rebel XTi. I finally decided on the Nikon. Now this person listed the following links to say that the Canon is better. What do you think and which should I buy. I like the Nikon because of the big grip and weight but what about the links I saw that showed all Canons?

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Images/Other/Canon-400mm-Lens-Comparison.jpg
http://susilo.typepad.com/nurani/images/fotografer.jpeg
http://ranmac.smugmug.com/photos/42483847-M.jpg
http://www.manilamarker.com/images/sports-event-1.jpg

Answer 1

You are really in a pickle, aren't you? I don't blame you. When you are about to spend $1,500 or more on a camera and a lens, you want to feel like you did the best you could for the money.

I won't bore you by repeating the same answer I gave twice already. (I'm sorry that I did that. I guess I didn't pay attention to who was asking the question.) I will give you some excellent advice, though - for the 2nd or 3rd time. At this level, you simply have to go to a store and see what they feel like. THIS factor will outweigh any others as far as your ability to enjoy the camera and take good pictures with it. The Canon just feels too small to me. Heck, now that I have been using the D200 for over a year, my D70s feels small and my wife's D50 feels almost like a point and shoot camera. Go pick them up. Hold them to your eye. Fake a few shots to see where your fingers end up.

As far as photos "proving" what the pros use, that's total marketting bull poopy. Where do you think those photos came from? Canon, of course. In the 60's, I had a real bias against Nikon. I agreed that they had the best lenses and they were mechanically solid, but I HATED the way the camera felt in my hands. They also had a monstrous gash to couple the aperture ring to the meter where bugs and spiders could crawl in - let alone dirt and dust. I've seen spiders crawling across the ground glass on more than a few camera from that era - especially Nikons. Nikon used to be the "aknowledged" camera of the pros and Canon was just a player. The truth was that Nikon was only popular in the US and Pentax was the real world leader. In the early 1950's, Joe Enrenreich was the United States importer and distributor for Nikon cameras. He was a smart cookie. He GAVE AWAY hundreds, perhaps thousands of cameras to professionals in high visibility occupations, paritcularly sports photographers and photojournalists. To nobody's surprise, this move was followed by a media campaign showing all of the "famous" photographers using Nikon cameras. He set up loaner tents at all the major sporting events. If you had credentials and used Nikon, you could sign out an 800 mm lens for the day. His plan was two-fold. First of all, everyone who was paying attention saw all those guys using Nikon and they wanted to run out and buy one for themselves. Second or all, all the pros who borrowed an 800 mm lens at an NFL game or USAC race wanted to go buy one of their own so they would have it at other events where there was no media loaner program. They almost got me on this hype approach. I borrowed a friend's Nikon Fotomic F and I took the roll out before it was done and gave it back to him. It has not made for human hands with that hunking afterthought of a meter sitting on top of the camera. Yet, this is what "everyone" was using. I don't know about build quality, but I thought the Nikkormat was a much nicer camera to use. It still had that gaping hole to couple the meter, though, and I ended up buying a Pentax - like the rest of the world - because it was comparatively sealed to the elements.

Guess who is giving away cameras and loaning lenses now? Guess if this marketting strategy works? Obviously. I don't know about dropping cameras from a helicopter (giving them awat for free to key players), which is what I thought Ehrenriech must have done, but Canon certainly has a loaner booth at major sporting events. It would not surprise me if they said you could borrow their lens if you shot from a certain section one day just so they could take a picture of 100 photographers using half a million dollars worth of Canon glass.

The REAL answer to your question is that you have to see which one your gut and heart tell you to buy. BOTH are excellent cameras. Me, I couldn't live without a spot meter, but that's just me.

Answer 2

Hey...i knw hw it feels being stuck in choosing which is a better camera for u...i hav my on fair share before on this problem too. First it depends on really what u want out of the camera. Both canon and nikon make realli great cameras and they each hav their pro's and con's. The best option is too go to ur nearest camera store and try out both camera.

it is hard to compare against the canon xti with the nikon d80.
they are actualli for different mass market. targetting different photographer groups. the best option that can reali be compare with the nikon d80 would be the canon 30d which is indeed a great camera. It is fast and hav great AF speed which is acurrate too.

Being fair, i do agree that yes the canon xti is also a great easy to use camera. it is light on the hand which is great for holidays. u dun reali like to be lug down by the weight of ur equiement. having tried both the nikon d80 and the canon xti...i would say both is a safe bet.

But the canon hav an edge though imo. It has a lower noise lvl unlike the d80 though the problem is not as signifanct as before. the d200 noise lvl was worse than the d80. The canon xti also hav the canon 30d 9point AF which is great and fast for action sports.

the most important thing when u get ur camera is to go out and shoot. what matters is ur skill nt the camera brand.

try www.dpreview.com for more in-depth review between the canon xti and nikon d80.

Answer 3

Both cameras are good.

This site has every professional review on the Internet of both cameras and summarizes the reviews into one score. Looks like the Nikon D80 has the edge and actually has the second highest score of all the cameras on that site!

Nikon D80 (score = 91) - http://www.productcritic.com/product/41-nikon-d80
Canon Rebel XTi (score = 85) - http://www.productcritic.com/product/93-canon-digital-rebel-xti-eos-400d

I actually have a Canon dSLR (the 20D) and think it's awesome but you can't argue with the pros!

Answer 4

Don't put too much stock in the reviews of other people! Who knows what...if any...agenda they have?

I've said this before, but you REALLY need to go into a full-service camera store and try them out! Ask the salesman for his/her advice, but in the end, the camera needs to fit YOU...not a salesman or reviewer! You'll get quality pics from either of the two cameras that you're considering. Choose the one that has the features you want, placed the way you want them...and know that you've made the selection that fits you.

Answer 5

I recently came across this website for reviewing digital camera's...it may help you out

http://www.cheap-digital-camera.com.au
http://www.cheap-mobile.com.au