Canon vr Nikon

Hi everyone,

I would like to buy a camera which will serve me for fashion shooting.

My budget is quite low (600 pound) and after consulting Some of the greatest

minds here....Im more confused than ever.

Some recommended me to go for Nikon D40x or D80 which is in my budget. but the

review indicating that I will be limited to certain lenses as it state "biggest

negative on the D40 is that it doesn't have an internal focus drive motor and

hence no mechanical focus drive pin, instead it only has CPU contacts which

means it can only Auto Focus with AF-S and AF-I lenses"

 

Now, looking on my budget I can see that Canon D400 is also available.

Is that a good solution for me or what? Help....

Many thanks

Moshe: I know it can be confusing to deal with the large amount of information you've been handed... but, your budget is your budget. The people mentioning the auto-focus issue with the D40(x)/D80 are just making sure you're aware of a possible limitation. That does NOT mean that you wouldn't be very happy with either of those camera bodies... it just means you have to be a little thoughtful about which lenses you might buy. ANY of the newer Nikon AF-S lenses (and there are plenty to choose from, well-suited to fashion work) will work perfectly on those cameras. You just won't be able to easily use older manual-focus, or non-AF-S lenses. But because of your budget, it seems very unlikely that you are going to be going out and buying up a bunch of older or more exotic lenses any time soon... if you DID want to, you'd have to buy a much more expensive camera (the D200) in order to use them... and then you're out of cash anyway. Since you don't already own a collection of older Nikon lenses, this is much less of an issue for you than it is for a lot of people.

 

The D40 (or the X version of it, preferrably) or the D80 will serve you very well. You will probably work for quite a while with the 18-70 or 18-55 kit lenses until you have moved well along into learning about your own style, and understanding where your equipment budget would next want to take you.

 

If having to use AF-S lenses is the BIGGEST negative that people can find for a nice camera within the price range you're after, then that's a GOOD thing. It's good for people to point that out, but don't let it prevent you from getting a good body like the two in question and starting to do what you most need to do: take pictures and learn with a camera in your hands.

What happened to the Canon D400 you got last November? Seems like you're just re-playing things over and over.

Yes thats true, I am playing things over and over but its only because the Canon D400 I got for my boss.

Now im buying it for my own use and I would prefer to get away from Canon as my last 3 cameras (2 EOS film, and 1 canon ixus) were Canon.

Thats why im asking about the Nikon.

Ive got better things to do with my life than sitting on the computer to ask Novice qustions.

Im realy thankful for everyone's help.

By the way, I did thought that my boss will let me paly around with it but I guess he had other things in mind....Hoo well

Your last 3 cameras were Canon. Did you dislike them? You had 2 EOS film cameras. What happened to your lenses? Seems like that would be a pretty good reason to stick with Canon - not jump to Nikon. I don't understand why, just because your last 3 cameras were Canon, you now have a need to move to Nikon.

As much as I am a huge Nikon guy, I have to agree with Aaron here. What sense does it make to switch, then have to buy more lenses. Esspecially if you have good glass in the Canon mount already. I think you are making this too tough on yourself. Fashion is less about the camera/glass, and more about the eye of the photographer. Plus, excellent lighting doesn't hurt. If you've got lenses, go Canon, if not, try out each body at a camera shop. You may find you love or hate the ergonomics of one camera. The ergonomics are one of the greatest parts of the camera, esspecially on a 35mm (guess it doesn't really mater on a 4x5 or 8x10, now does it?).

<i>Is that a good solution for me or what?</i>

<p>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/equipment/building-a-digital-slr-system/">Start here</a>.

<p>

Cheers!

Moshe: If you had good lenses on your EOS film cameras, the advantage of keeping them probably overwhelms the relatively small differences between Canon and Nikon SLR bodies at the same price point. On the other hand, if you had cheap consumer-grade zooms, they may disappoint on a digital body. Your call really, though I'm sure if you post the lens info here someone will be able to advise.

 

Zach: funnily enough, ergonomics are REALLY important in large format - camera movements are just another set of controls, and if they're inconvenient/rough/sticky/wobbly/maldesigned, they can ruin your day and your concentration on shooting every bit as badly as anything that ever happened on a dSLR.

Lester, good point. I was just thinking about in the way that I can't HOLD the camera like a 35mm. But you are very correct, it is a different type of ergonomics all together. Oh how I miss using a 4x5.....

Many thanks once again for all of your responses!