Nikon's comeback!

I went to an air show today and Nikon SLR's seemed to be the predominate camera there. This is quite a turn-around from even a few years ago

when all you saw were Canons. I don't know what the latest sales figures are but it looked like a four or five to one advantage for Nikon. Of course

the newspaper guy was still using a high-end Canon.<div></div>

I don't see how it matters. Well, unless you're concerned that one manufacturer or the other is going to get so far behind that you end up with an orphaned lens collection. Or feel some special alliegance to one company, and your mood rises and falls on their fortunes (I'm starting to ramble, LOL).

 

I doubt either company is going to go belly-up soon, so: I don't see how it matters ;)

I guess it's no more or less trivial than what model Nikon the president of the Ukraine is using - slow news day.

Well, at our son's recent wedding, the photographer and assistant were all Nikon, fwiw. Maybe the choice of more pros?

 

That's one serious looking engine, btw.

I for one hope that Nikon and Canon continue to fight over the same segment of the market. More competition = more

innovation.

 

I think Canon and Nikon (and Olympus for that matter) all make AWESOME cameras...

I absolutely agree that we need strong competition not only for advancement but to get prices down. So yes it did matter that Nikon was seriously lagging behind. Nikon still does lag in resolution but has made strides to compensate with higher frame rates and superior high ISO performance. Simply having full frame Nikon DSLRs has helped tremendously. Things will only get better in the next few years as all the manufacturers end up on the same playing field as far as sensor technology goes.

Want to hear something strange. A fellow who used to be in the camera club I returned to has sort of gone pro and is shooting weddings

full time. He is Canon through an through and always buys the best. He had two Canon 1D Mark III's and I'm sure only the best in lenses

he needed. Turns out he attended some wedding photographers convention and most of the pros were using or converting over to the D3.

So now he's doing the same. Selling all his gear and starting up a Nikon kit. Personally I think he's mad as I'm sure the D3 won't do

anything magical or that much better than what he's already got, but then I've never used a D3 so I wouldn't know. I'm just so surprised that

he's doing this because like I said earlier, he was a Canon man and looked down on Nikon.

I am glad Nikon came back. I was fairly disappointed when I was stuck buying Canon gear last year.

If it means that Nikon will finally make some new wide primes and new AF-S teles (sub-200 mm), then it's good, otherwise I don't care so much.

Hey, I hang out a lot at Classic Cameras, and I've noticed that everyone there is switching over to 6x9 folders ;)

 

If you follow the fad crowd, you'll be buying and selling a lot, I know that.

@ JDM von Weinberg:

 

I SO want one of those. :) the new Fuji/Voigtländer looks very sexy.

I wasn't aware they had gone away. Good thing I saved mine

Let's just hope their repair facilities are prepared to deal with the increased volume.

Following the crowd is a sure way to make you lose $money --- lots of it, actually. Ask yourself what you really need for your application and get the best tools for that application and you will be happy.

 

Margaret. as of now (Oct. 2008), I do not see a better tool in the market than the D3 with this price range that has the same capabilities for weddings.

That's interesting at Naturescapes.net website they just ran a poll asking if you were starting all over again what brand would you buy?

 

The results: Canon 83% Nikon 13%

 

http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12678

If you a worried about who is on top watch out for Sony, they will be snicking up on everyone in the next few years. The bottom line is they have the money to do so.

The poll was done in April 2004. The way technology advances, new products introduced almost every month and market price changes, the cited poll is irrelevant... The bottom line is better technology, more choices and competitive prices-- good for consumers.

"The poll was done in April 2004."

 

Which was before even the D200 was announced, and as for the D300, D3 and D700, they were just a twinkle in Nikon's eye. To be honest back then Nikon was not a credible competitor.

I've had two different people tell me this year that they're Canon people, but if they could start over they would use Nikon. Too

much glass to do that now, they said.

The poll referred to in the naturescapes.net by Mr Michael Eckstein is at least 4 1/2 years old. Does it still hold water?A lot of water has flowed since then. Canon now seems to be upbeat with both quality and price taken together .IMHO

I hope this means that Nikon will bring out an AF 800mm to compete with Canon's.

The biggest boost to Nikon lately is the combination of the D300/700.3 and the 1DMkIII focus problems.

Canons problems with this body don't happen to everyone but they happen enough to those who use the gear daily to make a living that Nikons timing on its newest gear and Canon dragging its feet could not have come at a worse time for Canon.

Compare sideline shots at major sporting events this year to last year. Many more black lenses now. Unless Canon comes up with a new photojournalist body, apologizes for the MkIII and makes good to a lot of photographers using them they will only push more Nikon switches from Canon.

At my surroundings, looks like "white" pros are buying Nikon for whatever the reason ("social" photography?) and "black" pros are buying MkIIIs strictly for sports. I`m a bit confused because I thought the D3 arrived to be a direct MkIII competitor... Perhaps in a few years, specialization will place each brand for very defined tasks.

Sometime at the local wildlife reserve where I usually shoot you get a whole bunch of Nikon shooters and one or two Canons, and sometime you get a whole bunch of Canon shooters and one or two Nikons, and sometime you get half and half. My point is it depends on the day. I shoot bird and one thing I notice is that it is almost impossible to get Nikon superteles like the 200-400 f/4 VR, 500 f/4 VR, 600 f/4 VR... if you have 7.5 grands you can have your Canon EF 600 f/4L IS in a week.

Funny, at all the airshows I've been to most of the cameras were point and shoot, Kodak brand! Few cell phones were even pulled out for some high def capture and transfer! v/r Raz