Canon Xti vs Nikon d40x

[jhphotography1]

HELP! I CAN'T DECIDE! i like certain things about each camera but i cant decide

between them. i want whichever one has the best pictures (vibrant colors,

sharpness, all that good stuff)

 

and i know everybody will say that it depends a lot on the lenses that you have,

which i know, but which one of these, using the kit lense (18-55mm) will take

the best pictures. because if i am not mistaken both of these are around the

same price? i want whichever one will give me the most professional looking photos.

 

please help me out! especially if you have worked with both cameras. right now i

am a beginner but i want to become more involved with photography so i want

something that will be good for beginners but will accomodate my needs as i grow

as a photographer!

 

thank you in advance for the advice!

 

John

[phule]

The best pictures are taken by a photographer not a camera.

 

Buy either camera. Everything else is inconsequential.

[bryantan]

Pound for pound, I think the XTi wins. At a slightly lower cost, it has 9 AF points to 3 and the ability to shoot Raw + Jpeg fine. You get ISO 3200 with the D40x but it's up to you to decide whether it's usable.

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

Hold each of them in your hands and buy the one that feels the most comfortable.

[shreeguru]

I have a d40 and i did review the xti along with d40. I went with d40 mainly due two it's rock solid durable design compared to xti. I also found the menu features more intuitive and easier to access compared to xti. Picture quality - both are equal. If you intend to do a lot of flash photography, many would recommend nikon as it has the far more creative lighting system (as I hv heard from many of my fellow friends)..havent really tested.

 

Advice to look into a system that you feel you can live with in the future. Look into your future requirements and decide on a system :)

[nick_bumgardner]

You say you want professional looking pictures. You can get professional looking pictures with any camera. It is all about how you use the camera and not what the camera can do. You want to get the camera that will get out of your way the easiest and let you do your thing. When I started doing photography that was a Nikon. The Nikon just fit my hand better. Now many years later it looks like I am going to end up shooting Canon for a living simply because it does what I need it to do faster than the Nikon The Canon gets out of my way quickley. To be a professional fine art photographer you may very well want a different camera than someone that wants to be a professional sports photographer.

[christianaires]

You wont get professional looking photos out of either of those cameras when you are learning.

 

What i did when i started to learn was i bought a canon a510 point and shoot. So i could learn the manuals. I saved up and saved up. And i out grew the camera very quickly because i thought it would take me longer to learn...

 

Then i went thru what you are going thru now.. which to buy. Canon Nikon, then the pentax k10d came into effect... Lost quite a bit of hair over those three.

 

Then i started to look at the whole package.. Pretty much sitting down and deciding what kind of photography i will be doing. And what i will be needing. Adding all the lenses flashes cards... etc together i came up with three different prices for all 3 brands. I had to take out the k10d because it was hard to find anything for it in my area.

 

So then it was between the canon and nikon. The price for the nikon ended up being a bit cheaper then the canon... So i thought well not much difference between the two. So the next step was to go to the store sit there for 20 minutes and play with both systems.

 

Right away i fell in love with the nikon. For me it just worked great.

 

Went ahead and bought the Nikon. And now am learning how to shoot with this system. With time they will start to look like pro shots (im planning on it being a career). And with time.. But right now i cant afford a 3000 dollar camera alone.

So ill keep buying gear for my current d70.( and save up for one of those.. HOney i spent my life savings on a camera) ;)

 

And the best part is im having tons of fun using the nikon d70. Not because of the brand but because now i have a dslr in my hands.

 

And thats what you as a beginner should be thinking about right now.

 

Dont worry about canon nikon.. pentax olympus.

Get what you can afford, learn how to shoot with what you have, and your final product will be good.

 

Just for kicks. go have a look at some of "worst" dlsr's on here.

Like kodac or olympus.. Youll be surprised on how good the pictures turn out.. Because really it isnt the camera. It's the camera man/woman behind the camera.

 

And then when you get to a level where the camera is the bottle neck.. well thats when you go out and fork over 3000 or more for the camera body alone. and another 2000-5000 for lenses alone.

 

Remember "professional" is not quality... it's a job. And the reason the pictures look so amazing on these cameras, is because it is someone who knows how to use it. Give them a ..crap.. camera and they will still take amazing pictures.

 

In other words..

Dont get suckered in to the whole Canon/Nikon debate.( i did, and lost hair.. )

Why because you still dont have a camera in your hands.. And you will never learn how to shoot with out one in your hands.

 

Buy the one you like and can afford.

 

Good luck. Can't wait to see your pictures up on photo.net.

[jhphotography1]

Thank you everybody so much!

 

it was extremely pleasing to read the plothora of responses over my bowl of cereal this morning!

 

my next stop after class today is the best buy (we dont have a specific photography store) to play with some of the cameras!

 

thank you again for all of the feedback! it really helped.

 

i have a few pictures that i have taken with my canon sd900 that i'll hopefully get on here pretty soon!