Reasons to select Nikon

[laleicasinlente]

 

<p>Hi guys<br />I have been shootin with pentax for two years.<br />My equipment (pentax k110 D + 18 - 55 kit lenses, tamron 70-300 and a pentax 40 mm f2.8 limited) does not fulfill my criteria about photography and now is the moment to change it.<br />I'm in doubt about canon eos 450D (I dont know the USA name) or nikon D60.<br />I like to do portraits and landscapes mainly.<br />Could you give me some advice?<br />Thanks in advance and good shoots,<br>

Mariano</p>

 

[stwrtertbsratbs5]

<p>What do you find lacking in your Pentax?</p>

[jkiffmeyer]

<p>Ah, without knowing why the pentax "does not fulfill my criteria", we will be hard pressed to guide you to something does does meet your criteria. Reading reviews and the many Nikon vs Canon posts here will give you lots of general info, and if you need specific questions answered you need to ask the questions... :)</p>

[laleicasinlente]

<p>James,<br>

If I shoot my pentax in an automatic mode the results that I obtain are worse than the results that I obtain with a point and shoot camera.<br>

If I want to buy lenses with a smaller aperture than 2.8 they are very expensive. In the same range, for example, canon has cheaper lenses and better apertures.<br>

What about nikon?<br>

Thanks in advance,</p>

<p>Mariano</p>

 

[rossb]

<p>Canon and Nikon are the leading camera's commercially. You would be doing fine with either of these brands. </p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>If you indeed mainly shoot portraits and landscape, you don't really need lenses that are faster than f2.8.</p>

<p>I wouldn't recommend Pentax to anybody who starts from scratch. Just their various financial and management issues from the last 2, 3 years is sufficient reason to stay away. However, if you already have a small Pentax system and you are mainly using consumer-grade cameras and lenses, I seriously doubt that you'll benefit at all from switching to either Canon or Nikon.</p>

<p>Don't get me wrong, we'll be happy to have you participate in the Nikon Forum, but I don't think it is in your own best interest to switch brands at this time.</p>

[jkiffmeyer]

<p>You should be able to produce good photos with you pentax under controlled conditions with you pentax. If you are wanting to produce photos better than point and shoot under normal bright light outside, you will need to learn about processing your photos (in camera or out) and adjusting the camera settings to make it output what you are wanting. There are many people out there with an SLR wondering why their shots are worse than their old point and shoot.</p>

<p>Start by posting a photo that you feel wasn't "good enough". We can help you determine if the camera made the difference. Is there a lack of "punch" to your photos? Lack of focus? I would have no problem recommending my D90, and I have no doubt it is "better" than the pentax, but using an SLR takes some work, knowledge, and experience, so be careful about blaming the camera.</p>

<p>You are right to look at lenses in determining your camera brand, but in the end a hobby photographer can find lenses that work in either Nikon or Canon line. You need to hold them in your hand and get a feel for how they work in order to determine which will work best for you.</p>

[rj]

<p>The Pentax 77mm f1.8 limited is one of the best portrait lenses I have ever owned, and its small and well built with an internal sliding hood. That reason right there is a good enough reason to stick with your pentax dslr imho. I used this for black and white shooting and had a body dedicated to it for a few years. Just a great lens and on a cropped dslr makes one dandy portrait lens.<br>

<br />Actually, I was a pentax shooter for years and just got rid of a couple of pentax film bodies to switch to Nikon digital, but the real reason I am switching is because I really want a capable flash system and I don't believe pentax has one. The limited lenses for the most part are very good and they are dinky little lenses, they are great coupled with a little pentax camera for travel and street photography.<br>

<br />Nikon has more to offer than pentax. They have a better telephoto selection, better flash system, better third party compatability and imho, are a better system to buy into for the long haul than pentax. <br />If I were you, I would keep that pentax digital body coupled with that little 40mm for a walking around camera, shooting people out and about and such and then add a nikon camera and lens or two for your more serious stuff.</p>

[bsd230]

<p>You really can't go wrong with either brand. I obviously prefer Nikon when it comes to comsumer/prosumer cameras. I used to have a Rebel several years ago but found it didn't have the features of the comparible Nikon. I like the f4 L lenses that Canon offers and wish Nikon made a comparable line. They both have their benefits.</p>

[Mike D]

<p>One slight advanatage that Nikon may have over Canon is that Sigma lenses don't work quite as well on Canon bodies. This is based on the number of complaints I have seen from Canon-Sigma posts. Sigma used to be known for less expensive lenses but they now offer lenses like the 30 F1.4 and 50-150 F2.8 that Nikon doesn't offer.</p>

[dan_south]

<p>The Top 10 Reasons to Select Nikon (with apologies to David Letterman)</p>

<p>(10) It weighs less than an Arca Swiss monorai!<br>

(9) Ashton Kutcher knows more about photography the Maria Sharipova!<br>

(8) Because Tv is a really dumb abbreviation for Shutter Priority Exposure Mode!<br>

(7) You can get 'em at Best Buy!<br>

(6) Hey, buy the right lenses and get vignetting at no extra charge!<br>

(5) Because unlike some companies, Nikon still EXISTS!<br>

(4) Because very few small-format DSLR's cameras are made in the USA!<br>

(3) VR sounds so much cooler than IS!<br>

(2) Everyone knows that letters should come before numbers!</p>

<p>And the Number One Reason To Buy Nikon:</p>

<p>(1) Because gray lenses are so totally 1995!</p>

 

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>I'd love to see some samples of these "bad portraits". Perhaps you need to over-ride the exposure somewhat for different situations. For me, I always shoot portraits in manual mode and get it just right for the light in the room. ymmv.</p>

<p>I wouldn't switch. In fact, If I were buying today from scratch, knowing everything I know now, I might go with Pentax. Their prime selection is AWESOME! And for the things I use VR for, I think in-body image-stabilization would be just peachy.</p>

[jeffrey_prokopowicz]

<p>You could look like a badass pro photographer if adorned with Nikon, and all the advantages, and disadvantages, that that bestows.</p>

[kris-bochenek]

Dan South

I love your reasons! you just made my day!

 

KrisB

[heartyfisher]

<p>LOL That top 10 list is just a hoot!</p>

<p>But back on topic. I think P&S are optimized for the inexperienced photographer.. ( I dont mean to be derogotory, just cant think of a better word) I think that even with the top of the line D3 you wont be happy with the result because you need a bit more experience with photograpphy to get the good images out of a DSLR. I think you have a nice pentax kit. You will need to change some setting to make it more like a P&S. ie up the contrast and Saturation. and learn to set the shutter high enough to reduce shake from the tele zooms. I am making some guesses here that you are not a very experienced photographer. Nothing wrong with that. We all need to start somewhere and learning is part of the fun! Changing gear is expensive. and usually not necessary.</p>

<p>Having said that, Nikon do make nice gear. ;-) and every time I buy new Nikon Gear I think I become a much better photographer.. !! ( sadly that is not true.. but .. part of me wants to believe that! haha!)</p>

 

[frank_skomial]

<p>The old reason to get Nikon was saying:</p>

<p>"Sooner or later you will get Nikon"</p>

<p>... and that holds true today...</p>