Nikon user switched from Canon

[obelix]

<p>I'm in the process off testing out Nikon. I've been a Canon user for about 8 years. Never ever used a Nikon, so the other day I decided to buy a Nikon D60 (I know it's only entry level).<br>

So far I haven't made a decision yet, but i like what I'm seeing so far in Nikon. If I decide to move to Nikon, I'll be buying the D300, have allot of Canon gear (100 - 400 lens, 2 x 580 EX flasguns, ST-E2, 100 mm Macro Lens, Macro Ringlite etc...) to sell off, but for most of it, I have friends that uses Canon, so it'll be easy to get rid off.<br>

Anyone here that used to use Canon, and made the switch to Nikon as well???<br>

I'd like to know anyone's thought on this, especially if you've switched.<br>

The only thing that's throwing me a bit... what's Nikon's Macro gear like? Whatever I have in Canon, I'd like to buy in Nikon if I switch.<br>

Also, Canon has 2 lovely affordable 300 & 400mm Lenses, that I could buy for around €900 each new, Nikon I think has only the 1 affordable 300mm Lens.</p>

<p>Thanx</p>

[rj]

<p>I don't know too much about Canon, but I switched from Pentax to Nikon and decided not to get into Canon because I feel the Nikon bodies are better and the flash system is superior, they also offer telephoto lenses that Pentax could never seem to get out. <br>

Macro is also one of the reasons I switched. Currently, Nikon has the 60mm, 105mm and 200mm macro lenses plus a great macro flash system, the R1C1 close up flash system. Nikon pretty much offers me everything that I need for a decent macro setup. Nikon offers some pretty great telephoto glass, but it is pricey. I'd like to get my hands on a 300 f4 myself.</p>

[rob_piontek]

<p>Why bother switching? What are you missing from Canon? Unless you have a really specific reason, I think you'll just lose a bunch of money in the switch. The grass is always greener on the other side! Canon has a number of good fast primes which don't exist in the nikon lineup that make me wish I shot canon! The 5D mark II or a 5D at it's current used price are very attractive cameras.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>As far as I can tell, you have not stated any compelling reason to switch brands. Other than a few exotic lenses here and there and some minor advantages one way or another, there is not a whole lot of difference between the two systems. In particular, if you have more friends using Canon rather than Nikon, using incompatible equipment from theirs is not a good idea.</p>

<p>If your objective is to improve your photography, I would suggest no switching. It is merely a waste of time and money.</p>

[Peter_in_PA]

<p>I'd stick with Canon. They make great stuff and you'll gain nothing by switching except a lighter wallet.</p>

[lena_messana]

<p>I agree. Although my Canon was a 35mm Elan 7 SLR, and my upgrade was to a Nikon D40x DSLR (reasoning being is that at the time I was hearing about functionality problems with the 40D, and the D40X was promising for someone like me who knows nothing about manual features, it didn't have all the crazy buttons), but from a fun family based non professional type of photographer's eye - Canon is amazing. Image quality is crystal clear. Why not keep both? I am sure there are some things you would like to use each for. I can guarantee that if you sell off your Canon stuff, you will be knocking your head into a wall soon. </p>

[douglas lee]

<p>I agree with the others. Unless your current system is holding you back in some way, why switch? Nikon's flash sytem is not better, just different. Enjoy what you have and save money.</p>

[tommyinca]

<p>2 cents worth :-) I see about the only reasons you switch are:</p>

<p>1. You hate pushing and pulling while AF is running with your 100-400/5.6.</p>

<p>2. You will sell your car to get an extra stop to f4 for a 400mm zoom. </p>

<p>If you do that, say good bye to almost auto everything 2:1 to 5:1 macro (aka: MPE65/2.8 macro).</p>

[Dieter Schaefer]

<p>NAS in a Canon shooter, that's got to be a first...<br>

What reasons other than "the grass is greener on the other side" do you have for considering the switch?</p>

[liljuddakalilknyttphotogra]

<p><strong>Johann</strong> - you seem to have a lot of money invested in Canon lenses. Might be a reason for staying there - - but you are more than welcome over to the "dark side". I have a lot of friends who shoot Canon so I do know a bit about Canon lenses at this time. Can't help learning.<br>

The one major reason I'd see for moving to Nikon would be the constant lens calibrations & issues with the camera bodies I see most of my friends go through. It seems to be every day for them to do. I have no knowledge of Nikon shooters doing that. Past that - both Canon & Nikon are excellent cameras & lenses.<br>

For Macros there are the 55mm (out of production), 60mm, 105mm, & 200mm. But there's also a 70-180mm macro which can be found even though its out of production. We also have a 85mm tilt/shift macro. All excellent lenses.<br>

We also have the 300mm AF-S f/4 as you mentioned. A lot of people use it for macros - I do that a lot. I love that lens. Very versatile.<br>

We only have one 400mm at this time - it's a f/2.8 & it's very expensive. :-( I'm still hoping for a f/4 or 5.6 - - but who knows.....</p>

<p>Really think about why you want to switch to Nikon. Then decide if this huge move is really what you want to do.<br>

Good luck<br>

Lil :-)</p>

 

[johnny_anderson]

<p>I shot with Canon film cameras for nearly 35 years. My first digital was a Canon S3IS which took great pictures. But the menu system drove me nuts, not intuitive at all (at least for me). The ergonomics weren't the best either. I looked over the Canon DSLRs when I made the switch to DSLRs but the ergonomics just weren't right. The first Nikon I pickup up felt like it was made for my hands. Nikon's menu system is much more intuitive and easier to use (for me).</p>

<p>Like some of the other posters said Canon seems to have a lot of problems with the flash system, lens and body calibration, focus accuracy, etc. I read all of the forums that I could find and the Canon system just had more problems that I wanted to mess with, so I went with Nikon and have not regretted it at all. It's a great camera system and yes it's more expensive than Canon. But I don't have to suffer the problems that the Canon shooters do. Nikon has it's own idiosyncrasies but not nearly as many as I see posted from Canon owners. And yes I know that there are many Canon shooters that don't have problems with their gear but there still seems to be a lot more issues with Canon gear.</p>

<p>In the end, if you're not happy with your camera gear then get a system that makes YOU happy. It's your money and life's to short to suffer with something that doesn't work to your satisfaction. While you may suffer some amount of financial loss on your Canon gear, you'll be happier in the end. The only justification that you need is that YOU want to switch.</p>

[hiro]

<p>Sometimes, just seeing different grass is a good thing. I switched/traded my Nikon kit for a Canon kit about a year ago. I got to try a lot of cool things in that brief time. Namely some "L" glass and a body with a full frame sensor.<br /> It didn't take long to find out that ease of use and familiarity is vastly overrated. I pride myself on being flexible and rolling with the flow but after shooting with strictly Nikon digital for years, I could see that I would never feel that ease with Canon.<br /> I got lucky, in my trade I made out dollar for dollar with a free 40D which more than made up for shipping and paypal fees.</p>

<p>"<em>In the end, if you're not happy with your camera gear then get a system that makes YOU happy. It's your money and life's to short to suffer with something that doesn't work to your satisfaction. While you may suffer some amount of financial loss on your Canon gear, you'll be happier in the end. The only justification that you need is that YOU want to switch</em> ."<br>

Well said.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>If one is not happy with his/her current equipment, that is a perfectly valid reason to change brands. The thing is that the OP has not indiecated that there is any problem with his current Canon equipment, at least not that I am aware of.</p>

<p>If Johnny Anderson was using Canon film equipment for 35 years, he was clearly using Canon FD, which is totally incompatible with Canon EOS DSLRs anyway. Even though he were switching from Canon FD to Canon EOS, for all practical purposes he would have been "switching brands" anyway.</p>

[rick_donnelly]

<p>I was a long time Nikon user - first film, then digital. A few years ago I became enamored of certain Canon products and features, and switched to Canon digital for about two years. But I didn't sell off all the Nikon gear, and I'm glad I didn't, as I have now returned exclusively to Nikon (except for P&S's, which are all Canons).<br>

I returned for several reasons:<br>

1. I shoot both film and digital, and for my film shooting found Nikon to be the better choice (for me).<br>

2. Perhaps it was just my prior Nikon experience, but I just could not get comfortable with Canon's operational characteristics and controls. Of course others will say exactly the opposite, as this is a very personal thing. I also much preferred the physical design and handling of Nikons.<br>

3. In general, I found Canon digital to give better results right out-of-camera as compared to Nikon. But my digital shooting technique evolved to all RAW and ultimately I liked the NEF-CaptureNX-PS results from Nikon better. This actually may say more about my limitations in PP than the capability of the cameras!<br>

4. In the end, there wasn't anything I could do with one brand that I couldn't do just as well with the other. There are some real differences - Nikon's flash system <em>is </em> better, Canon's fast prime lens choices are the best, etc. but none of them were overwhelming factors.<br>

Since at this point I still had more Nikon gear than Canon, I decided to go back and sell off the Canons, as continuing to use both brands for different specific purposes was just too much complication, and I wanted to simplify.<br>

So my advice would be to try Nikon for an extended period, but <em>keep the Canons</em> until you are certain which way you want to go. I bought most things used for my Canon experiments, so it didn't cost me too much in the end (I sold some of the Canon stuff here on the PN classifieds and recouped about 75-80% of my initial costs).</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>I used Canons from 1967 until I switched to autofocus in 1996. I liked the Nikon N6006 better than the comparable Canons and since the Canon FD lenses could not be used on EOS's there was no financial reason to stick with Canon. I was also angry at Canon for obsoleting my lenses for a second time. My Canon FX and FT used FL lenses, but when the FTb came out I had to get FD lenses. Now ten years later they obsoleted my FD lenses. I wasn't going to risk getting an EOS and having them obsolete my autofocus lenses.</p>

[obelix]

<p>Thanx for everyones respinses.<br>

like some of you said, couldn't see any problems I'm having with Canon. Well, I don't have any problems with Canon at all, I love Canon, but in all aspects of my life I love experimenting. I've never used Nikon in my life and I've sold of allot of Canon gear last year and wanted to start buying again... but a thought came to mind... why not... before buying again, use nikon for a few months???<br>

I sell camera gear as well, more as a hobby, so at least I'll have used Nikon.<br>

Honestly, I only got a D60 with 2 entry level lenses (18 - 55 and 70 - 300) I know it's all very basic. But so far I actually really really like the Nikon. I was also thinking of keepeing my Canon gear, which is worth around €3000 now (eBay used prices). It's allot of money and if I switch, I want to replace them with Nikon, which I worked out will cost me around €3300... not bad. I'll give the 60D to my wife a buy a D300 + 18 - 200 VR lens etc...<br>

Anyways, still far away from making a decision. It's nice to hear everyone's thoughts.<br>

Why is it that you see so many more Canon around though... cheaper?... aggresive marketing?<br>

Also one of the big reasons (not the only), I heard Nikons images are sharper? I'm not too crazy about sharpening in Photoshop. I actually do very little editing. I must say Cano do produce stunning images (tonal range, levels) out of camera.</p>

[hawkman]

<p>Johann,<br>

I had Canon gear for about 7 years and back in December 2008 I bought some Nikon gear and I am using both systems now but each for a different purpose. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages, Canon has the best telephoto and super telephoto lenses IMO, currently for a whole lot cheaper than Nikon equivalents, take the 100-400 L IS for example, Nikon's equivalent, the 80-400 VR is not even close and yet more expensive, but Nikon has two killer lenses, namely the 14-24 and 24-70 which put Canon primes into shame, so if you do telephoto work you will lose performance by selling your Canon gear, unless you want to shell out big cash and buy the very best of Nikon gear like a 500 f/4VR :D<br>

If you are into wide angle work then Nikon has excellent lenses, but only if you buy the full frame D700/D3/D3X and take full advantage. IMO you should stay with Canon and get a new body, the "D60" is an ancient Canon camera, you can upgrade to a 40D and the difference will be like day and night.<br>

And no, in no way Nikon images are sharper than those you can obtain with Canon cameras, for what matters Nikon is a bit heavy handed on the AA filter and images look soft out of camera compared to Canon. </p>

[pcnilssen]

<p>Johann,<br />In my film days I used both Canon and Nikon systems, but all lenses and cameras were manual, which meant that I would start from almost scratch when going digital. I tried both Canon 30D?/300D and the Nikon D70, and finally landed on the Nikon. <br />My reasons for this were 2: <br />1) The Nikon D70 felt like it was produced for my hands ergonomically - it fitted like a glove.<br />2) If I wanted, I could use the older manual Nikon lenses. - with the Canon, I had to buy everything from scratch as my old manual Canons were FD mount.</p>

<p>Both brands produce excellent cameras and lenses, but if I should give you an advice: Use the camera that feel best in your hands.</p>

<p>As for your statement that there are almost only Canons to be seen - I guess it depends on where you are. During my vacation in Sweden last week, I saw a lot of D40's, D60's and D90's and also some D3's, and only a few Canons. Even quite a bit of Sony's.</p>

[mark_drutz]

<p>Johann, if you want to use both systems then do it. You won't be the only one using both systems. As has been said, there are advantages to both.</p>

<p>Arash, I think he meant that he was going to give his Nikon D60 to his wife and replace it with a D300 for himself.</p>

[Mike D]

<p>While I'm solely a Nikon user, the Canon EF 100-400 IS USM (if that's what you have) is a highly rated lens, considerably faster than Nikon's 80-400 VR. For sports and fast moving subjects, you still can't beat Canon. For other types of photography, Nikon may be more competitive. It just depends on the type of photography you will be doing.</p>

[obelix]

<p>I most probably won't be using two systems. I'll give it a month or two and decide then.</p>

<p>I do more telephoto and macro work though.</p>

<p>Thanx everyone.</p>