Switching from Nikon (D60) to Canon (XSi or other)

[philip_tam]

<p>Hi everybody,<br>

I'm new to these forums and I know this question has been asked before, but this is for my particular situation.</p>

<p>I'm at a point where I've invested relatively little into camera equipment. I have a Nikon D60 with the kit lens: 18-55mm, F3.5-5.6. I also have the 55-200mm, F4-5.6, so the total amount of money I've put into this is only around $800.</p>

<p>I'm at the point where I'm ready to put more money into new lens, but I understand that that will probably chain me to a brand for many years down the line.</p>

<p>I have been relatively happy with the Nikon setup. I mostly take pictures when I travel or go on day trips, and the D60 has been a blessing. Often when I travel, I blaze through many cities in a short amount of time and try to pack light.</p>

<p>But, I've had a few issues with the setup:</p>

<p>Things start to turn for the worse when things get darker. I naturally have to crank up the ISO (and I'm cramped with F3.5), and even at ISO 800, things get too noisy for comfort. At ISO 1600 it's just unacceptable. My understanding is that Canon is better at higher ISO, but is this true for budget level bodies like the XSi, or is the improvement just marginal?</p>

<p>No auto-bracketing: I was shocked when discovered the D60 didn't have bracketing. I thought any camera I put more than $400 into would have it. It pretty much shot down all my expectations to play with HDR once in awhile.</p>

<p>However, I'm also wary of Canon's build quality. One of the reasons I got the D60 in the first place was I liked the small form factor, and I've always thought the XSi felt hollow and plasticky. But that's just aesthetics.</p>

<p>I'm at the point where I want a wide angle lens, a zoom lens that gives me F2.8, and perhaps a prime lens at F1.8 or so, but before I get those I want to make sure that I have the camera body and body brand that will alleviate these issues I'm having. Will switching brands help me or should I really be focusing on new lens or a better *class* of camera body (not brand)?</p>

<p>I'd appreciate your advice.</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>Without getting into substantially more expensive bodies, your entire issue is with lenses.<br /><br />Even WITH a substantially more expensive body, you wouldn't be happy in the long term without better lenses. So, get the better lenses first. The better class of camera body will always be there, always getting a bit better... and today's better class of body will be less expensive tomorrow.<br /><br />Try the $200-ish 35/1.8 AF-S, and see how that treats you. You'll like it on your D60, just like you'd like it on the new D300s.. but you'll get all of that extra light into your D60 without spending the extra grand+ on spendier body.</p>

[andylynn]

<p>You know, I think what you actually need perhaps is a Nikon D90. A D90 has better high ISO performance than any current Canon crop sensor DSLR (see dxomark.com) and has auto bracket and all the other usual features. It's more expensive than an XSi so if you only have your eye on AFS lenses you could also consider the D5000, which is pretty close to a D90 in sensor quality but has similar lens limitations to a D60.</p>

<p>Also, the kit lenses are pretty limited in low light use, so just as helpful (or more so) would be a faster lens. The 35/1.8 AFS, the Sigma 30/1.4 HSM and the Nikon or Sigma 50/1.4 AFS/HSM are all good and autofocus on a D60.</p>

[chrisnielsen]

<p>Just a question re the bracketing - why do you *need* automatic bracketing to do HDR? Can you not put it in manual mode and just adjust the aperture manually while taking your 3 or whatever shots?</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>If you are used to the Nikon, and happy with it so far as you say, then I'd also suggest looking at a newer, higher level Nikon body and faster lenses, as Matt and Andrew say. You can also keep your D60 as a light weight back up camera or one for places you'd rather not take a more expensive one.<br>

I love Canon, but you can meet your needs in Nikon territory.</p>

<p>Other solutions to your problems are learning to embrace noise. Think of it as digital "grain" and remember all of us who had to use films like GAF 500 for which strong grain was a way of life. Low light qnd noise/grain go together thematically, as well, so don't be so picky. Are the prints at reasonable sizes at 1600 really all that bad?</p><div></div>

[philip_tam]

<p>Thanks for all the replies.</p>

<p>That dxomark website was really enlightning, since it showed that high-ISO performance is more of an issue with the D60's age. It seems like gap is narrower with Nikon's more recent products.</p>

<p>I think I will end up sticking with the D60, and order some faster lenses.</p>

<p>About auto-bracketing and HDR: not having auto-bracketing complicates things. Where as my Canon friends could just turn on auto-bracketing and snap a shot, I often had to setup tripod to get a shot (and sometimes, the scene would change in that span of time).</p>

<p>I think I do need to learn to embrace noise: I just wasn't sure if it was my camera or just a fact of life anytime you run to high ISO. Often times, if the picture is complicated, it isn't that noticeable unless you single out an area that's uniform color. But I remember one situation, where I was just taking a picture of the night time stars in Hawaii. I did a long exposure at ISO 1600, and the noise competed with the stars. Tough situation to photograph I suppose.</p>

[kari v]

<blockquote>

<p>Where as my Canon friends could just turn on auto-bracketing and snap a shot, I often had to setup tripod to get a shot (and sometimes, the scene would change in that span of time).</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Umm... wouldn't you use tripod or monopod anyway? Snapping multiple exposures handheld sounds a bit funky. (OK, I've done that myself, you can scroll through shutter speeds in couple of seconds while keeping the camera at eye level, but it's not something I usually do and it's rather inablicable in situations where you need HDR most.)</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I was just taking a picture of the night time stars in Hawaii. I did a long exposure at ISO 1600, and the noise competed with the stars. Tough situation to photograph I suppose.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Why did you use ISO 1600? Shooting sky and stars at high ISO with any camera is not that great.</p>

[steven_f1]

<p>As far as camera bodies are concerned, Canon and Nikon are fairly close in performance. I wouldn't switch brands due to the body. I have quite a few friends with Canon cameras and no one I know is having reliability problems. However there are some big differences in lens selection. </p>

<blockquote>

<p>I'm at the point where I want a wide angle lens, a zoom lens that gives me F2.8, and perhaps a prime lens at F1.8 or so, but before I get those I want to make sure that I have the camera body and body brand that will alleviate these issues I'm having. Will switching brands help me or should I really be focusing on new lens or a better *class* of camera body (not brand)?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It is my understanding (I shoot Canon so I could be wrong on some of this) that the D40 and D60 don't have a focus motor in the body. As a result auto focus will only work with AF-S lenses on your D60. That limits your lens selection. Most of the AF-S lens Nikon sells are zoom lenses. </p>

<p>In contrast all Canon lenses will auto focus because all have the motor in the lens. Giving you a larger selection. Also Canon also has a large selection of prime lenses, many with maximum apertures of 1.8 or larger. Two are even f1.2. </p>

<p>I would suggest you determine which lenses you are likely to want and then compare the lens selections of Nikon and Canon. Then make your choice based on which lens selection you like. </p>

[philip_tam]

<p>I do suppose that if I do HDR, I have to convince myself to always use a tripod. Regardless, not having auto-bracketing limits what you can do.</p>

<p>Regarding the night shot at ISO 1600, maybe I did it wrong, but it seemed like when I did a 15s exposure, at full aperture (a modest F3.5 with my lenses), at lower ISO's, it still wasn't collecting enough light.<br>

Regarding the autofocus motor, yes I'm finding that it's crimping on my lens selection. Just off the bat, Nikon has a F1.8 prime for a mere $100, but instead, I have to lean towards the $200 AF-S prime (F1.8, 35mm instead of 50mm). It hasn't been a huge issue though. I want the Sigma 10-20mm wide angle, and that is HSM. Other than that I would probably want a F2.8 zoom, and it should be available in AF-S (if not... expensive).</p>