Why do people buy Canon?

[Colin Southern]

for the curious: linkage.

Thanks Kathy,

My memory is failing me in my old ago - they were 13 x 19, not 8 x 12.

Me bad.

[Colin Southern]

I have seen top model Canon and Nikon cameras hanging around the necks of people who produce hopeless photographs. It seems to be a fashion statement to many of them. Top photographers will produce top results with just about any of them. At extreme limits one particular camera/lens combination may have characteristics that are preferred for a particular situation but for the rest of the time it does not matter a hoot.

I pretty much agree with that - I shoot with a 1Dx and L-Series lenses. In many cases I could get the same image with lesser gear, but also in many cases it would be harder. Basically I just like to use high-end gear, and I'm very comfortable with it.

Does anyone else have the feeling that good photographers just get on with it and the less skilful use equipment choice as an excuse.

What I see more is folks getting less than ideal results with low-end gear and thinking they need high-end gear to get better results.

At the end of a series of golf lessons the Pro and I played a round of golf so he advise me on course management. We shared my clubs and I became acutely aware that I could never again blame my equipment. Skill is by far the main limiting factor and the same is true for photography.

Reminds me of the time I was getting a hiding at squash - and I pointed out that it was because the frame of my loaner was physically broken. So we swapped rackets - and I still got a hiding.

[pnodrog]

Thanks Kathy,

My memory is failing me in my old ago - they were 13 x 19, not 8 x 12.

Me bad.

Thanks Colin I love it - the link but not the memory and getting old bit as I suffer the same condition.

[Colin Southern]

Thanks Colin I love it - the link but not the memory and getting old bit as I suffer the same condition.

No worries, but you need to thank Kathy for the link

[mknittle]

To me there were A bunch of little things that led me to my choice of a Canon 7D. most important though is how the camera feels and and more important is placment of controls. if the controls aren't easy to use the camera becomes a chore and not somthing that is an extension of the photographer. If that makes sense.

[Colin Southern]

To me there were A bunch of little things that led me to my choice of a Canon 7D. most important though is how the camera feels and and more important is placment of controls. if the controls aren't easy to use the camera becomes a chore and not somthing that is an extension of the photographer. If that makes sense.

I like to relate it to driving a rental car -- for the first day it seems weird because it's different to your usual car - by the end of the 2nd day you've got the basics covered - and by the end of the 4th day you're a guru on using the cruise control - air con - trip computer etc. Same with cameras. I suspect that if I switched to Nikon it would be weird for a week and then I'd have got used to it.

[dubaiphil]

because it feels right in you hands! as a d800 user i can tell you that im seriously disgruntled with Nikon but i cant afford to switch to canon, and if i could I would. im sorry but at the moment canon offer the best selection of cameras with good iso noise performance for the average and professional user do i need 36 MP? no ok for some of my shooting it gets used but would i miss it? i dont think so, but what choise have i got? either that a d600 with cannibalized features and build quality or a d4 which is way expensive.

if you choose a camera by the DxO rating, then maybe you should take up photography instead!

I did tell you Mark! Sticking with my 2008 tech D700

[pnodrog]

I shoot some landscapes - likely the most valuable lens for landscapes is a tilt/shift lens. They are invaluable in architectural work - nothing will match them other than a large view camera. The Canon TS lenses are in a class by themselves.

Apart from that, the Canon lens mount system is excellent - the following is a quote from a well known and very knowledgeable Nikon user:

"The Nikon lens mount is a disaster. . . . . they were trying to keep all the old lenses working when they introduced AF . . . . but it is an electromechanical mess that is a huge weak link in the system. Canon took a lot of heat for changing the mount when they went to AF but they definitely have the last laugh here. Canon mounts just plain never fail and are rock solid. I have at least three mount repairs per year with Nikon lenses and its almost always the aperture tab spring".


Glenn

Canon was forced to redesign the mount because adding contacts to the FD mount for the T70 was a disaster. They tried and could not design a reliable contact system into the FD mount. I would like to know who your well known and knowledgeable Nikon user is as I would avoid lending him a camera of any make unless he promised not to change the lens.

[dubaiphil]

Glenn

Can you please share his name, just in case I try to buy a 'one careful owner' lens of his off e-bay! I've never had a mount problem.

[dubaiphil]

A difficult thread to answer without being contentious. A lot of influence on initial camera brand purchase is driven on direct and indirect marketing/product placement. Once you have some lenses you're bought into the system and it is costly to change. I'm sure if other manufacturers got more cameras in the hands of photogs at sporting events they would see a massive increase in sales.

For me, it was purely a case of which camera body in my price range felt more intuitive.

The one biggest negative/bug bear I have with Nikon though, is this. There is no clear differentiation in the naming of 'pro' and 'consumer' lenses.

[Mark von Kanel]

Yes i know you did Phil but you already had your d700 and their is no real reason for you to upgrade because its enough of a camera for most users but its still 2/3 year old tech and that means its that much closer to being no longer supported for repair. also the new price of both models was only £300 difference it just didnt make sence to buy the D700 at this time, but hay ho next year they will bring out the 24 MP cam with an 8fps that is my ideal

[Shadowman]

Would any of you turn down the offer of a free (other than your favored) brand, especially if it included an assortment of lenses? The only stipulation upon accepting the camera is you can't sell it or give it to someone else.

Why would you turn it down?

I would gladly accept any other brand of camera, the cost of using is minimal except for maybe your time learning the system.

[Mike Buckley]

Why would you turn it down?...except for maybe your time learning the system.

That's the exact reason I would turn it down. I have a difficult time remembering how to use certain capabilities, such as speedlight settings, if I don't regularly use them. I overcome that situation by recording the information and keeping it with my camera gear. I wouldn't want to have to learn how to use a different system.

[Mike Buckley]

I own a Nikon system and don't have any illusions that it is materially better than a Canon system. I would say the same thing about a Canon system if I owned it, but that's just my own outlook.

I don't follow gear closely, but my understanding is that during certain periods of time Canon has occasionally been ahead of Nikon with regard to certain capabilities and vice versa.

I would never recommend one system over the other to anyone making a major entry into photography. A good friend asked me about that and I told her to carefully consider both Canon and Nikon.

[Letrow]

I am a bit surprised about this thread to be honest. One small remark seems to have quite an effect on a lot of Canon (and a few Nikon) users.
Really people, do we have to discuss this again? I like my system and won't be changing it anytime soon, because of the lens investment I made and I guess it is the same for a lot of the 'other' folks too.
So what do we care?

[tclune]

I like to relate it to driving a rental car -- for the first day it seems weird because it's different to your usual car - by the end of the 2nd day you've got the basics covered - and by the end of the 4th day you're a guru on using the cruise control - air con - trip computer etc. Same with cameras. I suspect that if I switched to Nikon it would be weird for a week and then I'd have got used to it.

Well, I've been a Nikon shooter for as long as I have had a DSLR. However, I still tend to twist my lenses on and off in the wrong direction. But, like a cat, I'm not easily trained. Maybe I should get my wife a squirt gun...

[Donald]

Really people, do we have to discuss this again? I like my system and won't be changing it anytime soon, because of the lens investment I made and I guess it is the same for a lot of the 'other' folks too.
So what do we care?

Well said, Peter. Now ...................

Do you agree that Pepsi is better than Coke?

[Mike Buckley]

Do you agree that Pepsi is better than Coke?

Both are really bad for you. Depending on your spouse's thinking about the cost of your photography habit, the same might be said about Canon and Nikon.

[Inkanyezi]

Would any of you turn down the offer of a free (other than your favored) brand, especially if it included an assortment of lenses? The only stipulation upon accepting the camera is you can't sell it or give it to someone else.

Why would you turn it down?

I would gladly accept any other brand of camera, the cost of using is minimal except for maybe your time learning the system.

I didn't pop in previously in this thread, but that is actually what I did. I could have taken over a Canon EOS 10D for free, but chose to buy a Panasonic Lumix G1. There were several reasons, one of them that I just abhor the DSLR viewfinder, small and impossible to use for anything else than framing. No way to set focus manually. The viewfinder was Bad Bad Bad, compared to what I had been used to for so many years with SLR cameras for film. Another important factor, after just having got used to digital photography was the weird way of setting your own white balance. It is wackbards compared to the way on the compact cameras, its only advantage that it works better for flash. But the most important part was the inability to focus manually. There is no DSLR, none at all, that allows you to critically set focus over the entire viewfinder area. This has been alleviated lately with live view, but to me it was a critical factor.

So I was an early adopter of a mirror-free system, and I won't go into the DSLR dungeon when I see a reason to get a new camera. YMMV, and of course there are also reasons for getting a DSLR, but they are not mine, and I don't regret my choice. BTW that EOS 10D still is in perfect working order, but nobody uses it. I can if I want to, and it is not inferior technically to the Lumix G1, but for me, the Lumix was a better camera, and when it gave up its breath, I renewed it with an OM-D. It is better in many ways, but the interface is hairy, hairier than most. I am beginning to get used to it after some months, but still it's got quirks that I don't like.

And that's the essential reason why I turned down the Canon. I didn't like it. It was for free, but I know that even if I had taken it, I would have changed it to something more suitable rather soon. To me, focusing over most of the area is important, it still is, not only because I often use tilt, but I tend to focus on off centre elements in the image most of the time. Having very limited focusing points is a definite turnoff. Nothing in this world is perfect, and I wouldn't claim that what I chose should be the choice of someone else, but there were rational reasons to turn it down, and they were not limited within the range of CaNikon.

[AgfaB2]

--the bottleneck is 10 cm behind the viewfinder.

Perfect!


Now let's translate that into netspeak: PEBVAG

"Problem Exists Between Viewfinder And Ground"

This covers nicely the cerebral as well as the motor functions.

Luckily we have CiC as a problem solver.

Inspired by PEBCAC (Problem Exists Between Computer And Chair).

Which incidentically covers PP problems



Wolf