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04/16/2006 08:41:08 PM · #1 |
| I'm having an extremely hard time deciding which DSLR to get. I love both the 20d and the D50 but I know the 20d has more features and such. But is it really worth the price premium over the D50? Should I just get the D50 and spend my money on good glass or will I still be selling myself short? And for you that will say why don't you get the D70. Is there really that big of a difference between the two? Is that jump worth it? Also is the kit 18-55mm lens on the 20d any good or will I need to buy a better one from the start? Sorry for all the questions, this is a really huge decision for me cause I know that whatever I choose I'll probably be staying with that camp (Nikon or Canon) for awhile and I don't want to make the wrong choice. If there even is a wrong choice. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. |
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04/16/2006 08:52:08 PM · #2 |
IMO there isn't a wrong choice between Nikon and Canon. Unfortunately only you can decide if it's worth the extra cash based on the features. Good glass is important which ever way you go.
My best advice is to go to your local camera store and hold them both. One will likely just "feel" right and the control placement wil just make sense to you.
I don't think you'll be "unhappy" with either camera, they are both good choices. |
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04/16/2006 08:58:08 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by Megatherian:
IMO there isn't a wrong choice between Nikon and Canon. Unfortunately only you can decide if it's worth the extra cash based on the features. Good glass is important which ever way you go.
My best advice is to go to your local camera store and hold them both. One will likely just "feel" right and the control placement wil just make sense to you.
I don't think you'll be "unhappy" with either camera, they are both good choices. |
That's the problem I know I'd probably be happy with both cameras (especially coming from a p&s)but I want whichever one will give me the best bang for the buck. |
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04/16/2006 09:00:59 PM · #4 |
I have no experience with Nikon cameras but a friend of mine, Kavey, traded her Nikon D70 for a Canon 20D. I think it had something to do with lens availability but I am not sure. If you ask her about her Nikon experience I'm sure she'll help.
June
PS The 20D rocks
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04/16/2006 09:04:53 PM · #5 |
Canon has some great telephoto lenses for you to lust over if you get one of those...
Also, the Canon will probably feel a little more intuitive coming from a G-series. The menu item naming will be similar, etc. |
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04/16/2006 09:40:32 PM · #6 |
| The March issue of Popular Photography has a great article comparing the five entry level DSLR's. Canon,Nikon,Konica-Minolta,Olympus, and Pentax. |
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04/16/2006 09:56:07 PM · #7 |
I have since learned that the body isn't as important a decision than the lens.
Decide your lens, then choose a body that could utilize it.
.
Message edited by author 2006-04-16 21:56:35. |
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04/16/2006 10:14:30 PM · #8 |
I'm a long time Nikon user... but going dSLR, I had a realization that going Canon was cheaper than going Nikon. Glass is considerably cheaer for the Canon camp as well as other accesories. Also, the availability of used equipment seems to favor Canon.
But maybe, instead of considering the 20D, you might want to start with a 300D, 350XT or 10D. Each can be picked up cheaply used.
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04/16/2006 10:51:31 PM · #9 |
I swore that I would never enter one of these cannon vs nikon discussions but I just cant resist.
I use Nikon gear my 1st "real" camera was a very used nikon F - which I still have. Which still works. I have a 50mm AI-d f1.4 nikkor circa really old and modified to remove the bat ears that I can mount and use (manually of course) on my d2x. I am a nikkon kinda guy
Cannon makes some very very good gear but honestly I hate the feel in MY hand of most cannon bodies...
The cannon horde (I love ya guys) will even admit that there is a edge to nikon in the area of optics.
The basic answer is ...which one works for you...not today but 3 years from now... Which is going to grow with you... which system gives you the bang that you want...
The cannon rocks bunch cannot answer that for you...you have to assess the systems for your self and do what is best for you.
BTW one of my mentors uses cannon gear I use nikon gear when it comes right down to it ... you put 2 prints down side by side (correcting for the cannon green of course) you will never see the difference...never.
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04/16/2006 10:53:02 PM · #10 |
Look at all the recent posts about Canon problems, especially over the last month or so.
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04/17/2006 07:53:54 AM · #11 |
Nomad, my brother also says he hates the way Canons feel. He also has a D2X. To me his D2X is so heavy!! I'd hate to have to walk around with that thing around my neck.
I've spent a fair amount of time fiddling with the soon to be mine 30D, and it feels fine to me. But, I currently own the oddly shaped Olympus.
Message edited by author 2006-04-17 07:57:47. |
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04/17/2006 08:04:03 AM · #12 |
As a camera, the D50 is capable. It is more capable than the 300D in almost every way, but people have been making fantastic images with the 300D for a while. If you know how to use it, you can make it work. And you can make it work comfortably regardless of how they feel.
On the other hand, the 20D is VERY capable, with quite a number of major/significant advantages over the D50.
I have been doing research on the subject for over a year and I've yet to come across anything substantive that states that Nikon glass has any real edge of Canon glass. It certainly can't hold a candle to the pricing and availability of RECENT and DESIRABLE lenses. Nikon lenses sit on second hand store shelves by the dozen, but they just seem to gather dust. They are almost all MF lenses too. Not that MF is bad, but if you are like me and don't really trust your vision (let alone the rather small view in the viewfinder), at least SOME AF is useful.
Oh and I've heard some things about Popular Photography and when I went to check out their information (namely the illogical claim that the Canon 350XT has worse noise than the D50), I was unable to find any real substantial information. I currently hold them (not that this means much) in a rather suspect light where it comes to their accuracy/objectivity.
DPReview provides extensive information about their testing conditions, so I have found that I can take it pretty much reliably at face value.
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04/17/2006 08:12:17 AM · #13 |
| Go with XT, you will not regret. You get the features of 20D and price is not double then D50. |
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04/17/2006 11:21:01 AM · #14 |
Hello there...
Your primary choice as you first buy a DSLR is which brand you want to go with rather than which individual body - once you buy the first body, whichever brand you opt for, you'll start buying lenses which, one would hope, will last much longer than that first body itself.
When I was at that stage, I had no brand loyalty to either Canon or Nikon, coming as I did from almost two decades of using Minolta film SLR cameras. My husband had also finally become interested in photography so he helped me select our first DSLR - we wanted to find one that suited both of us.
At that time we were selecting between the Nikon D70, the Canon 300D and the Canon 10D (as the 20D had not yet been released). The price range between them was quite significant and we also both found the D70 much more comfortable in our hands and it's interface more instinctive.
We used the camera for some months, most noticeably on a 9 week trip to Southern Africa in 2004 and were generally very happy with it. Even now, as a Canon convert, I still maintain that the D70 interface is more instinctive and user-friendly than the 20D interface and the D70 metering rocks!
Our main concerns revolved around problems with our longer lens - which would often freeze completely (rendering us unable to autofocus or manually focus) - a problem that couldn't always be resolved by powering the camera off and back on. This happened in Africa in the hot weather and again on a trip to Antarctica later that same year. Initially we assumed that the problem lay with the cheap, second-hand lens we were using but a few conversations with professional photographers on that Antarctic trips put some doubts into our mind - one said that he had encountered similar problems (intermittently) with his Nikon gear on both film and digital systems with both cheap and expensive lenses. Another pro, currently using Nikon, vehemently expressed that as soon as his current kit wore out (he's a photojournalist in some scary places and his gear goes through a lot) he'd be switching to Canon.
Whilst we didn't immediately make the decision to switch what we did decide to do was to buy a Canon DSLR and see what we thought - we were in the market for a second DSLR and we didn't yet feel tied to Nikon (since the kit had already paid for itself twice over in terms of savings in cost over film).
So we bought the 20D.
One of the main advantages, for us, of the 20D is the sheer number of fellow photographers using the Canon system - allowing us to swap lenses on trips (something we've done quite a lot of) and also making it easier to find good prices. We also felt that there was more scope in terms of ranges of lenses for the Canon (quality and price-wise) from budget to pro.
Neither of us are raging Canon-heads - whilst we've decided that we're sticking with Canon for the foreseesable there are still aspects of the Nikon system we both really like.
I expect you'll be very happy with whichever brand you choose.
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04/17/2006 11:58:26 AM · #15 |
| I have the D50 but if price was no object I'd prefer the D200. If the other choice was a 20D then that would be my camera as it is clearly a higher quality piece of hardware. |
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04/17/2006 01:30:00 PM · #16 |
You're comparing apples and oranges - the D50 is Nikon's entry camera - so compare it to the 350XT.
The 20D is comparable to the D70, and you can get a used one for $800ish (20D). I just got a used 20D for $725 with 4,000 clicks on it. 4,000 is nothing.
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04/17/2006 01:53:42 PM · #17 |
| I would say its only worth the money for the 20d if you will be shooting sports in which case the 5 frames per second is way better than the d50's 2.5 or 3 fps. If thats not an issue, spend your money on glass. |
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04/17/2006 02:19:06 PM · #18 |
Hey A4wheelin
You have made a post like this 4 or 5 times now and have received the same advice and more each time. I don't think anymore can be said.
So pull the trigger and buy a camera just do it! You can't go wrong with either but only you can make the decision!
Then post some pics and participate in a challenge.
:-)
I know spending the money is hard but eventually you have to stop asking questions and start buying!
Good Luck I know you will make the right choice!
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04/17/2006 03:05:31 PM · #19 |
Originally posted by thegrandwazoo:
Hey A4wheelin
You have made a post like this 4 or 5 times now and have received the same advice and more each time. I don't think anymore can be said.
So pull the trigger and buy a camera just do it! You can't go wrong with either but only you can make the decision!
Then post some pics and participate in a challenge.
:-)
I know spending the money is hard but eventually you have to stop asking questions and start buying!
Good Luck I know you will make the right choice! |
I know I know. :) Sorry for all the questions I just hate to spend this kind of money on something without first doing as much reasearch as possible on it. To add fuel to the fire I'm burning I played with a 30d today. :( Really bad move. I'm more confused than ever now. |
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04/24/2006 01:59:22 PM · #20 |
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04/24/2006 06:50:09 PM · #21 |
i had the choice 2 years ago - starting fresh - i used Pentax back in Colege - but as the main contenders are Canon or Nickon, i had a play with my GF Uncles D100 and didn't like the placement of the buttons - so Canon it was, so i bought a 300D and begain once more my journey into photography :)
goto a shop - pick up each camera and see how each handles, you can ask all the questions in the world but at the end of the day its you that has to use the camera not us ;)
yes i am aware that i spelt Nikon wrong ;) |
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04/24/2006 07:16:54 PM · #22 |
last November, i was finally in the market after saving for two years...
I decided the 20d, because i wanted as professinal as i could afford, with the decent burst speed especially. One of the things that i now take for granted but couldn't do without is the wheel to rapidly scroll through pictures. I did try a friend's D50, and it's a great camera for the price, but i love my 20D.
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04/24/2006 07:27:44 PM · #23 |
The XT does have a scroll wheel that lets you fly through the pics, it's just in a different spot, right behind the shutter button...
Message edited by author 2006-04-24 19:28:03. |
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04/25/2006 12:03:28 PM · #24 |
the 20 has the same button :)
its just smoother with the jog wheel ;) |
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