Canon users switching to Nikon

[RadioNate]

Am I going to start a war?

lol

I have an old Rebel XTi. It has been a good camera but I'm starting to feel like I need to upgrade the body. I have 3 lenses (18-55, 28-135, 50mm) and a speedlight. That is really the extent of my gear. I used to really like the 28-135 but lately I'm not thrilled with it's performance and I find myself needing the wider angle so I'm using my old non-IS kit lens.

The reason I'd like to upgrade the body is for a few features that the XTi doesn't have, including spot metering and an even higher/less noisy ISO.

I'm VERY interested in the 7D but it is pricy and I'd want a new lens to go with it. Likely Canon's 18-135 since the 24-105L would blow the budget (though I may consider the 24-105L.)

BUT -

I really like the Nikon D90. I can get a kit with the 10-105VR and the 7-3000 VR for less than the 7D. I've used my neighbor's and I like it.

I understand that it is a more consumer quality camera than the 7D but I'm not a pro... have no desire to be a pro....I just like the flexibility of the dSLR.

I'd consider the Canon 50D but I think I'd like video. I wouldn't use it for that much but I think it would be handy to have. We do use it on occasion with our p&s.

So...I guess what I'm getting at is has anyone switched? Do you regret it? Is there anything I missing when thinking about this?

 

[VVFF]

Am I going to start a war?

lol

I have an old Rebel XTi. It has been a good camera but I'm starting to feel like I need to upgrade the body. I have 3 lenses (18-55, 28-135, 50mm) and a speedlight. That is really the extent of my gear. I used to really like the 28-135 but lately I'm not thrilled with it's performance and I find myself needing the wider angle so I'm using my old non-IS kit lens.

The reason I'd like to upgrade the body is for a few features that the XTi doesn't have, including spot metering and an even higher/less noisy ISO.

I'm VERY interested in the 7D but it is pricy and I'd want a new lens to go with it. Likely Canon's 18-135 since the 24-105L would blow the budget (though I may consider the 24-105L.)

BUT -

I really like the Nikon D90. I can get a kit with the 10-105VR and the 7-3000 VR for less than the 7D. I've used my neighbor's and I like it.

I understand that it is a more consumer quality camera than the 7D but I'm not a pro... have no desire to be a pro....I just like the flexibility of the dSLR.

I'd consider the Canon 50D but I think I'd like video. I wouldn't use it for that much but I think it would be handy to have. We do use it on occasion with our p&s.

So...I guess what I'm getting at is has anyone switched? Do you regret it? Is there anything I missing when thinking about this?

You'd be "wasting" the 7D if you got it with the 18-135mm. You'd need to get it with "at least" the 15-85mm to take advantage of the added resolution.

Have you looked into the Canon T1i? The size is more similar to what you have now and it is actually more comparable to the D90 than the 7D(which competes with the D300(s)).

The kit lens to the T1i is VERY good. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It can take advantage of the 15MP resolution of the sensor. It may not have the range of some of the fancier lenses or the aperture but it will "get you by".

I imagine your 18-55mm is the older variety without IS. In this case I'd recommend selling it and buying the T1i as a kit. You can find good deals on the T1i w/ 18-55mm and 55-250mm lens. If, in the future, you want to add a higher quality lens then you will just increase the image quality from what you can get with the kit lens. The aforementioned 15-85mm is a good starting point.

Unless there is something specifically drawing you like the way the Nikon Ergonomics work vs. Canon's I don't think I'd bother switching systems.

Also note that video, especially in its first incarnation in the D90 is rather limited on a DSLR. It won't handle like a point and shoot. Focusing-wise, I'm not sure if the D90 had autofocus in video buy I'm leaning no, but either way you'll want to manual focus. Autofocus is much too slow to be useful.

 

[RadioNate]

thanks - you make some awesome points that I hadn't thought about.

I do worry about wasting the 7D as you said. I really do want to get more advanced but I really have no desire to get passed the hobbiest stage. I would eventually upgrade lenses but not out of the gate.

I do really like the 18-105 VR kit lens that the Nikon comes with. That is a big draw for me. I know I can buy something comparable out of the canon line at a reasonable cost.

I really was worried that the 7D would be overkill. I'm going to look more at the T1i (though reviews against the D90 put the D90 ahead) and if I decide that I don't want the video, I might revisit the 50D.

You are also right that I do have the old 18-55 kit lens. This body is nearing 4 years old, I think.

Thanks.

 

[mabas9395]

Which speedlight do you have and how much do you want for it?

 

[SrisonS]

I'd also suggest looking at the T1i. It'll be a lot like your camera, but with the other little features you want. And definitely get the kit lens for it. It's a very good lens.... Especially for only about $100 difference. From the reviews I've read in the past, I think the 50D and T1i actually have similar performance; and the T1i is cheaper.

Just to let you know, I have the T1i with the 18-55mm kit, and the 18-135mm lens (those are my only 2 so far). You can view my Flickr photostream for example shots. The first few pages have almost all pics using the 18-135.

 

[WDWFigment]

I also would recommend the T1i over the D90 for you. I think you're not going to tap the full potential of either of those two cameras, so going for the cheaper option and the one that is compatible with your current lenses is the better option.

I don't really read a lot of Canon reviews, but I think (from what I recall) the 50D was somewhat of a mixed bag, whereas the T1i got glowing reviews.

 

[disneyboy2003]

The reason I'd like to upgrade the body is for a few features that the XTi doesn't have, including spot metering and an even higher/less noisy ISO.

...

I really like the Nikon D90. I can get a kit with the 10-105VR and the 7-3000 VR for less than the 7D. I've used my neighbor's and I like it.

Hmmm...I think it might be a little unfair to compare the Canon XTi (from August 2006) to your friend's Nikon D90 (from August 2008).

Canon has released 3 more Rebel cameras since your XTi (ie. the Canon XS, Canon XSi, and now the Canon T1i).

The Canon T1i now includes spot metering. Canon just started including spot metering on the Rebel XSi, so looks like you just missed it with your XTi.

The image processor has likewise been upgraded from the DIGIC II processor in your Canon XTi to the DIGIC 4 processor in the Canon T1i. With the new processor, you get less noise at higher ISOs.

It almost seems like a hassle to switch over to a completely different camera system, since you'd have to sell all your old lenses & stuff, and then buy completely new lenses, flash, etc. Plus, it seems that Canon & Nikon are often leap-frogging over each other in terms of newer & better features. So if Nikon cameras are slightly better than Canons this year, Canon cameras will be slightly better than Nikons next year, etc. It'll be an endless chase to sell and re-sell and re-sell again just to get the slightly better camera.

But, if you've got a compelling reason to switch systems, then I'm sure it'll be worth it. Just a thought. Let us know what you decide!

 

[VVFF]

I also would recommend the T1i over the D90 for you. I think you're not going to tap the full potential of either of those two cameras, so going for the cheaper option and the one that is compatible with your current lenses is the better option.

I don't really read a lot of Canon reviews, but I think (from what I recall) the 50D was somewhat of a mixed bag, whereas the T1i got glowing reviews.

The only review from a well respected website that had at all a negative tone for the 50D was dpreview. However, doubt has been raised about the fairness of this review.

Every other website gave it positive reviews like pretty much any other DSLR on the market today. Considering the internal hardware its pretty hard to give the T1i a very positive review and come down hard on the 50D. The 50D is the T1i-video+built quality+some nicety features.

 

[RadioNate]

I think I need to look at the T1i more carefully. I'd like to progress, as a photographer, but being a pro isn't a goal.

I do understand my camera and think I need a little more to help achieve the shots I have in my head...but I do think people are right that at my current level, I won't take advantage of all that some of the higher level cameras can offer.

I do know that all my friends have the D90. lol One is a photographer for his company and the other 2 are just hobbiests.

I promise I won't make my decision based on that...unless they have really good lenses I can borrow. :lol

I have some time tomorrow so I may head down to the camera shop and check out the T1i.

I did see one side-by-side video and it is much better on the T1i.

 

[sdshutterbug]

I'll just add to this that I recently switched brands (sony to canon - I got the t1i) and I'm glad I did it because there are so many more lenses in the CaNikon camp to choose from and a ton of third party lenses/accessories/resources only available to CaNiKoners (and I wanted video too) but I wouldn't recommend switching from Canon to Nikon or vice versa, because as someone said, they do tend to leap frog each other all the time with their bodies. I love my T1i, and I got it because it was the lowest priced Canon body with HD video. I too just wanted the video as something to have handy for home movies and it fills that niche quite well for me. For all the bad reviews it gets for the 1080p being a gimmick because it's choppy and 20fps, it all goes over my head! As other people have said here, though, it's useless to AF in video mode because it's painstakingly slow and usually inaccurate. That wasn't much of a turnoff for me though.

 

[dmccarty]

Well, I would like to encourage you to sell the lessor camera system and buy into the best camera system, Nikon, but I won't.

I switched from Canon to Nikon 20 years ago when Canon did not support their old manual focus lenses on the new AF cameras. Nikon did. Canon forced me to change my camera system so I did.

You are not in the same boat which is a good thing.

You said you want to improve your photography. Getting good quality lenses was the best and only step that I had years ago. Good lenses cost big bucks but they are worth it. By good I mean fast lenses 2.8 or better. The IS/VR/USM/AFS are great. I guess they are great but I don't have one. The last lens I bought was a year or so ago to buy a 50mm/F1.4. All my other lenses I bought back in the 90s. I don't like spending money but at least on lenses I know I will get decades of use out of them. You cannot say that about a camera body. Some of my lenses have been used on four camera bodies over the last 20 years.

You might also consider buying used lenses. I am taking sports photos of soccer and basket ball. According to most/all of lens reviews I should not be able to do this with my OLD, slow, vibrating lenses. So far so good. The basket ball images are really only possible because I have a camera that shoots good high ISO AND I have F2.8 or faster lenses. I have been setting the ISO at 1250ish and shooting at F2.8. The ISO can float up to 3200 and does. I am lucky in that the gym is well lit by gym standards. Most of my photos are being taken with the 50mm/F1.4 or a 105mm/F2.8 lens on a full frame camera. Lens reviews would have you believe this is not possible on these old, slow non vibration reducing lenses.

Yes, I WANT the 70-200mm/F2.8 AFS VR lens but until I have a $2200-2400 windfall it is not going to happen. I have one zoom lens. With the exception of a 70-200 or 80-200 zoom lens I really don't want another zoom. Primes are cheaper, lighter, have better image quality. Though the zoom image quality improvements lately are astounding.

Canon seems to have a good line of lenses at pretty good price points compared to Nikon. Today or tomorrow Nikon is supposed to have a big new product announcement that hopefully will have a bunch of new fast lenses. So says the rumor mill. It will be a bad day for those of us fighting NAS.

Doing my own dark room work was not an option but today you can do your own processing which makes a big difference in showing you what works and what fails. Get good photo processing software and study how to use it. I have two books and a series of videos on the software I am using. If I hear of better books or videos I will buy them.

Processing my own photos and being able to do it well has made a huge improvement on my photography. You can have really good or even great photos but you may not see it until you process or know how to process the images. I have been able to take pretty bad images and make them into something acceptable by knowing how to use the photo processing software.

The camera would be the last thing I would change unless you really need to high ISO quality. If you need high quality ISO you just have to pay for a camera.

Later,
Dan

 

[RadioNate]

I'm leaning toward the cheaper T1i and buying a lens I've been coveting. If it were a film camera, I wouldn't mind but something about putting a $1000 lens on a 4 year old body doesn't seem right when technology has changed so much.

My photos aren't bad. You should see what some of my friends try to pass off as good photos.

But I really think I need a higher ISO. I know I need to practice more to improve in general. But out of the gate, I think a higher usable ISO will help me when shooting my DS's football games and stuff like that. I'm actually probably the only one that notices the grainy-ness but it still bothers me.

 

[VVFF]

I'm leaning toward the cheaper T1i and buying a lens I've been coveting. If it were a film camera, I wouldn't mind but something about putting a $1000 lens on a 4 year old body doesn't seem right when technology has changed so much.

My photos aren't bad. You should see what some of my friends try to pass off as good photos.

But I really think I need a higher ISO. I know I need to practice more to improve in general. But out of the gate, I think a higher usable ISO will help me when shooting my DS's football games and stuff like that. I'm actually probably the only one that notices the grainy-ness but it still bothers me.

What lens are you looking at? That'll be an important choice...

Also, what ISO are you looking to use. On my 50D which is similar to the T1i's sensor, the highest I usually use is ISO 1600. I can use ISO3200 but it gets a bit grainy especially if I don't nail the exposure.

Keep in mind you can gain a "stop" more ISO just by getting a larger aperture lens. Just something to keep in mind.

 

[RadioNate]

What lens are you looking at? That'll be an important choice...

Also, what ISO are you looking to use. On my 50D which is similar to the T1i's sensor, the highest I usually use is ISO 1600. I can use ISO3200 but it gets a bit grainy especially if I don't nail the exposure.

Keep in mind you can gain a "stop" more ISO just by getting a larger aperture lens. Just something to keep in mind.

1600 would probably be adequate. I just find the 1600 on the XTi to be grainy and unusable in any prints larger than a 4x6. I think this may be more of my issue...but I notice it and it bothers me.

Ideally, I'd like to 24-105L but I'd bet that would be overkill. It just encompasses the typical focal range I find myself shooting in. Right now the new 15-85 seems to be the leader paired with the T1i because I do use the 18mm end of the kit lens a lot more than I thought I would when I bought the 28-135.

I'd also consider the 18-135 and the 18-200 and sell my old 28-135 & kit lens with the XTi.

I need a good telephoto zoom soon too. I have a very old 300mm lens I'm allowed to borrow any time I need it though. It's owner doesn't currently own a camera that it can even fit on but doesn't want to sell it.

 

[VVFF]

1600 would probably be adequate. I just find the 1600 on the XTi to be grainy and unusable in any prints larger than a 4x6. I think this may be more of my issue...but I notice it and it bothers me.

Ideally, I'd like to 24-105L but I'd bet that would be overkill. It just encompasses the typical focal range I find myself shooting in. Right now the new 15-85 seems to be the leader paired with the T1i because I do use the 18mm end of the kit lens a lot more than I thought I would when I bought the 28-135.

I'd also consider the 18-135 and the 18-200 and sell my old 28-135 & kit lens with the XTi.

I need a good telephoto zoom soon too. I have a very old 300mm lens I'm allowed to borrow any time I need it though. It's owner doesn't currently own a camera that it can even fit on but doesn't want to sell it.

How much do you shoot sports? Perhaps something like the 100mm F2 would help your action photography and you can use the 18-55mm for everyday use until you can afford a higher end walk around lens like the 15-85? Realize that some of these lenses are pretty slow on their long end and it might not make as much of a difference in your sports photography as you are looking for

 

[sdshutterbug]

I have the 100mm f/2 and it's my favorite lens. I got it as a much cheaper alternative to the 70-200 f/2.8. As long as you don't mind the fixed focal length, I can highly recommend this lens to you, and on the crop sensor it has a nice reach.

 

[KCmike]

You can change the firmware on your XTI to now include spot metering and raise the ISO to 3200. I haven't done it because I'm afraid I would screw something up. It always amazes me how people figure out ways to do stuff like this.

Here are the instructions if your interested:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=742806

 

[RadioNate]

I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to try to change the firmware!

Was in Miami for the SuperBowl festivities so I still really haven't had a chance to check out the T1i.

I do have a question though for T1i users. Is the T1i's auto mode set to underexpose.

There has been some controversy with the Xti about it underexposing pretty significantly. Some people claim the camera has a defect which Canon fixes and other's maintain this was done on purpose.

My DH uses my camera pretty frequently and he will not mess with settings or anything. For him I need the auto to perform like a P&S and give me good stuff right out of the camera. He used the XTi yesterday with the kids and I had to edit every single photo. It was fine but I'd rather not have to post process everything when he is just taking snapshots.


Have any of the T1i users noticed this?

 

[VVFF]

I'm not sure if I'm brave enough to try to change the firmware!

Was in Miami for the SuperBowl festivities so I still really haven't had a chance to check out the T1i.

I do have a question though for T1i users. Is the T1i's auto mode set to underexpose.

There has been some controversy with the Xti about it underexposing pretty significantly. Some people claim the camera has a defect which Canon fixes and other's maintain this was done on purpose.

My DH uses my camera pretty frequently and he will not mess with settings or anything. For him I need the auto to perform like a P&S and give me good stuff right out of the camera. He used the XTi yesterday with the kids and I had to edit every single photo. It was fine but I'd rather not have to post process everything when he is just taking snapshots.


Have any of the T1i users noticed this?

Metering exposes the average scene to 18% gray across the board. Sometimes this will overexpose, sometimes this will underexpose. Point and shoot cameras would do the same thing.

 

[RadioNate]

Metering exposes the average scene to 18% gray across the board. Sometimes this will overexpose, sometimes this will underexpose. Point and shoot cameras would do the same thing.

I understand how a camera works.

My question is more specific to the AUTO mode on the T1i. If you look online there are many complaints that the XTi consistently underexposed. There are many people who questioned if this was a software defect or something done by Canon to minimize blown highlights.

I have a canon p&s and side by side the p&s will achieve more of a proper exposure when both cameras are in full auto.

I can change my ISO or use exposure compensation so I'm not terribly effected by the "problem" but my DH won't bother (nor does he care to learn about) with the settings.

He took pictures yesterday with the XTi and every single one needed to be fixed in photoshop to be usable.

I believe that an AUTO mode should provide good usable photos straight out of the camera. Yes, I understand that he could have raised the ISO, or used a fill flash or or bumped the EC a bit to achieve a proper exposure but he doesn't even understand what those things mean so he isn't going to do them.

I just wondered if any T1i users have noticed the issue in auto mode. It was very noticeable on the XTi and commented on by many reviewers.