Nikon D60 or Canon Rebel XSI?

[Nicole786]

This question may have been asked before in different variations, but i'm hoping for some recent answers. I'm ready to purchase an SLR (my first) and i'm so excited!! I first went to Circuit City and fell in love with the XSI I thought i was in love but than I went into Ritz Camera, spoke with the manager there who is also the official Florida Panthers photographer, and he says Nikon trumps Canon, and than he showed me his equipment (all Nikon) and than showed me the Nikon D60 and some beautiful images he produced with his Nikon. I've read some reviews and they seem pretty even with the exception that i've heard the D60 produces naturally over-saturated images. I'm really looking for some help, which direction should I head into?? I'd love some pics if you have them!!

 

[PhotobearSam]

They will both be good but I would go with the one that feels the best in my hands...Canon and Nikon owners are both very brand loyal. I am a Canon girl and I have friends that own Nikons. When I pick up their Nikons, they don't FEEL it...Does not do it for me but they get really nice photos with Nikons but they are not for me.


Go to a store and hold both...Get a feel for them...

 

[MICKEY88]

both will do a nice job, as will Sony or pentax..

I could open my bag and show you all the gear I have listed in my sig, then show you some nice shots I took with Sony gear, that doesn't make Sony better than Canon or Nikon, just what I like and what works for me....

I used to work for Ritz camera, my experience was that there are ,for the most part, 2 types of salespeople at Ritz, those that will hard sell their favorite brand, or those that will hard sell whatever brand has the best sales incentives/contests running at the time..

a good salesperson will take the time to find out what your needs are and help you find the best fit for you...

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Welcome to the Brand Wars, Nicole.

 

[webshark3]

IQ will really come down to your talent and lenses. Both bodies are equally capable.

My personal opinion is on the Canon side. The Nikon layout drives me crazy. The Canons I can use blindfolded. But I have an obvious bias since I've used Canon for years.....

But for IQ, you should really consider them equals (Throw in the 40D,50D, and D90, XS, into that mix too). What you pay for beyond the IQ are the features you need (buffer, higher ISO, more AF points, etc.).

As far as Saturation, shoot RAW, and the colors/exposures can be whatever you want them to be.

 

[ukcatfan]

If I were starting again, I would first list every camera in my price range. There are probably less than ten, so it is not that daunting of a task. Then start to eliminate them based on feel, features, available accessories, reviews, etc. The very last thing in the world I would consider is a salesman's opinion. Even if the place does not offer commissions, there are often still spifs that the distributors offer for high sales. For example, Camera Maker A tells all employees that they with get a free model XYZ if they sell $10K of their products over the month. That gives them extra incentive to sell that brand even if they do not really believe it is best.

 

[annnewjerz]

I have no experience with the Canon dslrs, but I did purchase my first dslr recently and got the Nikon D60 (I probably would have gotten the D80 if I could have afforded it at the time). I went out to some stores and felt the Nikon D40, one of the Canon Rebels and the Nikon was a better fit in my hands. I love the D60, but that doesn't mean you wouldn't love a Canon more.

All of the pix below were taken within the past month or two with my D60 and I am VERY happy with most of them. Here is a selection of sample pictures if you don't feel like browsing all of the galleries - you asked for samples!!

AND, for what it's worth I don't have any problems with over-saturation in my pictures. If anything, when shooting in RAW I think that the pictures come out a little drab looking and need the saturation boosted a bit.

Good luck!

 

[ukcatfan]

AND, for what it's worth I don't have any problems with over-saturation in my pictures. If anything, when shooting in RAW I think that the pictures come out a little drab looking and need the saturation boosted a bit.

Anne,

You know I would not criticize you at all, so do not take this as negative, just as a learning experience like I intend. Almost all RAW shots are going to need the saturation bumped up a bit b/c that is the nature of RAW. It is essentially just an unprocessed digital negative. If you are taking a shot of something with a bunch of saturation to begin with, you might actually find yourself dialing it down, but this is more the exception than the rule.


To the OP, even if you shoot JPG, the saturation level is adjustable on every DSLR as far as I know. It is not as adjustable after the fact like RAW, but it is not a factor you should consider when deciding on a camera.

 

[annnewjerz]

Anne,

You know I would not criticize you at all, so do not take this as negative, just as a learning experience like I intend. Almost all RAW shots are going to need the saturation bumped up a bit b/c that is the nature of RAW. It is essentially just an unprocessed digital negative. If you are taking a shot of something with a bunch of saturation to begin with, you might actually find yourself dialing it down, but this is more the exception than the rule.


To the OP, even if you shoot JPG, the saturation level is adjustable on every DSLR as far as I know. It is not as adjustable after the fact like RAW, but it is not a factor you should consider when deciding on a camera.

No offense taken at all (but thanks for the forewarning anyway ). I would take everyone's opinions here over my own any day, you all have much more experience than me. I did notice in another thread regarding shooting in RAW recently that someone said something similar. That with RAW the original images may not come out as vibrant and nice looking as a fine quality JPEG, but the benefit is just that they are much more easily manipulated in post-processing, right???

To be honest, a lot of it still confuses me, I just try to retain some of the stuff that I read on here so I can spit it out on someone else

Heck, I just figured out the other day that when using my ViewNX software I am actually able to convert to JPG from RAW. At first, I thought it wasn't working at all until I realized the new files are being relocated into a separate folder. OOOPS!

 

[Nicole786]

Wow thanks for all the awesome answers you guys! And Anne, those photos are beautiful!! I think i'm going to jump on the Canon bandwagon, since thats the one I had an "instant connection" with when I held it. Thanks for all the honest opinions!

 

[blackears]

I had the same decision to make earlier this year. I did my homework just like you, and just like you, the information is just about overloading...But like the great advice here, when I actually held the camera, looked at them and turned the buttons and such, I decided the D60 was the best choice for us. The D60 just fit better in my hands and I thought it would be better in DW hands also. So, it looks like you did the right stuff to make an informed decision.