Category Archives: Blog

I apologize  in advance for the length of this post. Clients, feel free to skip this one… 

First, I want to give you all a little back story. I’ve been shooting for a little more than 2 years digitally. I started with a Canon Rebel T1i. Why? Because when I went into the store and held it vs a Nikon D3000 it just felt BETTER in my hands. The controls seemed more intuitive to me. The Nikon felt bulky. I’ve talked with many photographers and this feeling can go either way. Many people say Nikon feels better in there hands. Really, to each their own.

After shooting with my T1i for about a year, I started to feel limited. Mostly by the ISO range. I eventually upgraded to the Canon 5DMarkII. This is where things started to go a little sour for me with Canon. I had some pretty significant focus issues. For 6 months I tried chalking it up to user error and me just needing to get used to shooting with a full frame camera. I finally sent it off to Canon after 6 months of torture to see if it was ME or if there was something wrong with the camera. I was beyond happy to get my camera back a week later with a report that basically said it wasn’t me. It said the adjustment of the AF assembly was incorrect causing inaccurate auto focus and electrical adjustments were carried out (which I swear is their go-to response one someone sends in their gear… I’ve gotten that response before.) BUT, then I read that the adjustment of the imaging sensor assembly was incorrect causing the focus to operate improperly. Now, that was something new. While my camera was performing much better after repair, those 6 months had really left a bitter taste in my mouth for Canon.

The month I got it fixed I talked with some other photographers and was pushed into the direction of Nikon because of the awesome focusing system they have. It’s been in my mind since May that I should switch to Nikon. Of course, I didn’t want to do it during the spring/summer busy season, so once fall came and I had a little more time between sessions, I thought more and more about it. And once the Nikon D700 was discontinued, I started looking for a used one. I found an amazing deal on one, with a low shutter count, from a local camera store. I snatched that bad boy up! I was so excited to jump ship and move to Nikon for the more accurate auto focusing system. This is where I tormented myself for three weeks.

I shot with the Nikon. I shot with the Canon. I took some real life test shots (not the shooting a ruler/focus test kind) to see how the focusing systems perform in real life shooting my kids. At the end of the day, I’d pull up my pics in Lightroom and pixel peep. (Which is looking at the image at 100% zoom). Pixel peeping is bad… very, very bad.  I did this for almost three weeks… at night I would think to myself… you know, the Canon isn’t that bad, I should return the Nikon. By morning, I’d be back on the Nikon boat. This decision is all I thought about for THREE WEEKS. I kept worrying that if I returned the Nikon, I would always be wistful of the focusing system.

I won’t show any examples from my “testing” of the cameras here as they weren’t true apples to apples shots, I didn’t have the same focal length for both cameras, so I did what I could with what I had to help ME decide. I will say that Nikon did outperform Canon with the focusing system. In my sample of shots, Canon was about 66.7% accurate while Nikon was more like 85% accurate. Of course, there is always user error, DOF, or a wiggly subject to take into consideration. The Nikon also appeared to expose brighter than Canon. I used both so much that my fingers started to get confused on where the buttons were on my Canon that I’ve used for almost a year and could change settings with one hand tied behind my back. Oh, that’s another thing I didn’t like about Nikon. I couldn’t change the ISO setting with one hand. I had to push and hold a button on the left side and turn a dial on the right. Annoying. With Canon, I push a button with my right hand and then turn the dial and push again to set. Something little, but majorly annoying for me with Nikon.

After so much torment, I started a pro/con list. Taking everything that mattered to me into consideration, ergonomics, auto focusing, lens cost for comparable lenses, warranty and customer service… I sat on it for a few more days and finally said, if it’s this difficult of a decision, it’s not one I need to make right now. So, off the Nikon went, back to the camera store (apparently a guy had been calling desperately looking for a D700, so happy day for him!), and a new Canon lens went into my bag.  I was really hoping to either LOVE the Nikon or HATE it from the get go. I felt neither extreme love nor hate for it though, it is a really nice camera. But, so is mine.

I do worry about my Canon going soft again… but right now, I feel like it’d be so much of a hassle to make the jump. I could be happy with either of these awesome cameras. So, why put myself through the stress of selling and buying all new gear? I didn’t love my camera when I first got it, or for most of my first year with it. But, after testing it head to head with Nikon, I started to fall in love with it for the first time and really grew an appreciation for the camera that gave me so much trouble at first.

I wish Canon would use the better focusing system, with more cross-type focal points, (something they have in the 5DMarkIII) in some of the lower models. I don’t think the upcoming 6D has it, which is a real shame.. I guess this is their way of making us all lust for the 5DMarkIII… or even some of us to jump ship to Nikon. I really think they need to consider adding a better focusing system to more models or they will continue to lose customers. I’m staying…. for now. But, Canon will be treading on thin ice with me. I know that I’d be happy with a Nikon if worse comes to worse and I feel the need to switch again. For now, my gear is performing well enough for me to stick with it. As sung in “As long as you love me” by Justin Bieber Big Sean…
But the grass ain’t always greener on the other side,
It’s green where you water it
So I know we got issues baby true true true
But I’d rather work on this with you
Than to go ahead and start with someone new
As long as you love me

So, I’m going to try and love my camera more…. (And yes, I totally related a love song to camera gear.)

And, since no post is complete without pictures… I will add in some of my favs from the past few weeks of playing around:

Canon:
(Taken when I returned the Nikon)

Nikon:

Canon:

Canon:

Nikon: