What Camera? Canon, Nikon? Beginner or Advanced?

First thing’s first

Canon or Nikon?

Having used both I can tell you that my preference (easily) is Nikon. As well as being half the price of almost all their Canon counterparts, I’ve also found them to perform better in almost all aspects. Even if the Canon’s were significantly better, their price still just does not justify what you actually get.

Nikon have gone from strength to strength in recent years and the latest range of cameras (D80, D300, D3) is seriously hard to beat.

So let’s take a closer look.

Nikon D80

This is by no means at all a beginner’s camera or an amateur camera in terms of what it’s capable of, however it is most suited to the photography enthusiast who is just learning and getting into it.

The D80 is the oldest of the 3 models that we’ll examine today but it still boasts 10.2MP, 3FPS, and 11 Point AF. It doesn’t have any advanced features like sensor cleaning or (good) noise reduction, but its a really really good all round package.

The Canon equivalent is the 400D, which is regarded by most to be significantly inferior to theD80, which operates far more smoothly and is far easier to operate straight out of the box, as well as for advanced shots.

Nikon D300

This is a ’semi-pro’ camera, and generally the highest spec camera that you will find people using who aren’t professional photographers. The camera has almost all the advanced features of its older brother the D3, but its packed into a smaller package and isn’t quite as refined. For the price tag its the absolute best camera in its class.

Not even a year old, this bad boy boasts some of the most amazing features to ever come out of Nikon, including 12.3MP, 8FPS, and 51 Point AF. It also has full sensor cleaning, and excellent noise reduction, along with a whole host of rave reviews all over the internet.

The Canon equivalent would be the new(ish) 40D which although very good in its own regard, doesn’t really come anywhere close to the D300 in terms of features.

Nikon D3

Well, the chances are that if you’re reading this blog then you’re not planning on buying a D3 – because the D3 is the Nikon flagship pro-model, and the Pro’s don’t read miniscule little publications like this one, they read the magazines for the countless ‘camera of the year’ awards that this body has won. At over £2,800 in price just for the body you’d really need to make a living of photography to be able to justify the cost of owning.

The features of the D3 are incredible, the most notable of which is its full-frame sensor. Which is to say that the digital sensor which captures the images is the same size as a traditional frame on a 35mm strip of film – providing (as you might have guessed) far far higher image quality. Then obviously there’s the addition of 12.1MP, 9FPS, and 51 Point AF.

The Canon equivalent.. well.. there isn’t one really – the closes equivalent (The Canon Flagship model) would be the 1D MKIII, which is sadly, about twice the price and has notoriously buggy AF.

Conclusion

If you’re a beginner, grab the D80. If you’ve been photographing for a while then definitely grab the D300, which is my personal choice of the 3, and on the off chance that you’re a professional, or just rich enough to own half of the available west sussex land for sale then grab the GOD of a camera that is the D3.