Nikon - Canon Debate continues for someone else

[Ballistic Banana]

Right I am chopping in my Nikon Co0lpix 3400 as the GF has a small Digi Compact.
I am looking at getting something a little more powerful and to help get some quality moving pics as teh Coolpix was nest to useless as couldnt adjust the shutterspeed and Af was so slow.

My dad has a SLR Canon EOs and has a few lenses i may be able to use.
So i was looking at getting the 300D with 18-55 lense for what has been the best offer with other stuff thrown in £724 all in.
But i have heared great reviews with the newer D70
I can get one of these with a 28-100 lens for £868.
(will i be able to use my dads Lenses on this? I cant see why not)

I am thinking the Nikon with the lens above will be ok for me to get some quite good shots at distance?? and then use my dads 18-55 for closer stuff.

Help, I need a little persausion for one or tuther

BB

[anonymous-user]

Different manufacturers have different mechanisms for connecting lenses to cameras, so in general, Canon lenses will fit a Canon camera, Nikon lenses a Nikon camera, but a Canon Lens won't fit a Nikon camera.

As for a 100mm lens for distance shots - the distance and size of the subject will determine if it's enough. But when it comes to motorsport / wildlife or anything like that (even the Hawk display at the CLA Game Fair this weekend) I tend to find that my 300mm lens is *just* too short. Then again, I'm sure I used to say that when I only had a 80mm lens

[simpo two]

Ballistic Banana said:

My dad has a SLR Canon EOs and has a few lenses i may be able to use. So i was looking at getting the 300D with 18-55 lense for what has been the best offer with other stuff thrown in £724 all in. But i have heared great reviews with the newer D70 I can get one of these with a 28-100 lens for £868. (will i be able to use my dads Lenses on this? I cant see why not) I am thinking the Nikon with the lens above will be ok for me to get some quite good shots at distance?? and then use my dads 18-55 for closer stuff. Help, I need a little persausion for one or tuther BB

:bacardi-free zone:
OK, well of course Canon people will tell you to get a Canon and vice versa, so there's no help there. However, NIKON I would like NIKON to make NIKON the following points (oops, I seem to have hiccups!)

DSLR chips are usually smaller than 35mm film, so a 28 mm lens on a film SLR, which is decent wide angle, is only equivalent to 42mm on a D70 and a testicle-withering 45mm on the Canon - ie, not really wide angle. That may or not be important to you. At the other end of the scale, the 100mm seems like a 150-160mm, so you win there.

No, you won't be able to fit Canon lenses onto Nikon bodies or vice versa. In manual days perhaps you could have got an adaptor ring, but there's now so much electronics involved that you'd lose all functionality, even if you got a physical fit.
What kind of Canon lenses does your father have? If they're old, the may not support some functions of the 300, eg autofocus, metering. Worth checking that they're OK with the 300.

Don't be swayed by £100 here or there, you want a camera that will meet your needs (and some you don't know you have yet) for years to come. I think a good first step would be to clarify what kind of photography you want to do, then go to a good camera shop, get your hands on both models and ask lots of questions.

[Ballistic Banana]

My Dads is an SLR EOS cant remember for sure what Body, but it has Auto Focus. So May have to be The Canon as it will be the quick way to Get my hands on a few different Lens until i can afford my own.

I want to be able to take better quality pictures from a Distance, moving and Still and without missing the Fast ones, ie cars

The GF's Compact DC can do or the light stuff.

Thanks for the help

BB

[ThatPhilBrettGuy]

I'd say if you can get Canon bit's go Canon. I'd say go Nikon if you dad had Nikon bits.

As for lenses for motorsport I'd say that generally 200mm+ is needed and it MUST be a zoom. A great overall lense is the 28-135IS but it's a little short at times. Have a look at this from Sigma to get an idea :

www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/a_pages/field.htm

Remember with the 300D to multiply all the MM values by 1.6. Great for telephoto but can make wideangle a problem.

Regards

Phil

[Bacardi]

simpo two said:

:bacardi-free zone:

Cheeky bu99er! Any sign of your D70? By the time you get hold of it you'll be able to put it straight on Antiques Roadshow

[Don]

Simpo: How long have you been waiting for your D70? I've had mine (and I ordered after you) for several weeks, been on holiday and had the results!

Methinks there is a problem with your order...

Can't comment on the (probably excellent) Canon. The D70 is a great camera and I'm really enjoying getting (slowly) to grips with it...

[toppstuff]

Just got a D70 to go with my D2h.

D70 is a very good camera. Very good indeed. Best you can buy below £1500 without a doubt.

[ehasler]

If you can hold on for another few months, Canon are rumoured to be announcing some new DSLRs at the Photokina show, which is at the end of September.

[Ballistic Banana]

ehasler said:

If you can hold on for another few months, Canon are rumoured to be announcing some new DSLRs at the Photokina show, which is at the end of September.

May do, But thats the reason there are some cheap(ish) packages for the 300d.
Doubt they will have Lens and Camera for less than £900 .. do you think, i know the 300d is a few years old now but still probably more than enough for me.
What does the rumour say that will be coming out??

BB

[ehasler]

Ballistic Banana said:

ehasler said: If you can hold on for another few months, Canon are rumoured to be announcing some new DSLRs at the Photokina show, which is at the end of September. May do, But thats the reason there are some cheap(ish) packages for the 300d. Doubt they will have Lens and Camera for less than £900 .. do you think, i know the 300d is a few years old now but still probably more than enough for me. What does the rumour say that will be coming out?? BB

The good deals for the 300D are more likely to be because of the competition from the D70, which is very highly rated.

The 300D is actually only a year or so old I think, but normally what happens when models are replaced is that they just stop being available for a few months before the new one comes out, rather than prices dropping that much.

I don't know much about what they are due to be bringing out, but the rumours are that they will be announcing a top end 1Ds Mk II , and one or two bodies to sit between the 300D and 1D Mk II (possibly 10D Mk II).

I guess the main thing is to check exactly what lenses your dad has, as the camera body is the cheap bit - you can spend a fortune on lenses if you want to, and it would make sense to use his if they work with the 300D.

[zetec]

I have one of these,

www.dpreview.com/news/0205/02052904coolpix5700.asp

You can get one for under £500, or the newer model (coolpix8700 same camera but 8mp) for around £650.

It is not an SLR but gives full control over shutter speed and aperture, the 8x lens is also fantastic.

[simpo two]

Bacardi said:

simpo two said: :bacardi-free zone: Cheeky bu99er! Any sign of your D70? By the time you get hold of it you'll be able to put it straight on Antiques Roadshow

True. Nikon UK don't have an idea about supply either. They ship thousands to the US and Hong Kong, starve the UK, then will bleat about grey imports!!!

You'll be pleased to hear I've blagged a 10D for a little job tomorrow. Seems pretty easy to use although the flash pops up automatically. To stop it, you have to switch to 'no-flash' mode but then you lose control of shutter speed and aperture, it seems.

The software only has options for W98 and ME (yech), and whilst it installed OK on my PC, it wouldn't see the camera.

[ehasler]

simpo two said:

You'll be pleased to hear I've blagged a 10D for a little job tomorrow. Seems pretty easy to use although the flash pops up automatically. To stop it, you have to switch to 'no-flash' mode but then you lose control of shutter speed and aperture, it seems. The software only has options for W98 and ME (yech), and whilst it installed OK on my PC, it wouldn't see the camera.

Welcome to the dark side!

Does this happen in A or T mode? I thought the shutter only popped up in the auto modes?

[tvrforever]

simpo two said:

The software only has options for W98 and ME (yech), and whilst it installed OK on my PC, it wouldn't see the camera.

My EOS 10D works perfectly with Win XP no probs at all - and is a stunning camera

You might want to check out http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/BeBit-e.html for the most current PC software and camera firmware...

[murph7355]

ehasler said:

Does this happen in A or T mode? I thought the shutter only popped up in the auto modes?

It does only pop automatically in auto-modes. I guess being from the Nikon camp he's not sure about the creative side of the dial

The worst thing about the 300D is it feels cheaply made. A bit lightweight. The control buttons on the back aren't as good as its bigger brother's either. But it's a good camera.

I'd be inclined to wait until September though to see what Canon do with their line up. Price points will likely be the same as they are today (ie 900 or less for the body and lens kit), you'll just get more features. They may even release a lower end model at a cheaper price.

As for shooting fast moving objects at a distance, you'll want at least a 300mm zoom lens and quite possibly 400mm+. You should also have a look at the Canon Image Stabilised (IS) lenses as this helps a great deal (not cheap, but good stuff).

If your dad has Canon gear, go Canon (as has already been mentioned).

[simpo two]

murph7355 said:

I guess being from the Nikon camp he's not sure about the creative side of the dial

I evidently avoided this compact-style problem by using ISO400, or using aperture-priority most of the time. Didn't find a button for exposure compensation with client breathing down my neck, but used manual instead.
A three-redhead kit with diffusers worked well and personally I like the combination of colour temperatures that results.
I used a Lexar Jumpshot to get the images straight into my PC, no Canon software required. It didn't work with a microdrive though - any ideas?

[anonymous-user]

simpo two said:

A three-redhead kit

Is that what you were using to take the photos or what you were taking photographs of...

[simpo two]

LexSport said:

simpo two said: A three-redhead kit Is that what you were using to take the photos or what you were taking photographs of...

Regrettably the former, though I prefer brunettes.
In this context blondes are too bright!

[Bacardi]

simpo two said:

Bacardi said: Any sign of your D70? By the time you get hold of it you'll be able to put it straight on Antiques Roadshow True. Nikon UK don't have an idea about supply either.

Pssst! Want to buy a D70 cheap? I've got a few I need to shift

This from DPreview:

"Wednesday, 28 July 2004
Stolen Nikon D70 kits
Nikon Europe has today informed us that 18 cartons with 108 D70s (including 18-70 DX lenses) were stolen at Schiphol Airport in The Netherlands. Nikon is asking for your help in tracing these stolen cameras and has provided a list of serial numbers as well as important information relating to the packaging of these particular digital SLR kits."

Sorry to break the bad news, wonder if you one was amongst them?