Main selling points of entry level Nikon bodies

[andrewdt]

I have never been too interested in the Canikon wars out there, and accidentally ended up with my first Canon DSLR as a newbie just by default. So all through the years I have stuck with Canon due to glass investments along the way.

Not being overly familiar with the Nikon pros and cons, my question to you (mainly entry level) Nikon users is this - since I see so many complaints about the lack of AF on many lenses on the entry level Nikon bodies, what are the main points that sold you on that system?

(To qualify my reasons for asking here, let me explain - I am a big advocate of buying the 50mm 1.8 lens and allowing that to be a practical teacher to those learning about the exposure triangle and DOF. My sister in law just went out and bought a Nikon entry level bundle in the heat of the moment. She has done some reading on her own accord about the 50mm lenses and knows just enough to realize that her idea of a great photo is one with a very shallow dof so wants this lens. However, the manual focus is daunting to her as it is just one more thing to add to the steep learning curve ahead. So what is it about your entry level Nikon body that you prefer to other brands?)

[zona5101]

Don't all the Canon EF-S lenses have motors?
Nikon offers lenses with motors and ones without.
Flipping your question around:
Why would someone buy a Canon system and be limited to only lenses with motors?

Really, I think the focus motor thing is probably just more confusing to newbies/non-nikon users than anything else. If you only look at the subset of lenses with motors the offering is about the same between the two brands.

[Madog]

I bought an entry level Nikon a few years ago for the handling, it just felt better/more natural than the comparable Canon, and Sony models I also looked at. I never noted the lack of AF in the body aside from the camera being smaller, and lighter than the higher end models. There are AF-S lenses in the lineup for everything I want to do and more. More are being introduced all the time; the 50 1.8g, and 40 2.8g macro were introduced last year, not even mentioning the third party options.

[andrewdt]

Originally Posted by zona5101

Don't all the Canon EF-S lenses have motors?
Nikon offers lenses with motors and ones without.
Flipping your question around:
Why would someone buy a Canon system and be limited to only lenses with motors?

Really, I think the focus motor thing is probably just more confusing to newbies/non-nikon users than anything else. If you only look at the subset of lenses with motors the offering is about the same between the two brands.

Re: why canon with limited motor only lenses? Well I would straight off say that I prefer having the option to turn on/off at will, whereas some nikon users cannot. Also I would say that newbies would prefer AF as it is one less thing to factor into a steep learning curve from P&S upgrades. But that is my take, what do you think of as negatives of the "all lens have motor scenario"?

Apologies for bringing this up as it seems this is a hot enough topic already and has been since inception of the two, but it seems that she was not warned about the lack of AF on some lenses by any of the sales people, and I haven't seen enough said here just on that topic from a newbie point of view (of course there are a lot of detailed posts but no newbie can understand any of the jargon).

So I am really interested in a very basic list of what you, the nikon "newbie" user loves and hates about your nikon now that you have it (exclude things like CLS and the like as that is too advanced level for who I am talking about).

Also Nikon focus for sports photographers I believe is streaks ahead of Canon on the high end (according to the guys I have chatted to) but again that is not entry level details that I am interested in now.

Thanks for the replies

[OsmosisStudios]

She does know that there's a AF-S 50mm f/1.8G that performs better and will AF on her body, right? yes, it's a bit more expensive; that said, build-quality is higher than the AF-D version, and significantly better than the Canon version, and performance really is that much better, especially with wider apertures.

Entry level bodies are pretty equivalent across the different brands; the big difference to go for one over another is feel. Most people buying these arent going to get into speciality lenses or equipment so specifics arent all that important.

I chose Nikon because I had better experiences with Nikons in the past; I also hated the canon control scheme (for the ##D bodies). The other thing was that, at the time, the two bodies i was looking at were significantly different in price.

[zona5101]

Originally Posted by andrewdt

Re: why canon with limited motor only lenses? Well I would straight off say that I prefer having the option to turn on/off at will, whereas some nikon users cannot. Also I would say that newbies would prefer AF as it is one less thing to factor into a steep learning curve from P&S upgrades. But that is my take, what do you think of as negatives of the "all lens have motor scenario"?

Apologies for bringing this up as it seems this is a hot enough topic already and has been since inception of the two, but it seems that she was not warned about the lack of AF on some lenses by any of the sales people, and I haven't seen enough said here just on that topic from a newbie point of view (of course there are a lot of detailed posts but no newbie can understand any of the jargon).

I wasn't annoyed by the question, nor trying to be argumentative in my reply. Just making a similar statement from the flip side.

I am not sure there is any need for a warning. There are lots of manual focus lenses available for all the major brands - both OEM and aftermarket. Here's a similar statement: Why aren't Canon owners warned that FD lenes won't work on their cameras? Old NIkon lenses will work on new Nikons...In fact every Nikon lens after AI will work on any modern Nikon camera. And the pre-As can be modified to work without any adapter ring.

Like I mentioned, if you look at the lens offering for motor lenses for Nikon you'll see about the same stuff as Canon. Seems to me to be more of a positive that Nikon never abandoned their mounting platform forcing camera buyers to buy a new line up of lenses. Gee, I hope Canon doesn't do that again anytime soon.

In any case, I think Canon makes a great product, I think Nikon makes a great product. I don't think availability of non-motor lenses is a concern unless someone tries to make it one.