Went to Best Buy over the weekend...

[johnStock]

So, after doing a bunch of reading/research on Nikon vs. Canon, researching different tiers for each I finally had a good enough idea of what (I thought) I wanted.

My overall goal with getting a DSLR is to be able to grow as a portrait photographer (I love shooting portraits) and to eventually move into doing some paid portraits, family pictures, engagement pictures and possibly WAY down the line doing a couple weddings.

I was leaning towards going Nikon, possibly the D90, but I met someone that has the D90 on Friday that let me hold it/take a few shots with it and to be honest, I think it's more camera than what I need (feel free to argue this , and it's a little out of my price range.

I've narrowed it down to the Nikon d5000, and the Canon T1i/500D. At Best Buy the Canon felt a little better in my hand, the in store pictures I took looked better (possibly just some hidden setting on the Nikon I didn't know about? I was shooting Av on both), and it was more responsive. By more responsive I mean a lot of times when I would press the button down on the Nikon it wouldn't even take the picture, or it would take 15seconds or so to fire. That being said the Canon wouldn't continuously fire by holding down the shutter release while the Nikon would.
Can anyone confirm/deny that this is just user error?

I hear Nikon lenses etc are generally speaking cheaper (which is good) and slightly better. But all Canons come with a focusing motor built into the body while you don't see that on the Nikon till the D90. Correct?


With all that, it sounds like I should be going Canon, but I'm always looking for someone to play devil's advocate and tell me why I'd be making the mistake of my life

tl:dr - should I get the Canon T1i/500d or the Nikon D5000? I'm mainly interested in portrait photography. Price is important.

Hopefully, that all made sense and I'm looking forward to hearing some responses!

John

[dcclark]

Sounds like something was wonky with the Nikon. Neither camera will take a photo unless it can lock focus on a subject (or if it's in manual focus mode) -- was the lens cranking in and out, trying to find focus? Were you pointing it at an object which would be hard to focus on, such as a wall or carpet? The D5000 should have (at least) 3 frames per second (maybe it's 5, I don't recall exactly).

Canon LENSES have built-in focusing motors, as do most modern Nikon lenses. The D5000/3000/40/40x/60 can use these lenses just fine. Older Nikon lenses (ones labeled just AF, not AF-S) won't autofocus on these newer cameras, but they will work just fine otherwise. Unless you have a big pile of old lenses at home, it's a non-issue -- basically all lenses you might be buying will have a built-in focus motor. I would call that a non-issue.

But, if the T1i felt better in your hand, then that's a major selling point. You want to enjoy using your camera, and if it's not comfortable in your hands, you won't like it as much.

[natek313]

The Canon could have been on the continuous shooting mode and the Nikon may have been on the single shot. I would bet that was the case. If not, something was weird with the Nikon if you weren't trying to focus on something that would make it hard for the camera to focus on, like dcclark said.

Also, as already stated, it has to feel good in your hands, and it sounds like the T1i does that for you. Plus, it's in your price range. I would recommend trying it out with the battery grip. I threw a battery grip on my Canon, and it makes the camera that much more comfortable.

For your portraits, you're going to want to focus (no pun intended) more on the lens you use. Obviously, the T1i will perform a little better in low light conditions than, say, the Rebel XT, but you're going to want a nice, sharp lens. Besides, if you're going to eventually do paid portrait shoots, lighting probably won't be an issue since you should have a decent lighting setup. And, for weddings, you're going to want a fast lens as there won't be a lot of light to work with.

The T1i is basically the Canon 50D with cheaper body construction and HD video capability - other than that, the guts are pretty much the same. I've shot with the 50D, and it takes some nice pictures. You'll want to make sure you have some sort of post-processing software that you can use for noise reduction as higher ISO photographs will be a little noisy.

But, from what you've said, it sounds like the Canon T1i is a good match for you.

[Saralonde]

As stated above, each camera might have been on different settings, or perhaps there was a problem with that particular Nikon. Maybe someone dropped it, but didn't mention it.

Either way, if the feel of the Canon was better, go with it.

As for lenses, there are good and bad in each line-up. One of our highly knowledgeable members, Inkista, could probably head you in the right direction there.

[johnStock]

Awesome, thanks for the advice. Sounds like the Canon might be the way to go.

As far as doing portrait/weddings goes, does one brand generally do better than another? i.e. Canon lenses do better for portraits, while Nikon does better landscapes? Or is it safe to say that it's pretty much a moot point and whatever brand you go with will take amazing pictures (based on the photographers skill)?

Thanks for the help!

john

[dcclark]

No, both brands have a large variety of very good lenses for any given purpose. There are also tons of 3rd-party lenses which you can get for either brand of camera.

Overall -- it's you, not your equipment. Canon or Nikon can supply your needs with no problem.

[johnStock]

Thank you! One more question, I know the D90 has it built in that you can trigger off camera flash units, at what point with canon do you get this functionality? I'm assuming it's probably in the xxD range?
Just wondering if with Canon I'd need to eventually need to purchase additional equipment to gain this functionality? If so, seems like it might be easier to go Nikon and eventually just gain that as I upgrade bodies.

john

[LoveDSLR]

Originally Posted by johnStock

Thank you! One more question, I know the D90 has it built in that you can trigger off camera flash units, at what point with canon do you get this functionality? I'm assuming it's probably in the xxD range?

You can count it with one finger...one and only Canon 7D.

[inkista]

For portrait work, nearly every brand probably has the lenses you need in the lineup, but (and remember I'm a biased Canon shooter), I think Canon may have a slight edge in that the majority of fast primes that Canon offers have USM, while the majority of Nikon's portrait primes are not AF-S (which would require manual focusing on a D5000). For most portrait work, fast silent autofocus isn't critical. For action or event photography (like weddings), though, where you may not have time to manually focus, it can become more crucial.

Chances are, though, if you were going to go in for weddings professionally, you'd be upgrading on the Nikon side to the D80/D90 tier.

Originally Posted by johnStock

I know the D90 has it built in that you can trigger off camera flash units, at what point with canon do you get this functionality?

As previously stated, the 7D is the first Canon body that has this built in. By March, we'll see if that technology trickles up/down tier as well. But for now, if you get the 500D, you'll have to purchase an on-camera master speedlight unit (i.e., a 550EX, 580EX, 580EXII, or ST-E2) if you want to do this with eTTL. It's one of the ways that Nikon's flash system beats Canon's. However, if you go the Strobist route with manual radio triggers like Cactus V4s or Cybersyncs, you no longer need the on-camera master, as the transmitter unit on the hotshoe will be doing the job of a master unit.

CLS/eTTL are near-infrared light-signal based systems. They require line of sight (i.e., the receiver must be able to "see" the transmitter), and are limited in range. Used outside and in bright sunlight, the systems have reduced range and reliability. Which is why most folks end up moving to radio triggering systems if they need to do work outside, without line of sight, or over a large distance.

[johnStock]

Whew, thanks for the information! After some work on Google to make sure I understood everything inkista said, I'm convinced my decision just got even more confusing
Someone really should of warned me how addicting and time consuming this hobbie was going to become =)

lower price (with nikon generally) + better lighting system vs better in store experience with the canon + greater autofocus capabilities (it seems).

choices choices choices
john