Canon EOS 500D (Rebel T1i) or Nikon D90

[dk87]

Hi,

I am thinking of buying a digital SLR camera but am not sure which one to get and was just wondering if I could ask for some advice?

I would say that I am interested in Landscape, Travel/outdoor, Spontaneous and some night/low light level photography. The two Cameras I was thinking about was the Canon 500D and the Nikon D90. Which one would you recommend for me to buy?

I have looked at some photos taken by both cameras and some of the Canon 500D seem clearer with more 'vivid' colours but obviously this could be very dependent on the photographer and settings used! But a lot of people have recommended the Nikon D90 too, over the Canon 500D!

What would you recommed?

Thank you!

[Quo Fan]

I would say what ever feel better in your hands. Go to a camera store and get your hands on both. How does it feel in your hands? Scroll through the menus. Which one feels more intuitive to you?

These are the questions to ask yourself. Both cameras are capable entry level cameras.

[OsmosisStudios]

The D90 and 500D are not the same class of camera: the D90 is more closely specced to the 40D/50D

[dk87]

Oh right, ok, I thought that may be the case.

Would you recommend going for the Canon 50D then instead of the 500D? Or the D90?

Thanks

[OsmosisStudios]

I'd say the D90, but Im a nikon shooter so im a bit biased. The D90/50D section of the market is weird: Nikon and Canon dont have "competing" models. The D90 has a nicer (albeit lower resolution) sensor but the 50D is more ruggedly built.

[Michelle Temple]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

I'd say the D90, but Im a nikon shooter so im a bit biased. The D90/50D section of the market is weird: Nikon and Canon dont have "competing" models. The D90 has a nicer (albeit lower resolution) sensor but the 50D is more ruggedly built.

This is interesting, I was thinking of upgrading to the 50D or the 7D, they are really big cameras though and I only have small hands .. but I really want the best quality as possible. I've had a 500D for 4 months and am about to trade it in. Any advice?

[inkista]

Why do you want to trade the 500D in? would be my first question.

Chances are good that any "upgrades" to one-higher-tiered bodies in the same generation aren't going to net you a ton of image quality improvements, just better features/build. The 500D and 50D more or less share the same sensor and processor. Noise performance is actually slightly better with the 500D, because it came out later and had more tweaks to its noise processing. It has video and the 50D doesn't. So, if you're going to upgrade, make sure that it's because of the features the 50D has that the 500D doesn't. If you just assume you're getting an overall upgrade on everything because of the prices difference, you may be disappointed. The general advice is that upgrading a single generation in the same tier, or one tier in the same generation often isn't worth it.

Also, product announcements are due next month, and chances are good that a 50D successor will be announced. Might be worthwhile to wait and see because if a 60D does happen, it's likely to have some 7D features in it, most likely including the 7D sensor and processor. With maybe a few tweaks.