I feel like my right arm is missing and I’ve almost convinced myself that I need a new camera. I chose this one first, but the 5K+ price tag gave me the giggles since there is no way THAT would ever happen. (But, 16.7 megapixels?? Dude!)
I found this comparison between the new Rebel and the Nikon D70. I think I’m leaning slightly towards the Rebel. Anyone use either one and have feedback on pros and cons?
In order to justify a new camera as a need, which it totally, completely almost is, I’d have to have a photoshoot to go to. Doesn’t anyone need me to come shoot photos of something? Anyone? Bueller?
well, you can look at them like men. The canon is smaller and more sensitive, but larger where it counts (8.0 vs 6.1). While the Nikon is beefier in the body, the word that jumped out at me from its list was compensation. I’d go for the canon.
This is what you need:
http://www.hasselbladusa.com/index.asp?pageURL=/launch0106/h2d39.asp?secId=1143&itemId=3849
39 MegaPixels, baby!
I have two and I love them.
OK, I don’t have two. They cost over $22K, I think.
/slinks into a corner with his 7.1 megapixels.
//it’s the .1 that counts!
I love my new Canon 30D. And with it just coming out, the 20D is quite a bit cheaper now. So all in all, I’d vote Canon (get the 30D it ROCKS!), but I have absolutely no data to back it up except that I love it 🙂
these guys know a lot though:
http://www.dpreview.com/
good luck 🙂
16 megapixels? What would one do with those?
Leah, I literally marched out and bought a Nikon D70S after spending an hour on Dooce. I’m a rookie/fledgling photographer (i.e. I have no idea what I’m doing yet) but Heather’s photos are of the style I’m attracted to, and attempting to emulate.
I’m finding the Nikon exceedingly easy to use and fun to work with. Ease of use might not be your priority since you’re more experienced than I, but I’d still recommend it enthusiastically. My photos look much, much better than they would without it. Plus, I just like Nikon. It’s kind of against the grain. Canon just makes me think of Andre Agassi—remember when he plugged the EOS Rebel in the early 90’s? Going with Nikon is the same thing as saying, “I’m too confident in myself to follow some rebel tennis player’s advice.”
Then again, I wasn’t too confident to follow Heather’s advice after spending less than 60 minutes on her blog.
I need to tell her the advertising worked, in case she has some deal w/ Nikon. They need to know a hapless rookie in Oklahoma took the bait. 🙂
I feel the same way about Canon as I do about Honda. It borders on evangelical!
That said, I think the choice between Canon and Nikon comes down to personal preference since they aren’t significantly that different. I already owned a Canon EOS 35mm, so all my lens were interchangable and I already knew the interface. Plus, Canon is known for some pretty righteous lens and I knew I could take advantage of them if I were ever to win the lottery and buy them!
I’m the proud owner of a Canon 20D and never leave the house without it. You can probably get a good deal on one right now as Amy mentioned above and it will be a long time before you outgrow it. However, the 5D’s full frame sensor has a siren song I don’t know if I can resist much longer.
Good luck to you!
My husband has the Nikon D100, I have the Canon Rebel XT. We are each in love with our cameras. I got mine for Christmas and I’m too tired now to explain all the reasons I wanted the Canon instead of the Nikon D70. (Anyway, some of them were just to be contrary to his Nikon-fetish.) I posted some garden photos yesterday that I took with the kit lens if you want to go take a peek.
I take some of that back. The last flower photo, the one of the orange gaillardia, was taken by my husband with the Nikon D100.
Leah – I graduated last year with a BFA in photography and trust me, there are as many opinions about Nikon versus Canon as there are digital versus film.
Even though I hate suggestions like this, I would recommend going to the store (uck!) and seeing how each of them feels to you. And remember, it’s not about the camera, it’s about the photographer! (cut to me with a big old 4 x 5 view camera with a black cloth over my head).
I know nothing. I do recall spending entirely too many hours trying to pick one out for my daughter for her birthday last year. Once I purchased it, all of that information promptly left my brain. Gone. I like pretty pictures, this I know.
I had the same dilema. I was stuck between the Canon Rebel and the Nikon D70s. My suggestion is to go to the store and try them both. I thought I was sold on the Canon until I held it. It felt like a toy. Very light and plasticy. The D70 had substance. It felt like a real camera.
As for the mega pixels, 8.0 vs 6.1 would be a huge difference on a point and shoot camera but on an SLR with a large CCD area it’s nothing. Don’t let pixels be your selling point. If you’re planning to make large prints the D70 is excellent even as far up as 12×18. You can’t even tell the difference between a RAW vs. JPEG.
Just so you know, I’m a photographer as well and I work with about 6 other photographers, each of us own a D70.
Oh, and camera’s don’t take nice photo’s, the photographer does!
Good luck.
I am surprised you are asking for advice on here. First, you know Dooce, and therefore, are connected to her geeky husband who can guide you through the technical (mostly too difficult to understand) knowledge on the cameras. Also, you know Heather Champ. She owns a ton of cameras. I would think she could lend you some great advise as well.
All in all, I do think you are best to try both out at the camera shop. I think some of the true camera places will let you rent them for a weekend or so to see what you are comfortable with. I, too, have been wondering about the battle between Canon and Nikon. I have a small Canon now that I love, but I’m drooling over the digital SLRs. I have links to many photographers on my blog. I often look at their equipment to keep up with what they use. David Nightingale is my favorite, and I’m quite sure he’s a Canon guy.
Leah, I bought an Olympus C-8080, and although it takes fantatic outdoor pictures, indoor is another story.
I will be going with a Nikon D70 when I save the money for it. Go look at Ree’s(above commetn) Flickr page……..the photos are unreal. As are Heather A’s.
holy megapixels!!! i had to read that a few times before i realized, wtf, 16??!! what would you do with them all? do you even need THAT many megapixels, i mean, seriously, they’re already mega on their own, jeez.
i’m surprised you didn’t go right with the nikon after vacationing at heather’s! i gotta say, reading what heather wrote about why she got the nikon was a big push for me to start looking into it. then i joined some communities on livejournal and saw other people’s photos, saw jon’s photos, just kept seeing gorgeous nikon photos. plus, my boyfriend is a photo major and owns a film based nikon. so i bought one on ebay. i got the d70, with everything for only $700. it was a good deal and still in the original box. you can find a lot on there if you sift through all the annoying companies & scams, most individuals just updating to the d200 or switching to canon. from what i understand it’s merely a brand preference. i had one of those tiny canon powershot elphs before the nikon and it sucked. if whatever it was was still, and in perfect light, it was great, but if it wasn’t, forget it. but, that’s just merely a small fact, not at all a basis for comparison of any kind, when talking about the d70 vs the rebel.
so, i love my d70 so far, it’s awesome.
[also, as a total sidenote, after re-reading this, i find it so very odd that i write to you like i know you, and about heather & jon like i know them, when none of that is true. the internet makes for an odd world, but i like it.]
oops, i didn’t read all the comments – i SHOULD have just said,
“ditto carolyn!”
seriously, that’s what i tell everyone, and i don’t know why i forgot to tell you. if i had done that, i wouldn’t have ended up with a camera that didn’t really work for me. however, certainly don’t necessarily BUY it from the store, since they may not have great prices and may also have annoying sales people telling you what you should and shouldn’t buy, or worse, what you NEED.
just go in and play and then you can shop around 🙂
Yes. I need you to do some surveillance work for me and take pictures of whatever it is that my contractor is doing when he’s supposed to be working on my house. Then I need you to photoshop a goat into those pictures, if you know what I mean.
thanks for all the feedback, everyone. i really appreciate it.
i did see heather’s kickin’ camera and played with it for a second, but i am not a person that just wants to take one person’s experience on something. i want a plethora of opinions and reams of data. and beside, my camera was working when i was there and i wasn’t really paying attention to someone else’s baby when my own was right there in my hands and loving me so well.
amanda – i’m on it. let’s throw some chickens and a cow in there, too. your contractor – he’s a man of many tastes….
Leah,
I have the Nikon D70. Now, although I didn’t like the original lens that it came with cause it doesn’t have a stabalizer, I got a telephoto lens with one and I can’t rave about it enough. It is great, espeically for taking pictures at Shaun’s baseball and soccer games.
If you would like to try it out, just let me know. You are one of the few that I would consider lending it to.
Evie
Yes! I could drive out to SD and you could take pictures of my daughter frolicking on the beach. But don’t be surprised if I steal your camera and make a run for it when you’re finished though.
You can take pictures of me, pretty please!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’d love to get a chance to meet you and I’m in S.D.!
Sony R1? Have you tried it? We have a Canon 10D, my mom has a D70 and I bought the R1. And I would rather use it than any other.