Nikon or Canon SLR? Which is better?

[CountryWolf07]

So... I am currently deciding on a digital SLR... but I cannot for the life of me find any differences between Nikon and Canon - Who owns what and why did you pick that brand?? Help me out, thanks! :)

[Moesha]

So odd that you just posted this. Did you do a search here through old threads? There are several that discuss this very topic. I only ask that because I JUST finished searching and reading through many of them. This is the third of fourth time I've read some of them. I was trying to decide the very same thing. I decided to go with Nikon. No real reason other than I liked the feel of the camera better I guess. I went to the store and held both of them. My very first 35mm camera was a Nikon and I loved it. I recently used a friends film EOS Rebel from Canon and it was ok too. I just read reviews at several places and they are pretty closely rated and from the best I could tell, it is a matter of personal opinion.

I bought a Nikon D60 with a 18-55mm lens kit as a trial. I can return it until Jan. 31. This way I can decide if I will actually use it and also see if prices will fall on the D80 or D90 in the next month or so with the holiday sales out there. I will probably get the D80 unless I find a really great D90 deal. I just posted a question in this thread (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=147407)about what lenses. (18-55 and 55-200 or just an 18-200)

[ILoveMyAbbyGirl]

I have a Nikon DSLR. I love it, but I'd love a Rebel too. But my Nikon is really nice! =]

[Catlady711]

Here's a thread along similar lines that I commented on a while back. Worth a read.
http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=137144&highlight=canon

[Hellow]

Nikon and Canon are pretty closely tied between support and quality, but I would still choose a Canon for personal preference.

[cloverfdx]

My personal opinion only is Nikon ;).

[moosmom]

Nikon, hands down!! That's what all the news photojournalists have told me.

[lvpets2002]

:) I for sure like my Canon real well..

[Ginger's Mom]

I have never owned an SLR camera, so this may not be helpful. But, as far as point and shoot cameras go, I prefer Nikon over Cannon. I have tried both, and think that Nikon offers you more options on what you can do with your camera than Cannon. And as someone esle said, it just feels more comfortable to use.

[Husky_mom]

which ever you choose you can´t go wrong with any...

my preference is Canon.... as I´ve had Canon since ever.... I had film, digital... and now looking forward to another one.. LOL...

Nikon is a great choice too... but it you already own a Canon and have lenses and such you can use them in a newer one without having to buy lenses too.. or you can sell the whole thing and get Nikon equip.

go try both at a store and see how you feel about them... they are both great choices...THE best choices

[Catlady711]

I don't know how many people here shoot tethered (hooked directly to a computer while shooting) but if you have Vista 64 bit and try to use the Canon EOS utility you're going to have nightmares for problems and still may not get that combo to work.

I should know, I specifically bought a laptop for shooting tethered, got a good fast machine, which apparently comes with Vista 64 bit. I did not know at the time that there was a difference until I tried to hook the camera up. I can get it to run sporratically (sp?) but not consistently or without a HUGE headache and ALOT of wasted time. Apparently at this point Canon does not seem to support the Vista 64 bit machines, at least for the EOS utility (other parts of the software run fine). Many sites I've read says that the 32 bit Vista seems to not have nearly so many problems.

Just be warned, and this is coming from a longtime Canon fan (not so much now for software) and a newly emerged Vista/Microsoft hater. lol

[BC_MoM]

Nikon, definitely. Canons feel "cheap" to me.

Ultimately though, it's not the body that will be your investment. The majority of your money will be spent on lenses, and that's where most of your quality will come from.

[ilovemypup]

Canon!
It might be just me, because we've had canons in our family..but I really like them! Rebels woot!

[CountryWolf07]

I recently borrowed a Nikon D80 - Anyone have those? I will be expermenting with it over the weekend.... and I will be using it for my photography's 3rd and final projects..

[Medusa]

I'm so technologically challenged, it's pathetic but my son gave me an awesome Canon for Christmas and it does everything except clean litter boxes. I love it! :)

[Moesha]

I had a D60 for several months. I just returned it and will be buying a D80. Although I was tempted to buy the new Pentax K2000. QVC has it as their special value of the day today. They have the camera and 2 lenses, 18-55 and 50-200, plus a couple of CDs and batteries and cables and stuff for $699. Once you pay shipping and tax though it is about the same as what I have found the D80 for with the same two lenses. They are the VR lenses. The thing I like with the Pentax is that the camera itself has the image stabilization rather than the lenses. The nice thing about QVC though is that you can have the payments split up over 6 months and have 30 days to try it out and return it if you don't like it with no restocking fees. But I did like the Nikon a lot and once I am sure that they have received the D60 I returned and credit my account, I'm going to buy the D80.

ETA: I forgot to mention that another positive with the Pentax is that it is backwards compatible with all previous lenses. And since the camera is shake reduction, that means all of them are as well. It has gotten pretty good reviews from the sites that I have looked at online. I'm not saying anyone should buy it, I just forgot to mention that earlier.

[Catlady711]

Well I haven't gotten any new cameras however I did add to my equipment last weekend. I picked up a light meter at my camera store's used dept. A Sekonic L358 for only $149 (normally sells for $250-300). It's missing a cap and an attatchment I don't want anyways, but works fine!:D