Almost switched to Nikon today... (glad I didn't)

[Miltz]

I've been thinking of switching to Nikon for a while now, Only for one reason. Dynamic range. I was going to sell my Canon 6D (which I love) and all my lens and give Nikon a shot. I was going to order the Nikon 610, but something inside stopped me from doing it. Instead I went to the store to take a look at the camera in person and test it out...

The Nikon D610 felt terrible the second I picked it up. It probably has the worst grip on a PRO camera I ever felt. It was so uncomfortable even after a few minutes. The Nikon D810 was right next to it, so I was like let's see how this feels.... also terrible grip. It was surprised the Flagship felt so bad. I was thinking do all Nikons Feel like this? Finally I grabbed the Nikon D750 and wow what a difference. It really felt amazing in my hand, nice deep full grip. The Tilt LCD screen was also really really nice. I looked at the price and it was $800 more than the D610. No way I would pay $800 more for a better grip and tilt LCD ( I don't care about the better autofocus system on the D750). Still couldn't get over how bad the D610 and D810 felt in my hand.

I figured while I was there I might as well take a test picture with my Canon 6D and the Nikon D610 for fun. The Canon 6D had better per pixel sharpness than the Nikon D610. Even though it has 4 megapixels less, the Canon image was sharper and more details were visible. Both shot raw, both loaded in CS6, all settings the same. Interesting. Of course you could sharpen the Nikon image to make it look like the canon when not viewed at full resolution, but that not the point. Perhaps the Canon is using a lighter anti-aliasing or low pass filter than the Nikon. I even checked dpreview's comparison tool and what do you know, it shows the same exact results that I saw. I wish I could take them outside and see if the dynamic range was better in real life, but obviously I couldn't do that. I'm sure the Nikon would be better, but by how much I don't know. I've seen the silly tests on-line when people underexpose a shot 5 stops and then bring out the shadows. That's ridiculous, not one underexposes images 5 stop in real life, so those tests mean nothing.

Bottom line is before you switch to another camera I recommend that you test it out in store and see how it feels. As of right now I'm keeping my Canon 6D and getting a new lens for it. If I was going to even consider Nikon it would be a D750, it felt great. I wonder if the sensor is sharper than the D610. Has anyone switched from Canon to Nikon or Nikon to Canon? What was your experience like? Does anyone like the shallow and thin grip on the D610 or D810?

 

[The Bad Guy]

I've toyed with the idea of switching to Nikon from time to time, but then I remember - I take photos of people. Well, that and I have an awful lot invested in these little red ringed lenses.

 

[ChrisA]

What you are saying is that if you are very used to one thing, then switching to something new will feel different and unnatural. You are right and I suspect most Nikon shooters would find the Canon "different" also.

Use either for a few months and the newness will melt away.

 

[Miltz]

I've toyed with the idea of switching to Nikon from time to time, but then I remember - I take photos of people. Well, that and I have an awful lot invested in these little red ringed lenses.

What's your favorite lens to use when you shoot people? I recently got the 85mm 1.8 and I like it so far. I can't to try on a photo shoot. If I only shot people I wouldn't even think to switch to Nikon.

----------

What you are saying is that if you are very used to one thing, then switching to something new will feel different and unnatural. You are right and I suspect most Nikon shooters would find the Canon "different" also.

Use either for a few months and the newness will melt away.

No, that's what "you think I'm saying" If I spoke about camera controls and button placement, then that's something you can get used to. A camera that feels bad when you pick it up will always feel bad. Even thought the Nikon D750 was new and different I loved how it felt.

 

[mofunk]

I've never heard a Canon user gripe about the grip. lol Every photographer will have a different experience. My current DSLR feels imo like the D750. Maybe because I'm a Nikon user. I don't like the menu layout in Canon OS which is why I went Nikon.

I don't like shooting in store because the clerk might have changed the settings. The only time I found it helpful was when I visited a photography store and the manager did some adjustments for shooting indoors.

Everyone knows that Canon WB is close to spot on. Nikon tends to shoot a little darker. My guess is that spending more time with Nikon or Canon you will know how to adjust to your liking and know where the sweet spots are.

 

[Mr Kram]

i've been a long time nikon user currently shooting with an old D200. i am so hesitant on switching because all of the new replacements feel tiny and uncomfortable to me. there is nothing in the current DX lineup that i like. i really don't want to spend $5k and move to an FX format where i'll have to replace all my lenses.

 

[Miltz]

i've been a long time nikon user currently shooting with an old D200. i am so hesitant on switching because all of the new replacements feel tiny and uncomfortable to me. there is nothing in the current DX lineup that i like. i really don't want to spend $5k and move to an FX format where i'll have to replace all my lenses.

Exactly... I used to shoot the D200 back in the day when I did events. It was a spare body my partner had. That Nikon has a much better feel and grip than the new Nikons do today. Except the D750. Maybe the next versions will have a bigger grip and better feel. Looks like you've been holding out for a LONG TIME. I don't know what you shoot or what Nikon lens you have, but going to full frame from the D200 would be a huge upgrade. If camera feel is important to you and you want full frame sensor with a even a better feel in the hand than the D200, you might want to look at the Canon 6D. I've had it since it came out and I really love it. I can help you with the lens.

 

[Ish]

Right back at the beginning of my digital camera life, when I just had the one camera and kit lens, I changed from a Nikon D60 to a Canon 450D. I was happy with the feel of the Nikon, but just shot jpeg at the time and much preferred the golden sunlight and aqua skies the Canon produced to the cooler colours from the Nikon.

 

[nburwell]

I made the switch from Canon to Nikon earlier this year, primarily for the dynamic range. I shoot landscape and cityscape, so DR was important for me. My camera is mounted on a tripod 99.9% of the time, but even holding my D800E I thought it felt similiar if not a bit better than my 5D Mark III.

To the OP, holding and handling a camera you're potentially going to buy is pretty important. Particularly if you're a portrait or street photographer. Both Canon and Nikon cameras take fantastic images. It's ultimately up to the preference of the photographer to choose the tools that fit best for them.

I will say that selling off all of my Canon gear was a PITA since I had a good amount of lenses to sell in preparation for my move to Nikon.

 

[Miltz]

I made the switch from Canon to Nikon earlier this year, primarily for the dynamic range. I shoot landscape and cityscape, so DR was important for me. My camera is mounted on a tripod 99.9% of the time, but even holding my D800E I thought it felt similiar if not a bit better than my 5D Mark III.

To the OP, holding and handling a camera you're potentially going to buy is pretty important. Particularly if you're a portrait or street photographer. Both Canon and Nikon cameras take fantastic images. It's ultimately up to the preference of the photographer to choose the tools that fit best for them.

I will say that selling off all of my Canon gear was a PITA since I had a good amount of lenses to sell in preparation for my move to Nikon.

Have you seen any real world difference in your images? What lens do you use on your D800E?

 

[ChrisA]

i've been a long time nikon user currently shooting with an old D200. i am so hesitant on switching because all of the new replacements feel tiny and uncomfortable to me. there is nothing in the current DX lineup that i like. i really don't want to spend $5k and move to an FX format where i'll have to replace all my lenses.

Buy a used D300s. It is a huge upgrade from the D200 but is still very much like the D200 in terms of feel and usage.

 

[Rockadile]

I've been thinking of switching to Nikon for a while now, Only for one reason. Dynamic range. I was going to sell my Canon 6D (which I love) and all my lens and give Nikon a shot. I was going to order the Nikon 610, but something inside stopped me from doing it. Instead I went to the store to take a look at the camera in person and test it out...

The Nikon D610 felt terrible the second I picked it up. It probably has the worst grip on a PRO camera I ever felt. It was so uncomfortable even after a few minutes. The Nikon D810 was right next to it, so I was like let's see how this feels.... also terrible grip. It was surprised the Flagship felt so bad. I was thinking do all Nikons Feel like this? Finally I grabbed the Nikon D750 and wow what a difference. It really felt amazing in my hand, nice deep full grip. The Tilt LCD screen was also really really nice. I looked at the price and it was $800 more than the D610. No way I would pay $800 more for a better grip and tilt LCD ( I don't care about the better autofocus system on the D750). Still couldn't get over how bad the D610 and D810 felt in my hand.

I figured while I was there I might as well take a test picture with my Canon 6D and the Nikon D610 for fun. The Canon 6D had better per pixel sharpness than the Nikon D610. Even though it has 4 megapixels less, the Canon image was sharper and more details were visible. Both shot raw, both loaded in CS6, all settings the same. Interesting. Of course you could sharpen the Nikon image to make it look like the canon when not viewed at full resolution, but that not the point. Perhaps the Canon is using a lighter anti-aliasing or low pass filter than the Nikon. I even checked dpreview's comparison tool and what do you know, it shows the same exact results that I saw. I wish I could take them outside and see if the dynamic range was better in real life, but obviously I couldn't do that. I'm sure the Nikon would be better, but by how much I don't know. I've seen the silly tests on-line when people underexpose a shot 5 stops and then bring out the shadows. That's ridiculous, not one underexposes images 5 stop in real life, so those tests mean nothing.

Bottom line is before you switch to another camera I recommend that you test it out in store and see how it feels. As of right now I'm keeping my Canon 6D and getting a new lens for it. If I was going to even consider Nikon it would be a D750, it felt great. I wonder if the sensor is sharper than the D610. Has anyone switched from Canon to Nikon or Nikon to Canon? What was your experience like? Does anyone like the shallow and thin grip on the D610 or D810?

The D610 (entry-level full frame) is not rated as a pro grade camera & the D810 isn't the flagship (D4s) either.
I haven't touched anything newer than the D800 but that had a shallower grip than my D700...it was terrible. Slightly deeper on D810 it seems.
The D750 looks to be the deepest grip so far. Surprisingly my D3100 has similar depth.

The dynamic range can help you if you're in a pinch or like trying to mimic HDR with one picture.
As for the sharpness debate...that's just too much pixel peeping for me.

 

[576316]

I've been shooting with a D7000 for the past 2+ years and there's definitely something I've noticed about Nikon camera gear. The aesthetics and build quality of the equipment is second to none, but they skimp when it comes to features and sensor quality. I found the files people got out of their equivalent Canon cameras were just overall better than mine and noticeably higher resolution.

I'm switching to a Sony a6000 soon anyway, but that's just my observations on the whole Nikon side of life.

 

[maflynn]

I'm a Nikon fan and I've been happy with the quality of their product. Camera and images. With that said, I've down sized to a mirrorless camera a while because my needs were such that the M43 suits my needs

 

[Miltz]

I've been shooting with a D7000 for the past 2+ years and there's definitely something I've noticed about Nikon camera gear. The aesthetics and build quality of the equipment is second to none, but they skimp when it comes to features and sensor quality. I found the files people got out of their equivalent Canon cameras were just overall better than mine and noticeably higher resolution.

I'm switching to a Sony a6000 soon anyway, but that's just my observations on the whole Nikon side of life.

That's really interesting.

 

[Ulenspiegel]

I'm a Nikon fan and I've been happy with the quality of their product. Camera and images. With that said, I've down sized to a mirrorless camera a while because my needs were such that the M43 suits my needs

Same here. I have been using Nikon for ages. All types according to the situation. One of my first things was to install Nikon ViewNX 2 for image viewing on my Mac as I am used to it.

 

[avro707]

The Nikon D610 felt terrible the second I picked it up. It probably has the worst grip on a PRO camera I ever felt. It was so uncomfortable even after a few minutes. The Nikon D810 was right next to it, so I was like let's see how this feels.... also terrible grip.

To be honest, I don't see the D610 as a proper pro camera - at least not by the camera body. For me, that is D3/D3s/D4/D4s, etc. Those are the traditional cameras with the best design in terms of ergonomics and control placement, and in my opinion, ease of use. I find those cameras second nature to use, while the control differences on the D800 for instance just annoys me. Particularly the buttons to zoom in and out on a preview. I prefer how it is on the full size cameras.

I've used Canon before (that's what I started with, and I still use them sometimes). I switched over to Nikon and haven't had trouble. My first D80 is still going strong. I currently have some very high end Nikon gear, and they are all going well and produce fine images.

To be honest, I don't really see much to complain about with the mid to high range cameras these days. They all produce fairly decent images provided the operator is also fairly skilled. Despite my small complaints about control operation and ergonomics of the D800, they are insignificant in comparison with the frankly unreal image quality my D800e has. It truly exceeded my expectations, and still does when I use it.

That said, I've sort of stopped taking photos except for my day job - I spend all my spare time riding bicycles.

 

[d4rkc4sm]

I had a D100, which probably turned me off from Nikon

I use a Canon 6D now. Love Canon.

 

[Meister]

The grip on Nikons is annoying. So is the grip on Leicas ...
But Nikon leaves Canon in the dust when it comes to IQ and even AF.
I really love Nikon and .

 

[Apple fanboy]

The grip on Nikons is annoying. So is the grip on Leicas ...
But Nikon leaves Canon in the dust when it comes to IQ and even AF.
I really love Nikon and .

I really love giving Nikon and my £££!

 

[VI™]

I wish I could take them outside and see if the dynamic range was better in real life, but obviously I couldn't do that. I'm sure the Nikon would be better, but by how much I don't know. I've seen the silly tests on-line when people underexpose a shot 5 stops and then bring out the shadows. That's ridiculous, not one underexposes images 5 stop in real life, so those tests mean nothing.

I shot a live nativity last night with really terrible lighting. Having to use the 70-200 f/2.8 VRII, I could only use so slow of a shutter speed and was limited by setting. IIRC, I shot at 3200 ISO and brought most of the photos up 3 stops to get a usable image. It was a bit noisy at 3200 ISO, but doing the same at ISO 100 works great and is something I could never do with my 5D MKII. Even saw a 5D MKIII try and do something similar and you see the chroma noise just pop out and give you a pretty crappy image. That means with the D750 I switched to, I can get a properly exposed sky and subject in conditions where I would otherwise have to settle for a blown sky and exposed subject. So no, it's not silly or ridiculous and those test do mean something.

 

[Meister]

I shot a live nativity last night with really terrible lighting. Having to use the 70-200 f/2.8 VRII, I could only use so slow of a shutter speed and was limited by setting. IIRC, I shot at 3200 ISO and brought most of the photos up 3 stops to get a usable image. It was a bit noisy at 3200 ISO, but doing the same at ISO 100 works great and is something I could never do with my 5D MKII. Even saw a 5D MKIII try and do something similar and you see the chroma noise just pop out and give you a pretty crappy image. That means with the D750 I switched to, I can get a properly exposed sky and subject in conditions where I would otherwise have to settle for a blown sky and exposed subject. So no, it's not silly or ridiculous and those test do mean something.

I agree. The DR of the D6x0, D8x0 and D750 is insane.
The ability to underexpose and then fix it in post is really worth dealing with an uncomfortable grip.

 

[nburwell]

Have you seen any real world difference in your images? What lens do you use on your D800E?

In the DR alone, absolutely. Being able to recover shadow details without significant noise is pretty great. Now I'm able to use one RAW file and make different manual blends without having to resort to bracketing my images.

The lenses I have are:

Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8
Nikkor 16-35mm f/4
Nikkor 24-120mm f/4
Nikkor PC-E 24mm f/3.5

 

[Macshroomer]

No way I would pay $800 more for a better grip and tilt LCD ( I don't care about the better autofocus system on the D750). Still couldn't get over how bad the D610 and D810 felt in my hand.

You would if you billed out 200K+ per year as a full time pro. I happen to own and like both the 810 and 750 ( plus the X100T and tons of medium and large format film gear ), each do great things and feel just fine for me.

 

[MCAsan]

I'm a Nikon fan and I've been happy with the quality of their product. Camera and images. With that said, I've down sized to a mirrorless camera a while because my needs were such that the M43 suits my needs

Similar here. The wife and I were Canon fans. Last spring we sold all the 35mm stuff and went M43 with Olympus. Watch for the new Olympus E-M5 II body to be released in Feb at the CP+ show in Japan. Olympus will micro move the sensor to take multiple shots and merge them to create 40MB raw images. I can imagine this only works for single shot frame rates with still life, portraits, landscapes. For wildlife and sports we would still be shooting high speed frame rates. But being able to generate a 40MB raw file from a M43 body will be awesome.