Canon vs. Nikon SLR's?

[chadaw]

Originally Posted by corygreenwell

Guess I should have mentioned which camera I had, huh? ha

I've got the Canon Rebel XTi, and virtually only use the 50mm/1.8 (commonly known as the "nifty fifty"), unless at an outdoor festival.

The graphic at the top is a photo of the wall in my house. We had a graffiti artist come in & do a 26'x11' mural spanning three walls and a counter in our condo, depicting the Louisville, KY and Southern Indiana skyline. I should note that my blog focuses (almost) exclusively on the Louisville, KY music scene, including local bands and bands that travel through. If I'm at a concert somewhere else though, I usually try to review it as well...

thanks for the kind words about my photography...I'm still pretty new to it all, but the XTi and the 50/1.8 seem to make it all pretty foolproof!

Lovely mural. I take it you took the pic of the mural? Keep snapping those tough concerts pictures, you have a talent. In the other thread you said you were an EE. What is an EE?

[corygreenwell]

ee = electrical engineer

I'm a pretty little guy, so I can sneak up to the front at most shows, which is good because my lens has fixed range. Also, the mural is incredible, and yeah - I just took the photo of it.

[Duke]

I whole heartedly agree with Jarrod's post.

Both companies offer fantastic products for people who are amateurs, all the way to complete professionals. But quite honestly, it's not the gear that makes you a great photographer, it's your ability to see things; to be at the right-place-at-the-right-time to take that perfect photo... to find a location that'll make a gorgeous photo & getting there at 5:00am to catch that amazing sunset.

I've seen stunning photos taken on the cheapest point-and-shoots, & the crappiest photos taken on high-end gear.

The best advice I can give is, if you're already comfortable with a brand (ie. Canon, Nikon, etc.), then stick with it. Obviously, you'll have a budget... so spend the bulk of it on good lenses (this is where research will come in for you), camera bodies will always be changing, but a good lens will last forever. Don't concern yourself with megapixels, a 6mp camera will create a gorgeous 13x19 print (if not larger). If you're just starting out with a dSLR, I'd suggest getting 2 good lenses to start with... a wide-angle zoom (an 18-70mm f2.8), & a nice long range zoom (70-200mm f2.8), & then a mid-range body; for Nikon, a D60 or D80 (relatively cheap & very easy to use), for Canon, a Rebel xti, or a 40D (again, cheap & easy to use). Of course there are very expensive camera bodies out there, but honestly, the average user will never see the benefit in spending $5,000 or more on a camera body.

More importantly, DO YOUR RESEARCH, go to camera shops, try stuff out, pick their brains. Tell them what kind of photography you like (or would like to do), ask them about the products. Don't do what a lot of new buyers do, & that's making decisions based on online opinions. Everybody has their own favorite, but that doesn't mean that it's the best one out there.

Hope this helps
Duke

[zn016]

I don't know much about Canon, but i've owned 3 Nikon cameras (2 point and shoot, and 1 SLR) and i'm very pleased with them.