Canon Rebel vs Nikon

[INfamily]

I'm considering buying a new camera in the next 2 weeks and wonder if anyone has any advice/opinion about buying a Canon Rebel vs. a Nikon D40X. I would bring it on our upcoming trip to St John, but we're also going to Africa later this summer and that is a big reason to I want to buy a camera.
Thanks!

[AnyTing]

I have the Rebel and love it. One reason I chose it was because it is a very small digital SLR that suits a woman's hands. Another reason is simply that I am partial to Canon. However, with regard to quality and features, I think you'll find these two very comparable. A photographer friend of mine highly recommends the Nikon. I don't think you can make a bad choice here, it's mostly a matter of personal preference. Others who have the Nikon may be able to shed some more light here to help you choose.

[alw1977]

We're buying it next week, but we've done the research and decided on the Nikon D40 (no x b/c it's too much camera for my skill level). I make no claims to be a good photographer, but I care for the size of the Nikon display - it's larger than the Rebel LCD. That being said, I have friends who have the Rebel and love it.

I don't think there's a bad choice, just a preference.

[efrank]

I have the Nikon D40, not the x, that I got almost a year ago. I was deciding between those cameras as well. They are VERY similar. The deciding factor for me, was based on low light speed. I wanted a camera that could focus and take a shot quickly in lower light and from testing in a hallway at the camera shop, I felt that the Nikon was able to do that just a tad better, IMO. I think you will be happy with either one! Right now I'm really wanting to take the D40 down to STJ on our next trip, but am worried about sand getting in it. We'll see what I end up doing. Have fun with your new camera!

[jimg20]

If you've never bought either camera brand It will not matter which one you select. They are both good. Under the above conditions, it's the difference between a Ford and Chevy pick-up. (Ford and Chevy fans don't need to jump in here. It's just an example.) The features are a little different the controls are in slightly different places and where one control turns to the right the other goes left like the lens mountings.

I was "brought up" with Canons. As a result I have lots of accessories that fit Canons and are useless with a Nikon. I stick with Canon because of that and I am more comfortable with them.

Try both of them and see which one you are more comfortable with when it's in your hands. (That's the criteria that sold VickiH on her Rebel.) Try to determine which one has the features, accessories and lenses that you might want to have.

Good luck.

JIM

[jmq]

Both are fine cameras. Good points already made here about ergonomics (go handle both if you haven’t already) and functionality i.e. decide what’s important to you. For example, size of LCD screen not important to me because I use the viewfinder way more often (old 35mm habits die hard), but that was the deciding factor for alw1977.

Also a good point made by jimg20 about prior experience with a brand being a decider. The function controls on the digital Canons are quite similar to their old 35mm SLRs, so if you had an AE-1 back in the day, the learning curve would be shorter, although not an excuse for not reading the manual at least a little bit to get the most out of whichever you choose.

[BasUR]

I had wanted to buy a Nikon, because I had one in the past. When I compared the Nikons and Canons, the Canon felt so much better in my hands. I was just much more comfortable with the Canon. And now I currently own 7 Canons! So, go to your local photography shop to check out both cameras and "try them on"! But I would search the internet for the best price. There are a lot of good websites to buy from.

[VayCay]

I dunno if this helps, but this is a picture i took on friday w/my new canon rebel xti. No tripod, and not max quality, but i still think it turned out pretty magnificent...w/a little help from the University of California Santa Barbara in the background and the coastline.

p.s....if you are worried most about the lcd screen...get over it...you only use the viewfinder to frame shots not the LCD. I really like the way the cannon feels in my hands, and I tried the Nikon, but just liked this one better. Very high quality shots and wondefully fast rapid shooting...plus you can use a wider variety of lenses w/the canon

[INfamily]

Thanks for everyone's input. I think I'm leaning towards the Canon. The only negative thing I can come up with is that the battery life may be less than the Nikon, but I can deal with that. Now I just need to decide who to buy it from!!

[VayCay]

Thanks for everyone's input. I think I'm leaning towards the Canon. The only negative thing I can come up with is that the battery life may be less than the Nikon, but I can deal with that. Now I just need to decide who to buy it from!!

costco has a pretty good deal that comes w/two lenses, a carry bag, a uv filter, a battery and wall charger, and a 1gig memory card

[17th Hole]

Here's a site that tracks the best prices for you:

http://dealnews.com/digital-cameras/

I bought the Canon XTi and love it. Just got a wide angle lens (thanks to VickyH) and really like it! I bought mine on Craigslist brand new for $500 from a girl who won it in a contest and didn't have any use for it. I got really lucky! But I had been looking for a few months.

Can't wait to get on-island and start snapping away!

[crickett]

I just bought a Nikon D80 last week at the Royal Caribbean shop on St. John. I called them from home the week before to see if they had it and what the price was. It was much cheaper than I could get it anywhere around here... brought it back duty free and there is no sales tax on STJ. I saved quite a bit and had a brand new toy to play with around the villa. They have lots of different brands.

http://www.royalcaribbean.vi/