Re: Nikon will not go to full frame...

I'm late to the party, but after reading all of these responses, I'm
surprised at how unreasonable people are on this subject. Guess what
everyone? The two giants of the industry are finally giving us a
choice, a difference in their product lines that is much deeper than it
used to be. And you can choose a brand based on what you most like to
do.

By and large I find that Canon users believe that one of the following
things is most important to their photography: wide angles, low light,
shallow depth of field.

Similarly, I find that Nikon users believe that one of these is most
important to theirs: telephoto angles, corner-to-corner sharpness, deep
focus, flash sync. I also find Nikon users more-frequently prefer zooms
than do Canon users, but I can't figure out why. Both companies make
similar zooms in my experience.

Canon's full frame sensors help them with wide angle, depth of field,
and low light (better inherent performance with larger photosites at
the same resolution). Canon's lenses are also, in many instances,
faster than the Nikkors available at the same focal length, which helps
low light and depth of field.

Nikon's DX sensors help them with telephoto and corner-to-corner
sharpness (outside of DX lenses anyway-I think it's shortsighted to
assume that built-for-DX lenses won't soon push the limits of the image
circle in the ways that old lenses did with a 36x24mm frame, if they
aren't already). And Nikon has always favored faster flash sync, that's
nothing new.

So you can easily make a choice based on what you prefer. And these
things aren't entirely mutually exclusive: Canon's 1.6 sensors get the
same elevated performance from non EF-S lenses; both formats can shoot
deep focus (I just find Nikon users saying the shallow focus
possibilities of Canon don't appeal to their style). Canon users have
great telephoto lenses at their disposal that won't reach quite as far
on a full frame body but that will reach as far as they did before
digital, and Nikon users can shoot wide angles with a stronger line of
DX lenses than Canon has for EF-S. That last point shouldn't be
surprising... I imagine Canon has a hard time justifying EF-S R&D when
they spend so much on improving and making-less-expensive their FF
sensors; Nikon *needs* to ramp up DX lens releases if they truly intend
to replace the format.

Me? I tend to go for shallow depth of field, I like wide angles, and I
almost always shoot in available light indoors. So the ability to shoot
at 24mm that would really be 24mm, at 1.4, was important. If I shot
birds in broad daylight, I'd probably love the fact that my 200mm lens
becomes a 300mm on a D70. That's why I sold my Nikon gear for Canon
gear when the 5D was announced (even though I can't yet afford a FF
camera, that day will come). I found myself needing a film body and I
wanted to share lenses and I realized that Nikon's future didn't align
with my style, but Canon's did, so why buy a new film body and a lens
to replace my DX lens? I grabbed a 20d and an Elan, and I only bought
lenses that I could also use on a FF body when I could afford it. It
was the right choice for me personally given my situation and my
tastes.

But the debate here seems to suggest either that I don't know my own
style or that someone with different tastes is simply wrong in their
preference for Nikon gear, telephoto, etc. And that's simply
shortsighted. For every artistic benefit of Canon's FF sensors, there's
an equal but opposite benefit for Nikon's DX sensors. Yes, physics
dictate better performance from larger photosites, but that's already
become mostly a nonissue, and in three years it will be so. Both tools
get you great photographs. Both tools are currently producing, in
roughly equal proportions, most of the still images you're likely to
see in a given day. That won't change.

Do you love your Canon or Nikon DSLR? Great! Do you really need
anything more than that?

.

Relevant Pages

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