Couldn't help it - sorry Canon
 

Well it happened...I'm a traitor.

I've been seriously pondering a move to a larger camera body from the
diminutive Canon XT the last few months, and today a friend pushed me
to the edge with an offer to buy my Canon gear.

So I jumped. I sold him my Canon Rebel XT body and all of my Canon
lenses including 17-40 and 70-200 f/4 models, along with my Canon
specific accessories, flash, remote, memory cards, spare bag, etc. He
now has everything he needs to go out and shoot digital, and he's a
happy camper.

So I went out after work and bought the Nikon D80 body, SB-600, memory
cards, and remote. I stopped by my friends place on the way home to
pick up his used Nikon 18-70 and 50mm f/1.8 lenses. I also borrowed
his 80-200 D to play with till the weekend. I broke about even on the
deal, give or take a night at the bar. I will have to buy a telephoto
lense, but I can live with that.

All I can say is, "wow"...the difference in handling and usability is
dramatic. Image quality is similar as I expected, but the big thing is
the viewfinder - it almost feels like going back to full frame. And
the responsiveness is surprising. I figured it wouldn't be much of an
improvement over the XT, but the D80 is a tad faster in everything it
does.

Obviously the loss of the wonderful Canon 70-200 f/4 L is the only
thing I miss so far, but hopefully I can make it up with the new
70-300 VR when it arrives, if it's good enough. I'll still have access
to my friends 70-200 f/2.8 VR and other sweet glass if needed, but the
small 70-300 VR and 18-70 will be great for travel.

I feel like a kid with a new toy...can't wait for the weekend.

:-)

Couldn't help it - sorry Canon
 

So I jumped. I sold him my Canon Rebel XT body
So I went out after work and bought the Nikon D80 body,
All I can say is, "wow"...

To be fair, you've gone from an early 2005 camera to a current model
which costs significantly more than the Canon did when it came out.
Hardly surprising such an upgrade feels like a jump in quality - that's
exactly what it is.

Couldn't help it - sorry Canon
 

Derek Fountain wrote:
So I jumped. I sold him my Canon Rebel XT body
So I went out after work and bought the Nikon D80 body,
All I can say is, "wow"...

To be fair, you've gone from an early 2005 camera to a current model
which costs significantly more than the Canon did when it came out.
Hardly surprising such an upgrade feels like a jump in quality - that's
exactly what it is.

Yeah, apart from the viewfinder (which is admitedly better on the D80),
I'm hard pressed to think of many things he mentions that he'd not have
gained by jumping to a 30D. I'm not saying that the 30D is a better
camera, but honestly I can't imagine giving up all of that glass so
lightly.

The irony is that I moved to my 20D from a D70 with the exact same
18-70 and 50/1.8, and I never looked back (in part because of the Canon
glass I chose to invest in... the Nikon *lenses* were always fine),
mostly because the 20D was a better camera than the D70 in every way I
could think to measure. But everyone has different preferences, I
suppose. To be honest, I imagine having seperate dials for shutter and
iris (vs the system on the Rebels) is reason enough to be excited.

Will

Couldn't help it - sorry Canon
 

Yeah, apart from the viewfinder (which is admitedly better on the D80),
I'm hard pressed to think of many things he mentions that he'd not have
gained by jumping to a 30D. I'm not saying that the 30D is a better
camera, but honestly I can't imagine giving up all of that glass so
lightly.

Yes, I'd have thought with a 17-40mm f/4 L and a 70-200mm f/4 L there
were better upgrade paths. I have both of those lenses and I'd need hell
of a deal to get me to part with them.

Still, he seems happy enough with improvements to handling, usability
and viewfinder. Let's hope he's still as happy when he sees the images
his new equipment produces. That L glass he's traded in will take some
matching.

Couldn't help it - sorry Canon
 

Derek Fountain wrote:
Yeah, apart from the viewfinder (which is admitedly better on the D80),
I'm hard pressed to think of many things he mentions that he'd not have
gained by jumping to a 30D. I'm not saying that the 30D is a better
camera, but honestly I can't imagine giving up all of that glass so
lightly.

Yes, I'd have thought with a 17-40mm f/4 L and a 70-200mm f/4 L there
were better upgrade paths. I have both of those lenses and I'd need hell
of a deal to get me to part with them.

Still, he seems happy enough with improvements to handling, usability
and viewfinder. Let's hope he's still as happy when he sees the images
his new equipment produces. That L glass he's traded in will take some
matching.

Don't Nikon make any good lenses in those f/l ranges?

Couldn't help it - sorry Canon
 

Don't Nikon make any good lenses in those f/l ranges?

I don't know the Nikon range, but I'd have thought that they can match
Canon in most areas (and vice versa).

My point was that the OP *had* those 2 'L' lenses, and I doubt if Nikon
has anything better than them for the money he got by selling them.

Couldn't help it - sorry Canon
 

On Oct 26, 6:56 am, frederick wrote:
Derek Fountain wrote:
Yeah, apart from the viewfinder (which is admitedly better on the D80),
I'm hard pressed to think of many things he mentions that he'd not have
gained by jumping to a 30D. I'm not saying that the 30D is a better
camera, but honestly I can't imagine giving up all of that glass so
lightly.

Yes, I'd have thought with a 17-40mm f/4 L and a 70-200mm f/4 L there
were better upgrade paths. I have both of those lenses and I'd need hell
of a deal to get me to part with them.

Still, he seems happy enough with improvements to handling, usability
and viewfinder. Let's hope he's still as happy when he sees the images
his new equipment produces. That L glass he's traded in will take some
matching.Don't Nikon make any good lenses in those f/l ranges?

What Nikon is missing is a really good 80-200 f4, they have several
amateur lenses, a 55-200 plastic lens, a 70-210 f4-5.6, or the 70-300s.
There was a 70-210 f4 in the '80s, nice lens but slow focusing, since
discontinuing this lens Nikon has felt if you want a pro lens get an
f2.8. Which they make 2 both excellent lenses, an 80-200 f2.8 and a
70-200 f2.8 with VR.

Tom

Couldn't help it - sorry Canon
 

"Derek Fountain" wrote in message
reenews.net...
So I jumped. I sold him my Canon Rebel XT body So I went out after
work and bought the Nikon D80 body,
All I can say is, "wow"...

To be fair, you've gone from an early 2005 camera to a current model
which costs significantly more than the Canon did when it came out.

Actually the D80 costs exactly $100 CDN more than the XT did when it
arrived in Feb 2005, which I don't consider a significant amount when
you're paying a grand for a camera.

:-)

In contrast, the Canon 30D costs another $350 CDN more than the Nikon
but doesn't offer anything extra to justify that price, except the
magnesium body which isn't important to me.

I would have saved some money staying with the Canon lenses, but I
couldn't justify the handling contraints for what it would save me in
costs. I also didn't plan on upgrading for at least another year or
more, but after using my friends D200 a few times and trying the D80,
I was hooked on the viewfinder. I should also mention the menu and
display is much better on the Nikon too.

Hardly surprising such an upgrade feels like a jump in quality -
that's exactly what it is.

It's not the technology that attracted me, but the design and
handling, and the much improved viewfinder. Even if Canon had made the
same viewfinder, the way the Nikon feels in my hands is better than
the Canon, which is a very subjective thing.

About 10 years ago when I bought my first SLR film camera, I didn't
like the feel of the grips on the Nikon consumer bodies (liked the pro
models though), which is why I went with Canon. In fact, Minolta had
the best grips of all three, but I didn't like what they had to offer
at that time and price point. Now the handling has improved and I
prefer the Nikon grip.

Couldn't help it - sorry Canon
 

Derek Fountain wrote:
Don't Nikon make any good lenses in those f/l ranges?

I don't know the Nikon range, but I'd have thought that they can match
Canon in most areas (and vice versa).

I believe that Canon can make lenses that open a little bit wider,
because they have a larger connector mount. Nikon makes a 50mm f/1.2.
(http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php...productNr=1435)

Couldn't help it - sorry Canon
 

wrote in message
ups.com...

Derek Fountain wrote:
So I jumped. I sold him my Canon Rebel XT body
So I went out after work and bought the Nikon D80 body,
All I can say is, "wow"...

To be fair, you've gone from an early 2005 camera to a current
model
which costs significantly more than the Canon did when it came out.
Hardly surprising such an upgrade feels like a jump in quality -
that's
exactly what it is.

Yeah, apart from the viewfinder (which is admitedly better on the
D80),
I'm hard pressed to think of many things he mentions that he'd not
have
gained by jumping to a 30D.

The 30D is a very good camera, but it just doesn't have the handling
of the Nikon. There are a few minor things I preferred in the Nikon as
well, like a better menu display. The cost was also a factor as the
30D costs $350 CDN more than the D80. That difference paid for the new
flash and remote.

I'm not saying that the 30D is a better
camera, but honestly I can't imagine giving up all of that glass so
lightly.

It wasn't an easy decision...the 70-200 f/4 is an excellent lense and
will be missed. But everything else I was able to match with Nikon
gear and break even on the deal. If my friend had not been interested
in my setup, I would still have the Canon - it's all about timing I
guess.

I also have access to the best glass that Nikon has to offer through a
friend who is a pro and uses some very nice gear. I managed to pickup
the used 18-70 and 50mm from him for only $100, which was also part of
the incentive to switch. The 18-70 is almost as good as the Canon
17-40, so I'm at the same image quality there. The telephoto is the
only area where I'll take a financial loss, but to me it's worth it
for the better handling.

Speaking of image quality, the Nikon is great in RAW. I used the 50mm
f/1.8 to test for sharpness and find the JPG images are a bit soft,
similar to how the D70s would soften them while keeping high
resolution and sharpness in the RAW files. But I turned up the
sharpness a notch for in-camera JPG and it's more than adequate for
quick snaps. For more serious shots I shoot RAW anyways.