Lens - Canon vs. Nikon

I am debating between the Canon EOS 350D and the Nikon
D50. I am starting out with DSLRs, and I dont own any
lenses.

I want to find out about availability and relative
prices for lenses for the EOS and the Nikon.

From what I can see, Canon marketing for the lenses
seems more aggressive, and from
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews, I see that there are

64 Canon lenses, and 43 Nikon Lenses (including prime
and zoom). And looking at the 'Most Popular Products',
I see 3 Canon lenses, 1 Sigma, and 0 Nikkor. Looking
at the 'Most viewed', again all Canon products. Do
people not buy Nikon anymore, or are they just the
strong and silent types?

One of the factors I feel, in favor of Canon is the
availability of cheap lenses, as an alternative to the
'L' lenses, and on the other hand, the D50 is cheaper,
and takes SD cards, which I have plenty of...

TIA,
irax.

On Tue, 08 Nov 2005 08:34:10 -0600, Iraxl Enb
wrote:

I am debating between the Canon EOS 350D and the Nikon
D50. I am starting out with DSLRs, and I dont own any
lenses.

I want to find out about availability and relative
prices for lenses for the EOS and the Nikon.

From what I can see, Canon marketing for the lenses
seems more aggressive, and from
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews, I see that there are

64 Canon lenses, and 43 Nikon Lenses (including prime
and zoom). And looking at the 'Most Popular Products',
I see 3 Canon lenses, 1 Sigma, and 0 Nikkor. Looking
at the 'Most viewed', again all Canon products. Do
people not buy Nikon anymore, or are they just the
strong and silent types?

One of the factors I feel, in favor of Canon is the
availability of cheap lenses, as an alternative to the
'L' lenses, and on the other hand, the D50 is cheaper,
and takes SD cards, which I have plenty of...

TIA,
irax.

Forget the number of lenses. You are almost certainly not going to buy
all of them.
What counts is the coverage of the lens line; that is, does the camera
maker offer the lenses you want?
IMO, both Canon and Nikon (or, Nikon and Canon, whichever) offer a
fine line of lenses; each would more than cover the needs of a serious
amateur, as well as the professional.
In your case, with no investment in either line, what will matter most
is which line offers the product that best suits your own
preferrences. IMO, that will come down to those things that can't
really be quantified, but are instead 'felt.' This means it's time to
get to a camera shop that will let you handle the cameras, and then
you see which one feels better, which one has controls and menus that
best suits your needs/desires.
It is my opinion that either line will suit the needs of the vast
majority of DSLR users for a long time, so get the one that just feels
better to you.

--
Bill Funk
Replace "g" with "a"
funktionality.blogspot.com

The message
from Iraxl Enb contains these words:

I am debating between the Canon EOS 350D and the Nikon
D50. I am starting out with DSLRs, and I dont own any
lenses.

I want to find out about availability and relative
prices for lenses for the EOS and the Nikon.

From what I can see, Canon marketing for the lenses
seems more aggressive, and from
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews, I see that there are

64 Canon lenses, and 43 Nikon Lenses (including prime
and zoom). And looking at the 'Most Popular Products',
I see 3 Canon lenses, 1 Sigma, and 0 Nikkor. Looking
at the 'Most viewed', again all Canon products. Do
people not buy Nikon anymore, or are they just the
strong and silent types?

One of the factors I feel, in favor of Canon is the
availability of cheap lenses, as an alternative to the
'L' lenses, and on the other hand, the D50 is cheaper,
and takes SD cards, which I have plenty of...

Take a good long look at the D50 which is available with
the very nice bargain priced 18-70mm lens. The 18-70mm
has much lower CA than the EFS Canon lenses due to the
3 ED lens elements. Canon with their marketing zeal would
no doubt call this lens an L class lens.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_...nikon_d50.html
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/D50/D50A.HTM

Nikon quality control is higher than Canon hence slightly
higher lens prices.

Nikon bring fewer DSLR cameras to market than Canon but these
cameras are usually fully sorted designs.

Deryck

Iraxl Enb wrote:
I am debating between the Canon EOS 350D and the Nikon
D50. I am starting out with DSLRs, and I dont own any
lenses.

I want to find out about availability and relative
prices for lenses for the EOS and the Nikon.

From what I can see, Canon marketing for the lenses
seems more aggressive, and from
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews, I see that there are

64 Canon lenses, and 43 Nikon Lenses (including prime
and zoom). And looking at the 'Most Popular Products',
I see 3 Canon lenses, 1 Sigma, and 0 Nikkor. Looking
at the 'Most viewed', again all Canon products. Do
people not buy Nikon anymore, or are they just the
strong and silent types?


Naah!! Just that us Canon types spend more time drooling over news
lenses than shooting :P

One of the factors I feel, in favor of Canon is the
availability of cheap lenses, as an alternative to the
'L' lenses, and on the other hand, the D50 is cheaper,
and takes SD cards, which I have plenty of...

TIA,
irax.

Both make some excellent lenses and some real crap glass. As others
will tell you, you must focus on the lenses as much or even more than
the body. Thats because bodies come and go (especially in these digital
days) but lenses stay.

I would suggest that you first look for the specific lens you need to
buy. What zoom range, what aperture range, what weight. Then pick out
the specific Canon and Nikon lenses that match your requirement and
compare them for prices. Most cheaper Canon lenses aren't any good
except a few like the 50mm f/1.8. So bear in mind that you will have to
shell out a lot of cash for quality lenses. Also, look and read about
third-party lenses from Sigma, Tamron and Tokina.

Btw, I'd suggest that you look at the Nikon D70s instead of the D50. I
think the D70s very well deserves the extra $100-150.

And why not Minolta 7D? They also have some nice glass at reasonable
prices.

- Siddhartha

Since you don't have any lenses, I suppose that this is not just your DSLR,
but also your first SLR. Many people that have been using digital point and
shoot cameras don't realize that you have to use the viewfinder on DSLR's.
You can not use the LCD screen on the back of the DSLR camera to preview
your shot (it is used to review your shot only). As such I highly encourage
you to get your hands on both of these cameras. The viewfinder on each is
pretty disappointing. Because of the small digital sensor it would take
more expensive components to enlarge the image in the viewfinder than would
be reasonable given the price point that these cameras are targeted. As
such these models have viewfinders that are small and dim as compared to
what has become commonplace with film SLR cameras. This may scare you away
from wanting either of them. The Canon viewfinder is slightly larger than
the Nikon and has greater dioptic adjustment built in. The Canon is also
overall a smaller camera and it has much more intuitive menus. Canon has
far more responsive customer service. If I were starting over I would
certainly choose Canon. I believe Canon is uniquely poised to completely
dominate the market in the next few years. The new mount on the Nikon D200
is the first gesture Nikon has made in a long time to for true backward
compatibility of most older Nikon lenses... but I think that this comes to
late for Nikon as many people seem to have already abandoned Nikon since
they felt that Nikon had abandoned them. But that said, either of these
kits will be a good choice. My only caution to you is that you should think
of this purchase as something that will be consumed and not as an
investment. My 35 year old Pentax Spotmatic still works and will continue
to do so... There is even a demand on the used market for it. Not so with
most digital cameras, even just a few years old. The models that you are
considering will be eclipsed in by new technology in two or three years
time. They will become difficult to repair (due to economics you will
likely replace with new rather than repair). And nobody knows for sure if
the digital sensors will stay small or if 35mm sized sensors will become
commonplace (making non-full frame lenses specific to digital, i.e. Nikon DX
line, obsolete). Let us know what you ultimately decide... it's a very
interesting time for the industry.

"Iraxl Enb" wrote in message
...
I am debating between the Canon EOS 350D and the Nikon D50. I am starting
out with DSLRs, and I dont own any lenses.

I want to find out about availability and relative prices for lenses for
the EOS and the Nikon.

From what I can see, Canon marketing for the lenses seems more aggressive,
and from http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews, I see that there are

64 Canon lenses, and 43 Nikon Lenses (including prime and zoom). And
looking at the 'Most Popular Products', I see 3 Canon lenses, 1 Sigma, and
0 Nikkor. Looking at the 'Most viewed', again all Canon products. Do
people not buy Nikon anymore, or are they just the strong and silent
types?

One of the factors I feel, in favor of Canon is the availability of cheap
lenses, as an alternative to the 'L' lenses, and on the other hand, the
D50 is cheaper, and takes SD cards, which I have plenty of...

TIA,
irax.

The message iE5cf.688$PZ6.415@trndny07
from "Christopher Muto" contains these words:

Since you don't have any lenses, I suppose that this is not just your DSLR,
but also your first SLR. Many people that have been using digital
point and
shoot cameras don't realize that you have to use the viewfinder on DSLR's.
You can not use the LCD screen on the back of the DSLR camera to preview
your shot (it is used to review your shot only). As such I highly
encourage
you to get your hands on both of these cameras. The viewfinder on each is
pretty disappointing. Because of the small digital sensor it would take
more expensive components to enlarge the image in the viewfinder than would
be reasonable given the price point that these cameras are targeted. As
such these models have viewfinders that are small and dim as compared to
what has become commonplace with film SLR cameras. This may scare you away
from wanting either of them. The Canon viewfinder is slightly larger than
the Nikon and has greater dioptic adjustment built in. The Canon is also
overall a smaller camera and it has much more intuitive menus. Canon has
far more responsive customer service. If I were starting over I would
certainly choose Canon. I believe Canon is uniquely poised to completely
dominate the market in the next few years. The new mount on the Nikon D200
is the first gesture Nikon has made in a long time to for true backward
compatibility of most older Nikon lenses... but I think that this comes to
late for Nikon as many people seem to have already abandoned Nikon since
they felt that Nikon had abandoned them. But that said, either of these
kits will be a good choice. My only caution to you is that you should
think
of this purchase as something that will be consumed and not as an
investment. My 35 year old Pentax Spotmatic still works and will continue
to do so... There is even a demand on the used market for it. Not so with
most digital cameras, even just a few years old. The models that you are
considering will be eclipsed in by new technology in two or three years
time. They will become difficult to repair (due to economics you will
likely replace with new rather than repair). And nobody knows for sure if
the digital sensors will stay small or if 35mm sized sensors will become
commonplace (making non-full frame lenses specific to digital, i.e.
Nikon DX
line, obsolete).

Nikon DX lenses give good results over at least half of their zoom range
on full frame Nikon cameras.

Canon EFS lenses will not fit on Canon full frame bodies.

The Nikon D50 and D70s together are selling over a couple of a million of
DSLR cameras a year and are doing very well thank you. The D2X is outselling
the 2 Canon pro cameras combined by 2 to one. Over 100,000 a year.

If you handle both the Canon 350D and the Nikon D50 you will then
appreciate the better build quality of the D50.

Deryck

See if you can get to a large camera store and buy yourself a small CF card
and a cheap reader so you can view the pictrues when you get home. Now that
you've made a purchase, the store will let you stay as long as you want.
AI'd stay a minum of two hours. For the first hour try a Nikon and as many
lenses as you can and then for the next hour play with the Canon gear. Then
decide. Go home, look at your pictures, ask more question here, sleep on it,
and in the morning you will have your answer.

"deryck lant" wrote in message
...

The Nikon D50 and D70s together are selling over a couple of a million of
DSLR cameras a year and are doing very well thank you. The D2X is
outselling
the 2 Canon pro cameras combined by 2 to one. Over 100,000 a year.


I'm interested in where you obtained your information...

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

"deryck lant" wrote in message
...
The message
from Iraxl Enb contains these words:

I am debating between the Canon EOS 350D and the Nikon
D50. I am starting out with DSLRs, and I dont own any
lenses.

I want to find out about availability and relative
prices for lenses for the EOS and the Nikon.

From what I can see, Canon marketing for the lenses
seems more aggressive, and from
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews, I see that there are

64 Canon lenses, and 43 Nikon Lenses (including prime
and zoom). And looking at the 'Most Popular Products',
I see 3 Canon lenses, 1 Sigma, and 0 Nikkor. Looking
at the 'Most viewed', again all Canon products. Do
people not buy Nikon anymore, or are they just the
strong and silent types?

One of the factors I feel, in favor of Canon is the
availability of cheap lenses, as an alternative to the
'L' lenses, and on the other hand, the D50 is cheaper,
and takes SD cards, which I have plenty of...

Take a good long look at the D50 which is available with
the very nice bargain priced 18-70mm lens. The 18-70mm
has much lower CA than the EFS Canon lenses due to the
3 ED lens elements. Canon with their marketing zeal would
no doubt call this lens an L class lens.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50/
http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_...nikon_d50.html
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/D50/D50A.HTM

Nikon quality control is higher than Canon hence slightly
higher lens prices.

Nikon bring fewer DSLR cameras to market than Canon but these
cameras are usually fully sorted designs.

Deryck


One additional thought, the IF Lenses mount on all the Nikon DSLR and Film
SLR is the same, so if you purchase the D50 and later want the D200 or
another camera, the lenses you have purchased will work on newer models. I
cannot say that for canon, although I don't know this to be fact, it seems
there are several different lens mounts for them, and subsequently you must
stick with that lens mount or purchase a converter. Older Nikkor lens will
work but some modifications will be necessary due to the CPU situation, the
mount is the same almost.

Some knowledgeable Nikon owner can qualify this more so than I. I purchased
my D70s because my girlfriend has a N80 and several of my friends have Nikon
cameras, we can share lenses when we go out and take pictures. That right
there is important if you have friends who also own the brand of camera you
do.

Monty

deryck lant wrote:
The message iE5cf.688$PZ6.415@trndny07
from "Christopher Muto" contains these words:

Since you don't have any lenses, I suppose that this is not just
your DSLR, but also your first SLR. Many people that have been
using digital
point and
shoot cameras don't realize that you have to use the viewfinder on
DSLR's. You can not use the LCD screen on the back of the DSLR
camera to preview your shot (it is used to review your shot only).
As such I highly encourage
you to get your hands on both of these cameras. The viewfinder on
each is pretty disappointing. Because of the small digital sensor
it would take more expensive components to enlarge the image in the
viewfinder than would be reasonable given the price point that these
cameras are targeted. As such these models have viewfinders that
are small and dim as compared to what has become commonplace with
film SLR cameras. This may scare you away from wanting either of
them. The Canon viewfinder is slightly larger than the Nikon and
has greater dioptic adjustment built in. The Canon is also overall
a smaller camera and it has much more intuitive menus. Canon has
far more responsive customer service. If I were starting over I
would certainly choose Canon. I believe Canon is uniquely poised to
completely dominate the market in the next few years. The new mount
on the Nikon D200 is the first gesture Nikon has made in a long time
to for true backward compatibility of most older Nikon lenses... but
I think that this comes to late for Nikon as many people seem to
have already abandoned Nikon since they felt that Nikon had
abandoned them. But that said, either of these kits will be a good
choice. My only caution to you is that you should think
of this purchase as something that will be consumed and not as an
investment. My 35 year old Pentax Spotmatic still works and will
continue to do so... There is even a demand on the used market for
it. Not so with most digital cameras, even just a few years old.
The models that you are considering will be eclipsed in by new
technology in two or three years time. They will become difficult
to repair (due to economics you will likely replace with new rather
than repair). And nobody knows for sure if the digital sensors will
stay small or if 35mm sized sensors will become commonplace (making
non-full frame lenses specific to digital, i.e.
Nikon DX
line, obsolete).

Nikon DX lenses give good results over at least half of their zoom
range
on full frame Nikon cameras.

Canon EFS lenses will not fit on Canon full frame bodies.

The Nikon D50 and D70s together are selling over a couple of a
million of DSLR cameras a year and are doing very well thank you. The
D2X is outselling the 2 Canon pro cameras combined by 2 to one. Over
100,000 a year.

Where are these figures taken from?
(I have an idea, but I'll give you the benefit of doubt...)