Why did you choose Canon?

[dexstrose]

In the late 90s, most of the photogs had Nikon f5 at the newspaper i worked for. Then when we transitioned to digital, they found canon reliable and cost effective. From then on, i always have a loyalty towards Canon for their durability. Most of the places I worked for used Canon. They are workhorses.

[risc32]

electronic motor control of the aperture blades.(100% electrical contacts between the camera and lens)
wide, high quality lens selection.
fast AF.
option of using nikon, and other glass with adaptors.
ergos-a quick look at the back of their flash units makes much more sense to me than what is on nikon gear.

 that all still applies, but when i moved into the canon system i would have also said that nikon's camera offerrings where a joke. that's not so now. now they have their act together, but then, they were pretty bad. (digital up until the D3) i now have a 1n, but when i REALLY shot film i used a pentax so i can't say.

Also, canons look very nice. they are smooth and modern, nikons look like tractors. 

[Boyer U. Klum-Cey]

I knew Canon nomenclature from my video days and was too olde to learn a new language.  No regrets, worked out well for me.

[TrumpetPower!]

I got started in photography with an Olympus P&S superzoom a year or so before the introduction of the original Digital Rebel. Not long after that I bought one and haven't looked back since.

b&

[smithy]

My father bought himself (on a whim) an EOS 500 in the mid-1990s, but he never used it.  However, I became very interested in the camera and in 1997 bought myself an EOS 500N (its successor) with two kit lenses.  I burned through hundreds of rolls of film in this camera - I took it everywhere it was not supposed to go, from the Arctic Circle in -27C, to winter mountaineering in New Zealand.

At the time I was not aware of the different camera brands nor their different capabilities.  As far as I could tell, they all looked the same and seemed to do the same things.  Things haven't really changed... ;-)

[uokhoj]

In the early '90s when I first touched a camera it was a Nikon FE, absolutely great click sound. In the years ahead I was able to use many other brands and many models of each. The one that stick to my hand better, was EOS 600. I just loved that little camera. Time went buy, I turned to middle frame (mamiya), then in the early 2000 I stoped using any camera at all. It was the time when digital wasn't good enough for me but nobody (almost) wanted to pay for analog. So I quited pro photography and carried on with other stuff (I wasn't very good at it anyway). Fast forward to late 2008 I was in the dilima between D700 and 5DMKII since I had no lens collection. I opted for D700 but the store didn't have that available. But it had the 5DMKII, and 24-70 and the 580EX2 and there was no way I could wait any longer for my first DSLR. Now 10 L lenses later, there is no turning back. My 5DMKII still amazes me and I intend to make the best out of it before I buy a new full frame. (I also own a 7D).
D800E is the one camera I envy for the absence of antialising filter, but I 'm sure that some day in the (hopefully -for my bank account- not very  ) near future Canon will have an answer.

[pwp]

My primary reason? Three letters. CPS. Canon Professional Services.

It's been 15 years since I gave Nikon the sack, and bought into the EOS-1 system with a pair of EOS 1n film bodies and four or five L lenses. The Nikon F5  bodies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_F5 I was using were solid & reliable, the glass was pretty good but professional support was abysmal. The EOS system was a revelation and CPS support continues to astound me with their support for photographers above and beyond what one might reasonably expect. And they keep improving.

The switch to Canon was further validated in the early digital days when Canon indisputably led the field with EOS 1D, 1Ds, 1Ds mk2 etc plus very competent consumer DSLR bodies.

In 2013 the argument at the level of pro gear and prosumer DSLR has blurred considerably. Nikon professional support has lifted and the bodies probably outperform Canon in some respects. Let's face it, they're both great systems now.

The reality for professionals is a choice between Canon and Nikon, but for non-pros the choices are astounding. You could find something useful and satisfying from just about any of the major manufacturers.

-PW

[sky87]

I had a play with my friends 350D and knew that I wanted a Canon, it felt great in my hands and it was easier to use and understand.

[Narcolepsy]

Quality and Range of Lenses.

[jp121]

My first dslr was a Canon 550d (T2i). I chose Canon because at the time it was the best entry point camera around.

[V8Beast]

Because it was the early '00s when I switched to digital, and the Nikon system sucked very badly at the time. These days, you can't go wrong either way.

[APBPhoto]

I went with Canon over the other camera makers because Canon camera fits best in my hand.
The buttons are not too small and their placement works really well.

[sandymandy]

The nifty fifty got me

[Chris Geiger]

For more than 10 years I shot event, product and wedding photography with Nikon equipment. I now specialize in wedding photography and like doing off camera flash when I can. When I saw that Canon announced the 600EX-RT flash with built in radios, I was very interested. After seeing some online previews, I ordered a pair of 600EX-RT and 5DIII. After a week of testing I loved how the flash system worked. The camera body seemed overall very similar to the D3s Nikon I was using as my primary camera in terms of image quality. I decided to shoot my next wedding with all Canon equipment. I took this image in the rain at my first (with Canon) wedding in early 2012. I sold all Nikon equipment when I got home.

[sdsr]

After progressing from cheap film cameras to digital point-and-shoots and not much liking them, something induced me a few years ago to try a real digital camera, and I dipped my toe in the water via a Nikon D3100.  I went from being bowled over by its superiority over what I had used before to being conscious of how it could be better in terms of image quality, and after its autofocus mechanism broke a mere four months after I bought it I started investigating other cameras.  Much research let me to a Pentax K-5, in part because it seemed to do best in low light/high ISO among crop sensor DSLRS (as you may know, it has much the same sensor as a Nikon D7000).  It seemed a definite step up (in price, too!).

But as with the Nikon D3100 I started to think, well, good though this is, it could be even better and decided to see for myself what all the fuss was about with FF and rented one.  Not sure why I chose a 5DII to rent rather than a Nikon, but when it showed up I was impressed by the improvement (especially low light/high ISO) in picture quality and amazed by the superiority of the L lens I rented simply as a piece of machinery.  So, I sold all my Pentax and Nikon gear and switched to Canon, buying a 5DII with a Rebel for back-up (the 5DIII was not yet available).  When the Nikon D600 was so cheap before Christmas I checked back in with Nikon by renting one along with a 6D and 5DIII, but the superiority of D600's sensor was lost on me; good though it is, I never preferred the images I took with it (plus, as with the D3100, I hate the convoluted controls).  Canon has more lenses that appeal to me too.  So for now I'm sticking with Canon (am impatiently awaiting the arrival of a 6D on Monday).