Why did you choose Canon?

[Sith Zombie]

When it was time for me to go digital Canon was actually a lot cheaper than Nikon [gods honest truth lol]. The ergonomics  of the 40D swung it against the Nikon equivalent. Also a few friends had canon so the opportunity to borrow lenses was there.
I'm hoping to get a full frame later in the year and the Nikon D600 is the perfect camera for my needs and at the right price so I could see myself getting this but still keeping my Canon gear. Or getting the 5D mkiii, but I feel i would be spending more money on a great AF system I would never push to its limits.

[Barrfly]

 Canon wasn't my first pick. 
Back in 1976 My parents gave me my first SLR as a Christmas present . A Pentax K-1000 with a 50mm lens and I've been hooked on photography ever since.

 Several years later I took a job at a photo shop , main reason being I spent so much time there that I knew the inventory and sales pitches better then some of the employees . Plus it was a good way for a young guy on a tight budget to get some good discounts on the equipment I so craved .  And as an added perk the manager would price film and processing at cost, I was in heaven !

 Back then , we worked on commission. The camera companies would give us super discounts or in some cases reward us with a camera if we met sales quotas of their brand.  The first upgrade I every had was a Ricoh XRP, Free of charge, I sold those cameras like there was no tomorrow. Nice thing was they had the same lens mount as the Pentax so I could use what glass I had on the new body.

 Then it happened one day the Canon rep stopped by our store with a new EOS 620 in hand. I miss the days when the Reps would come around , their job was to convince us to sell their brand.  Needless to say it was the most advanced 35mm camera I had every seen. I drooled . Though Canon didn't offer the incentives and had lower commissions then the competition I knew I was going to be selling a lot of these.

 When he found out I was shooting with a Ricoh  his head almost exploded , we've got to fix that he said.  A few short weeks later when the first shipment arrived my manager pointed out a box with my name on it. We were both surprised because any in store purchases made had to go threw him.  Inside the plain cardboard box buried in the styrofoam peanuts was a Canon EOS 620, 50mm lens and a letter from the Rep. It said, Included in this package is the demo camera I've been using , I'm sure once you experience the quality Canon has to offer it will be your brand of choice, Enjoy !

 He was right, I've been shooting Canon ever since. Actually I used that same body until the 30D came out. Since then I've upgraded to a 50D, purchased two 60D's for my children, a 7D for myself and am on the verge of getting a 5D mk III. 

 I guess to put it in a nutshell, Canon and the Rep sold me.   

[steliosk]

Never liked nikon's policy
Never liked the ergonomics
Never liked that contrasted fake colour
Never liked those warm-yellowish skintones

and i never understood this:
d300 = 12mp
d90 = 12mp
d3 = 12mp
d700 = 12mp
d3s = 12mp


Plus the L glass is uncomparable
faster USM moters, better rendering, fantastic bokeh

I chose Canon then and i'd choose even today.

3 things i love on Nikons?
- dynamic range
- cheap d800 36megapixels
- 14-24 lens

[alexanderferdinand]

Started with a AE-1 Program, A1, 2x T90.
Big break working in the hospital.
Bought the 300D, because the 70-210/3,5-4,5 would fit.
Then I had time and money, so 5D2, 1D4, 5D3, a lot of glasses.

Looking back: Canon had the more interesting bodies and more important: Lenses.
I love the 35L, the 70-200/2,8 IS II.
Switching Systems would change a well running combination of many items.
I dont think Nikon is bad, just never touched me.
AND: everytime Nikon is making skmething good (love the Sony- sensors), big Red has to react.

Nuff said.

[Stig]

when my DSLR craving started (back then it was mainly because i wanted something more (shutter button) responsive to take pictures of rally cars when I wasn't sitting in one (before they are out of the frame)) I looked around and went for 350D for two main reasons:

1, Canon cameras just looked more appealing to me, looks and ergonomics wise... maybe not the best reason, but that's how it is/was and I don't think I'm the only one

2, my closest friend bought 20D not long before that and I thought we will be able to share some lenses every now and then... as it turned out, we used our limited budgets for the same lenses (18-55 kit and sigma 70-300) and now, I expanded my gear recently, while my friend seems to lose interest in photography... not that I would regret choosing Canon

[Don Haines]

I shot Olympus for a long long time... The user interface on the Oly's beat Nikon and the Rebels hands down... but was inferior to the pro level canons... I needed the camera system to be very portable and the extra reach of 4/3 was a bonus. Sensors were equivalent in IQ to Canon and Nikon APS-C and the selection of quality lenses was growing quickly. Oly 4/3 was the right choice for me.

Then came micro four-thirds..... All of the developement went into micro 4/3 cameras and lenses. I HATED the user interface, the lenses were all low quality and the cameras/bodies were not sealed, and the ergonomics, at least for me, sucked. 4/3 users were left out in the cold.

We Oly users waited patiently for the next "pro" body..... and the E-5 came out. I had one pre-ordered and when I went into the store to pick it up I was so dissapointed in it (the PEN's took better pictures) that I walked out of the store with a 60D.

I picked the 60D because:
1) reasonable price
2) reasonable quality pictures... way better iq than 4/3 cameras of the time
3) great ergonomics / user interface (love the tilt/swivel screen)
4) Lens selection (still nothing long availiable for 4/3 or micro 4/3)
5) Magic lantern
6) Semi-sealed body... would have prefered fully sealed, but way better than no sealing
7) size was good for backpacking
APS-C for longer reach without getting lenses too big to carry up mountains
9) second party lenses and accessories

Since I got it, the only thing that has changed is that the iq of the latest micro 4/3 cameras is slightly ahead of the current crop of APS-C cameras (still behind FF), but all the other shortcomings of micro 4/3 still remain... I'll keep shooting with it until a much better APS-C canon comes out, and ignore incremental upgrades.

[kbmelb]

I was in a Electronics super store playing around with 30D and D80. With the 30D, I was able to figure out how to set Aperture and shutter while in "M". Never did figure it out on the Nikon.

While I feel the resolution would be beneficial to some of the work I do, my 5D3 and 1Ds3 are holding their own until Canon puts out there high MP beast.

For me 21-22MP is plenty, but I do have clients that lean for medium format IQ and I'd love to get that in a 35mm style body.

[verysimplejason]

Ergonomics and lens.  I also don't like initial Nikon colors.  I agree though you can change your settings or in PP but still I prefer Canon colors.  I also like their after-sales service.  I also like the quality of my Canons.

What I like in Nikon:
DR.
They're not afraid to lower down the cost.
They almost always release very competitive bodies and lenses.

[20Dave]

I had an old Nikon N2000, but none of the lenses were compatible with the DSLRs. So I was starting from scratch. I was still leaning towards Nikon because of a slight brand loyalty. However, I am mostly interested in bird/wildlife photography, and the 400mm f/5.6 lens fit a price (not insane)/performance (insane) point that Nikon couldn't counter. All other glass was fairly comparable between the two companies, so I went with a 20D. Now I'm waiting to see if my next upgrade will be to a 7DII or a 5DIII or something else, not ruling out a 70D if it comes in better than most folks fear on this forum.

Dave

[Dantana]

Started with a hand me down AE-1 in college, added some FD glass and fell in love with shooting and printing my own. I reluctantly parted with my kit when it needed repairs that cost more than the body was worth and bought a Rebel 2000 before a trip to Europe. I held onto that until I got sick of trying to find a decent place to get prints, since I can't fit a darkroom setup any more. Switched to digital with an XSI after checking out the competition and not being very impressed. The Canon glass is enough to keep me with them, not that I have any major complaints about their cameras either. People on this forum seem to be obsessed with the L lenses, and I am sure they are great if you can afford them, but I get an awful lot of good images from my non-L kit. I'm a firm believer that the camera is a tool, and I think Canon makes a lot of worthy tools of the trade. I hope to be able to afford to upgrade in not too long, and I'd love to move back to full frame. I do miss that old AE-1 from time to time though.

[phottographer66]

It was actually very simple.....heads I went with Nikon and tails I went with Canon. I did not know enough about either brand to make an educated decision at the time.

I was moving up from a Pentax K-1000 and a Chinon somethin-or-other model, so to me either brand was going to be a major improvement with their new technology.

Never looked back

[Dylan777]

Started with Canon P&S. Now...I'm shooting with 5D III and some L lenses.

HOWEVER, my next compact camera will be Fuji X100s or Sony RX1.

[EvilTed]

Started with Canon P&S. Now...I'm shooting with 5D III and some L lenses.

HOWEVER, my next compact camera will be Fuji X100s or Sony RX1.

[PhyloGuy]

I started in photography as a member of my high school yearbook staff, taking photos of school events. I used my parents' Minolta. I was quite amateurish and didn't really understand what I was doing. I didn't do much photography for years, only occasionally taking photos of kids/family like anybody would, until about a year ago when I became interested in photography for a project. I posted here on February 9, 2012,

   http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=3323.msg69553#msg69553
   
and became interested in this community. As noted in that post, I had a T3i at the time. This initial choice was somewhat random, as I picked the camera up at Costco. However, over the past year I have read this forum obsessively, and picked up knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of different systems. I also visit the local photography stores frequently (Calument and Looking Glass Photo, as I live in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay area).

I am happy with my choice, though I suppose that if I had chosen Nikon, I would also be happy. I have a colleague who bought a Nikon D800 and he let me play with that camera. He is quite happy with that camera, but my subjective thought was that the camera didn't feel quite right in my hands, compared to my 5D3.

In any case, it would be difficult for me to switch to Nikon, or any other camera brand for that matter, now that I have invested so much in lenses (EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L, EF 50mm f/1.2L, EF 100mm f/2.8L IS, and EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II) and other stuff (600EX-RT and ST-E3-RT). My wife has been understanding, but there are limits...

[fohtohz]

canon stuff is usually quite a lot cheaper and easier to acquire, both new(more promotions) and used(more buyers/sellers).