tasteofjace said:
Both the MK3 and D800 appear to be very good cameras. I don't think either camera warrants users of either brand to jump ship if they have already invested in glass.
It's the nature of rivaling companies to leap frog one another as time goes on, so I think it's much safer to just choose a side and stay on it, rather than chasing whatever seems to be the best thing out there at the moment.
yes... and no.
i'm one of the switchers, i'm going from the nikon d300 to the mark iii. so that means i'm also going full frame.
i've been a nikon user for about 8 years.
here's why i'm switching.
upgrade path
i don't feel like nikon gave me an upgrade path. nikon has been stuck at 12MP for YEARS, and i'm ready for more. the 16MP in D4 isn't enough for what i need, and i also am not spending 6k on a camera.
the d800's 36MP is too much for me. i don't want to manage HUGE file sizes, and though i could always shoot at smaller image sizes on the D800 (nikon even recommends this), the camera is still having process those huge files to make the images smaller, so you're still stuck at 4 frames per second. not nearly enough for me.
lenses, and this is a big one for me.
the nikkor 24-70mm is really beautiful, and so is the 70-200mm, but even in those lenses i haven't found their bokeh to be as beautiful as canon's. i've spent tons of hours researching images on flickr, andi feel like the canon lenses almost always look better than nikon's do.
nikon's recent anti-consumer anti-competitive pricing policies.
nikon recently implemented a "universal pricing policy" that basically forces all their authorized dealers to price nikon items at MSRP or lose their right to buy nikon products. this really pisses me off. this made all nikon products increase in price 15-30% OVERNIGHT.
why would nikon do this to their loyal customers? what's wrong with price competition? they claim they wanted to even the playing ground, making the decision to buy a camera at your local camera store more even price-wise, claiming it eliminates bigger stores (like B&H) ability to "unfairly" complete with lower prices. the idea is know we'll all be willing to go to our local stores because price is the same wherever you go — it's bullcrap.
small camera stores shouldn't be given this pricing crutch. they should learn to compete in other ways, like offering excellent service. offering classes. and if they can't compete, they should go out of business.
i want to know what the other side has to offer
i bet 90% of the "canon vs. nikon nikon vs. canon" arguments are by people who have only ever used one brand. i don't want to be that guy comparing specs. i want to know first hands how both systems work, their respective strengths and weaknesses, and then i want to make a decision on which system to use (maybe both!).
i'm a nikon user because i've always been a nikon user. my dad gave me my first camera in college and it was a nikon, so that's the brand i stuck with.
is canon better? i'm sure it is in certain ways. but i'm looking forward to finding out first hand.
