Why did you choose Canon?

[Efka76]

It is interesting to hear stories why people choose Canon when there are a lot of other firms? Nikon, Pentax, Sony...

I personally was always interested in photography and was shooting quite a lot when I was young with analog cameras Smena and Zenit- E (Soviet type cameras). My first digital camera was P&S Sony bought in 2004, however, i was not satisfied with its quality (at that time analog cameras quality was much better than digital).

In 2007 I acquired Canon G7 which was able to produce better quality photos comparing to other P&S cameras. Finally in 2012 I decided to buy DSLR and definitely choose Canon as they had more attractive design comparing to Nikon and much bigger variety of lenses (I always admired L class white lenses, which in my mind was always associated with superb quality). I never Pentax, Sony or other firms. Currently I am happy with my EOS 7D, however, have plans to move to FF (of course, that would by 5D Mark III). That's why my almost all lenses (except for EF-S 18-135) are compatible with FF cameras.

It would be interesting to hear your stories why you choose Canon.

 

[motorhead]

I switched from Nikon to Canon for the Eos-3, purely for the eye-control. Then I gradually bought my L series lenses and now have too much invested to switch back, even though the Nikon D800E is my idea of the best dSLR currently on the market.

 

[bardamu]

I photograph a lot of really tiny stuff, right down to 1mm and occasionally smaller. The MP-E 65mm 1-5x is great for this, and there is not really a Nikon equivalent, so it was a straightforward decision. It is possible to do this sort of thing with Nikon, indeed any DSLR, but the MP-E is very convenient.

 

[Renegade Runner]

Not sure how or why but about 6 years years ago I became interested in photography. Perhaps it was from my dad who had a an older Minolta film camera.

At that time the Canon t1i (500D) was being launched. I heard many positive things about it. It was supposed to be a great introductory DSLR at an affordable price. I took my chance with it and have no regrets. Years later I am still with Canon and have recently upgraded to the 6D. Again no regrets.

 

[wockawocka]

I don't like the red arrow and the yellow straps on the Nikons.

Yes, really.

 

[Vivid Color]

The Elan 7 had better ergonomics for my hands than the Nikon with similar technical specs.

 

[mb66energy]

I use canon gear since roughly 1982 (AE-1, bought it from my dad) and entered the digital world with the G2 in 2001 due to quality issues: G2 was one of the first really good digital cameras with high max aperture and very good color rendering.

In 2005 I tested the Canon 350D against the Nikon D70 and the colors/overall rendering of the 350D was superior to the Nikon - result: I bought the EOS 20D with the 60mm EF-S. A great combo. I have seen D200 and D300 from Nikon but I always preferred the overall quality of the EOS 40D I bought in 2009.

Nikon D800 might be the better camera in terms of technical specs and perhaps IQ, but I will stay with my Canon lenses - which deliver the IQ from the lens side I prefer.

 

[Marsu42]

It would be interesting to hear your stories why you choose Canon.

I got my first Canon (an eos 620, later the great RT without vf blackout and near zero shutter lag) in the early 90s because they had the silent usm lenses.

After these cameras were broken and in the dawn of the digital age I nearly forgot about photography because of the quick succession of expensive and worse-than-film dslr bodies - until I figured the 18mp crop sensor is "good enough" for most things I'd like to do ... and I even used my 90s 28-105 lens until two weeks ago.

Now I'm sticking with Canon because of Magic Lantern and I like the usability of the eos cameras - but if that wouldn't be the case I have to admit buying Nikon and the d7000 would have been a smarter choice two years ago.

 

[Sphyn0x]

For me its better ergonomics and button layout, also better lenses, like 70-200

 

[SDsc0rch]

i always thought i would be a nikon guy when i "grew up" and got serious about photography

the image i had of nikon can be described with words such as "professional" and top quality and elite and serious

but starting out - my dad had a canon, and i started off in photography as a teenager shooting with his gear (Canon TX - ? if i remember correctly? is that a camera?? he got it in the late-60s when he was overseas - vietnam)

then later when i was in the navy, at the the time it seemed to me canon had the better technology and i liked the design - so i shot with a canon camera back in the mid-90s -- but i wasn't "serious" into photography like i am now

and this latest time around, i was getting into astronomy more seriously and wanted to make the transition to astrophotography, and my circle of friends had very high compliments for canons equipment and their support for astronomy historically - so i got a T2i to start out with

since i had already invested in lenses and other equipment, i just moved up the canon ladder - 7D 5D2 and now 1Dx

but let me tell you - i am VERY happy

because, at first when you don't know $#!* about something, you just make the best choice you can - right or wrong, good or bad - in the case of photography, that choice has long-term consequences --- the choice you make first pretty much sets your course going ahead for several years - and the longer you're in to it, the harder it is to cross tracks onto the other team's side

but i'm canon and i couldn't be happier
8)



its funny - when i spoke w/ my dad about this a few months back he said the same thing, he always looked up to nikon, thought he'd get a nikon, but always decided on canon at the critical time

i thought that was funny

 

[phixional ninja]

In 2007 I acquired Canon G7 which was able to produce better quality photos comparing to other P&S cameras.

For me it was the G10, which I got as my first camera after exhaustive research (I couldn't afford a DSLR, but wanted lots of chunky manual controls). When I started researching DSLRs a couple years later, I never really looked elsewhere, because I'd been happy with the G10, and figured Canon might as well get my business (the great 7D reviews didn't hurt). After a two happy years with the 7D, I just recently moved to a 5D3.

 

[Taemobig]

All my friends were already using canon, so I bought a canon dslr so we can all share lenses.

 

[Stephen Melvin]

I had been a Nikon owner since 1989, and I knew that that was the only brand I'd ever shoot. Fast forward to 2003, and I had a job that required a digital camera. I still thought that digital was a good five years away from being acceptable. I hated that the SLR's used a smaller-than-35mm sensor, and the point-and-shoots were so damned slow.

I was in Best Buy talking to a salesmen about this; particularly about the lens situation and how I would want a lens that offered wide angle coverage. To that point, it wasn't really possible. He was trying to sell me a 10D, but it was pricey, and none of the available lenses gave me what I was looking for. Besides, I preferred Nikon.

He did realize what I was looking for, after talking to me for a while. What's more, he had it in stock. Almost reluctantly, he pulled out a Canon 300D Digital Rebel with 18-55mm kit lens; the first lens designed specifically for APS-C format cameras. Not only was it speedy, with a lens that went somewhat wide, but it was $1,000.

I was almost shocked at the image quality from this camera. I had no idea digital photography had come this far.

So I accidentally switched to Canon, vowing to switch back someday. But Nikon took a very long time to catch up to Canon, who in the meantime released the amazing and very successful 20D. Once I had that 20D, I knew I was hooked, and I've never looked back.

 

[The Bad Duck]

I shot with the FD-system 1999 to 2007 when I wanted to go digital SLR. Choise came to Canon because they had a cheap full frame camera (5Dc - although I got the 30D thinking I´d upgrade in the future) and the 70-200 /4 L IS. The 30D was a kick-ass camera, the 70-200 a kick-ass lens, the 17-40 L pretty ok but I knew it would be great on a FF later on. Nikon had nothing like that lens or the camera I really wanted, so it was a no brainer. And, as I still think, camera bodies are electronics and new models comes every 3 years. Lenses last way longer if you get quality stuff. So why worry too much about the body? In a few years we will have new mind-blowing bodies.

No regrets, I really really like my current gear and see no point whatsoever to change. Why? I´m not using all of the potential of my 5D mkII yet. Sometimes AF refuses to lock, but not that often. High ISO? Well, there are tripods and flashes so... often not a problem.

 

[schmidtfilme]

I just switched late 2012 to Canon from Nikon. I was always shooting Nikon since 1991. Before that I was shooting Carl Zeiss Ikon.

Why did I switch? Back in the film days the film one used was in charge for the color rendition. Now its the camera makers, the sensors and the algorithms.

When I got my first digital DSLR I bought a Nikon - of course because I had all the lenses. But in 2011 and early 2012 I was trying on a long vacation ( 3 weeks in rumania) a Canon and a Sony next to my good old Nikon. I was shooting around 4000 pictures and afterwards I could tell for every one by just looking at it from which camera it came and which one I liked best - Canon.

So - I just got a Canon 5D Mark 3, 17-40, 24-105 and 70-200 all f4.

 

[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... ;-)