Why did you choose 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
8) 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).

 

[dave]

Because funnily enough when trying to buy my first camera and doing research Canon users tended to be more helpful and friendlier!

 

[serendipidy]

"But the BIG factor in all these years is CANON USA service center in Honolulu Hawaii.
The good people there over the years have efficiently serviced all my bobos and made it better.
I believe if it was not for the great service ... I would not have ... well I dont know what I would have done...
THANK YOU CANON USA - Mahalo! to Honolulu's service team.
Brad Goda"

+100 8)

 

[RGF]

From 1977 until 1999 I was a Nikon shooter. But it seemed that late last century Nikon had badly stumbled - Canon had

IS
Eye control
All lens had motors (faster focusing)
Wider range of lens
More stable product line up (in 6 years there were 3-4 version of the 70/80-200 F2.8. Canon had one).

Now is a different story. Nikon is more innovative and aggressive.

 

[deleteme]

I started in the 70's and used Pentax and Minolta. In high school my friends were divided between Nikon and Canon both of which I admired. I went with Nikon as someone had just acquired the 20mm lens so I figured I could borrow it.

Years later I had been without a serious camera for years and was getting back into professional shooting and Canon introduced the 10D. It was a great camera for a great price and I bought two.

Canon has always had a great camera ready for me as I moved up the food chain photographically. Some may carp about being left behind by Nikon but I can say that my cameras still make me very good money and beautiful photographs and I am unafraid of the future.

 

[nicku]

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.

In 2007 i bought a Sony A100 DSLR my first digital SLR ( having 6 years experience with Canon 35mm film slr's). I bought a Sony because was at a good price and most important it has image stabilization incorporated in camera. The quality was way under Canon digital cameras at that moment. So.... i decided to sell the A100 and buy Canon.

I use Canon DSLR's since..... until March 2013 when i will buy a Nikon.

 

[K3nt]

Hmm.. having used Casio, Panasonic, Fuji etc etc small pocketcams or 'superzooms' for a number of years for the occasional snapshot photography wasn't really a big deal for me. Until 2011. I was getting fed up about missing shots of my dogs due to the slow responsiveness of the pocketcams.
I researched a little and found the Canon 7D matching what I was looking for pretty nicely. I had no experience with DSLR and didn't even know what the terms, aperture, focal length meant or, more importantly did.
I went to a store, tried Canons, Nikons, Sony, but the only one that felt right in my paws was the 7D, so I bought it.
My next thought was, ok, I now have a camera that I KNOW can take the shots I want, but I still really don't know how. Amazon, here I come. I ordered a whole bunch of books, about the camera, flash, post-processing and spent the next two months getting to grips with it. I figured as I invested so much in a camera, it'd be a bit embarrassing to use auto mode.
Then I went out and started taking pictures, first I did a day using only Av mode. Went back, checked the results and tried working out how and why something worked or didn't. Next stop, Tv-mode. And so on and so forth. Needless to say, my first shot in Bulb-mode was less than successful.
As I've come to realize, and many of you as well, nothing beats experience and experimenting.
This sort of then lead to trying one more thing, then another, then a third and pretty soon I found myself loving it. I'd made myself a hobby without ever setting out to do so.
One of the things I like most is... there's always something new to learn. And now I get a bit anxious if I can't get out shooting often enough.

This turned out longer than I thought and went a bit off topic too.
As for why Canon, it just felt right, at the time that was my only justification. And I am very happy with my choice.

 

[Faxon]

I shoot video news for a local television station. I see all the pro still news photogs shoot with Canons. Case closed. Plus, those wonderfully expensive white lenses are just lust-worthy.

 

[Ellen Schmidtee]

Because the white light and voices of an angels chorus coming out of the 450D's box made me open my wallet.


As a beginner it seemed my life would be easier with Canon, e.g. as all lenses have motors and pages in Wikipedia, and the shop employee said it doesn't really matter, though when he made the transition from film to digital, he chose Canon over Nikon.

 

[mfumbesi]

I bought my first digital P&S back in 2004, it a Korean made (can't remember the name probably Samsung).
I wasn't impressed with the image quality, I then bought another P&S in 2005 also Korean. The quality was better but nothing to write home about. The company I worked for at that time bought a Bridge camera, I think it was a Olympus. I was impressed with the image quality and discovered that it is all about the glass.
My search started around 2006 for a DSLR, at that time they were incredibly expensive. A colleague bought a 350D and was showing off at work. I downloaded a picture of me he had taken.............. the rest is history.
My first Canon was a 40D.

 

[Hillsilly]

My first Canon (AE-1 program) was a gift from my dad. He was a Pentax shooter, and like most dads, probably wanted better for his children In hindsight, it seems like a ill conceived idea as it would have made more sense for everyone to be using the same mount. But at the time, brand snobbery was very big. My dad always thought his competition entries were at a disadvantage when he listed a Pentax camera with Sigma lens.

That was a long time ago, and I've since owned a number of different systems. Throughout most of the 90's, I predominantly used a Mamiya RB67 kit. Recently, I've started playing with an Olympus m43 camera. I've also owned Yashicas and Minoltas. I'm constantly wondering if I should switch to Nikon, Sony or [insert brand of the month here]. But no matter how far or how wide I roam, I still call Canon home. Canon and Nikon are really the only two companies with the complete package. Once you've bought into one system, there is rarely a compelling reason to switch sides.