Why Scott Kelby Switched to Canon

[Rick]

Did I hear Kelby correctly in the video when he was complaining about the D4 having to press the dial each time to scroll through each shot? I just tried my D800E and a single press/hold will scroll through all images automatically? Of course, if I want to stop and gaze at a particular image, I have to release my press. Same with a wheel, right? In fact, a press/hold seems easier than having to turn a wheel with the thumb as far as it can go, then repositioning the thumb on the wheel for the next batch.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Did I hear Kelby correctly in the video when he was complaining about the D4 having to press the dial each time to scroll through each shot? I just tried my D800E and a single press/hold will scroll through all images automatically? Of course, if I want to stop and gaze at a particular image, I have to release my press. Same with a wheel, right? In fact, a press/hold seems easier than having to turn a wheel with the thumb as far as it can go, then repositioning the thumb on the wheel for the next batch.

No it is not same with a wheel ... image playback with the Canon wheel is much much faster than scrolling through the Nikon button system on any of the Nikon cameras ... there is a noticeable lag between two photos even when you hold down the button on a Nikon camera ... with the Canon wheel you can go crazy fast using your index finger or thumb to turn the whee real fast, it is lightning quick. Try it with your D800E and then the Canon 5D MK III to see the difference.

 

[Rick]

Why does this "switching" by whoever to Canon gear matter at all?

Fanbois. It will matter to them. And you gotta think that NAPP has more than a few Nikon Fanbois who could get mad enough to put a dent in membership, especially after the lame, intelligence-insulting reasoning Kelby invoked. I would have respected "because I wanna" more than the things he claimed in the video.

Basically, he's spinning BS for the benefit of his Nikon subscribers to NAPP which I think is dishonest if not explicitly it is self-deceiving .

I shoot both brands and I am a member of NAPP and I think beyond this video, Kelby has generally been a positive force in my photography but I gotta call a spade a spade on this one.

 

[CanNotYet]

Well, as I chose Canon mainly on Ergonomics, I can see why that could sway him a bit.
Regarding the "built by Apple" comment, I think he is referring to what Apple still does best in the smartphone business; They build the most intuitive control system. IOS still (although IOS7 aint my cup of tea) blows Android et al out of the water when it comes to "easy to use".

Canon also have very intuitive menues and control systems. I have tried Nikon, Olympus and (cough) Sony, but their menues are more confusing to operate than Canon's are. (well, to me at least)

So, I agree with Scott there.

Regarding the other parts of the switch, I think it just comes down to if it makes it easier to get the shots you want. The 1DX makes it easier for him to take the pictures he want from an NFL game, compared to the D4 (I think). As such, it is a logical switch.

 

[Rick]

Did I hear Kelby correctly in the video when he was complaining about the D4 having to press the dial each time to scroll through each shot? I just tried my D800E and a single press/hold will scroll through all images automatically? Of course, if I want to stop and gaze at a particular image, I have to release my press. Same with a wheel, right? In fact, a press/hold seems easier than having to turn a wheel with the thumb as far as it can go, then repositioning the thumb on the wheel for the next batch.

No it is not same with a wheel ... image playback with the Canon wheel is much much faster than scrolling through the Nikon button system on any of the Nikon cameras ... there is a noticeable lag between two photos even when you hold down the button on a Nikon camera ... with the Canon wheel you can go crazy fast using your index finger or thumb to turn the whee real fast, it is lightning quick. Try it with your D800E and then the Canon 5D MK III to see the difference.

First of all, I have both brands so I know how fast/slow everything is unless a D4/1D X are different from a D800E/5D3. Yes, I agree that a spin on the wheel is lightning quick, but how can one look for the correct exposure/composition, as Kelby claims he is doing, by spinning a wheel "lightning quick"?

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Did I hear Kelby correctly in the video when he was complaining about the D4 having to press the dial each time to scroll through each shot? I just tried my D800E and a single press/hold will scroll through all images automatically? Of course, if I want to stop and gaze at a particular image, I have to release my press. Same with a wheel, right? In fact, a press/hold seems easier than having to turn a wheel with the thumb as far as it can go, then repositioning the thumb on the wheel for the next batch.

No it is not same with a wheel ... image playback with the Canon wheel is much much faster than scrolling through the Nikon button system on any of the Nikon cameras ... there is a noticeable lag between two photos even when you hold down the button on a Nikon camera ... with the Canon wheel you can go crazy fast using your index finger or thumb to turn the whee real fast, it is lightning quick. Try it with your D800E and then the Canon 5D MK III to see the difference.

First of all, I have both brands so I know how fast/slow everything is unless a D4/1D X are different from a D800E/5D3.

I know, you already mentioned that you shoot with both the systems ... I too shoot with both the systems and a Sony, it does not mean we know everything.

Yes, I agree that a spin on the wheel is lightning quick, but how can one look for the correct exposure/composition, as Kelby claims he is doing, by spinning a wheel "lightning quick"?

Good eye sight

 

[joshmurrah]

Boy, there's some SERIOUS hate and bickering in this thread.

Kelby isn't my favorite trainer/expert/talking-head by any stretch, but I believe that his reasons were sound.

The skin tones, review speed, ergonomics are CRITICAL when you're doing sports photography... you don't have time to 'shop or browse your photos, they are delivered as-is out of the camera ASAP. He got hooked in from there, it's simple.

Of course, Canon was wooing him, and he's well compensated/sponsored, as a lot of top evangelists/trainers/mouthpieces are, so that's a factor... is anyone really surprised.

 

[Rick]

Did I hear Kelby correctly in the video when he was complaining about the D4 having to press the dial each time to scroll through each shot? I just tried my D800E and a single press/hold will scroll through all images automatically? Of course, if I want to stop and gaze at a particular image, I have to release my press. Same with a wheel, right? In fact, a press/hold seems easier than having to turn a wheel with the thumb as far as it can go, then repositioning the thumb on the wheel for the next batch.

No it is not same with a wheel ... image playback with the Canon wheel is much much faster than scrolling through the Nikon button system on any of the Nikon cameras ... there is a noticeable lag between two photos even when you hold down the button on a Nikon camera ... with the Canon wheel you can go crazy fast using your index finger or thumb to turn the whee real fast, it is lightning quick. Try it with your D800E and then the Canon 5D MK III to see the difference.

First of all, I have both brands so I know how fast/slow everything is unless a D4/1D X are different from a D800E/5D3.

I know, you already mentioned that you shoot with both the systems ... I too shoot with both the systems and a Sony, it does not mean we know everything.

Yes, I agree that a spin on the wheel is lightning quick, but how can one look for the correct exposure/composition, as Kelby claims he is doing, by spinning a wheel "lightning quick"?

Good eye sight

That would be Real good eyesight.

 

[Rick]

It looks to me like you just started the hating.

Boy, there's some SERIOUS hate and bickering in this thread.

Kelby isn't my favorite trainer/expert/talking-head by any stretch, but I believe that his reasons were sound.

The skin tones, review speed, ergonomics are CRITICAL when you're doing sports photography... you don't have time to 'shop or browse your photos, they are delivered as-is out of the camera ASAP. He got hooked in from there, it's simple.

Of course, Canon was wooing him, and he's well compensated/sponsored, as a lot of top evangelists/trainers/mouthpieces are, so that's a factor... is anyone really surprised.

 

[unfocused]

Boy, there's some SERIOUS hate and bickering in this thread.

That's an understatement. I really can't believe all the negativity. And...this is on a Canon forum.

Scott Kelby is successful...Scott Kelby is a businessman...shocking.

 

[Albi86]

Scott Kelby is successful...Scott Kelby is a businessman...shocking.

You see, it's a bit like when doctors recommend a certain drug and then you discover they were taking money from the pharma company. Maybe they really believe the drug is great and being sponsored by its manufacturer has nothing to do with their professional opinion... but you'll never put the doubt 100% aside.

We're certainly not a that level here, but in a way I believe many people felt like Kelby's economical interests did get in the way of his photographic recommendations in this situation. Might be the theatricality of the whole thing.

 

[DanielW]

Why does this "switching" by whoever to Canon gear matter at all? Well, except to maybe make all those wannabee "pros" feel more warm and fuzzy about their Canon purchases.

I know it is fashionable to make certain comments on the internet, that kinda look like they are "different" from others, but not everything, in life, has to be viewed with cynicism. I am a subscriber to Kelbyone and I like to know what camera gear Kelby uses, it gives us an opportunity to understand why or how professionals make their decisions ... same as me (or others) wanting to know what camera gear other CR members use - in Scott Kelby's case, he is a lot more famous than us, so the level of interest is obviously more. It does not mean people are "wannabee pros" wanting to "feel more warm and fuzzy about theri Canon purchases".

+1
I have a few books Scott Kelby wrote. I think it is great he is switching to Canon, even though his books are not brand-specific (hence no real advantage from that).
And yes, I agree he is not the greatest photographer ever, but I learned a lot from watching/reading his stuff, so that makes me grateful somehow. Maybe that is the reason I liked to know his gear is now like mine.
Cheers,
Daniel

 

[Rienzphotoz]

Scott Kelby is successful...Scott Kelby is a businessman...shocking.

You see, it's a bit like when doctors recommend a certain drug and then you discover they were taking money from the pharma company. Maybe they really believe the drug is great and being sponsored by its manufacturer has nothing to do with their professional opinion... but you'll never put the doubt 100% aside.

We're certainly not a that level here, but in a way I believe many people felt like Kelby's economical interests did get in the way of his photographic recommendations in this situation. Might be the theatricality of the whole thing.

Nothing wrong in making money ... we are not forced to accept what he says and people aren't stupid to blindly follow whatever Kelby says ... its alright not to agree with Kelby or anyone else but spreading hate isn't .... many of us on this forum share our thoughts and recommend certain gear to others, but we don't get paid for it, that does not mean we are noble and Scott's recommendation has some sort of evil hidden agenda because he gets paid for it ... maybe our recommendation is not worth paying for ... but obviously a big multi-national corporation like Canon thinks its worth paying that guy, because he worked hard for it ... it's not like he is robbing people of their hard earned money from simple folk who don't know about photography ... he was talking about high end camera gear, people who generally buy that kind of gear aren't newbies, they are either professionals or very advanced hobbyists ... it ain't easy fooling them. What is stupid is when people on internet forums think that they are some sort of vigilanties out to save innocent people from any successful professional who is promoting a particular product. We don't like what the man says, that's fine, but accusing him of misleading people isn't fine.
About "theatricality", if you've attended any of Scott Kelby or Joe McNally workshops or videos, you will see that, that's how they always are ... they aren't putting up a show, that how they always talk, it is their normal approach to all their presentations/videos/workshops.

 

[Sella174]

... in Scott Kelby's case, he is a lot more famous than us.

Actually, I'd never heard of him before reading this thread. I have, however, heard about you some time ago.

 

[Rienzphotoz]

... in Scott Kelby's case, he is a lot more famous than us.

Actually, I'd never heard of him before reading this thread.

Now you know ... one day or another we all learn about things we were ignorant of, today it was your turn

 

[eli72]

Scott Kelby is successful...Scott Kelby is a businessman...shocking.

You see, it's a bit like when doctors recommend a certain drug and then you discover they were taking money from the pharma company. Maybe they really believe the drug is great and being sponsored by its manufacturer has nothing to do with their professional opinion... but you'll never put the doubt 100% aside.

We're certainly not a that level here, but in a way I believe many people felt like Kelby's economical interests did get in the way of his photographic recommendations in this situation. Might be the theatricality of the whole thing.

One thing that seems to get lost in this discussion is that Scott is NOT recommending that anyone switch to Canon. As a fairly high-profile camera person, he has been asked repeatedly why he made the switch, and so he decided to put together a video explaining that so that he wouldn't have to keep answering the question over and over. Whether you believe what he says, or whether you take it with a grain of salt, is YOUR decision. Personally, I have too much invested in Canon gear that I've acquired over the years to even think about changing, especially since my camera gear far exceeds my talents. But the photographer who shot my daughter's wedding 9 years ago switched from Canon to Nikon (prior to the introduction of the 5DIII and the 1Dx), and is perfectly happy with his choice.

 

[gbchriste]

I have several of Kelby's books and have taken several of the on-line course offerings at KelbyTraining.com. I don't know what he does in his in-person dog and pony shows but his books and on-line offerings don't include any sales pitch whatsoever, at least up until now. The only time I've seen any differentiation between Nikon and Canon is in a few places where he inserted some important point about a procedure or approach to a problem that was different between the two. In those cases, it was a "how to", i.e. "You do it like this on Nikon, but like this on Canon." Never, "Nikon's way is far superior to Canon", yada yada yada.

Like I said, never been to one of his workshops or platform presentations so if he's been shilling on stage for Nikon all this time, it's something I'm not aware of. As long as the material I pay to get from him remains platform neutral, I'll gladly continue to buy it when I need it. What he uses in his own photography work is irrelevant to me. I doubt very seriously that tennis players, golfers and NASCAR drivers that have all those patches, decals and logos plastered all over thing actually use all of those product, or if they do, actually have a strong preference for either one. Premium motor oil is premium motor oil and I doubt that Jeff Gordon would really tell any difference if his crew put Penzoil instead of Quaker State in his car. He wears the Quaker State patch on his outfit because he was paid to.

If the Kelby materials I buy morph into a Canon sales pitch, I'll drop him. I don't need to waste money paying for what amounts to an advertisement for the platform I already own and if I were a Nikon user, I wouldn't want to pay money for an advertisement trying to get me to switch.

I'm pretty sure Kelby will keep doing what he's always done - creating and delivering decent quality training materials that most photographers can put to use right away making their lives a little easier.

 

[unfocused]

Scott Kelby is successful...Scott Kelby is a businessman...shocking.

You see, it's a bit like when doctors recommend a certain drug and then you discover they were taking money from the pharma company. Maybe they really believe the drug is great and being sponsored by its manufacturer has nothing to do with their professional opinion... but you'll never put the doubt 100% aside.

We're certainly not a that level here, but in a way I believe many people felt like Kelby's economical interests did get in the way of his photographic recommendations in this situation. Might be the theatricality of the whole thing.

Nothing wrong in making money ... we are not forced to accept what he says and people aren't stupid to blindly follow whatever Kelby says ... its alright not to agree with Kelby or anyone else but spreading hate isn't .... many of us on this forum share our thoughts and recommend certain gear to others, but we don't get paid for it, that does not mean we are noble and Scott's recommendation has some sort of evil hidden agenda because he gets paid for it ... maybe our recommendation is not worth paying for ... but obviously a big multi-national corporation like Canon thinks its worth paying that guy, because he worked hard for it ... it's not like he is robbing people of their hard earned money from simple folk who don't know about photography ... he was talking about high end camera gear, people who generally buy that kind of gear aren't newbies, they are either professionals or very advanced hobbyists ... it ain't easy fooling them. What is stupid is when people on internet forums think that they are some sort of vigilanties out to save innocent people from any successful professional who is promoting a particular product. We don't like what the man says, that's fine, but accusing him of misleading people isn't fine.
About "theatricality", if you've attended any of Scott Kelby or Joe McNally workshops or videos, you will see that, that's how they always are ... they aren't putting up a show, that how they always talk, it is their normal approach to all their presentations/videos/workshops.

Very well said.

As an aside, I think it's particularly weird that people feel the need to accuse Mr. Kelby of somehow "selling out" or being dishonest because he likes Canon cameras and is saying so. Do people somehow ignore the fact that the entire National Association of Photoshop Professionals and the rest of Mr. Kelby's empire is intimately tied to Adobe?

Now. I don't have any problem with that. Mr. Kelby is upfront about his ties to and support of and from Adobe, as well as any number of other brands. Why is it wrong for him to use Canon cameras and publicly acknowledge that?

 

[Rienzphotoz]

One thing that seems to get lost in this discussion is that Scott is NOT recommending that anyone switch to Canon. As a fairly high-profile camera person, he has been asked repeatedly why he made the switch, and so he decided to put together a video explaining that so that he wouldn't have to keep answering the question over and over.

+1

 

[deleteme]

When I switched from film (Nikon) to digital (Canon) I thought the ergonomics on all the digital cameras sucked. They just sucked in different ways.
I am still with Canon 11 years later and I still think the controls are annoying and slow. However my 17TS-E keeps me from any other camera manufacturer.