Canon versus Nikon
by Philip Greenspun; created 1997
Site Home : Photography : Canon versus Nikon
| Canon | Nikon | |
|---|---|---|
| viewfinder | insufficiently high-eyepoint for many eyeglass wearers, EOS-1v is probably the best | excellent for eyeglass wearers on big expensive bodies (e.g., N90 and up) |
| autofocus | superb with ultrasonic lenses, especially with higher-end bodies where the focus and shutter release can be put on separate buttons, thus allowing MF and AF simultaneously | superb with rare and expensive AF-S lenses and newest bodies; cumbersome with most AF lenses |
| best lenses | big long image-stabilized glass (100-400/4.5-5.6 IS, 300/2.8 IS, 600/4 IS) and unique pieces such as 35-350 | wide angles and macro |
| best body | EOS-1V for the viewfinder, Elan 7E for the low cost, light weight, built-in flash, and eye-control focus gimmick, Rebel 2000 for ultimate light weight. | F100 or N80; the F5 has great features but it weighs more than most medium-format cameras |
| fill flash | very good with newest bodies and EX flashes | superb with D lenses |
| macro | difficult to use macro lenses with studio strobes or handheld light meter because bodies don't compute effective aperture, latest macro lenses (100, 180) include ultrasonic motors, no bellows but MP-E 65/2.8 lets you go beyond 1:1 conveniently; current 50mm macro lens is weak (only goes to 1:2 and lacks ultrasonic motor) | superb 60, 105, and 200, lenses, all of which go to 1:1, bodies compute effective aperture, e.g., marked f/16 on the lens turns into indicated f/32 in the viewfinder at 1:1 |
| durability | incredible with EOS-1 and EOS-3 bodies, which are impervious to rain; excellent with consumer bodies | incredible with water-sealed F5 and F100; excellent with consumer bodies |
| perspective correction lenses | superb, auto aperture and both tilt and shift in 24, 45, and 90mm focal lengths | two primitivelenses, 28 and 35, available with manual aperture. Shift is useful for control of architectural perspective, but lack of tilt prevents useful depth-of-field control. ( Kirk Enterprises will convert Canon TS lenses for Nikon use for about $200.) |
| film transport | revolutionary in speed and noise with the rubber-belt systems in the mid-range consumer bodies (e.g., Elan 7) but remember that infrared diode fogs IR film | nothing special |
| starter system (for serious photography) |
Elan 7 (EOS 30 outside US), verticalgrip, 17-35/2.8L, 50/1.4, and 70-200/2.8L | N80, 20/2.8, 28-70/2.8 AF-S, 80-200/2.8 AF-S |
| starter system (for one-lens travel photography) |
any low-end body ( Rebel G is incredibly light but doesn't let you shift AF off shutter release), 24-85 USM lens or 28-135 USM image-stabilized lens. | N65 or N80, 24-120 lens |