Oh, I didn't mean to imply that he'd lose a lot of money over the glass. Rather, that it's still a bit of a hassle to do a major selloff and then buy new lenses. You're out of action for at least a short time.
I'll tell you. If you can stand the hassle of switching, a D700 is really hard to beat. I own and use a D300 and D700, and I really couldn't be happier with that combination since I retired my F3HP bodies a number of years ago. Since I got into this in 1959, there have been times I've either felt neutral or absolutely loved my gear. I'm in the "in love" situation right now with those two bodies and most of my glass.
The first time was in the early 1960s with a Pentax H3 and a new Spotmatic. I switched to Nikon in 1968 but it wasn't until the early 1980s and a pair of F3HPs that I felt a love for my gear. Now with the D300 and D700, it's back again. I just know that these two cameras and quality Nikon glass won't let me down. I think confidence in my gear plays a role in producing better images. I will not consider changing or upgrading unless to a D3x or equivalent in the future.
If you take a look at DXO Lab's raw sensor ratings, and comparing against others, it would back up how I feel about the output of these two camera bodies.
As a working professional that you are I would probably suggest renting the equipment first before you completely switch systems.
That being said, I have been down the similar road with Canon and can say that its gets rather tiring of worrying about whether your equipment is performing properly rather than getting the shot. I am happy with the switch.
Incidentally, those rankings help show the D3x as the bargain that it is if you want medium format type quality without having to pay for it. It just barely trails the Phase One in its sensor ranking, despite being about $30,000 cheaper.
luminosity wrote:
Incidentally, those rankings help show the D3x as the bargain that it is if you want medium format type quality without having to pay for it. It just barely trails the Phase One in its sensor ranking, despite being about $30,00 cheaper.
And, the D3x beats all the other Phase One models as well as the Leafs and Hassleblads. For starting out with the Sony made silicone, Nikon did an amazing job with the rest of that sensor like the electonics and microlenses. Not using my EE degree since the early 1970s, I have zero knowledge on how Nikon did it, but it seems they did.
It sounds like you want to make an overall switch to Nikon. I have a lot of Canon equipment and have been through a few trials with the equipment. Fortunately, for now, all my stuff is working great. If you are really that "pissed" then you probably should switch.
I looked through your galleries and it seems everything you have in there can be covered nicely with the 5DII. Since you get good results with that camera I don't quite understand your total frustration and anger with the 7D. Three bad examples is not good luck, but I guess I just don't see why the 7D is so important to you anyway.
Well, I switched from Canon to Nikon in March this year after 2 years of 1D Mark 3 troubles. I second the recommendation of renting some Nikon kit to ensure it meets your needs, that's what I did and it convinced me to switch and I have had a great first season shooting Nikon.
xabi wrote:
I myself too switched from Canon, and I only got a 2nd hand D200, but I am already impressed by the autofocus and metering of Nikon cameras.
Me too. I sold my Canon bodies and L glass and picked up a D200 and D300, a 16-85VR, 70-300VR and Sigma 150 macro and am very happy. The AF, metering, build, and reliability seem to be much better w/ Nikon gear. And the Nikon consumer glass seems far better than the Canon consumer glass. So good that I no longer need pro glass for what I shoot since I needed something better than Canon's consumer glass but not really at the pro level glass and much of the Nikon consumer glass is in that category.
After 4 years of Canon, 20D, 5D, and assortment of lenses...I got frustrated with the focus issues with my 20D. The 5D was a fantastic camera but, CPS was hell to deal with (shipping back bodies and lenses 5 times!) and never did fix my 20D.
I loved some of the lenses but, just never felt confident with the equipment. When people are paying you, it's got to work. Now I know that not everyone will have problems but, I got fed up with it and switched early this year to Nikon (the D3X and the fantastic 2.8 zooms sealed the deal).
Wow, is all I can say. The bodies and the lenses are top notch and I have more confidence in my gear. They just flat-out perform! The freedom you get from knowing that you can focus on the creative side of photography and stop worrying about the other stuff is liberating. I know it's not fair to judge a 20D or 5D to a D3X but, every time I open a file from the Dark Side, I know why I won't be going back to Canon.
Bottom line. The gear works and it works well. My wallet is the only one who is unhappy, being that Nikon cost more to play with.
I sold all my canon gear here on FM in two days. About $14,000 worth of stuff and went to Nikon. I bought a D300, D3, and a D700 and various lenses. I have not looked back. Im so very happy with my swap.
Adam73 wrote:
I sold all my canon gear here on FM in two days. About $14,000 worth of stuff and went to Nikon. I bought a D300, D3, and a D700 and various lenses. I have not looked back. Im so very happy with my swap.
the d700 and the 2.8 zooms are great. ( the d3 is better) but the d300 doesn't do it for me. I tried to like it, but the noise/resolution isn't up to the standards of the d700 or 5d and its hard to compromise when you've been spoiled. I still use canon for long glass as the nikon stuff is somewhat unavailable and ubber expensive and nikon doesn't have a crop pro wildlife/sports body. If you are counting on a crop body as part of your mix, I recommend you shoot with a d300 before considering a trade. Also, I would think after using the 5dII, you will really miss the resolution. nikon only offers it with $7000=/- .
sorry to hear about your troubles with the 7D! I am considering it for long lens and bif and will be very unhappy if the focus isn't good. I've been through the 1DIII stuff as an early adopter and can really relate to your frustration.
Adam73 wrote:
I sold all my canon gear here on FM in two days. About $14,000 worth of stuff and went to Nikon. I bought a D300, D3, and a D700 and various lenses. I have not looked back. Im so very happy with my swap.
I'm thinking it might be time to change your avatar :-)
I changed to Nikon and would never go back to canon. Canon seem to want you the photographers to sort out the problems and then report back. Like the 1D3 was a disaster and they replaced it with the mark 4. I feel sorry for the Mark 3 users that bought the mark 3 and now it not worth anything as near as when bought as photographers do not trust it any more. Its such a shame. Canons 5D was there BEST EVER body.
Frank Williams
HAve you tried tuning the AF performance for your lenses and body combinations? I use the LensAlign Pro sytem -- http://www.lensalign.com/ -- for this and it works great. people like to knock it because of the price but when they actually use it they see the light.
I switched from Canon to "The Dark Side" a couple of months ago. Wish I had switched
a long time ago. Nikon's AF, in my own experience, is far better than Canon's. I owned a
Canon 50D, after upgrading from a 20D, and was totally let down with it. Really the final straw that
convinced me to switch over. I now have 300D, 70-200mm f/2.8 VR, 17-35mm f/2.8, and SB900, and
I'm totally in love my setup.
Nikon's AF and flash just works better than Canon, in my own experience.
The resale on Nikon equipment seems to be higher, also.
The 7D does have Micro AF. With the improved LCD (so you can zoom in for critical AF verification) you can get very close just by adjusting AF by eye in the field.
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