hi,

anyone here shoot with both canon and nikon?

i have a refurbished 5d2 sitting in my home i bought during the big canon refurb sell last week. i am hesitant to open it up so there it sits. i used the 5d2 for portraits last summer and while i like the pictures it produced i hate having to use center point only. and for any kind of sports forget it. so i have been thinking . . . (often dangerous)

use my 1d3 with 70mm and up (70-200, 200, & 400)

and a d700 with 70mm and below. (14-24, 24-70, & 50)

any thoughts?

grant

If you can afford all the Nikon stuff why not just get a 1DSIII? I have Nikon and Canon but most of my Nikon stuff is old Film stuff.
Just a thought charles354

Hunting for better photographs by switching brands, in any direction, is usually pretty fruitless.

I technically own both now. I have access to a large pool of good Nikon glass, but no bodies worth anything. Since I want to take advantage of the glass (mostly the 300 2.8 VR), I bought a used Nikon body.

It's actually been very interesting to use both and have bags for each system. That being said, Canon won't be going away ... ever.

Use that 5DII with some alt glass. It opens a whole new world. Do you know how small and how sharp a Zuiko 21mm is? Guess what? It will fit nicely on that 5DII with an adapter. And, there's more lenses, in fact, quite a bit more.

Like you I have both systems but the 5DII has a special place amongst my Nikon/Canon cameras in that I enjoy my Nikkor MF glass on it, and fine pieces of glass such as the Zuiko. The best part is that MF glass can be had for a very reasonable price. So if you are willing to use your eyes and twist your fingers, I think that 5DII can be a lot more fun than sitting on a shelf.

So what exactly stops you from using the 5D2 on the wider end and keeping the 1D3 for the longer stuff? Adapt that 14-24 and start rocking the landscapes.

Outer point is decent in decent light and certainly ok for slower portrait work, though in moving portraits i tend to prefer the D700's tracking.

gdanmitchell wrote:
Hunting for better photographs by switching brands, in any direction, is usually pretty fruitless.

not really hunting for better pics. maybe you have never used the 5d2? i really liked the pics it produces but the focus limitations is very frustration.

i do like hunting for pheasants with my dogs.

equipment doesn't necessarily make you a better photographer. kinda like a more expensive shotgun doesn't make you a better shot.

cputeq wrote:
So what exactly stops you from using the 5D2 on the wider end and keeping the 1D3 for the longer stuff? Adapt that 14-24 and start rocking the landscapes.

Outer point is decent in decent light and certainly ok for slower portrait work, though in moving portraits i tend to prefer the D700's tracking.

what i desire is a full frame body that isn't focus limited. having to use center point only is very frustrating. just wondering if the D700 might be the ticket? i am satisfied with Canon glass.

thanks

You sound like the perfect candidate for the new 1DX coming out. Maybe that and your 1D3 is all you need. Or two 1DX's.

I have mostly Canon, but some Nikon (currently D7000 and D1X), but found it hard to maintain both systems. When push came to shove, the Canon gear won out, mostly based on L lenses I wanted. I'm not a fan of Nikon controls and menus, they don't come intuitively for me.

I don't shoot action, other than people at events, and that's often posed. So the 5D, 60D and 1Ds2 have been fine for me. I would have no problem with the 5D2 at all, but obviously I wouldn't choose that for tele action shots -- you have the 1D3 for that.

Grantland wrote:
cputeq wrote:
So what exactly stops you from using the 5D2 on the wider end and keeping the 1D3 for the longer stuff? Adapt that 14-24 and start rocking the landscapes.

Outer point is decent in decent light and certainly ok for slower portrait work, though in moving portraits i tend to prefer the D700's tracking.

what i desire is a full frame body that isn't focus limited. having to use center point only is very frustrating. just wondering if the D700 might be the ticket? i am satisfied with Canon glass.

thanks

If that's the case, the D700 certainly isn't limited to center point only Some people tend to hate the two-handed operation of the camera, but once you set up most of your options (like an Auto-ISo that's actually worth a darn), most of it comes pretty easily enough, and having actual metering knobs is worlds better than Canon's crappy toggle schemes on a lot of their cameras.

Really the D700 is an awesome camera, and if I shot Nikon again I'd probably get another one. I hate the sound of the shutter and the way it renders skin (and greens somewhat), but overall it's a great great camera and I love having a built-in flash (and commander) with the camera. Very good piece of machine. If you already have your lenses in Nikon mount and you're happy with them, you'll probably be very happy with a D700.

Purely IQ-wise, though, I still prefer 5D's output. As for 5D2, really a tough call if talking purely IQ. 5D2 tends to be a bit harsh when it clips highlights (maybe due to Canon's "black dot" fix? I've always wondered that), and the D700 is a bit more smooth when it comes to clipping specular highlights. Low ISO tends to also favor the 5D2 purely from a resolution standpoint (especially when you take D700's strong AA filter into account and the level of sharpening required to counteract it), but then again you can say D700's shadow raising ability is extremely good and mostly avoids the banding present in some 5D2 bodies.

Pick your poison

Well, there's the 14-24 and the 24-70 is reputedly better than Canon's so if that's your reason for switching you may as well. If it's just for AF you might be better of with a 1ds2 or 3. 1ds3 and you get the same batteries and the same look and feel of the actual interface.

TrojanHorse wrote:
Well, there's the 14-24 and the 24-70 is reputedly better than Canon's so if that's your reason for switching you may as well. If it's just for AF you might be better of with a 1ds2 or 3. 1ds3 and you get the same batteries and the same look and feel of the actual interface.

thanks for the help.

my first choice would be a 1d3s but $$ is an issue.

cputeq wrote:
Grantland wrote:
cputeq wrote:
So what exactly stops you from using the 5D2 on the wider end and keeping the 1D3 for the longer stuff? Adapt that 14-24 and start rocking the landscapes.

Outer point is decent in decent light and certainly ok for slower portrait work, though in moving portraits i tend to prefer the D700's tracking.

what i desire is a full frame body that isn't focus limited. having to use center point only is very frustrating. just wondering if the D700 might be the ticket? i am satisfied with Canon glass.

thanks

If that's the case, the D700 certainly isn't limited to center point only Some people tend to hate the two-handed operation of the camera, but once you set up most of your options (like an Auto-ISo that's actually worth a darn), most of it comes pretty easily enough, and having actual metering knobs is worlds better than Canon's crappy toggle schemes on a lot of their cameras.

Really the D700 is an awesome camera, and if I shot Nikon again I'd probably get another one. I hate the sound of the shutter and the way it renders skin (and greens somewhat), but overall it's a great great camera and I love having a built-in flash (and commander) with the camera. Very good piece of machine. If you already have your lenses in Nikon mount and you're happy with them, you'll probably be very happy with a D700.

Purely IQ-wise, though, I still prefer 5D's output. As for 5D2, really a tough call if talking purely IQ. 5D2 tends to be a bit harsh when it clips highlights (maybe due to Canon's "black dot" fix? I've always wondered that), and the D700 is a bit more smooth when it comes to clipping specular highlights. Low ISO tends to also favor the 5D2 purely from a resolution standpoint (especially when you take D700's strong AA filter into account and the level of sharpening required to counteract it), but then again you can say D700's shadow raising ability is extremely good and mostly avoids the banding present in some 5D2 bodies.

Pick your poison




thank you.

Grant, I shoot both, and like both systems. However, starting down the dual system path can be expensive, and involved learning two different menu systems...which took awhile to become proficient at using. They both seem natural to me, now. You can use all or most of your Nikon glass on your Canon body with an adapter like this...

http://www.photomatter.com/Reviews/N2C.html

Grantland wrote:
gdanmitchell wrote:
Hunting for better photographs by switching brands, in any direction, is usually pretty fruitless.

not really hunting for better pics. maybe you have never used the 5d2? i really liked the pics it produces but the focus limitations is very frustration.

The 5D2 is my primary camera body. Not having focus limitation frustrations. For example:

great pic dan!

for sports i use center point only. so a 5d2 would work just fine as dan's shot suggests. however with a f/1.2- f/2.0 lens i want a full frame body that i can use all focus points so i do not have to recompose portrait shots.

i think i just need to be patient and wait. i do love my canon glass.

grant