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Archive 2019 · Why Nikon?

  
 
David Baldwin
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p.5 #1 · Why Nikon?


I've recently returned to Nikon after having to sell off my Canon APSC outfit last year to pay for an unexpected bill.

Took me a while to save up, but decided to come back to Nikon (I used FM2s for many years before going digital) because of the sensor quality. Bought a budget outfit to get me going again, Nikon D5600, Nikkor 20mm f1.8, 18-55 kit lens.

Frankly I'm astonished at the quality of the D5600 images with the 20mm. Glad to be back!



Dec 25, 2019 at 08:10 PM
GaryH58
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p.5 #2 · Why Nikon?


I just moved to Nikon from Olympus. I sold my extensive Olympus kit and bought a bog Nikon kit that includes 9 lenses and two bodies. I also bought a 500f4G. My interests are mainly Wildlife and landscape. I have the 500 f5.6 PF on order but don't hold out much hope of seeing it ant time soon.


Jan 13, 2020 at 09:04 AM
bs kite
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p.5 #3 · Why Nikon?


Started in June ’74 after being awestruck by a group of 7 moose in a Maine flowage.

Started with the Minolta SRT 101, a Bushnell 400 6.3 and 5254 film. Thought I made the right choice; thought I was in heaven.
In 1983 got my first permanent wildlife job as a wildlife tech in the Everglades living on a big wildlife management area.

Decided to switch.... to buy the very best. It was either Canon or Nikon. Leonard Lee Rue III was the top wildlife photographer in those days. Hasselblad was not in the race. Mr. Rue had already shot Hassies and had switched to Nikon.

Nikon was on all the shuttle launches and had the most comprehensive system, though Canon was very exciting and also had a huge system.

Anyway, in those days if you were a pro you shot Nikon.

In 1984 I switched to Nikon (with the FE-2 and F3) and have never looked back.




Jan 13, 2020 at 01:42 PM
Chris Dees
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p.5 #4 · Why Nikon?


Started back in 1974 with an Olympus trip 35 and upgraded to an other Olympus (I don't remember which one). In 1986 I upgraded to an OM707 with AF-lenses.
In the early 90's I lost interest in photography.
In 1997 I sold my Oly for a Canon Eos 50 and later a EOS 5 and got some nice lenses. I followed a couple of years all kind of photography courses and started in 2003 my own company for semi-professional wedding and events photography.
That time I started big with a 1DS, 16-35, 24-70 an 70-200 all 2.8.
In 2008, after the debacle with the 1DIII I swapped to Nikon (painful exercise) for a D3, D300 and lenses.
Then the crises came and everybody with a digital camera thought they could do a wedding.
I stopped the business but not the photography. Only now just for fun. I collected quite a few (too many ) old MF Nikkor lenses.
In March last year my photo buddy died very unexpected (no illness, just boom) and I lost a bit of interest in photography, but I'm picking up slowly again.
Now I'm gradually making the transition to the "Z".



Jan 13, 2020 at 02:49 PM
cpe1991
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p.5 #5 · Why Nikon?


I am only 3 weeks into Nikon, having been brought in by the 500PF, and I had to buy an D500 to drive it. So far no regrets - the best lens and body I have shot with for bird photography. I have made a new lifestyle decision of not carrying more than about 2.5kg of camera and lens, and am hoping Nikon will make a lighter tele-zoom of high optical quality.


Jan 13, 2020 at 03:56 PM
tomaswvtommy
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p.5 #6 · Why Nikon?


My first Nikon was an F2 in the late 80s. Been with them ever since, except for two excursions into Leica SLRs. Why Nikon? First. for the lens speed—I was coming from Mamiya twin lens—then the ease of flash, finally for the digital IQ (starting with Fujifilm S5). Will I stay with them? Yes. In early January I was in Honolulu at a luau with my D500 and an old 35-105 AFD. An elderly Japanese gentleman came up to me and said “I don’t mean to interrupt. I am a retired Nikon executive and I just wanted to thank you for using Nikon.” I wish him and Nikon well.


Jan 22, 2020 at 02:04 PM
GroovyGeek
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p.5 #7 · Why Nikon?


The ergonomics of the D70 spoke to me. The low end Canons just felt weird in my hand. Ergonomics are the reason I have never seriously considered any Sony camera.


Jan 25, 2020 at 02:55 AM
Photozack81
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p.5 #8 · Why Nikon?


I went with Nikon because I tried both in my hands. Canon's buttons and menu placement are awkward and rather silly to my hands/brain.

Nikon's layout just makes sense. I suspect I could have learned and adapted over a long enough time but then I wouldn't have my D500.

I still think it's one of the best cameras ever made.



Jan 25, 2020 at 04:11 AM
paul85142
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p.5 #9 · Why Nikon?


Started with a Minolta SRT-101, moved up to a Nikon N8008s.....my first AF SLR.

Since then.....D50, D200, D90, D300s, D700.

Just ordered a D810 and D610.



Jan 25, 2020 at 04:22 AM
SiMuMe
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p.5 #10 · Why Nikon?


Some of you have been shooting longer than I've been alive and some since I was born . Very interesting thread that I never opened until now. Thought it was another rant at Nikon. Duh.

2002 I bought a Minolta 404si because a Nikon F75 was double the price. In 2005 I bought a Konika Minolta 5D because I had Minolta glass. In 2006 everything was nicked in a burglary at my then flat forcing a fresh start. Sony had also bought KM. I wasn't too thrilled at that anyway. I bought a Canon 350D (Rebel XT?) but I couldn't warm up to the egornomics and the feel of it in my hand, what I really should have bought was a Canon 20D. Canon has always been significantly cheaper and widely available than Nikon here. 350D was sold and I started saving up. Had to give Nikon another go. That became the Nikon D70s. Many GAS-fuelled purchases later, I'm still standing with Nikon. Cameras feel great in the hand and the ergonomics are good.



Jan 25, 2020 at 10:59 PM
incrediblehark
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p.5 #11 · Why Nikon?


I was a Canon film shooter as a child and was lucky enough to have a dark room. I first shot an AE-1 then an F1. The eos mount came out and I continued to use my F1 (Dad's camera) well into the late 1990's. I took a break from photography for almost 10 years but started again once my first child was born in 2011. I was really put off by the Canon mount changes and my brother, who was now a Nikon shooter, recommended I try Nikon because of the availability of legacy glass. I never looked back. I currently shoot a mix of film and digital, and love that I can easily switch most of my lenses between bodies. I'm currently shooting a D810, D700, F5, FE and an F80 from time to time. The Z mount scares me a little because I want Nikon to continue with F mount lenses and bodies for years to come. Other than that, I'm a happy camper!


Jan 26, 2020 at 07:40 AM
Paul_K
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p.5 #12 · Why Nikon?


Although I had been an amateur level Canon shooter previously, I upgraded to Nikon in the late 70's / early 80's when I made my first serious steps into professional photography (by entering a professional multi years photography course at the Royal Academy of Arts - KABK - in The Hague)
While my Canon FTqL + FL lenses were undoubtedly solid and excellent quality, Nikon at that time undoubtedly was the pro choice to go with

Sure, like Canon (and other manufacturers like Pentax and Minolta) the camera and lenses were beyond reproach quality wise
But the reason Nikon stood apart from the rest as the pro gear to go for was the wider - Nikon and third parties - service and repair network, third parties lens options, third parties accessories, and much better and larger 2nd market for the aforementioned items (always nice when you can get something cheaper then for the MRSP)

While over the years Nikon at times faced sometimes just (slow AF on the F4, too long holding limited performance AP-C sensors on eg the D2X and D2H), and sometimes unjust (AF 'not as good as' Canon or Sony, too late - IMO thankfully not rushing into - new technological 'developments' like mirrorless) critisisms, I nevertheless held on to my Nikon gear

On one hand I'm not 'rich' enough to, with each new model or technical development, drop (and take the financial loss of selling) my old gear, including the many lenses I collected, as well as third party accessories (like flashes, radio triggers etc) over the years, to switch to, and buy a similar wide range of lenses and accessories in another brand and system

On the other hand I over the years have grown very comfortable, and familiar, with the UI of my Nikon gear, something IMO very important in a real life shooting situation

While e.g. the abundance of buttons on eg a D850 or Z6 may seem not as 'clean' as a Canon of Sony counterpart, the obvious WYSIWYG set up in a high pressure shooting situation allows to easily and swiftly find (and change) a setting if required

Ditto for the menu's, basically while based on the menu of the 2002 D1H, since then evolving with addition of the new options that came with the later models that succeeded it after the years

Sure, may sound a bit too lazy and apologetic.
But as recently as yesterday, during a studio shoot I witnessed 1st hand the difference in ease and transparency between eg my Nikons and the Sony A9 the collegue shooter was using
The set up was to shoot with four Bowens XMS (non TTL) flash units, to be triggered by a (universal) 'dumb' Bowens XMSR radio trigger.

With the Nikon it was pretty straight forward : mount the XMSR on the hotshoe, and you're set to go (both for triggering the heads, and changing the settings on the XMS units, although that could be done with the trigger on or off the camera).

With the Sony that however proved impossible.
The A9 simply wouldn't trigger the 'dumb' XMSR trigger when mounted on the hotshoe
And while the menu showed plenty of offered options, all seemed to be linked to AF, TTLL etc, while for some unclear reason 'just plain dumb' triggering was simply impossible

Which resulted in the XMSR being impossible to use on the A9, forcing the Sony to fall back on an old fashioned 6 feet flash cable (I fortunately got as a fall back option despite having the XMSR trigger) triggering one head, with the remaining heads with the optical slave cell (and having to manually dial in the power settings on each flash head, rather then remotely, which was a bit of an issue with the heads up to 10+ feet high)

In another situation the Sony shooter wanted to switch from 1 fps to 3 fps, in order to shoot the model while moving at the fastest fps rate possible that the XMS units could follow at the power settings dialed in.

On my Z6 or D850, I simply go the the several fps options (on the Z6 to be found in the LCD menu, with the D850 in the 'regular menu, with the options to, if you use it often, to, as I have, paste it in the 'My Menu' options for fast and easy access) where under the CL options I can dial in any fps (1 to max 5 fps) I want

The A9 only offers three options with the Drive Dial on the top left side of the camera: Continuous High, Medium and Low.
Unfortunately there is no further explanation on the camera to be found how many fps that means per option.
More importantly, there also is no options to set/change the fps rate to one's personal preference under those options.

Only in the paper/pdf manual are the pfs rates further clarified
Apart from the (IMO pretty dramatic) change in fps rate between Mechanical and Electronic shutter,
it turns out there still is no options to change the rate to personal settings.

The closes to 3 fps the A9 offers is Continuous Low at 2,5 (no 2,3, or 4) fps with mechanical shutter ,
with the caveat that the effective fps will also be determined by the lens used
As the Sony shooter was using a (native Sony) 2.8/24-70, for some unclear reason the A9 would only shoot 1 fps using Continuous Low with the 24-70, by far not what was demanded
The next, Continuous Medium, option at 5 fps, which was too fast for the XMS units to follow with the power settings (and consequently f stop and ISO on the camera) dialed in

Since I was only facilitating the studio, and the Sony user was the 1st shooter, I left him muddling with the limitations of the menus and settings on his, at least two times more expensive then my Z6, top of the line A9
While silently happy I shoot old fashioned and obsolete cameras, with practice proven, based on over a long time developed and evolved, UI and menus
And the AF, IQ, and (high) ISO aren't too bad either



Jan 31, 2020 at 07:14 AM
the solitaire
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p.5 #13 · Why Nikon?


After a lot of over-analysing I decided that the most beautiful camera ever made was the Nikon FM. I was 15 years old, and saved up some money for quite some time to finally buy one a few years later, and a 50mm f2 Ai Nikkor. I still own and use that camera today.

In the meanwhile I added a Nikon FM2 (for the faster sync speed), and lenses from 17mm (Tokina) up to a Nikon 200-600 zoom.

I used that kit for many years, until in 2005 I bought a Nikon D70s. That was quickly replaced with a D200, two years later with a D300 and in 2010 with a D3. The D3 held up until 2018. After a 2 year hiatus, mostly using my Nikon F3 and Nikon F along with the FM (I gave the FM2 to my better half, who owns a D800 to cover her digital needs) I now bought a lightly used D800.

I still own a few lenses from back when I bought that very first FM, and they still perform well enough on my D800 (ideally, the D800 would have only 20'sih Mp, but it is what it is, and I'll cope. With a hobby budget, I can't bee too picky )

All in all, I'm still happy that Nikon built the FM and that I picked that camera to be my first one. I never felt limited by my camera in all those years




Feb 01, 2020 at 04:09 AM
Dustoff06
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p.5 #14 · Why Nikon?


Started with Canon in 1968. Had all of the good glass and upgraded bodies as they improved. Around 1990 Canon introduced the EOS mount and suddenly all of my glass was obsolete. Took my Canon A1 and all of my Canon glass to a local retailer and traded for a Nikon N8008. Haven't looked back since.


Feb 01, 2020 at 04:51 AM
barnettg
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p.5 #15 · Why Nikon?


I bought a silver Canon 300D as my first dSLR. However, as months went by and having viewed Nikon images in forums, I liked their colour (and their fine-grain ISO noise!) better so sold it and bought Nikon D70s. Have been with Nikon since then although I had roughly 9 years break from photography.

Basically, it was Nikon's colour and rendering that attracted me in the first place.

Also to me, Nikon always seemed to be an 'underdog' of the big two but I think it's not a bad thing.



Feb 01, 2020 at 06:58 AM
LF911SC
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p.5 #16 · Why Nikon?


Started in the late 70's as a kid. Best deal was the simple to use Nikkormat. Gave you a tank of a body with all the reliability of a pro camera and access to the entire line of Nikkor lenses and the countless 3rd party lenses available. Moved onto a string of Nikons, FM & FM2, F3, F4. My first DSLR was a 300D. After gear was stolen went Canon until I was lured back by the 850D and have since added the Z7 with a 24-70/2.8 S.


Feb 02, 2020 at 11:05 AM
Richandtd
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p.5 #17 · Why Nikon?


Started in 1974 with a Canon Ftb and always wanted a Nikon well in 1996 or 97 I got my first Nikon D70 well two bodies and was happy with the quality collected a 70mm-200mm 2.8 and a 105mm 2.8 and life was good. Three years ago I finally upgraded my body to a D810 and what a world of difference as to pixel peeping quality so I got a refurbished 17mm-35mm 2.8 from NikonUSA. The old D70 was starting to ack up and felt sticky so I got a D300 as a backup for the D810 and the D300 from KEH camera for $154.00 looks like new and only has 15,716 clicks on the shutter and is a lot of fun to shoot. I’ve found the CPU power to process those monster raw files from the D810 needed to be addressed so Puget Systems built a custom PC for me and with an I9900 and all solid state drives a pleasure to use. I see my next step to be a Nikon D5 when the funds are available along with the 200mm 2.0 I would just love that combination for low light photography and focus tracking. But thats down the road. I believe Nikon is a great camera. That’s why Nikon for me


Feb 29, 2020 at 11:06 AM
DCCSyr
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p.5 #18 · Why Nikon?


I started with an Olympus OM-2, mostly shooting Kodachrome slides for frugality.

When I became more interested (obsessed?) with photography in the digital age, I got a D1x.

Amazing how far we've come. I went through the D1x - D300 - D700. Now it's a D750 and a D500, and am now looking for a mint D5.

Having multiple prime lenses - 24-70, 70-200, 180-500 - I will stick with Nikon. I'm not impressed enough with the D780 to upgrade from the D750. I'm not rich enough to buy the D6. But I think the D5 will last a few years until the Z8 or Z9 conquers the photography world.



Mar 01, 2020 at 10:28 PM
LeifG
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p.5 #19 · Why Nikon?


Sauseschritt wrote:
Why, there are indeed people who actually make such pictures. They shoot the gun in absolute darkness, then use a special flash that only gives light for a millionth of second.

Nikon never bothered to make such a piece of glas because you can just use a regular macro lens, like the AF 60mm f2.8 micro, on a bellows, like the PB-5.

Theres of course also extension rings, too.

You cannot use an AF-S 60mm f2.8 micro, because on a bellow or extension ring there arent any electronic contacts.

AFAIK the 65mm from Canon is also all manual, though.

The glas thats actually unique for
...Show more

The Canon true macro lens has the advantage that it is far more compact than a Nikkor on bellows, and the optics are working within the design range unlike the lens on bellows. I’ve owned and used the Nikon 85mm and 24mm TS lenses, and the quality is rather good. Nikon macro lenses are rather good too. However, we digress.



Mar 02, 2020 at 01:43 PM
LeifG
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p.5 #20 · Why Nikon?


I first used my father’s Nikkormat, over 40 years ago. I owned a Minolta film camera for snapshots. Then 25 years ago I bought my first serious camera, a Nikon F50 and kit zoom. The real epiphony for me was the D70. Suddenly I was freed from reciprocity failure and white balance problems that were a feature of film. I take photos mainly of fungi in woods, and with digital my hit rate soared. The D200 was marvelous, a beautiful camera ... at lower ISO. My D500 is perfect in all but size and weight. My macro lenses and F1.8 wide primes are awesome.

I lived through the era, maybe 20 years ago, where Nikon were massively behind Canon in terms of autofocus and image stabilisation. These days they are making very nice gear.



Mar 02, 2020 at 01:52 PM
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