yes, D300 is great machine and if I would enter I would choose it. Same as when I entered few years ago then Canon was on the top ... as well as it will be again. And the Nikon again and story continues Thanks god for competition
Just had a read of the DPreview, a few points I noticed:
Switches. Dials! What I would give to have all the commonly used features on switches rather than the far more complicated and slower Canon way of button, twiddle dial, half press shutter release! That is of course nothing new but while canon gives a direct print button and a picture styles button, I could access most anything *important* with the flick of a switch on the D300's body. Having an AF lock button which can work with the shutter release is again far better implimented than CF4 buried deep in the menu.
Another thing, was I the only one to hate the fact that you couldn't see any of the AF points with the 1 series? How the hell are you meant to know where the camera is focusing until it has started focusing and the square is lit up? The LCD method of the Nikon where you can see all 51 or just 11, and at the same time as a grid if you wish, that is again thinking of the photographer!
I've thought it for a while but this confirms it, the Nikon is a photographers camera, Canon's are shareholders cameras.
That said, I can't afford two D3's to replace my 5D's nor replace their size. I can't see a fast 85mm 1.8 nor the 24-105L that I use for a walk around lens. There is no 70-200 f4L IS. I still think that ETTL II is better than the nikon system with whites. I'm locked in to canon but they do fustrate so often..
Beni wrote:
I can't see a fast 85mm 1.8 nor the 24-105L that I use for a walk around lens. There is no 70-200 f4L IS. I still think that ETTL II is better than the nikon system with whites. I'm locked in to canon but they do fustrate so often..
If only Nikon offers the same lenses as Canon, I will have no problem in switching.
Beni wrote:
Another thing, was I the only one to hate the fact that you couldn't see any of the AF points with the 1 series? How the hell are you meant to know where the camera is focusing until it has started focusing and the square is lit up?
thats one think that kills me in the viewfinder and i think its made worse by the fact that im colorblind, which is probably why i stay on the row of the middle 5 points. of course even then i lose them sometimes and have to wave the camera around to finally find them to contrast against something. thats why when i first handled a 5D i was surprised and delighted to see the big chunky black squares. im sure thats kinda viewed as amatuerish, by some, but it was nice to actually see something.
ive actually considered buying the viewfinder with the scientific cross measurement thingy, just so id be able to have a better idea exactly where my most used focus points were, more quickly.
J.D. wrote:
If you were just entering the market, would you really be splashing out that much money? It's not going to be cheap.
From what I have seen here from the pre order prices its going to be around the $3000 (Au$) mark for just the body. But if you look at a similar camera in the Canon lineup you will be paying around the $6000 mark and have the extra bulk too.
I was thinking of getting one, But by time you factor in a lens or two you would be looking at $4000+ if you buy some decent glass. Not much point in having a good body with cheap glass.
Hopefully Canon develops a EOS 3D like everyone has been asking for! But until then I will be happy shooting with my 40D.
J.D. wrote:
If you were just entering the market, would you really be splashing out that much money? It's not going to be cheap.
I second. I had entered DSLRs about 4 years ago. It was actually time to upgrade my 3-years-old Sony DSC-70 and I supposed to spend $500-$600 for the new come. Occasionally, Canon's adds of 300D caught my eyes.
DSLR for everyone, just about $1000, hm-m-m? I surfed the web, looked through sample shots and in a week I was sold.
I didn't think a second about 10D or Nikon D100. Simply because they were above 1500. Out of my range...
IMHO 90% of people today thinks the same. The only difference of today - there is a dozen of DSLRs available in between $500 and $1000...
I started out with first DSLR last year and bought a 30D but quickly found the autofocus to be limiting for even childrens sport.
Had a 8fps camera with 51 point AF existed (and worked well which we con't know yet) I would have bought it no doubt at all. I now have a 1D markIIn refurb which is great but a bit too big to take on a family holiday
The versatility of a D300 with built in flash and grip on and off and pro build is very tempting
dhphoto wrote:
Have to say if I were entering the market now and had to choose between the 40D and the D300 I think the D300 would win easily.
It just has so many nifty and well thought out features that put it above the 40D (it seems, on paper)
David
The D300 is more expensive, and that will matter. Even though the announcement of the D300 sounds great Canon may still win in end. When Canon announced the 40D the camera hit the street the next day. Looking at the forums the 40D appears to be selling like crazy. Nikon's announcement of the D300 that was ment to be a buzz kill hasn't worked all that well.
Nikon announces the D300, which looks fantastic on paper, but it will not be available until late November. A ton of 40D's will be sold by then. Nikon has a history of not meeting deadlines, and even when a camera is finally released it takes an additional several months before it is widely available. How many sales will Nikon lose if the camera is not widely available for Christmas? If it takes an additional 3-4 months for Nikon to deliver the camera in any numbers, we will be into March.
Canon should be announcing the 5D II at PMA in Feb / March, and could potentially completely steal Nikons thunder. I think it all depends on Nikons ability to deliver the D300 in large numbers, on time.
I believe the next 5 months will be very interesting.
It's not just the fact that there will be thousands of 40Ds in the market by the time the D300 hits the shops but also that it will be even longer before we find out whether it actually meets is specifications by way of real-world images. I have no reason to doubt that it will but I have to agree that Canon's timing was better.
I'm surprised the 40D has been so readily available! Less then a month after the announcement and most stores here have a few in stock. I walked into a store asked if they had any (Mine was the last of the body only s they had) but most of the other stores I've spoken to in the last 2 weeks have said they had them in stock.
Not like 3 years ago when finding a 20D was near impossible!
Typically with Nikon there is always supply issues and there cameras are hard to come by after release. It probably will be the case this time around.
This was one reason why I ended up getting a Canon camera and not a Nikon, I was seriously considering a D70 when I first started out, but there was a 2 month wait at all the stores I visited (And the D70 had been released about a month before).
Also look at the supply issues with the D200! Another example. Looks like the D300 will be very popular and in high demand, and Nikon will struggle to fill the pre orders till early next year.
I don't doubt that Canon will end up selling more than Nikon, it's just the clever bits that I like, that Canon should listen to and learn from for next time.
I'm too commited to Canon to change, but both the D3 and D300 look like really good, well thought-out cameras to me
Production has started on the D300 and Nikon are slowly ramping up volumes. They appear to be ready with a big load of cameras to hit the market in November, so X-mas sales should be strong.
I'll say 40D sales would be strong with existing Canon users with a lot of glass investment; it's the newbies and those that can easily change that will be interesting to see.
tarpon6 wrote:
Looking at the forums the 40D appears to be selling like crazy. Nikon's announcement of the D300 that was ment to be a buzz kill hasn't worked all that well.
Nikon announces the D300, which looks fantastic on paper, but it will not be available until late November. A ton of 40D's will be sold by then. Nikon has a history of not meeting deadlines, and even when a camera is finally released it takes an additional several months before it is widely available. How many sales will Nikon lose if the camera is not widely available for Christmas? If it takes an additional 3-4 months for Nikon to deliver the camera in any numbers, we will be into March.
Canon should be announcing the 5D II at PMA in Feb / March, and could potentially completely steal Nikons thunder. I think it all depends on Nikons ability to deliver the D300 in large numbers, on time.
I believe the next 5 months will be very interesting....Show more →
Thats antiquated thinking. Nikons product deilvery for the D40, D40x, D80 has broken much of the shakles of the 'not deilvering ontime' thing. The D200 didn't because Nikon completely missed how popular the camera was going to be. Theyunderestimated and never recovered in the production runs.
If Nikon manages to produce and sell 60,000 D300's per month I think they'll be pretty happy.
The Canons are selling well because 1) there were so many waiting for it that were let down by the 30D (which they shouldn't have been). 2) this is the usual sales cycle of a new product.
The Sony Alpha 100 took approx 22% of the sales for the first two months, then died in the a$$. Its just part of the hype and sales after announcement.
People are also forgetting that the D200 will run alongside the D300, the two cameras buffering themselves either side of the 40D (for at least 6 moths anyway). Canon isn't going to be aiming at the upgraders with Canon glass, they'll buy the 40D anyway. They are going to want to aim fair and square at the newcombers (including switchers) and they're going to want to do as much damage in the next couple of months as possible.
Nikons announcement of the D300 was terrible for Canon. I think it was Canons timing that was supposed to interupt the Nikon launch which failed.
On the DPR news page the 40D still remains the #1 most viewed camera on the site with 3.1% of the overall views. The D300 is #5 with 1.9% of the views and is bellow the 400D, PowerShot SD850 IS and 1D Mk III. The D3 is all the way down at #10 with 1.4% of overall views.
So looks like Canon is still the most viewed brand despite all the hype and features of the new Nikon models.
What does this prove? Nothing! Just an observation.
ivyinvestor wrote:
...I wonder if Canon's brass - Mitarai (CEO) & Uchida (COO) - are "conferencing" now...
One can only hope that they are and will respond in kind. I was just about to pull the trigger on a 40D but I'm thinking the next logical step would be the 5D replacement to come out. If they increased the FPS, put a better LCD, increased the viewfinder magnification, upped the MP to around 16 with 14 bits, upped the buffer, added live view and sensor cleaning, gave us 1 series AF and came in at the old 5D price of around $3,200 then the Nikon would be DOA as far as Canon shooters go - hell I'd buy one in a heartbeat. And they really do need to start putting some more money into their IS tele zooms. What we need is the Canon equivalent of that 200-400 F4 VR - instead we get crap like a 17-55 f2.8. C'mon - I know it's nice glass but when the existing super tele designs are *years* old (like the 100-400) then you'd think they would start putting out replacement glass instead of hanging on until hell freezes over....
My 2 centavos - worth as usual much less than 2 cents....
Jon
It would be great to see 1 series AF in the 5D replacement, BUT I doubt its going to happens, especially so soon after the release of the 1Ds3.
Its more likely the 6D will be similar to the 40D but more MP and fullframe.
I reckon it won't be till 2009 before we see anything similar to the D300 being offered by Canon. My prediction for 2008 will be a 6D and 24-70 f/2.8 IS and possibly 400 f/5.6 IS in early 08, and a 450D EF-S 18-200 IS for the second half of 08.
Thanks god for competition 