Matt Shelton
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 p.4 #14 · Who is going to switch now? | |
I was a happy Nikon film shooter from 1985 to 2004, but when I bought my first digital SLR in 2005 (the Rebel XT), I did so only after convincing myself after much studying that Canon was far ahead of Nikon relative to its digital technology. At that time, that was true. However, in 2008 it's debateable! Making the switch in 2005 was painful, as I said goodbye to a lot of Nikon gear that I had accumulated over the years. But I really been enjoying learning about my new Canon glass, which I've found superior to Nikon's lineup (I've bought the 50 1.4, the 85 1.8, the 70-200 4 IS, the 24-105 4 IS and the 10-22 3.5-4.5 over the past few years). I'm also very technology-oriented (studied computer science in college), but I've found the learning curve in shooting digitally to be higher than I originally anticipated. Why haven't my keepers been as high as they were with film? Simply perhaps because I was so much more careful setting up my film shots? I don't know, but there are too many times when I just haven't been as satisfied with the digital output of what I swore was going to be the perfect picture as I set it up. I've now convinced myself that one way to spend less time in post-processing is to shoot full-frame. I really didn't comprehend or fully appreciate the difference between FF and cropped sensors when I bought the Rebel XT and the 40D (I replaced the XT with a 40D right when the 40D came out last year). However, after spending the last year lurking in this forum, in DPReview and in other forums, I now believe that FF is the way to go. Recently, I borrowed a friend's 5D. Using the same 24-105 lens, I shot the same portrait scene at the same time with the same variables (f/4, 800 iso, etc.), with the only change being that I shot at an 80mm focal length with the 5D and at a 50mm focal length with the 40D (50 X 1.6=80). To my eyes, the shot with the 5D just looked slightly to moderately superior from all perspectives - colors, contrast, sharpness, DOF, everything. So where does that leave me? Wanting FF badly, but wanting current technology instead of 3-year old technology (3 FPS on the 5D just doesn't cut it for occasional action shots I take of my dog and of other sporting events). And, I'm your classic long-time passionate amateur who loves plastering the walls of his house with his favorite pictures, but who never will be a professional and has no desire to carry around the heft of a 1D series body (or Nikon's D3, for that matter). So, unless Canon comes out with a 5D replacement very, very soon, the temptation to go back to my roots will be too tough to ignore. That D700 looks mighty fine to me. I would be curious to see what Nikon has done with its glass the past three years.
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