I'm planning on buying a budget $700 of slr camera. I don't want to spend more. so I have been looking around at different forums and suggestions from cnet and it just seems more people lean towards canon's cameras?
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...al_Camera.html
http://www.dealstudio.com/viewtopic.php?t=35639&ru=290
Let me know what you guys think . . . any suggestion as to which camera to get would be really helpful and appreciated . . . Thanks.

No doubting Canon make great cameras, but they advertise alot more than the rest. For your budget, you can look at DSLR's from Nikon, Olympus, Pentax and the Sony you like. I think most importantly, get the one that feels right for you, features you want, able to get new lenses and service.
I have found most photographers religiously stick to one brand and say bad things about the other models. Ignore these twits and go in with an open mind and get the one you like.
The features of the DSLR in this price range are pretty similar with some having a bit more bling than the others.
I went out to purchase a Nikon DSLR. It felt heavy to me. I looked at the Sony and I liked that and was very close to purchasing it. I looked at some Canons, they were nice too, Olympus nice, but too small for me. Then I saw a Pentax DSLR. Everything was just right so I came home with that and have been happy ever since.
In an ideal world and if I was rich, I would have them all, lol.

Peter

This Place has Very Good Reviews, (I like Canon better myself)

The Canon,
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ca...ew/index.shtml

The Sony,
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/so...ew/index.shtml

Canon makes a better product now than Nikon who used to be the leader. Their technology is just better. I've used canon, nikon and olympus for a long time on a lot of different equipment. They all have their strengths and weaknesses but canon is tops.

The true really diiffence rely on the photografer...

I would say go for canon. Better technology.

So what don't you like about the Nikon D3?

I didn't hear the poster say he 'didn't like the D3', but just that he felt the 'Canon was still the leader'. A position I have to agree with.

Yes, the D3 is a very nice camera, but the Canon 1DsMkIII still has the edge. Better image quality, especially at lower ISO for demanding studio work. The D3 gains its speed advantage for sports photography by using the crop mode which brings the resolution down to 5.1MP, where the 1DsMkIII remains at 21mp. If you measure the amount of data processed, the Canon is faster than the D3. Nikon hasn't broken the 12mp range yet, while Canon is delivering the same or better image quality at twice the resolution. Nikon just recently joined the full frame arena, while Canon has been delivering them for quite some time. Canon gives you an impressive array of custom and persona functions that allow you to change so many ways in which the camera operates, which allows the photographer to make the camera match the way the photographer works and not require the camera adapt to the way the camera works. The 1DsMkIII has dual memory slots, and gives you a number of ways to configure how they are used. I use them on critical shoots to write the same image to each card as backup, thus if a card fails before I have a chance to write it to disk, I've got another copy.

In my opinion, Canon does have an edge over Nikon. However, they both play leapfrog on who is the best at any given time. To me, Canon as the lead right now, but I'm sure Nikon will take over in the future, then followed again by Canon, then Nikon. They have been doing that since I started shooting in High school in the 70's and 80's, and I don't expect them to stop now Either way, Nikon or Canon, they are head and shoulders above any other manufacturer out there save the medium format crowd. I'd be happy to own either.

Just a few things about a D3. I doesn't need to be in crop mode for speed lol! It shoots full frame at 9fps (11 in crop mode). And the two crop modes has some advantages. You can compose in a 5:4 format just incase you have pesky customers ordering 8X10's. Also, the D3 allows custom setups as well. As for dual slots, same goes with the D3 body. Really it comes down to the need for 21mp. As a all around imaging tool, the D3 really edges out anything Canon's making right now. That's like saying, jack of all trades. Another thing to remember about these bodies is the lens choices. There's some serious compromises with the current crop of Nikon and Canon lenses. Wide angle seem to suffer on the Canon side and the 70-200 2.8 is horrid on the Nikon side (a great lens on a D2x or film body). The new Nikon 24-70 and 14-24 are examples that these manufactures recognize this and new lenses are around the corner. But why even bother with the 1DsMIII or a D3? With the new 5DmII and the D700, you pretty much get the same thing at half the price. I use a D700 as a backup and there's no difference between it and the D3. And just when you think you know what Canon and Nikon are up to there's word of a MF coming! I think Hasselblad better look out.

Shaun

I just went through the camera search (for a first dsl) and was torn betwenn Nikon and Canon...finally settled on Canons D40 last years model. I am thoroughly enjoying it.!

Canon and Nikon make 85% of all digital's. A number of other manufactures purchase components from jobbers and simply assemble camera. Before purchasing my Canon I researched extensively. What I learned about Sony was not so good. I then went to a couple camera shops and was told they do not and will not have a Sony in their shop. Seems Sony has a very long repair cycle - like months and some cameras in the shops failed right from the box when they tried to demonstrate it for the customer, Sony insinuated the camera suffered "owner abuse" and wanted $$ to repair unit. I found references to this on the web as well. Some people were lucky and could simply return the product to the retail store for a refund. Most stores will not take them back so you are on the hook to send them back to Sony and wait months for a repair. If you happen to have a point and shoot (no add on lenses possible) and would like to take better pictures, purchase a pair of polorized clip on sunglasses, hold one of the sunglass lense in front of the camera lense, rotate the sunglass until you make the picture change to what you want, then take the picture. The sunglasses have to be authentic polorizing.

CANON...

All I have to say is [link=http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_in_Brief]CHDK[/link].

-Tim

Sony is a good brand they GENERALLY make good electronics, but sony is not the big guy in cameras.
When it comes to professional cameras, you should go check out some Nikons and Canons, they lead the game in camera market.

If you want camera get Canon. If you want TV get Sony.

I realize that this is a very old thread..but....

I have the Sony A100, love it, has more features than other entry level brands and takes excellent photos (I agree with the person above that stated that the operator makes the difference, that is my main problem, the operator of my camera)

All the brands are good, all of them have great features, do lots of research.

Wrxrocks....Sony bought out Minolta's line of DSLRs. These say Sony but they are the Minolta quality and sony technology. For that matter, Sony makes most of the CCD and CMOS units for the other camera makers (the sensor plate that records the image) Yes, I am a fanboy of the Sony A100....doesnt mean that I could pass up a free Nikon..or Canon...or Olympus...or...or....

Keep this in mind...

All of the mentioned cameras can do everything you want...98% of the quality is what you do with the camera. Chose the camera that feels the best in your hands and the menu system that makes the best sense to you.

Canon vs Nikon, etc...is like arguing Ford vs Chevy, Ferrari vs Lamborghini...they all rock and most performance depends on the operator.


The ultimate goal of an excellent photographer is to be able to take high quality images with a P&S or disposable camera.

Some photos from a local fly-in last weekend. I did not bother to do any post processing. I was using a Sony A100 on Sport setting and a Quantaray 70-210 lens that I purchased for 9.99 on Ebay (yes, 10 bucks!)