Not another help me choose a camera thread!

[poohbear]

I have been doing a great deal of research between several brands and types of DSLR's.
Reading reviews, watching shootouts and comparisons.

We have our first child on the way (beyond excited) and need some good quality photos. SO we decided to go the DSLR route.

The T5i has benefits of the touch screen, ease of use. The ease of use is great considering my wife will be a first time shutter bug and utilizing this as a fast point and shoot.

While I have used the T5i briefly for about a week. Using the 18-55 kit lens and the nicer 55-250 with stabilization. I was left with a greater need for lower light shots. I had a great deal of difficulty getting good shots of subjects at night. For instance at a festival with moderate lighting at night. Focus was troublesome at best. I found myself only using manual focus at night. While I think this was just the problem of the quality of lens I have, I still was found needing more. Rough image with noise and poor focus ect. Partially user error I am certain.

I also had the chance to use a D5300. Its kit lens is HORRIBLE. How does Nikon get away with that? While the lens itself was better build quality the VR and general sharpness of the image was disastrous. I find myself still gravitating to the nikon for the better low light capture, generally better image quality and easier focus. I am not concerned with the wifi or GPS.

My concern is down the road. We may upgrade to full frame eventually, and it is very possible this camera is sufficient for years to come. So I would prefer to stay married to the brand we choose now. While it would be an easier choice if were going full frame now (cannon has the easy lead over nikon). With the middle of the road DLSR's nikon seems to edge out in front.

I am still very torn between the two cameras. D5300 with the better sensor and quality of lenses or T5i with touch screen ease of use, and cost. I would go T4i and call it day with the upgrade later down the road, but I prefer new.

I will be shooting low light a great deal and indoors. The subjects of interest tend to be in motion, or at distance.
The camera will also see some fast motion at a distance. My wife will be taking pictures of myself running road course on a motorcycle as an example.

I am aware I will need good glass for what I am looking to accomplish. But I need the body to mount the glass to first!

What are your guys / gals thoughts on this choice? It really is almost a coin toss.

 

[goodguy]

So first of all Canon vs Nikon will always bring flames to the thread so I hope we can avoid it.

Canon is better then Nikon in FF ?
Really ?
D610 and D750 are better then the 6D
5D III while old is indeed a fabulous camera but the D810 is better-sensor, AF
D750 vs 5D III extremely close call but the D750 is 1000$ cheaper so that pretty much solves this problem.
Canon should upgrade the 6D and 5D III and then the game starts again.
Overall both companies make excellent DSLR especially FF but currently overall Nikon is the one that has the advantage.
T5i uses old sensor, same sensaor they had in the T2i so you getting same IQ as you had at 2008, for touch screen I seriously wouldn't go for one company or another but that's me.
You are correct the D5300 is the better camera but if you will invest in cropped sensor lenses then you will not be able to move them to FF, well you will but that's pointless to use them on FF whether you go Canon or Nikon.
So why not get the D5300 body only and to that add a good FF lens ?
Maybe a nice fast lens, it aint cheap but that's a long term investment

 

[poohbear]

All valid points good guy thanks!

I'm only going by what people have told me, in stores, and what I gave been able to read online. Which is why I'm looking for advice via more experienced people via forums
I know a professional photographer who switched from nikon to cannon. Figured there would be good reason. He said it was due to quality, but who knows. This initially had me start looking at canon. I was right fuzzy all nikon.

I'm currently using the 5300 but not getting as good of results.

 

[Designer]

 

[Designer]

7D Mk II Image Quality: Is it as bad as DxoMark says? | Photography Forum

 

[Designer]

Canon User of 8 Years, I am Now Switching To Nikon. D800 VS 7D Lowlight Video Inside | Photography Forum

 

[poohbear]

Thanks designer.
It has to be user error, or lens then. All the similar shots I am making to compare the two cameras, I have more difficulty with the nikon to achieve the same or better results. THe nikon feels higher quality though only the t5i is made in japan. 5300 I think is taiwan.

 

[Designer]

You haven't said which lens is on the Nikon. I use the AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5 - 5.6 G on mine and I get very good sharpness.

Is the Nikon 5300 your own, or is it borrowed? What shooting modes/settings are you using? Can you post an example of something that you deem "HORRIBLE"?

Also, either post directly, or if the EXIF is stripped, include the settings used.

 

[astroNikon]

Don't forget to add a nice flash (such as on Nikon, the SB-700 or the Canon equivalent). it will solve those indoor photos that are blurry in low light. Fast glass is great in low light, but if you also need the depth of field .. you still have to add light.

here's some cameras Low Light sensitivity numbers and other information still being worked on ==> dxoMark Nikon ISO numbers | Photography Forum

 

[astroNikon]

The first key item is your budget for a camera. Then everyone will be able to help better.
Just saying you want fast and low light and outdoor sports you're talking some serious cash to get seriously good photos. But on the other hand you talk about getting a t4i and call it a day, which shows a low budget.

don't forget to include $$ for memory cards, camera bag, etc
Are we talking a $600 or a $6,000 budget ?

 

[astroNikon]

 

[poohbear]

I am using the nikkor 18-55 with VR 3.5-5.6.

I prefer to try and not use flash. I know this can be counter intuitive. However I prefer to capture with the natural surroundings, especially since I cannot always use the flash given where or what I am shooting.

the budget is as close to 1k as I can stay. I was looking at best buy currently which has the 150 off any lens with DSLR purchase. IE kit 5300 can get the 55-200 for about 130. so right around 1k OTD or so. However that is the upper end of the budget.

How does everyone feel about the 5200 as an entry level? It is similar sensor on the 5300 just with the low pass filter. So I know I will lose some ISO and gain some noise, however it should still be more viable camera than the t5i according to what everyone is saying here.

 

[Designer]

Yes, the Nikon D5200 is a very nice entry level camera.

 

[Mr.Photo]

I find it absolutely astonishing how many people down the kit lenses that come with their camera's. Yes some are better than others, but the Nikon 18-55 3.5-5.6 VR lens is actually one of the very best "kit" lenses available by any manufacturer. Paired with a camera like the D5300 should produce very good results. One thing that I've learned in my 4 plus years doing serious photography is that it's not about the gear, but about the person pressing the shutter button. Knowledge and practice will overcome most shortcomings of either camera or lens.

As mentioned above having faster lenses can help in low light, but at a certain point flash is still going to be needed. If you don't like the look of direct flash look in to getting an external flash, and learning the basics of doing bounce flash.

 

[dannylightning]

As far as the 18-55mm nikon VRII kit lens that came with my D5300, I though it sucked when I first got it and I bought another lens, after I got used to the camera and thew it on again I got some very good Images with that lens.

If you are going to be shooting in low light often than my advice is get the one that does the best in low light.

in really low light situations I either need to throw on my f/1.8 lens, crank up the ISO, use a flash or use a tripod and longer shutter speeds. I think the D5300 does pretty well with ISO up to 6400 in most situations. I have not really cranked my ISO higher than that.

here is a low light shot from my D5300 using my 35mm f/1.8 lens with the camera hand held settings on this one were were f/1.8 1/25 and iso 6400.



this photo was taken in a very dark barroom with the same lens at f/1.8 1/25, ISO 2000



If I had my f/3.5 lens on I wold have either needed a flash or really high ISO for the second one. for the first oneI would have needed a long shutter speed or Really high ISO. the only Issue with f/1.8 is you have a very shallow depth of field so you cant get close to anything you are shooting or most of the image will be out of focus. if you can get far enough away from what you are shooting like I did here than you can get allot more in focus with a fast lens. as you can see in the second shot the fist bush and the background are not in focus. on the first shot I was really far away and everything is focuses well.