Cannon v Nikon in respect to Portraits

[Marcelle]

lol I switched to canon when my studio got broken into and all my gear stolen...so really no preference both do the job, from a certain level of quality, brands is just a fashion matter

 

[Ernicus]

lol I switched to canon when my studio got broken into and all my gear stolen...so really no preference both do the job, from a certain level of quality, brands is just a fashion matter

damn, that sucks. I'd hate to have all my gear stolen...once i have gear worthy of stealing that is. lol

 

[The_Traveler]

The Canon vs Nikon issue for any specific niche is largely a matter of timing.
It is especially evident in professional sports shooters.
A dozen years ago Canon was way in the lead for high iso work, so sport shooters who wanted high iso to allow fast shutter speed whenever migrated to Canon and one would see only white lenses (Canon L glass) at events like the Olympics.
Comes the new Nikon era of high iso and Nikon making it easy for pros to switch and, all of a sudden, not nearly so many white lenses.
Pro portrait people don't have the high visibility of the sports shooters and if they started back when they wanted FF digital, Nikon didn't have one, so the only real option was Canon.
There's not a huge incentive for a studio to switch and Nikon won't get much publicity from a studio switching so they don't make it easier and cheaper.

 

[Village Idiot]

Well learning portrait work will likely mean far more about learning posing and lighting - the camera itself, whilst an important tool - oft takes a second place to how you've posed and lit your subject and the environment they are in. I'd expect a portrait photographer to end up sinking far more money (early on at least) into lighting and studio equipment.

yeah, I'm currently studying lighting too as I'm pretty ignorant on that and have zero experience which is why I'm grateful I will be getting to assist on lots of shoots this summer.

Strobist: Lighting 101

 

[Ernicus]

Well learning portrait work will likely mean far more about learning posing and lighting - the camera itself, whilst an important tool - oft takes a second place to how you've posed and lit your subject and the environment they are in. I'd expect a portrait photographer to end up sinking far more money (early on at least) into lighting and studio equipment.

yeah, I'm currently studying lighting too as I'm pretty ignorant on that and have zero experience which is why I'm grateful I will be getting to assist on lots of shoots this summer.

Strobist: Lighting 101

Thanks. I have seen that link up here before, and didn't write it down. Written down this time. ;-)

 

[Dao]

Why limited to Canon and Nikon? In the portrait area, most of the dslrs should do fine. That's include Sony, Pentax or Olympus etc. In fact, I believe the forum member Benjikan shoot with Pentax.(According to his profile here)

 

[Ernicus]

Why limited to Canon and Nikon? In the portrait area, most of the dslrs should do fine. That's include Sony, Pentax or Olympus etc. In fact, I believe the forum member Benjikan shoot with Pentax.(According to his profile here)

As stated, it was a question based on a personal observation locally as of late. Had I seen other brands, I would have included them in my question, but I haven't. This is not intended to be a typical Nikon v Canon thread as many have been quick to assume.

 

[Village Idiot]

Why limited to Canon and Nikon? In the portrait area, most of the dslrs should do fine. That's include Sony, Pentax or Olympus etc. In fact, I believe the forum member Benjikan shoot with Pentax.(According to his profile here)

Because potato.

 

[Overread19 7]

In recent years (decades?) Canon and Nikon have dominated the 35mm and 1.5/6 crop sensor markets both for hobby and professional use. There are other companies, however quite a few were late in jumping into the Digital band waggon - as such they did rather get left behind in the dust as Canon and Nikon forged ahead and took lion shares of the market. As such you see other kinds a lot lot less, sometimes this is reflected by them simply having far less marketing, whilst having perfectly good products; other times its a reflection that they don't quite have the breadth or range of options that the bigger players have (more often you see this in that other companies will have good high level options, but might be far more limited in lower tier/price choices - as such they miss out on a segment of the early starting photographers).

 

[sovietdoc]

Two things Nikon doesn't have for portraits that canon does:

50mm f/1.2L
and the legendary 85mm f/1.2L II

The latter is pretty much the reason most professional portrait shooters go Canon.

 

[MWP]

I'm an amateur photographer but one of my best friends is a pro and he seems to prefer Nikon for portraits and studio work and Canon for filed work. I can't specify exactly why though. Hope that helps.

 

[MWP]

Also he recently pick up the D800 and uses that in studio.