Change from Canon to Nikon?

Blair387

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Hey everyone,

I'm looking for some advice, as I'm having a hard time making a decision. I currently shoot with a Canon 7d for a few years now, but I've really wanted to get into full frame for quite a while now. I've dons tons of research on the 5d mark iii and sounds like an awesome camera, but over the last few weeks I've been trying to decide if I wanna jump ship and sell my Canon gear and go to Nikon full frame? I have 2 options on my mind, either the d600 or the d3s. I know most people think you can only get the d3s used now, but I've found it online bran new for just under $3,800. Even though that camera is like 4 years old, that seems like a steal to me for being bran new? I know a lot of people say that megapixels aren't everything, obviously because I watch a lot of you pro photographers on you tube and still to this day use the d3s or d4 with only 12mp on the d3s. I hear some people say is about the QUALITY of megapixels not the QUANTITY that matters? I know that the d3s is the king of low light even to today's cameras.

I would really love the d3s, but from all the videos and tests done on the d600, I'm pretty impressed with the image quality and low light noise performance is pretty good. Not at d3s level, but still very good through iso 6400 at least?

So my question to you is, I have a couple options I'm throwing around. Option 1, should I sell my canon gear and get that d3s for under $3800 bran new while it's still available? And depending on how much I get from my canon gear, I might be able to afford at least one lens, probably the 24-70 f2.8 to start with. OR!! Option 2, sell the canon gear and go with the d600, (I can find the d600 online for under $1400 now), they have dropped the price way down on that thing. With the d600 I should have enough money to get both the 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 vr ii.

So I'm curious to hear what you have to say about this? The only thing that worries me about the d600 is that it only has a max shutter of 1/4000. That won't work so well shooting sports in bright sunlight. And obviously the focus square problems everyone complains about. The fact that they are all to clustered in the center of the viewfinder. I'm worried that I would have to focus and recompose too much?

Any thoughts or suggestions would be great.

Thank you,
Blair
 
Look into a REAL, brick-and-mortar camera store that is not KEH.com, or Adorama, or Samy's Camera, or B&H Photo, etc....a place in a medium-sized USA city. Here, in my town, clean,low-click Nikon D3x bodies are retailing for $2850 to $2995 used. PLAIN D3 bodies are $1850 or so. Nikon D3s used bodies are around $2250.

If you want a "PRO" camera, a D3s or D3x fills the bill. Big, 29-frame .NEF buffer, solid build, HUGE viewfinder with CRYSTAL-CLEAR image. A true flagship grade camera. The D600 is basically a hobbyist body (the D7100 is its near-twin) with a FF sensor. The finder image is only good in the D600, not superb. The D3 series finder image is superb, in all three models. The D3 series 12MP sensor is good. The D3x sensor is excellent. The D600 sensor is excellent.

The D600 DOES have video capability; that's something the D3 series lacked.

How about buying two D600 bodies, refurbed, instead of one D3s body? as far as shutter speed.... 1/4000 second is plenty fast for most all uses, even sports in daylight.
 
Is there a reason you feel you need, to change? Is there a real world need that you feel that Nikon has for you that Canon doesn't. Both are great systems. Both have some advantages and disadvantages, however most of the advantages that are brought up really don't mean anything to most shooters. On the other hand if you have a real need for a particular advantage, then yes I would say you might want to consider switching.
 
Is there a reason you feel you need, to change? Is there a real world need that you feel that Nikon has for you that Canon doesn't. Both are great systems. Both have some advantages and disadvantages, however most of the advantages that are brought up really don't mean anything to most shooters. On the other hand if you have a real need for a particular advantage, then yes I would say you might want to consider switching.
Agreed. Before you do this define what it is that you want to accomplish and then be sure that what you purchase will do that. It would be a shame to go through all of that only to find out that the new gear has the same issues. Technique and how one uses what they have is frequently a common solution to many problems.
 
Nikon D3s used bodies are around $2250.

I suggest you buy every single D3s you can for that price, and make a killing re-selling them.

Unless they've tanked recently, D3s' sell for $3800-4000 USD.
 
2 points?:

1) If you are concerned about money, the 5D III is a terribly choice in Canon compared to the newer 6D, which is about equally good of a camera for almost HALF the price (the 6D has a slightly better sensor, wifi which acts like a wireless LCD screen, and GPS, while the 5D has better focusing). When comparing camera models between Nikon and Canon in a price-minded way, use the 6D for comparison, not the 5D Mk III.

2) Why do you want to switch? The Nikon models are all great as well, and do some things better, some things worse. I'd say it's basically a coin toss if you were starting from scratch. But since you aren't starting from scratch, it's a little odd to switch brands randomly. I agree with the above posters that you should have a very good reason for doing this, which you never actually explained. You're going to take a significant $$$ hit in selling your gear at used rates and buying new gear, and thus even if you save a little bit or get one extra feature or whatever in the body, you will almost certainly come out behind after swapping all your lenses.

That money difference would probably be better spent in nicer Canon glass, instead of just thrown away in conversion costs.
 
So my question to you is, I have a couple options I'm throwing around. Option 1, should I sell my canon gear and get that d3s for under $3800 bran new while it's still available? And depending on how much I get from my canon gear, I might be able to afford at least one lens, probably the 24-70 f2.8 to start with.
Blair
Sorry, my last post didn't answer your question.


This option.

Sell the canon gear, and get the D3s and a 24-70 2.8 or equivalent.
 
Depends on your glass. If you barely have any- sell it. The d3s is an amazing camera and a great price.
 
Nikon D3s used bodies are around $2250.

I suggest you buy every single D3s you can for that price, and make a killing re-selling them.

Unless they've tanked recently, D3s' sell for $3800-4000 USD.

Umm SORRY dude, don't mean to bust your bubble, but around HERE, Nikon D3 and D3s bodies are not worth very much money at retail. And as I said, D3x cameras, you know, the ones that USED to sell for $7999, and now sell for $6,700 new, are being sold regularly, for UNDER $3,000.

Sorry, but there is no way in HELL on the west coast that a used Nikon D3s is worth anything over $2,500 at walk-in retail.

YES, on the world wide web, at the largest camera stores and web dealers, prices are sky-high and ridiculous. But here, on the west coast, a used Nikon D3s is worth about two, or three months' apartment rent. AKA...$2,500 TOPS. Abso-fricking-loutely TOPS.

Here is the August 20, 2013 used listing for my town's largest camera store: $D3X PRICES 8_20_2013.jpg (screen cap made seconds ago from http://www.prophotosupply.com/)

You must not be familiar with the way the US economy actually functions outside of places like KEH.com and B&H Photo.
 
Sweet, pick me up one and ill send you a check.
 
Yeah seriously.. I'll take a 2nd one. :lol:
 
Umm SORRY dude, don't mean to bust your bubble, but around HERE, Nikon D3 and D3s bodies are not worth very much money at retail. And as I said, D3x cameras, you know, the ones that USED to sell for $7999, and now sell for $6,700 new, are being sold regularly, for UNDER $3,000.

Sorry, but there is no way in HELL on the west coast that a used Nikon D3s is worth anything over $2,500 at walk-in retail.

YES, on the world wide web, at the largest camera stores and web dealers, prices are sky-high and ridiculous. But here, on the west coast, a used Nikon D3s is worth about two, or three months' apartment rent. AKA...$2,500 TOPS. Abso-fricking-loutely TOPS.

Here is the August 20, 2013 used listing for my town's largest camera store:<img src="http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=53419"/> (screen cap made seconds ago from http://www.prophotosupply.com/)

You must not be familiar with the way the US economy actually functions outside of places like KEH.com and B&H Photo.

I wish there were more brick and mortar stores my way. Unless I'm missing something, there's only one and they don't have anything close to those prices. Darn Fairfield county.
 
I currently have the Canon 24-70 f2.8l version 1 and the 70-200 f2.8 L is ii. I was thinking about getting the 24-70 version 2,r 2thousand dollars. Pretty ridiculous. I love my 7d for sports with 8 fps, but high ISO in low light sucks. Anything over 1600ISO looks crappy to me. Even with these good lenses? Everyone knows that the d3s is king of low light. The d600 looks really good from what I've seen all the way to ISO 12,800. But the focus points so close together worry me. I feel I would have to focus and recompose too much? And I really like the range of lenses from nikon with the 14-24 is said to be way better than the 16-35 from canon. Plus the Canon wide angle uses 82mm filters instead of more common 77mm. I also am getting more into studio portraits also. I have some softboxes and light stands and background.
 
I currently have the Canon 24-70 f2.8l version 1 and the 70-200 f2.8 L is ii. I was thinking about getting the 24-70 version 2,r 2thousand dollars. Pretty ridiculous. I love my 7d for sports with 8 fps, but high ISO in low light sucks. Anything over 1600ISO looks crappy to me. Even with these good lenses? Everyone knows that the d3s is king of low light. The d600 looks really good from what I've seen all the way to ISO 12,800. But the focus points so close together worry me. I feel I would have to focus and recompose too much? And I really like the range of lenses from nikon with the 14-24 is said to be way better than the 16-35 from canon. Plus the Canon wide angle uses 82mm filters instead of more common 77mm. I also am getting more into studio portraits also. I have some softboxes and light stands and background.

If you've got that much glass, I would keep your 7d and just add a 6d to the line up. There's always the 5d iii but that depends on what you are spending. Both systems are comparable and you have more canon glass.
 
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I currently have the Canon 24-70 f2.8l version 1 and the 70-200 f2.8 L is ii. I was thinking about getting the 24-70 version 2, but It's over 2 thousand dollars. Pretty ridiculous. I love my 7d for sports with 8 fps, but high ISO in low light sucks. Anything over 1600ISO looks crappy to me. Even with these good lenses? Everyone knows that the d3s is king of low light. The d600 looks really good from what I've seen all the way to ISO 12,800. But the focus points so close together worry me. I feel I would have to focus and recompose too much? And I really like the range of lenses from nikon with the 14-24 is said to be way better than the 16-35 from canon. Plus the Canon wide angle uses 82mm filters instead of more common 77mm. I also am getting more into studio portraits also. I have some softboxes and light stands and background.
But also, all the big online stores like amazon, bhphotovideo.com, adorama, and even my local camera store sells the 5d mark iii for full retail of $3499 so for body only. But I have found a couple websites selling it for little over $2,200. So that's a good deal too, but the nikon lenses are hundreds and hundreds cheaper for the equivalent zooms of the Canon. So many choices. Lol
 

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