D300s or 7D ???

[Rich F]

Ok everyone,

I've finally decided to go ahead and pull the trigger. My two year old son did me a biggie on my tax return and I'm finally going to get a DSLR.

I want you to tell me which you think is the better camera and why. The Nikon D300s or Canon's EOS 7D.

I will be shooting pictures of my son for years to come, some local bands with a 50/1.4, and who knows what else.

I've been reading a lot of Nikon info over the past year or so and have always though that that's the way I would go when I finally could afford to. But it seems like Canon has just as good a product in the 7D.

I look forward to your thoughts....

 

[TJ K]

Not one of these again........

Hold them pick what feels good..

Easy as that

 

[Sachphotography]

NIKON NIKON NIKON NIKON

 

[TJ K]

I say go leica

 

[icassell]

Hold them pick what feels good..

This is actually very good advice. A lot is the feeling of the camera in your hand. I can give lots of reasons I love my 7D, but there are those who love their Nikons as well (although I can't imagine why).

 

[Live_free]

Google is your friend
Let me google that for you

 

[PhotoXopher]

D300s or 7D ???

Yes.

 

[Derrel]

The above link, the letmegooglethatforyou link had a bunch of 7D vs D300s comparisons, so I clicked on just ONE, about six links down, just to see what the geeky fellows at Gizmodo.com would say....

I thought it was interesting how they compared and described the new Canon 7D in their review Canon 7D Review - Canon EOS 7D - Gizmodo
"What makes it my favorite Canon so far is actually everything that's completely new to Canon—DP Review has a nice summary here, in pictures. But in short, while this might sound weird, it shoots more like a Nikon than any Canon DSLR I've used. This is primarily because of the new 19-point autofocus system and the color metering system that goes with it. You're able to select AF zones—clusters of AF points—while in the past with Canon you've been limited to a full AF blast or picking out a single point."

and "it uses a new polymer LCD network for the graphical overlay to display AF points, grids and other displays, so it's more flexible and feels more fluid. (It also just looks s****ier, and again, more Nikon-like.)"

This is Canon's FIRST-EVER camera with color-aware light metering and color-aware focusing: Nikon has had those features for multiple generations of cameras. The 7D's light metering has some quirks, but then again, as Gizmodo points out what makes the 7D nice is "everything that's completely new to Canon". Color-aware metring, color-aware AF system, a decent selectable mutli-point AF system, first Canon with a built-in remote wireless flash commander. As they put it, they like it because it is "NIKON-LIKE". Canon has finally managed to catch up to Nikon's technologies and put a bunch of them in to their new 7D body.

Does that tell you anything???? They like the 7D because it works more like a Nikon, and has features that are all new to Canon?

 

[pharmakon]

Well i'm typically a Canon guy myself, but I would have to say the Nikon.

Why? Because you would then be able to use NIKKOR lenses, and NIKKOR spelled backwards is ROKKIN' (with the added apostrophe of course). So go git yerself some rokkin' E.D. glass!

...ok back to the regularly scheduled serious debate stuff...

 

[Dao]

Do you like to use Canon lens or Nikon lens?

 

[TJ K]

Hold them pick what feels good..

This is actually very good advice. A lot is the feeling of the camera in your hand. I can give lots of reasons I love my 7D, but there are those who love their Nikons as well (although I can't imagine why you didn't immediately choose nikon).

Fixed :lmao:

 

[KmH]

Hold them pick what feels good..

Hummmm.....If so, then why over the years, has it not mattered a whit if I was using a Minolta, Hasselbald, Canon, Nikon, Yasica, or any of several different brands or camera configurations, like a TLR instead of a SLR, with motor winder and bulk film back or without?

All that truely matters is image quality first, and features second. What feels good is about #12 down on the list. I don't recall ever getting to #12 when choosing a camera. By the time I get to #4 it's usually a done deal.

Something about humans having an opposed thumb, manual dexterity, and an ability to adapt to varying ergonomics.

In regard to image quality (and no other criteria), the D300s has a slight edge, primarily because it has a bit more color depth and dynamic range than the 7D. Compare cameras

For many the real issue, as far as brand, is the lens lineup a camera maker offers.

 

[inTempus]

To my knowledge the 7D doesn't have color aware focusing, only metering.

As for the metering, I've yet to see any examples of where the color aware metering improves IQ or even WB over, say the non-color aware 1D4.

It's neat to claim you have it, but when it doesn't do much of anything for you except slow your FPS down under certain lighting conditions, I say leave it off (like they did with the 1D4).

As for color aware focusing, Nikon has yet to top Canon in AF system performance, even with their top of the line models (D3 vs 1D3) and despite the 1D3's problems with the sub-mirror assembly right out of the gates. Since the 7D uses the 1D's AF system (just watered down a bit with 19 points vs. 45) I would say it has the advantage over the D300s.

AF-C comparison test plus K20D and K200D test in german "fotoMAGAZIN": Pentax SLR Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review
Canon 1D MKIII vs. Nikon D3 Sports Autofocus Showdown - Pro Photo HOME

So, once again, I fail to see how Nikons claim to fame of having color aware focusing and metering do much of anything. I guess it gives the fanboys something to banter on about, but in terms of making quality images it does a whole lot of nuthin.

 

[TJ K]

Hold them pick what feels good..

Hummmm.....If so, then why over the years, has it not mattered a whit if I was using a Minolta, Hasselbald, Canon, Nikon, Yasica, or any of several different brands or camera configurations, like a TLR instead of a SLR, with motor winder and bulk film back or without?

All that truely matters is image quality first, and features second. What feels good is about #12 down on the list. I don't recall ever getting to #12 when choosing a camera. By the time I get to #4 it's usually a done deal.

Something about humans having an opposed thumb, manual dexterity, and an ability to adapt to varying ergonomics.

In regard to image quality (and no other criteria), the D300s has a slight edge, primarily because it has a bit more color depth and dynamic range than the 7D. Compare cameras

For many the real issue, as far as brand, is the lens lineup a camera maker offers.

Well there are these threads a million times a week canon vs nikon and they can search and find the specs on their own. Lets assume they have done the research well then they probably got down the list and should hold the camera.

Both have nice IQ so that shouldn't be an issue. They should be picking the camera by looking at things like is the company has lenses better suited to their needs and things of that nature.

 

[inTempus]

In regard to image quality (and no other criteria), the D300s has a slight edge, primarily because it has a bit more color depth and dynamic range than the 7D. Compare cameras

What I find particularly interesting about DXO's tests is that the 7D has better high ISO performance than the D300s. I find this odd because the 7D has 18mp whereas the D300s has 12mp... and conventional wisdom suggests that the more megapixels you have on the same size sensor the worse your high ISO performance is. That, and Nikons claim to fame the last couple of years has been superior high ISO performance.