Nikon 3400 vs. Canon EOS Rebel T6

ski_rush · Jul 2, 2017

As I stated in my previous post, I'm just starting out and looking for a camera to learn on. I'd love a Nikon d7200, but I'd rather see if I can do well with this before dropping that kind of money on a camera and lenses.

I came across a Canon Eos Rebel T6 kit for $499 with two lens (a 18-55mm & a 75-300mm). It seemed like a good price and I was thinking this could be a good beginner kit because I can use those lens in a Canon 80D later.

But...I also found a Nikon D3400 kit with two lens (18-55 and 70-300mm), but it's double the money, $1000.

On paper, the Nikon 3400 has better specs. Is that truly a better camera worth that much more money or is the price difference attributed to the higher cost of Nikon lens.

My other option is to piece together a kit myself with a used Nikon D7100 and lens on eBay.

Please let me know your thoughts and opinions. Thanks,

jaomul · Jul 2, 2017

Nikon D3300 DSLR Camera with 18-55mm and 55-200mm Lenses 13473

You don't always need the newest model

DarkShadow · Jul 2, 2017

Yeah the D3300 has a cracking good sensor in it. IMO still the best entry level camera out there.

dunfly · Jul 2, 2017

Where are you looking at $1,000 for a D3400 with the two lens kit. Numerous places have it for less than $600, i.e. Best Buy, Adarama, etc. IMHO the D3400 would be a no brainer compared to the T6.

Nikon - D3400 DSLR Camera with AF-P DX 18-55mm G VR and 70-300mm G ED Lenses - Black

Nikon D3400

Derrel · Jul 2, 2017

ski_rush said:
I came across a Canon Eos Rebel T6 kit for $499 with two lens (a 18-55mm & a 75-300mm). It seemed like a good price and I was thinking this could be a good beginner kit because I can use those lens in a Canon 80D later.

But...I also found a Nikon D3400 kit with two lens (18-55 and 70-300mm), but it's double the money, $1000.

On paper, the Nikon 3400 has better specs. Is that truly a better camera worth that much more money or is the price difference attributed to the higher cost of Nikon lens.

My other option is to piece together a kit myself with a used Nikon D7100 and lens on eBay.

Please let me know your thoughts and opinions. Thanks,

The Nikon's sensor is amazingly capable; you can under-expose the RAW image captures to a terrible degree in the field, and then easily "lift" the brightness in software later, and make a fine, fine picture. Same with a fairly large degree of over-exposure; the issue is the SENSOR the cameras have...the SOny-made imnaging sensor in the D3400 is astoundingly good. This is not quite the same with the Canon-made sensor technology...

A four- or five-stop under-exposure with the Canon T6...dPreview reviews the T6 and gives it a 73% score. The Nikon gets a 76% score. very similar scores overall.

Look at the Image Quality score of the Canon....Canon EOS Rebel T6 (EOS 1300D): Digital Photography Review

Look at the Image Quality score of the Nikon...
Nikon D3400: Digital Photography Review

The Nikon has the better image sensor, and shooting RAW images with the D3400 will produce better results, especially for a beginner who might not be the best at setting exposure levels, or who wants the maximum in "recoverability".

Keep in mind too--the EXACT, specific lenses sold in packages can VARY!!! In the Nikon brand there are 18-55mm lenses with image stabilzing and 70-300 lenses with and without image stabilizing, and also older lenses that have different focusing motor setups!

MANY dealers package older,m lower-grade 18-55 or 70-300 lenses with low-cost kits! The lenses with STM in Canon and AF-P in Nikon COST MORE and they perform better! Faster focusing! Better focusing!

The 70-300 AF-P VR lens from Nikon mopves the "kit tele-zoom" to a new level of focusing speed and sureness on the D3400; up to the level of the "pro-grade" lenses, according to Nikon experet Thom Hogan.

Nikon D3400 Camera Review | DSLRBodies | Thom Hogan

See this clip from his review, and WHY the D3400 AND the AF-P lenses are so good:

...."the thing that was very surprising was the Live View autofocus speed. At least with the two AF-P lenses, the D3400 has far faster Live View autofocus than any previous Nikon DSLR. It also seems to work better in low light than before.

This is one of the reasons why I think Nikon is experimenting with AF-P: DSLRs benefited from lens motors that were able to make large jumps quickly but didn’t need to make very small changes of focus position in real time. Even a 12 fps DSLR doesn’t need the lens to move particularly fast in small incremental tracking.

But Live View (and mirrorless) does require not only fast large moves by the lens focus system, but also fast incremental adjustments (essentially a minimum of 30 fps, but generally 60 fps these days; even faster than that to demote implied shutter lag as an issue in Live View while tracking subjects). The D3400 and AF-P lenses seems to be the first big change to how Nikon is handling Live View (and thus video) focus, and the difference is dramatic. Putting an older 18-55mm AF-S lens on the same camera resulted in far more sluggish focus tracking.

I was curious to see if the same thing was true of putting the AF-P lenses on a D500. The answer: no. The D3400 not only is faster to initial focus in Live View with these lenses, the D3400 tracks decently while the D500 doesn’t. (This is just another of the firmware things that are still obviously not addressed by firmware...SNIP

Note: he wrote faster live view focus than any previous Nikon DSLR. Than ANY previous Nikon DSLR. And note--the older AF-S lens protocol 18-55 lens is more-sluggish than the NEW AF-P type 18-55 lens. The D3400 is actually a major upgrade in focusing, and so are the new AF-P 18-55 and 70-300 AF-P VR lenses.

This is NOT the D3300! His review notes that the D3400 focus performance is better than the D500's performance is tracking with the new AF-P lenses! The AF-P lenses can focus track better than the D500 with AF-P lenses? Why? My guess is that the D3400 marks a new, generational shift, with Nikon working very,very hard on its entry-level camera AND the lenses most buyers will want to purchase. This is not a Rebel...

ski_rush · Jul 2, 2017

Is the a new D3400 a better buy than a used (less than 10k shutter count) D7000? The d7100 might be a little out of my budget at the moment.

ski_rush · Jul 3, 2017

I ordered a Nikon D3400 kit with one lens. The reviews for the picture quality we're pretty good. I figure I will get a few good lens and the move up to a D7100 or 7200 later.

benhasajeep · Jul 3, 2017

ski_rush said:
I ordered a Nikon D3400 kit with one lens. The reviews for the picture quality we're pretty good. I figure I will get a few good lens and the move up to a D7100 or 7200 later.

It may be at the bottom of Nikons DSLR offerings. But it's still a good performer. Like I said I have the D3300 (it replaced a D40x, basically it's great great grandfather). I still have the D40x too. I have bigger, better, more capable Nikons as well). But I still use the D3300. The one thing good about the D3400 is you will learn a lot with it. And when you do want to change. You will have a much better idea and understanding of what you will want next. But I see you getting several good years out of that D3400.