thinkin about switching

den9

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i been thinking about switching to canon, i currently own a D50 and 2 cheap lenses and a 900 dollar lens.

i figure if im gonna upgrade its going to be full frame and id need to sell all my lenses and start buying now DX lenses, so i figured now is my chance to start over. i just cant decide what i want, the reason i bought a nikon is because its easier to navigate and feels a hell of alot sturdier. the ease of use doesnt bother me as much as how cheap the camera feels, i hear the 5DMKII is all plastic where as the D700 is mostly metal. i dont care much about the video but its not a bad thing to have. i shoot mostly landscapes so i think the canon might be good for me. i also been hearing the canons have had alot of issues with their stuff breaking.

if i do switch id sell all my nikon gear and probably upgrade to a 40D since that is all i could afford now, and buy used full frame lenses and eventually upgrade. probably doesnt sound like a logical idea but input is welcome. sorry for the long rant.
 
I think you're a little confused in your post.

You're a Nikon shooter, and you're considering switching to Canon. But you say that Nikons are "a hell of alot sturdier", with "mostly metal" versus "all plastic" and on 5DMKII, and finally conclude by mentioning rumors that Canons "have had alot of issues with their stuff breaking."

Whether half of the above is true or not, it sounds to me like your conceptions argue for you to stick with Nikon, rather than switch.

As for what you should do.... especially for landscape usage, take a look at film. Landscape photography requires a huge amount of detail - although even the D3X has 24 megapixels (or something like that), 35mm film has a megapixel-equivalent rating of over 80 megapixels purely on detail - taking color range and accuracy into account, it's double that. Large-format photography hits upwards of a gigapixel, and all professional landscape photographers have stuck with film. Considering the fact that you can get the film-equivalent of a D700 (which is a Nikon F100), for $270 used (or cheaper), it's much cheaper and you can hold onto the lenses you have now (that aren't DX lenses). Film is also full-frame by definition, which makes it an unbelieveably cheaper full-frame option than FX digital.

Regardless of whether you stick with digital or not, look towards prime glass - higher quality photos from glass that's about $300 new, and full-frame ready.
 
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the reason i want to switch is because i kind of like canons lenses more, even though they are probably identical to nikons. i have a 12-24mm f/4 a 50mm prime and a D70 kit lens. if i ever go to fx id need to get new lenses anyway except for the 100 dollar 50mm. id probably get a 14mm fixed f/2.8 if i went fx.

i always wanted a film camera just for fun and shooting star trails, but i dont have the slightest clue on dark room stuff and correct me if im wrong its probably not the same taking it to a 1 hour photo to get it developed.

and when i talk about the canons performance im talking straight from kenrockwell and im sure its alittle biased.
 
" im talking straight from kenrockwell and im sure its alittle biased."

more than a little I think you will find (at times)...


Honestly you sound like you are rather all over the place and not sure what to do. I think your looking at your shots and not getting the quality you want from them, and then your looking at shots taken by canon users and seeing that quality - which is letting you think the canon glass is better than the nikon.

honestly if you want to switch you can, but make sure that you have a reason for a switch - from what you have said already you don't sound that convinced of canon kit and that means you might never be happy shooting with it.
My advice would be to stick with nikon - stick with your current camera and go get yourself a fullframe compatable high end landscape lens (I don't know the nikon range so I can't advise one) either a zoom or a prime and have a time shooting with that. Pro end glass will give you far better performance than upgrading the camera body will - though of course it won't suddenly make your shots fullframe ;)
As for film you can get it devloped at shops, though I think most photographers would use somewhere a bit better than 1 hour photo ;). You don't even have to have them do prints, many today will have them just process the negatives and then use a scanner to put them on the computer
 
the reason i want to switch is because i kind of like canons lenses more, even though they are probably identical to nikons. i have a 12-24mm f/4 a 50mm prime and a D70 kit lens. if i ever go to fx id need to get new lenses anyway except for the 100 dollar 50mm. id probably get a 14mm fixed f/2.8 if i went fx.

I think Nikon has some good options for FX wide angle lenses, be it primes, or zooms - the Nikkor 14-24mm F2.8 i.E. - I've played around with it for a few days and it was really beautiful. I'm no landscape photographer though, so take what I say with some reserve.

As somebody mentioned, film might be an option - especially since you could get some older good manual focus (since you shouldn't really need autofocus) Nikon lenses for affordable prices. I would however try not to listen too much to comparisons like "35mm > 80MP" and "4x5 inches > 1GP" - just try it and see what you like more. To me, both film and digital have their unique "feel", and with colour photography I'm not sure which one I prefer.

In your case, I see the problem rather between the D700 and 5D MkII - the extra pixels of the Canon seem more suited for landscape work then the fps and ISO performance of the Nikon. How much weather sealing you need depends on where you want to take the camera. Do you have any idea of how much you'd be willing to spend on equipment? That might make it easier for people to advise you.
 
I own a D700, and have used my friends 5D mkII a number of times. Essentially, my conclusion came to something like this:



If you have time to set up your shot, meaning you're in the studio, or shooting landscape, the 5DII is awesome.

For everything else, the D700 blows the 5DII out of the ballpark and into another country.



Build quality. D700's are sealed and gasketed. I've used my D700 in the rain before, got soaked, it also got partly submerged one time due to my clumsyness, it performed like a champ. I don't know if I could get away with that on a 5D since it's not sealed. Another thing is the shutter, the D700's shutter at least sounds and feels more solid the the 5D.

Speed. I need more then 3.some-odd FPS. 5fps is ok, but I often set my 700 up for 8fps without the grip (just google it and you can see how it's done).

AF. The 5DII's autofocus is pedestrian compared to the D700's. It's slow, less accurate, and the coverage sucks. The 700 has the same module as the D3, 51 points that can track my color!

Functionality. The 700 is simply more customizable, I have my CLS comander hotkeyed to my preview button. Just tap a single button and I can change the power of my speedlights lightning quick. Not to mention, the 700 has a pop up flash.

Resolution. The 5DII's files are more beutiful to work with then any Nikon i've used. They're smoother, 21MP has lots of detail, they're really a joy to work with.



Bottom line:

The 5DII's absolute image quality is far superior, it's really a camera that's geared towards the best possible final product.

The D700 is a joy to work with. It's more of a camera geared towards making the experience of making that final product as easy and fast as possible. The D700 is truly a camera that "doesn't get in the way of making photographs".
 
I get it, I get it. You like the white lenses :lol:
Seriously, don't go that way. I switched from Canon to Nikon, and I can tell you that there's a huge difference between those two. Nikon wins!
 
I think that you are confused by the different perspectives out there and have also confused the Rebel Series with the 5D (and xxD) models...

Get your hands on one to see if you like it..

The 5D MK II as well as the 5D and all the XXD Canons are not "all plastic", they are magnesium and extremely sturdy and solid feeling.. they are a top-quality build, function, and reliabile camera.

Either Canon or Nikon are the top dogs in the camera world and are almost always compared from a brand biased perspective..

If you want to change, change for reasons that you can identify and feel comfortable with personally......... otherwise, every time you see the "other guys" set-up, you will be disappointed...
 
Meh... I say go whatever direction turns your crank... BUT... don't be stupid and make some kinda half-assed decision based on someone else's opinion. At least take 3-5 months and do a TON of research and at least you won't feel like an idiot later coming back and posting "I wish I had done my homework, because I really hate my Canon XYZ camera. I wish I had stayed with Nikon and upgraded to the D..." ;)

Right now, you have shown an amazing ability to chase your tail at high speed. Get untangled, get informed, make a decision, STICK to it and be happy.
 
I own a D700, and have used my friends 5D mkII a number of times. Essentially, my conclusion came to something like this...

The 5DII is sealed some what. I think the white paper says it'll stand up to 10mm of rain in 3minutes.

I know I've shot in the rain and it was fine.

It might not be as robust as the D700 in that respect, but it's there.
 
i always wanted a film camera just for fun and shooting star trails, but i dont have the slightest clue on dark room stuff and correct me if im wrong its probably not the same taking it to a 1 hour photo to get it developed.

Let me get one thing clear - if you want to make your own prints entirely by yourself from film and never use a lab, you do NOT need a darkroom. You buy what's called a film changing bag that allows you to load the 35mm film into a special tank that allows you to pour chemicals in and out of the tank without letting light through. After that, mix the chemicals in, then take it out and hang to dry - tada, film is developed! Then you just scan the negatives into your computer using a scanner like the Epson V500, and print with a photo printer.
 
Honestly you sound like you are rather all over the place and not sure what to do. I think your looking at your shots and not getting the quality you want from them, and then your looking at shots taken by canon users and seeing that quality - which is letting you think the canon glass is better than the nikon.
nah i dont really know any canon users, maybe a couple to be honest
I get it, I get it. You like the white lenses :lol:
Seriously, don't go that way. I switched from Canon to Nikon, and I can tell you that there's a huge difference between those two. Nikon wins!
im not going to lie, i really do like the white lenses lol
I think that you are confused by the different perspectives out there and have also confused the Rebel Series with the 5D (and xxD) models...

Get your hands on one to see if you like it..

The 5D MK II as well as the 5D and all the XXD Canons are not "all plastic", they are magnesium and extremely sturdy and solid feeling.. they are a top-quality build, function, and reliabile camera.

Either Canon or Nikon are the top dogs in the camera world and are almost always compared from a brand biased perspective..

If you want to change, change for reasons that you can identify and feel comfortable with personally......... otherwise, every time you see the "other guys" set-up, you will be disappointed...
im not confused with the rebel models, in fact i absolutely hate the rebel and that drove me to nikon, it just felt cheap

Let me get one thing clear - if you want to make your own prints entirely by yourself from film and never use a lab, you do NOT need a darkroom. You buy what's called a film changing bag that allows you to load the 35mm film into a special tank that allows you to pour chemicals in and out of the tank without letting light through. After that, mix the chemicals in, then take it out and hang to dry - tada, film is developed! Then you just scan the negatives into your computer using a scanner like the Epson V500, and print with a photo printer.

i have no idea how the chemical process works, why do you need to scan it on your computer? do you need to let it dry in a dark room?

i think im going to wait until im 100 percent ready to upgrade before making my choice, and trying everyones cameras in the process.
 
Popular Photography has performed detailed reviews of both the D700 and the 5DMKII and you can see the reviews on popphoto.com. I would suggest you look at those reviews and others comparing the cameras and then go to a photo shop and handle both cameras.
 
i have no idea how the chemical process works, why do you need to scan it on your computer? do you need to let it dry in a dark room?

Well I don't know how to mix any given cocktail - does that mean I'm just going to give up? No - google is your friend.

Scanning it to your computer is purely if you want a print - like what you've got framed on the mantlepiece. Otherwise, you can just leave it as a negative when it finishes developing.

Film does not need to dry in a darkroom, just hang to dry for 30 mins.
 
im going to find a cheap used film slr and try it out. i think i made the decision to switch, but its going to be awhile before i upgrade anyway.

another thing, is a light meter a good thing to have in film photography? its pretty hard for to guess exact settings and bracketing the whole roll of film seems crazy.
 

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