Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Why did I switch from Canon to Nikon ?


This was shot in 2011 using 65MP-E
Ponte Vecchio, Firenze Italy 2011
I’ve been using Canon DSLRs for almost a decade, starting with an entry level Canon EOS 350 and on. Canons were improving and leading the way back then. I upgraded to a couple of Canon DSLR bodies before hooked up to a 7D in 2009. 

I then started playing the waiting game to upgrade to a full frame sensor. I was a bit hesitant to move on to a full frame body; since I enjoyed the cheap zoom offered by 7D's crop sensor. ;)


Vaduz castle, Liechtenstein 2014
The desire to take macros inspired me to buy a full frame Canon DSLR and I was eyeing a Canon 5D MkIII. Unfortunately, the 5DMkIII failed to keep up with Nikon in terms of image quality. Specially in the areas of dynamic range, low light sensitivity, sharpness, contrast and color noise at higher ISOs. 


Canon produces great camera bodies and lenses. Many good photographers use Canon around the world and serves them very well. However I figured Canon isn’t the perfect camera body for my specific requirement, that’s taking photos under low lit conditions. Canon cameras generated a bit too much color noise at higher ISOs, which is a major deal breaker, given the nature of photos I’ve been taking.

I was waiting to buy a Canon 5DS or a Canon 5DMkIV but the leaked images proved that Canon hasn't done much to improve image quality. It was a no brainer to pick a Nikon D750 although it offers just 24 mega pixels where as Canon’s flagship 5DS offers 50 mega pixels.


This does not mean I have become a Nikon fanboy. I hate fanboys. Fanboys are just idiots who keep wasting words to prove ‘A’ is better than ‘B’ where there is no clear winner.

Chateau de Chillion,Veytaux,Switzerland
What matters isn’t the tool someone uses but the end result. It doesn’t mean a thing if someone taking crap photos using the best equipment such as Leica or Hasselblad. Equipment does not matter but the person pressing the shutter is. I started using a Nikon for their bodies serve a specific need in my photography way better than Canon does.

Evian Les Bains, France 2014

Canon and Nikon have their own strengths and weaknesses and I would continue to use my Canon 7D and might upgrade to another Canon in the due course for macros. Nikon does not have proper tools to support macro photography.

Russian war memorial, Berlin 2014

I have captured most memorable moments using my Canon gear and I still love that. However, I started using a Nikon since Canon failed to cater my specific need, not that it’s bad. 

It’s been a couple weeks since I started using my first full frame camera, Nikon D750 and I started loving the images it has captured so far and what it’s capable of.

It's a complete new ballgame, let's hope I could keep taking good photos in the days to come using the new gear and I could beef up my gear with a few more premium Nikkor lenses. :)

PS:
These photos were taken by my old Canon gear. My flickr photo stream can be accessed here : https://www.flickr.com/photos/twtechlist/

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