Boys (and girls) with toys

blog-2008-Rivervale-PICT4630-toys.JPGAfter a nearly six month search for a new camera system to replace my current Konica-Minolta DSLRs setup, we finally decided on going with Nikon. We picked up a Nikon D300 at MSColor yesterday. This post will be really long so it’s broken into several entries.:)

Those of us who dabble with photography will know that switching camera systems can measure up to a huge investment especially if you’re already heavily entrenched in one camp with lenses and accessories. Truth to tell, the sort of differences and nuances between the two major camera systems on the same tier i.e. Nikon and Canon would matter especially to enthusiasts and professionals, but most casual users would do pretty OK with either of these two major players. Ironically, that made things especially difficult for me as I’m sandwiched somewhere between three parts: a casual user, an enthusiast, and a technogeek who loves to discover toys.:)

Still, Ling had this to say about the way I went about in the last few months on this search: “There he goes again with his spreadsheets.” Yep, like how we went about choosing our Latio last year, I wasn’t going to buy anything this major without having done thorough research first. So, spreadsheets identifying functions, feature sets, lenses that I was interested in, and prices got started and updated on a weekly basis as I collected information. The initial range of choices was pretty wide, and included the Canon 40D & 5D, Pentax K20D, Nikon D80 & D300, Sony A700, and even the Olympus E-3.

Of that list, only the 5D employs a full-framed sensor which is probably more suitable for the sort of photography I dabble in – landscape, occasional portraits, and minimal sports – but costs were a few thousand higher than the next most expensive model. So, that option was put on the backburner, but I imagine that eventually my next DSLR down the road in 5-10 years will be a full-frame unit when prices have come down.

I was pretty certain I didn’t want to get another Sony (who bought over Konica-Maxxum) DSLR, what with their limited range of lenses and higher comparative prices. The Olympus was a huge tank and I had some reservations about the Four Thirds system, and while the Pentax K20D was a really attractive option, the local user community was small and as quiet as a mouse.

So, a month ago it came down to the two biggest camera system players – Canon and Nikon, and four of its offerings: Canon 450D, Canon 40D, Nikon D80, and the D300. More in the next post tomorrow.:)

3 thoughts on “Boys (and girls) with toys

  1. both the D300 and 40D are good models, but like I said before Nikon is probably better for your type of photography with minimal sports

  2. It does; but I asked myself if the difference between full frame and cropped sensors was worth the additional $1.5K for the 5D. Outside image quality too, the current 5D is also somewhat less featured than the D300. Every photo I take gets processed through Photoshop (which would have minimize the impact caused by quality of shots out of the camera), and the camera was also intended to be a learning tool.
    Incidentally, there’s rumoured to be a MkII edition of the 5D to be announced by Canon today or tomorrow, but I don’t think that’s going to be cheap.

    Either way, I’m pretty sure my next DSLR down the road in maybe 5 years time will be a full frame Nikon. Hopefully the prices would be around $2K by then too for an affordable unit.:)

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