david1701
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Bude, Cornwall
canon vs nikon are basically same shoot different day, but major differences are as follows (ps might end up binning both lenses as AF and optics have moved miles in the last few years)
Nikon entry level (and most high end) bodies are SEXUAL especially that d7000 thing that Chase Jarvis has been blogging about (he is a paid up bran whore which biases these things)
Entry Level Nikon lenses are a minefield due to the AF motor in the lens vs body, entry level bodies won't AF with entry level lenses because neither has a motor which mf a HARD thing to learn and basically pointless (unless she ends up being a filmy but then the screens are better built for it so its a lot easier)
Canon are a lot simpler, EF lenses will work on any body - a crop body will only see the middle part of the image, EF-S lenses (smaller, lighter, cheaper) will only work on crop bodies (everything 7d and below)
Both manufacturers have awesome clever ocf systems in their flagship models, Nikon win on toys (I wish I had a dumb slave built into my flashes) but canon menus can be seen on the back of the lcd. Both are minor points you need to spend a few grand to notice.
For reference, crop bodies have sensors smaller than a piece of (35mm) film so show a cropped image from a lens, only showing the middle, hence crop specific lenses are smaller because they don't need to produce an image as big.
ISO performance is DIFFERENT to film, we're talking clean at 6400 on a D3s or 3200 on my 5dmkII not the golf ball sized grain on delta 3200 120 I get when I go play silly buggers at gigs
I can't advise you more strongly to buy secondhand, pick an amount you would be comfortable spending then spend it on what was very good kit instead of paying the new toy tax on early adopters of new kit, say a secondhand 40/50d (or d200/300) and a tamron 17-50 f2.8 would blow that d3100 and kit out of the water, giving her better AF build quality and greater DoF control
I'll help in any way I can, I'm a professional photographer (running cannon kit) with mates running almost every combo going (in fact a friend of mine does dam good work mostly on a d300 and 17-50)
Nikon entry level (and most high end) bodies are SEXUAL especially that d7000 thing that Chase Jarvis has been blogging about (he is a paid up bran whore which biases these things)
Entry Level Nikon lenses are a minefield due to the AF motor in the lens vs body, entry level bodies won't AF with entry level lenses because neither has a motor which mf a HARD thing to learn and basically pointless (unless she ends up being a filmy but then the screens are better built for it so its a lot easier)
Canon are a lot simpler, EF lenses will work on any body - a crop body will only see the middle part of the image, EF-S lenses (smaller, lighter, cheaper) will only work on crop bodies (everything 7d and below)
Both manufacturers have awesome clever ocf systems in their flagship models, Nikon win on toys (I wish I had a dumb slave built into my flashes) but canon menus can be seen on the back of the lcd. Both are minor points you need to spend a few grand to notice.
For reference, crop bodies have sensors smaller than a piece of (35mm) film so show a cropped image from a lens, only showing the middle, hence crop specific lenses are smaller because they don't need to produce an image as big.
ISO performance is DIFFERENT to film, we're talking clean at 6400 on a D3s or 3200 on my 5dmkII not the golf ball sized grain on delta 3200 120 I get when I go play silly buggers at gigs
I can't advise you more strongly to buy secondhand, pick an amount you would be comfortable spending then spend it on what was very good kit instead of paying the new toy tax on early adopters of new kit, say a secondhand 40/50d (or d200/300) and a tamron 17-50 f2.8 would blow that d3100 and kit out of the water, giving her better AF build quality and greater DoF control
I'll help in any way I can, I'm a professional photographer (running cannon kit) with mates running almost every combo going (in fact a friend of mine does dam good work mostly on a d300 and 17-50)
