ONE YEAR WITH CANON

The title says is all, so this post could end right now. But of course, there is a bit more to it.

Why one year with Canon?
In February 2013 I made the very difficult decision of ending my Nikon career and change to Canon. [wenn du den Titel wechselst, kannst du diesen Satz nicht mehr brauchen] Up to that day my camera combo was a D3 and a D700. The 12 Megapixels were good, even though a couple more Megapixels wouldn’t have hurt either. For me, the size of the D700 was the decisive aspect, as it was extremely comfortable.

Both cameras were slowly heading towards the end of their useful life and since I wanted to make a long-term investment and commitment, the unavoidable question popped up: How to proceed? I always array two cameras with me and have a third one as a substitute nearby – so the weight plays a substantial role in my choice.

The evolution path Nikon took with their cameras wasn’t aligned with my expectations. The successor of the D700 is the D800. What, 36 Megapixels? Lowlight? This was not at all what I expect and need in a camera. For such resolutions I have a PhaseOne with more Megapixels. In my opinion 36 Megapixels are not useful for reportage photography. The consequences of having that many pixels in a photo are: massively larger memory cards, probably a faster computer, much more data storage for the computer and also on the server side. What about buying two D4s? That would be pretty heavy and expensive, making a perfect dilemma. As a wedding photographer, a small body with 15 – 25 Megapixels and very good noise behaviour is an absolute must-have.

I had to go through the facts and decide if I really wanted to stick to Nikon or if Canon would be a good alternative. After going back and forth testing different cameras I had made my decision:
I will be a Canon user.

It was February 2013 and the time had come: the Nikon equipment was sold and the Canon cameras and lenses wer bought. Within an incredibly short period of time I had disposed of all my Nikon equipment through social media. Interestingly enough, a good part of it was sold to Germany.

I now own two Canon 5D MKIII and multiple fixed focal length lenses, as the it usually is with new equipment, I was – and still am – absolutely delighted.

What are the differences?
What are my experiences with Canon?

The biggest difference is the fact that the lenses are screwed onto the body in the opposite direction, just as you have to twist the lens the other way to zoom in and out. Since I make practically all my photography with fixed-lenght lenses, the zooming didn’t bother me much. Regarding the haptic perception, you get used rather quickly to the new arrangement of buttons and wheels on the camera. The menu has a great overview and you find your way around it instantaneously – Nikon really could learn one thing or two on this regard. The autofocus is spot on an when I look at the pictures in the camera directly in RAW I can see the difference in the colors: Canon photos look redder and therefore warmer than Nikon photos. I also noticed that the white balance is very good and, most importantly, constant.

I am not a pixel peeper and after photo editing you need an extremely well-trained eye to differentiate the camera brands. But in these realm I am quickly at loss.

The question I am constantly asked:
Which brand is better: Canon or Nikon? The answer is pretty easy: none. Both brands have their pros and cons. You get used to different bodies and lenses and in the end of the day, it is the photographer the one creating the photos. Building the image composition and capturing the right moment is something no camera will be able to do for the photographer.