Goodbye Nikon - Its been a blast !

[Mj]

Sigh.... just bring on the fire sale please ...

[Reschsmooth]

Let's take a few steps and consider how long cameras like Canon's F1 and A1 (and related models), and Nikons F2/F3 and FE/FM etc were actively available in the marketplace for? We're talking about periods of five plus years ... and while the FM was originally released in the late 1970s, the FM10 was still available, new, just a few short years ago.

Consider F4 (1988) - F5 (1996) - F6 (2004). 16 years for three professional camera progression. I can't confirm, but I doubt films didn't change that much in that time either. For consideration only.

[biggerry]

post all my equipment shortly that i will have for sale ....plenty of bargains and goodies

tasty bargins.... bring them on..

[Big V]

Just leave Dan in peace - he has made a decision, leave it at that. It is his business and his choice. We do live in a country where free will is still allowed. Too many people getting involved in some one elses affairs. I do not remember Dan asking for advice - he was informing us of a decision he has made and was good enough to imply that he was going to offer the members the first bite of the cherry for some bargains. Offering advice and expert opinion is fine when it is asked for.

[aim54x]

Just leave Dan in peace - he has made a decision, leave it at that. It is his business and his choice. We do live in a country where free will is still allowed. Too many people getting involved in some one elses affairs. I do not remember Dan asking for advice - he was informing us of a decision he has made and was good enough to imply that he was going to offer the members the first bite of the cherry for some bargains. Offering advice and expert opinion is fine when it is asked for.

+1

[sirhc55]

+2

[V-man]

"Like a sponge"
Posts Like this one, and People like Gstark and aim54x & other senior members teach me more about DSLR's with There reply's than anywere else.
Keep it up.

[Oz_Beachside]

Less yabba yabba ladies. I want a bargain d3 please

[leek]

Why on earth would you switch from Nikon when they are at the peak of their game? Denial?

[Nnnnsic]

I'm too lazy to read everything else, but as someone who shoots video with a very very very big video camera (professionally) and still slogs his digital slr, I can tell you that just because you have 1080p on a digital slr doesn't mean your film-making skills will be anywhere near as good as you think your photography is.

They're completely different mediums.

Now I can say that while I see that some people are annoyed Nikon has yet to bring a 1080p capable camera in, I neither care nor are concerned for three basic reasons:

1. You should worry about taking stills on a stills camera.
2. You should shoot your video on a video camera.

and,

3. 1080p isn't exactly what I call high-def. There are those of us already shooting in 2k and looking at higher, so as far as I'm concerned, even Canon isn't that far ahead of the game.

Now for the skills side of it all, let's talk shop. You think you can shoot images: great. Not going to debate ability here. How's your understanding of constantly changing light, panning, a focus that's constantly changing, and video composition?

And getting past that, can you script on the fly, shoot what you need (not what you think you need as these two are different), and then edit it all professionally? I'd hazard a guess that most photographers can't do that. It's why they often have teams to help them.

If you think video will help you in money, sure, go right ahead and do that. But don't expect your current stills skill set to immediately shift into live camera work, editing, and post.

[indigoreef]

Dan
I think you are overlooking a couple of important points.
Nikon's ISO performance
Canon's 24-70mm problems
Nikon's in camera RAW processing(higher end models)

I think when we look at the events on TV at the moment and look at the number of black lenses there are to grey, it looks very close to 50/50.
Your move to Canon would actually be against the trend and I think you would regret it.

I have spent some time with another Wedding photographer comparing the 5DMK 2 to the D700. Both having the 24-70mm 2.8 and the 70-200mm 2.8. She wanted to have a look at my camera because at a recent conference with wedding photographers, she was overwhelmed by the number of people switching to Nikon. Her curiosity got the better of her and long story short after checking out the cameras over several hours, she wanted to buy mine.

The big things we noticed was the ISO performance, the metering was far more accurate on the Nikon and the 24-70mm f2.8 was far sharper especially on the edges.

I'd wait a little and really check out the options before throwing away money on selling your gear.

My thoughts only.
Good luck.

[Raskill]

Meh.

Dan is all grow'd up. He seemed like an adult when I met him briefly at Indy.

I'm sure he's given this a lot of thought.

Good luck to him.

[petermmc]

Dan,

Good on you for making this decision. It makes this forum interesting. I will be looking forward to your comments in say 6 or 12 months when you can make well informed comparisons with experience (not suggesting you can't now).

There has been a lively response to your original post and I think this is both healthy and expected given the title of your post and the fact there are quite a few Nikon supporters here. You are an inspirational photographer, and although I may not have commented, I really like your style in the many posts you have made.

Regards

Peter Mc

[wendellt]

2 of my d3's just brokedown today they are under warranty but im overseas so im seriously thinking of moving to canon
i was speaking to a couple of getty photographers here in new york and they re-enforce the notion the D3 isn't as good in many ways than the older d2x

[photohiker]

D3 plonks a nice image on the card though.

I was with a d3 toting friend on a week long trip recently and his Nikon 70-200 died on him. Apparently, a known issue with some of them (older model perhaps) anyway, really frustrating for him to cart something that has stopped working through the trip. I think it was a lucky lens not to get chucked out the back of the dunes Luckily, he had other lenses and captured some great shots.

Gear failure is a PITA at the best of times. Can happen to any brand though. Hope it works out for you Wendell!

Michael

[aim54x]

2 of my d3's just brokedown today they are under warranty but im overseas so im seriously thinking of moving to canon
i was speaking to a couple of getty photographers here in new york and they re-enforce the notion the D3 isn't as good in many ways than the older d2x

OUCH....NPS in the US wont help you? What are the chances of two bodies going down at once?

[surenj]

OUCH....NPS in the US wont help you? What are the chances of two bodies going down at once?

Obviously they are not Wendell proof.

[feldy]

personally i can sympathise with Dan; as a long-term Nikon-user i think Nikon have at times treated users with contempt.

However, that aside i'm not so interested in the personality issues here - show me the goods!

A

[ozimax]

2 of my d3's just brokedown today they are under warranty but im overseas so im seriously thinking of moving to canon
i was speaking to a couple of getty photographers here in new york and they re-enforce the notion the D3 isn't as good in many ways than the older d2x

Wendell, please remind me NOT to lend you any of my gear!

[radar]

2 of my d3's just brokedown today they are under warranty but im overseas so im seriously thinking of moving to canon
i was speaking to a couple of getty photographers here in new york and they re-enforce the notion the D3 isn't as good in many ways than the older d2x

The breakdown can happen to any brands.

That aside, it would have been a major PITA, hopefull NPS in the USA would be able to help. As for the D3 not being as good, I would be interested in finding out the ways your colleagues thought the D2x was better. All the pros I have talked to would never even think of using the D2x anymore.

cheers,

André

[big pix]

......... I still use my D2Xs on jobs when using low ISO....... the quality is great.....

[wendellt]

2 of my d3's just brokedown today they are under warranty but im overseas so im seriously thinking of moving to canon
i was speaking to a couple of getty photographers here in new york and they re-enforce the notion the D3 isn't as good in many ways than the older d2x

The breakdown can happen to any brands.

That aside, it would have been a major PITA, hopefull NPS in the USA would be able to help. As for the D3 not being as good, I would be interested in finding out the ways your colleagues thought the D2x was better. All the pros I have talked to would never even think of using the D2x anymore.

cheers,

André

im sure ill get a bit of flcack for this

but when i got the d3 i noticed it uses some sort of antialiasing post processing on the output images
hence the image loks cleaner but its not sharper, the d2x doesnt have this so in direct comparrison the d2x has more definition

also the d2x has the the focus points spread all over the focus screen but the d3 is like a canon with all its focus points in the middle

also i find the focus on the d3 inconsistent it searches much more than the d2x

[ATJ]

also the d2x has the the focus points spread all over the focus screen but the d3 is like a canon with all its focus points in the middle

That's because the focus points on the D3 are positioned to cover both the full frame and the cropped frame (if you were using a DX lens). If you were to shoot in DX mode on the D3, you'd get exactly the same coverage as the D2x (in terms of both focus points and field of view).

[MATT]

That's because the focus points on the D3 are positioned to cover both the full frame and the cropped frame (if you were using a DX lens). If you were to shoot in DX mode on the D3, you'd get exactly the same coverage as the D2x (in terms of both focus points and field of view).

I found this a little off putting on D700 also after coming from the D300. Nothing I couldn't adapt to just it would have been nice for some focus points outside the cluster. Then when you put a DX lens on they could fall outside the crop and be disabled.. Theres an idea for ya Nikon.

MATT

[gstark]

also the d2x has the the focus points spread all over the focus screen but the d3 is like a canon with all its focus points in the middle

That's because the focus points on the D3 are positioned to cover both the full frame and the cropped frame (if you were using a DX lens). If you were to shoot in DX mode on the D3, you'd get exactly the same coverage as the D2x (in terms of both focus points and field of view).

I also suspect that it's because the D3 and the D300 share the same AF system. It's basically been built down to the crop format, which is probably a decision taken by the beancounting people within Nikon, rather than by the engineering types.