Which camera is better for beginners a Nikon D40 or a Canon Rebel XT ??????

Question

I am about to start a photography class and I cant decide, I have been told that Canon and Nikon are like Windows and Mac, Canon being Mac, that supposedly they have a complete different language, which one is better and friendlier???????

Answer 1

Both are great... it's all about self preference. Check them both out at your local camera store and choose the one that you're most comfortable with.

Answer 2

There are no different "languages" in digital, the cameras are just laid out differently between manufacturers. Some have more settings and modes accessible by outside buttons, (which I prefer), while others have more settings buried in menus you have to access by the monitor. Others may correct me on this, but I do believe the Canon is a little more "user friendly" as far as having easy access to settings on the outside of the camera as opposed to the Nikon D40. Either camera will take great photos in the right photographer's hands. I would suggest you go to a real camera store and hold and test each one before buying. You may find one just fits you better than the other. But neither one is really any "better" than the other.

steve

Answer 3

Personally, I prefer the way Nikon thinks.  I had a lifetime of using 35mm film cameras before going into digital and it seems like I already knew all of the terms that Nikon uses in their menus, while Canon still confuses me on some items.

I mean, call the aperture "A" and the shutter "S," for Pete's sake.  Why use "Tv" for shutter?  I know, it's "time value," but I never once thought of my shutter speed in terms of "time value."  It's just "shutter speed."

Yes, Yahoo!, I am full of punctuation tonight.

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And Steve has presented a completely valid, but different opinion.  He's right and so am I.  These are both excellent cameras.

The point is, it's up to YOU to choose.  See which one feels better in your hands.  If you know anything about photography at all, ask the dealer how you change certain things and see how it goes.

Ask your instructor for a recommendation.

Personally, to throw this back into the Nikon camp, I would miss the spotmeter on the Rebel XT, but they've sold thousands of cameras to happy customers in spite of not having one.

Answer 4

They don't have different langueages but as noted they do have different markings and names for things. I personally think the nikon D40 give you more for the dollar than any DSLR today. There are some that do more but you pay a good bit more. Do not let the lower megapixels concern you if you do not do very very large prints you will never notice the lower DSLR. My brother recently needs a DSLR for a class and I recommended the D40 to him

If you have a bit more money the D60 give you a number of things you want. It has newer firmware and image processors, designed for the 10 mp sensor. It has an "Active Dust Reduction System with Airflow Control ". Nikon not putting a system on the D40 to deal with dust is one of the biggest drawbacks I see to the D40 ( though I think its still a great camera for the money) If you change lenses dust will get in and the camera needs a system to deal with it. With the D60 you get a VR lens. That will help with low light situations ( they may offer that now with the D40 but originally it was not) . The D60 has Adaptive Dynamic Range. Nikon calls it "Active D-Lighting," it lets you save some highlights that my otherwise be lost. It has a newer better metering system than the D40.

Some people will want to make a big issue out of the fact that there are some nikon lenses that will not autofocus on these cameras. Right now there are "only" about 39 lenses that autofocus on these cameras. They cover the range of focal lengths. I doubt any photographer would be seriously limited with "only" this many lenses to choose from. If you want to manually focus you can more than double this and do so at a low cost. Manual focusing is easy and how we did things for decades before the advent of autofocus.

Cannon and Nikon chose to put the vibration reduction in the lens rather than the body. Yes that means you get it only on lenses with that feature built in. In the body in theory it would work on every lens. But in fact image stbilization in the lens has proved to work faster and smoother with a lower impact on focus times than image stabilization in the body

In closing all the major manyfactures make good cameras. With Nikon and Canon having the largest market share. Most photographers are loyal to what they use and like. Go to the stores get them in your hand and find what you like. What fits your hand well, which has the features you want in an easy to use format