To Richard Bernabe

[bryan hulse]

Richard,

I didn’t want to piggy back this on Drifter’s thread, but I’m curious as to what your impressions are of your new Canon equipment now that you’ve had a chance to work with it. Any regrets?

Thanks,

Splitshot

[Richard Bernabe]

Splitshot,

I am truly sorry I didn’t see this until now. I was away for a while and this post had migrated to the 2nd page. Sorry, I guess 4 months late is better than never, however.

After shooting with Nikon products for 15 years, I thought the change would be painful. It wasn’t. I have owned and used the Nikon 8008s, N70, N80, N90s, F4, F100 (3 of them), F5, and lastly D2X and D200. I have absolutely nothing against Nikon. They had served me well over the years and I owe much of my success to them.

The decision to jump to Canon was a gradual one. I was putting together a book – 75 percent of the images were D2X digital images – and I was displeased with the noise issues I was getting with this camera. 12.4 megapixels crammed into an APS-sized sensor, with the technology they had at the time, was a loser. Other pros said the same thing and had the same problem. The D200 was an vast improvement. I cant speak for the updated D2Xs. I spent countless hours on the phone with the Nikon folks and they finally said, “Our sensors will improve when Sony makes us a better sensor.” I put my D2X and Nikon lenses up for sale the following day.

I now shoot with two Canon 5Ds. I love this camera. It is NOT not perfect, but the image quality is better in almost every way. The files are cleaner than either the D2X or D200, with greater dynamic range as well. This is not even debatable. I do miss the Nikon ergonomics. I also miss Nikon’s intuitive and superior flash technology. Thats about it.

Hope this helps some. Any specific question, email me. Sorry its so late.

[Zach Matthews]

Just to add a Nikon user’s perspective, Richard is correct on the noise issues related to cramming lots of pixel wells onto a small APS-sensor.

[Richard Bernabe]

Nikon is reputedly preparing to go back to full frame in the upcoming D3 series in an effort to finally beat their noise issues versus Canon.  This is going to be a good thing if true; full frame is better than APS-frame for almost everything except cost (and better engineering can destroy that advantage).

I hope youre right, Zach. It would be great for Nikon users to at least have an option. I might even switch back if Nikon came out with a 15 MP, full-frame DSLR under $4000.

[bryan hulse]

Richard,

Thanks for responding to the post, and there is certainly no reason to apologize for the delay. I look through the galleries on your web site from time to time and can’t believe that changing equipment could improve them; you’ve made some beautiful images.

I wasn’t trying to fuel the debate of which is better either–Nikon vs. Canon. For the most part theirs is a neck and neck race with no finish line in sight, which certainly benefits everyone who enjoys taking pictures.

Zach, you were right when you recently wrote that some people just lack an eye for what is artistic, or good composition. In the end cameras don’t take pictures, people do :-?. For most of us the technical aspects that you, Richard, and several others on the board seem to know so well, is a little like wedding planning:

[Richard Bernabe]

Richard,

Thanks for responding to the post, and there is certainly no reason to apologize for the delay. I look through the galleries on your web site from time to time and can’t believe that changing equipment could improve them; you’ve made some beautiful images.

Thanks so much, Bryan. Certainly you would not be able to tell any difference between the D2X and 5D images at that posted size. Its only at much larger sizes when the difference is discernable.

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