Canon EOS 60D Or Nikon D3

[AVALON]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Michel and I live in Quebec city. I'm looking into DSLR world even though I have taken a lot of shots with my handy little Canon PowerShot SX100 IS unfortunately it's just too slow for the pictures I want to take. I'm very interested in taking Wildlife, Landscapes, and I guess it would be considered sports since it's my 2 dogs doing agility courses.

Cheers!!!

[AVALON]

I guess I should have added this to my previous post, since I'm now very confused! Today after a lot of shopping in the past month I decided to purchase a Canon 60D with a 15-85 lens, as I walk in to the shop the owner is really upset because his employee just found a Nikon D3 and the box had a lot of dust I may add. So I knew that the 60D would cost me about $1450 with the lens, extra battery, etc.. But out of curiosity I ask to see the D3 that's in the box and it fitted so nice in my hands, so I say how much and he tells $1100 so I put a deposit immediately.

Now I'm pretty new to photography but I do intend to put a lot of time into it, so should I take the Canon 60D or the Nikon D3? I'm planning to take a lot of Dog agility pictures, reflective landscapes and wildlife, although I also want to use my DSLR for video during dog agility competitions. Any suggestions? The Nikon D3 is a 2007 camera but from the prices I've seen on-line it must still be in demand, I guess the low price offered was because the owner was angry and the Nikon D3 is brand new. Also I figure D3 lenses must be more expensive than 60D lenses?

Thanks for the help I really appreciate it.

[Photo-John]

This is a dilemma

The two cameras are very different. The D3 is a full-frame camera, meaning it has a larger sensor than the EOS 60D. And at 12-megapixels, vs. the Canon's 18-megapixel sensor, the pixels are also a lot bigger. And bigger usually means better image quality. However, four years is a big time difference for digital cameras and the image quality may be a wash. It could be better, though. I doubt it will be worse than the 60D.

I think the real benefits of the D3 will be speed and auto focus. The D3 can shoot up to 9 frames per second. For fast doggy action shots, that will make a big difference. I'm not entirely sure, but I expect the auto focus is also better on the D3. The 60D is a great camera, but it's not a camera I'd buy if I action was my top priority. For Canon, I'd go with a 7D or an EOS-1D for the best auto focus performance.

Lenses for the Nikon will cost you more. That's because it's a full-frame, professional DSLR and Nikon's smaller, less expensive DX lenses won't give you full coverage.

This really is a tough decision. I'd be inclined to buy the D3 at the price offered. But I think you should do a little more research on the image quality and lens options, first. I don't know what lens you were getting with the 60D, but you don't want to put a crappy lens on a camera like the D3 - or any digital SLR, for that matter. For fast action, I'd be looking at lenses that cost more than either of those camera bodies. But I'm guessing you aren't ready for that yet

[armando_m]

a new D3 for $1100 ? brand new ?
price sounds fishy, but if you´ve seen in the box and it is really new, buy it

if I was you , I would then sell it for the $3000+ which seems to be the market price , likely closer to $4K if it is really brand new

I do not like the huge size of the D3

With the money made come back and buy what you like

[SmartWombat]

The fit in your hands matters.
I think would prefer to have the D3 than the 60D.


Not much difference in lens prices between Canon and Nikon for the same quality and features.
Both have high end multi-thousand image stabilised wide aperture long telephotos, and both have cheap small aperture zooms.
You don't need to buy Nikon lenses, look at Sigma and Tamron in Nikon fittings.

List prices D3 $4300 60D $1200

Megapixels are not everything.

DxOMark - Compare cameras side by side

[wfooshee]

If I had that choice, I would buy the D3 and eBay it, use the proceeds to buy the Canon outfit, almost for a wash.

So where was this shop????

A very good point about the rapid-fire capability of the D3 camera. That is just one of the things that brings its price to where it is. Or at least where it's supposed to be.

[AVALON]

Thanks for the info everyone much appreciated, I'll go pick up the D3 tomorrow. The shop I went to was very disorganized so I would not be surprised if he has other hidden treasures, I might offer him to organize his stock room for more deals. I'll let you know if I find anything else.

As for lenses I'm going to cheat and try to save some bucks, I've done a lot of research on it and I'm going to be cheap for starters. Hopefully the four lenses I chose will cost me less than $800 used and I can use them and get good quality shots and then buy newer models in the future.

I was thinking of the following;

Normal & Low-light lens - Nikon Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF
Wide lens - Nikon 28mm f/2.8 AI
Tele lens - Nikon Nikkor 135mm f/3.5 AI
Zoom lens - Nikon 80-200mm f/4 AI-s

Cheers!:thumbsup:

[Photo-John]

Please keep us posted on what happens! I am very curious to find out if the shop owner changes his mind. After all, if people here can look it up on eBay, so can he. Fingers crossed that you get the deal he offered you

[AVALON]

Hey everyone,

Well I have some good news and some bad news. I got the D3 and purchased and extended insurance warranty of 4 years for an extra $240 and made sure that the owner wrote on the invoice that the camera was new and had 0 actuations.

I was very excited yesterday when I got home so I put the battery up for charge. Well this morning I connect the battery and well nothing, it really sucks. The camera did not have one scratch on it was definitely new but the box was not sealed. I brought the camera back this afternoon and the owner was really surprised to see me, we came to the conclusion that it may have been a DOA that a customer returned and they never processed the return to the manufacturer. We tried another battery but nothing, he told me he will look into it tomorrow but it should be no problem for the warranty and ensures me that it will be treated as a new product.

Well I just hope that the repair service is quick, he asked me if I wanted a refund but I said no since I do not think I will ever find a full frame camera at that price.

Cheers!

[Photo-John]

The story just keeps getting better! It sounds like its going to work out fine and you'll not only have a great camera, but a good story to go with it. It also sounds like you found a very good camera shop