Nikon D90 vs Canon 50d

[foreright]

Hi Guys,

I could do with some help deciding between the two cameras listed in the title. This is a b'day present for the other half and will be her first proper DSLR. We spent a fair amount of time yesterday in a shop trying the two models side by side and as far as I can tell there is not an enormous amount to choose between them. The Nikon seems to be slightly more compact and has more features/gimmicks and the Canon seems to be slightly higher specc'd albeit without the video features (which are not really of interest).

The dilemma is that although the Canon feels slightly more solid and comes with a much better lense than the Nikon package we looked at, the advice I've been given by several family members who use cameras professionally is that Nikon lenses are far superior and that this should be the overriding concern. I have no doubt that both cameras could produce decent looking pics.

My questions are as follows - Is there really much to choose between these two models or is it just going to boil down to which feels subjectively better in her hands? Are the Nikon lenses really so much better these days?

Any opinions would be gratefully received

[Scott330ci]

What feels best in her hands IMO

I'm a canon convert. Although my nikon experience was with a coolpix 7 years ago

[andy-xr]

Lens wise, as long as they're not cheap crap then you'll be hard pushed to tell the difference, moreso at web sizes. That kind of comment often comes from those more used to looking further up the lens lineup than most people would ever want/need.

One of the best lenses I had was a kit lens from a D40, lovely colours from it and pretty sharp. Many people rubbished it against something like the 24-70 2.8 which is just a different league. But at 800px or printed on canvas it was absolutely fine

[TuxRacer]

I went for the D90.

Do look at the lenses as if she takes it further that's where the bulk of the cost will be. That said, it might be difficult at this stage to work out which lenses she's likely to want. I'm sure neither is a bad option.

[foreright]

TuxRacer said:

I went for the D90.

Do look at the lenses as if she takes it further that's where the bulk of the cost will be. That said, it might be difficult at this stage to work out which lenses she's likely to want. I'm sure neither is a bad option.

Agreed mostly - looks to me like unless you're going for the stupidly expensive Canon stuff (L range etc. which undoubtedly are amazing but probably overkill for what we want) that the costs are pretty similar for Nikon and Canon.

Thanks for the input everyone!

[jimmy156]

In my opinion Canon and Nikon lenses are pretty much as good as each other, i personally have never heard the opinion that Nikon are better then Canon. Furter more you may end up getting third party lenses, there are some great ones out there and will be the same whether you buy Canon or Nikon.

I made the decision between the D90 and 50d earlier this year and went for the 50d. It was slightly more money at the time, but as you said is of a higher spec (if you ignore the video, which i do ) . The main thing that swayed it for me was holding them and playing around with them in the shop. The canon instantly felt much better in my hands, and far more intuative. This however will be different for different people and i know many who would say that the way Nikons feel and work are better for them.

I seriosuly wouldn't worry about the lens thing, so unless one camera or the other has a particular feauture which draws you towards it (i do mostly wildlife stuff, so 6.3fps and a tough magnesium alloy construction are a real plus) buy which ever feels better and more intuative to use, becuase they are really both very good cameras!