Beginner Canon 1200D or Nikon D3300 for Night Photography

Belpois

Belpois

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Hey, new here! :)

So finally I saved up enough money to buy my first D-SLR camera, but I cannot decide between the Canon 1200D or the Nikon D3300. Both cameras look good spec wise and from what I have seen the Nikon performs better at high ISO, which I'm guessing that would be a plus for shooting at night.

But I don't know so I'm asking the more mature photographers here to maybe help me understand better and hear their experiences, also please suggest other camera models if you think they are better.

My budget is at 500 Euros to by a KIT, which is roughly 370 GBP


Thank you! :)
 
The classic advice is to try and hold both and see which seems more natural and intuitive to use for you. That is still good advice but the sensors in Nikon (and Sony and Pentax for that matter) tend to be better at Canon in low light (especially if you will be doing a lot of manipulation in post processing (pushing shadows etc).

What type of shooting are you planning to do, it could be that a DSLR isn't necessarily the best option - mirrorless cameras are often a better choice unless you are shooting sports or wildlife.
 
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Nawty said:
The classic advice is to try and hold both and see which seems more natural and intuitive to use for you. That is still good advice but the sensors in Nikon (and Sony and Pentax for that matter) tend to be better at Canon in low light (especially if you will be doing a lot of manipulation in post processing (pushing shadows etc).

What type of shooting are you planning to do, it could be that a DSLR isn't necessarily the best option - mirrorless cameras are often a better choice unless you are shooting sports or wildlife.
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Wow I got something right.

When i bought my 3200 I held the it and the Cannon, the Nikon felt right, so that's the one I bought.
 
Nawty said:
What type of shooting are you planning to do, it could be that a DSLR isn't necessarily the best option - mirrorless cameras are often a better choice unless you are shooting sports or wildlife.
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I would like a good camera to be able to shoot at night and get good pictures, landscapes and otherwise. Landscapes though being a favorite of mine. I would also like to be able to use it for the usual family pictures now and then.
 
For night time photography I'd would personally avoid the consumer Nikon bodies, the D3XXX series of cameras always used to be a little bit compromised for night time photography as they only used to allow a infrared trigger and up to 99 exposures IIRC both of which made them less than ideal for night time photography and in particularly star trails...unless thinks have changed with current consumer Nikon bodies for those reasons alone I would avoid them
 
MWHCVT said:
For night time photography I'd would personally avoid the consumer Nikon bodies, the D3XXX series of cameras always used to be a little bit compromised for night time photography as they only used to allow a infrared trigger and up to 99 exposures IIRC both of which made them less than ideal for night time photography and in particularly star trails...unless thinks have changed with current consumer Nikon bodies for those reasons alone I would avoid them
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Good point, you'd want one with wifi so you could control it with the app (I assume the app will do bulb etc, it does with my Olympus).

It is probably worth investigating the Sony A6000 which isn't a dSLR but might have some much more useful features, or maybe one of the Olympus cameras with live composite/bulb which is an awesome feature.
 
MWHCVT said:
For night time photography I'd would personally avoid the consumer Nikon bodies, the D3XXX series of cameras always used to be a little bit compromised for night time photography as they only used to allow a infrared trigger and up to 99 exposures IIRC both of which made them less than ideal for night time photography and in particularly star trails...unless thinks have changed with current consumer Nikon bodies for those reasons alone I would avoid them
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I see, it's only speculation from my end with what I could gather from different reviews around the internet, but it seems that the Nikon D3300 has a new sensor and is able to shoot at low light conditions without sacrificing image quality, I actually looks at some pictures taken with the camera and they look impressive although I have nothing to compare them with, so I can't really judge


Nawty said:
It is probably worth investigating the Sony A6000 which isn't a dSLR but might have some much more useful features, or maybe one of the Olympus cameras with live composite/bulb which is an awesome feature.
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That camera looks good, but it is a bit pricey for me. Locally its around 650 Euros and online its 630 Euros without shipping, need to save some money for memory, a good tripod and a good carry bag for my cam.

@Nawty Also which Olympus camera do you have?
 
Can you get grey imports where you live, eg from Panamoz.com?

For your budget you could probably get an Oly EM10 which is a great camera, I loved mine and it made me sell all of my expensive Nikon kit (or at least the bits I still have I don't use). I speak of it in the past tense as I killed it with rather a long drop into a hard stone floor, I am waiting for the sales to replace it :)

But still, if I wasn't invested in the system the Sony is by all accounts fantastic too.
 
Belpois said:
I see, it's only speculation from my end with what I could gather from different reviews around the internet, but it seems that the Nikon D3300 has a new sensor and is able to shoot at low light conditions without sacrificing image quality, I actually looks at some pictures taken with the camera and they look impressive although I have nothing to compare them with, so I can't really judge




That camera looks good, but it is a bit pricey for me. Locally its around 650 Euros and online its 630 Euros without shipping, need to save some money for memory, a good tripod and a good carry bag for my cam.

@Nawty Also which Olympus camera do you have?
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Low light and night time photography are not always the same thing, often when camera companies refer to low light they are looking at short exposures at high ISO for the use for taking photos on a night out, not for night time photography where your not normally concerned about getting the exposure as short as possible..as I said you need to check what the limit on continuos exposures is and also the remote trigger / cable release situation is

Or clarify what it is your planning on doing with the camera at night?
 
MWHCVT said:
For night time photography I'd would personally avoid the consumer Nikon bodies, the D3XXX series of cameras always used to be a little bit compromised for night time photography as they only used to allow a infrared trigger and up to 99 exposures IIRC both of which made them less than ideal for night time photography and in particularly star trails...unless thinks have changed with current consumer Nikon bodies for those reasons alone I would avoid them
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What you have over;looked is the op budget Quote" My budget is at 500 Euros to by a KIT, which is roughly 370 GBP" unquote so most in that price range what ever make of DSLR will be in the consumer range
 
MWHCVT said:
Or clarify what it is your planning on doing with the camera at night?
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It seems for my purposes I would need to shoot at low ISO but long exposure, here is a list of possible things I would be capturing at night:
  • Landscapes/Cityscapes
  • The Night sky (Like starts moon), possibly in time-lapse.
  • Sea shores/Beaches with most of the light coming from ports or from near by towns (Search for "Malta Valletta at night") you will understand what I mean.
  • Fireworks
  • etc
Not sure if it makes a difference but I might also be post processing the photos I take in Photoshop or something similar, for use in publications and illustrations,

Nawty said:
Oly EM10
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Thanks :) But it seems to also be a bit pricey... I think its time to wait and keep saving :p
 
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realspeed said:
What you have over;looked is the op budget Quote" My budget is at 500 Euros to by a KIT, which is roughly 370 GBP" unquote so most in that price range what ever make of DSLR will be in the consumer range
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Actually I've not overlooked at what I'm thinking of is the OP has a fairly limited budget, and what it sounds like he wasn't to do some of the inherent limitations of some Nikon bodies may impede he's ability to do what he wants, this is something that I've actually seen people get caught out with..

Belpois said:
It seems for my purposes I would need to shoot at low ISO but long exposure, here is a list of possible things I would be capturing at night:
  • Landscapes/Cityscapes
  • The Night sky (Like starts moon), possibly in time-lapse.
  • Sea shores/Beaches with most of the light coming from ports or from near by towns (Search for "Malta Valletta at night") you will understand what I mean.
  • Fireworks
  • etc
Not sure if it makes a difference but I might also be post processing the photos I take in Photoshop or something similar, for use in publications and illustrations,



Thanks :) But it seems to also be a bit pricey... I think its time to wait and keep saving :p
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Right not all that you've listed there will be low ISO in my experience...but a fair number of your desires will either need to be able to shoot with a trigger / release to get over 30 seconds (you can do this with the IR trigger but they are notoriously fickle/unreliable in my experience of them...the time lapse depending on your needs might be perfectly fine I do believe some even consumer level nikons do have an intervalometer in built but if this is for night time star time lapses your probably need better ISO performance than the D3xxx offer in my experience of them
 
MWHCVT said:
For night time photography I'd would personally avoid the consumer Nikon bodies, the D3XXX series of cameras always used to be a little bit compromised for night time photography as they only used to allow a infrared trigger and up to 99 exposures IIRC both of which made them less than ideal for night time photography and in particularly star trails...unless thinks have changed with current consumer Nikon bodies for those reasons alone I would avoid them
Click to expand...
Entry level Nikon bodies allow remote triggers as well as infrared, and you can buy interval timers that allow up to 999 shots apparently. However, the OP only mentions night photography and no mention of whether this means astro, star trails or simply shots at night. But for any of these scenarios all entry level Nikon's have significantly better ISO and noise performance than entry level canons so Nikon would be my choice for low light.
 
MWHCVT said:
Right not all that you've listed there will be low ISO in my experience...but a fair number of your desires will either need to be able to shoot with a trigger / release to get over 30 seconds (you can do this with the IR trigger but they are notoriously fickle/unreliable in my experience of them...the time lapse depending on your needs might be perfectly fine I do believe some even consumer level nikons do have an intervalometer in built
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Both Nikon and Canon can use Teathered release trigger, Nikon has some over priced versions but I have seen some cheap ones from china.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/840100-REG/Vello_rc_n2ii_Shutterboss_Version_II_Timer.html


MWHCVT said:
but if this is for night time star time lapses your probably need better ISO performance than the D3xxx offer in my experience of them
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Well, it is quite okay if I cannot get all I want from the camera, like any beginner I have to start somewhere, eventually I might get some better lenses and maybe upgrade the body to a better one.


snerkler said:
Entry level Nikon bodies allow remote triggers as well as infrared, and you can buy interval timers that allow up to 999 shots apparently. However, the OP only mentions night photography and no mention of whether this means astro, star trails or simply shots at night. But for any of these scenarios all entry level Nikon's have significantly better ISO and noise performance than entry level canons so Nikon would be my choice for low light.
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That's what I have been told too, that Nikon' have better noise performance than Canon, I am no expert in photography and I might sometimes get mixed up in terminology which is why my explanations leave a lot to be desired. But yes, I would like to capture a lit city at night and also some astro and startrails, they don't have to be the best but I just want to learn with a decent camera so when the time comes I will invest in a better one.

I'm hopefully going down to the Nikon and Canon supplier tomorrow and take my own memory card, maybe they'll let me take some sample pictures with the display cameras and then examine them at home. I will post them here too.
 
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snerkler said:
Entry level Nikon bodies allow remote triggers as well as infrared, and you can buy interval timers that allow up to 999 shots apparently. However, the OP only mentions night photography and no mention of whether this means astro, star trails or simply shots at night. But for any of these scenarios all entry level Nikon's have significantly better ISO and noise performance than entry level canons so Nikon would be my choice for low light.
Click to expand...

Well that first part is news to me as I know what the range was first launched you could only get IR so that you can now use a true wired trigger is very pleasing news..
 
Belpois said:
Hey, new here! :)

So finally I saved up enough money to buy my first D-SLR camera, but I cannot decide between the Canon 1200D or the Nikon D3300. Both cameras look good spec wise and from what I have seen the Nikon performs better at high ISO, which I'm guessing that would be a plus for shooting at night.

But I don't know so I'm asking the more mature photographers here to maybe help me understand better and hear their experiences, also please suggest other camera models if you think they are better.

My budget is at 500 Euros to by a KIT, which is roughly 370 GBP


Thank you! :)
Click to expand...

Hi there,

Where do you currently live? i.e. from where are you going to buy the camera from? (it will help to see what the prices are for cameras we can recommend)
 
retrosi said:
See if you can pick up a bargain Canon 70D

Aside from the Nikon has a bigger pixel count the Canon has a better set of features.
Weather sealing for one & a tilting screen.

http://cameradecision.com/compare/Nikon-D3300-vs-Canon-EOS-70D

Not mine but comes with two lenses also;
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Canon-EOS...as-/231783657152?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368
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The Canon 70D is a bit out of my budget range unfortunately, and I finally decided to get the Nikon D3300 and an extra 50mm f1.8 lens for some nice Bokeh :)
 
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