Nikon D7000 and Canon equivalents - Swap systems?

Amp34

Amp34

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I did a thread a few weeks ago about rearranging some kit but my biggest question was still the camera. I've since found out the D7000 comes weather sealed and at around £700 at the moment and it's given me thoughts about moving over to Nikon.

Firstly some questions on the camera. What is it like in low light from an owners point of view? Good ISO ability etc? It's something I really struggle with on my 400D at the moment. Secondly, what camera could be a similar option in the Canon camp. I'm thinking 7D and that's about it? The 7D being older and more expensive?

Secondly Nikon Lenses. Looking around there seems to be a distinct lack of small high quality lenses, for example Canon have the f/4 L range that Nikon just don't have (or in the case of the 300 f/4 are significantly more expensive, same with the 70-200 f/2.8 range?) One recommendation was to go for the older 70-200 VR lens which used is around £900 (seems more expensive than the Canon version)? What about the 80-200 lenses, do any of them have VR? What other options are there that are reasonably cheap and small in size but good quality?

The other option is to just head for a Canon 300 f/4 IS and 17-55 and stick with the 400D as I cannot justify really upgrading to the current xD range and the 7D is out of my price range.

Thanks
 
Can use it up to ISO1600 without thinking twice, 6400 if you pay a bit of attention to exposure and do some noise reduction. To get significantly better than it you have to spend a lot more.

There are the 16-35 and 24-120 f/4s. The 70/80-200s are all nice, newer ones are good but pricey. In essence, it's buy what you can afford. No 70-200/4s as yet, though there is an older 70-210 f/4 if you can find them for sale used.

OTOH, Nikon have good, cheap 1.8s that have no/much poorer equivalents (28, 35, 50, 85).

Your gallery links are broken so I can't see what you shoot (subject wise), but a 60D is pretty comparable to the D7000, a bit cheaper (except on Amazon - bit surprising that!), and can use the lenses you already have :)
 
Thanks for the reply. I've just updated my sig with my gallery if you want to take a look, mostly wildlife and landscape with some macro thrown in. :) http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildaboutlife

ISO wise that sounds excellent, far better than the 400D which has issues above ISO 400... The f/1.8 lenses are interesting, although the 28mm is significantly more than the Canon version the 35mm is very cheap.
 
So I've been looking a bit more into the Nikon side of things and am still undecided. If I ended up getting a used Mk1 70-200 f/2.8 VR/IS then buying a 7D may be cheaper overall due to the extra costs. The 7D is an older camera though, how does it compare to the D7000?

With Nikon lenses my ideal collection would include a a fast wide angle, fast all round lens, a sharp long lens and maybe a dedicated macro lens in there somewhere.

For the walk around lens I've been erring towards the Nikon 17-55 f/2.8. I know the Canon one is highly regarded, is it the same for the Nikon one? Do they come up reasonably often second hand or are they like gold dust? The weather sealing is a definite plus on the lens as well, although I do wonder if I would miss my prime, but then the 35 f/1.8 is pretty cheap so...

The longer lens is the big question. On the Canon system it would almost certainly be the 70-200 f/4 IS with 1.4TC but on the Nikon system it is a bit more complex (due to their lack of a good f/4 lens). I'm starting to think that the size and cost of the 70-200 f/2.8 VR is just too much to bear at the moment (leaving it in a bag in a tent/hut...?!) so maybe I should go for the 70-300 instead. The Canon version is ok, how about the Nikon version? Alternatively how about heading for the Sigma 100-300 if I can find one, the big issue with that is no image stabilisation.

Could anyone recommend me a Macro lens to go with the 17-55 and 70-(2/3)00?. The Nikon 85 f/3.5 has VR but a relatively small aperture...?

I'm still rather undecided what to go for at the moment as there does seem to be a big difference in lens availability on both systems, significantly more than anticipated.
 
Amp34 said:
So I've been looking a bit more into the Nikon side of things and am still undecided. If I ended up getting a used Mk1 70-200 f/2.8 VR/IS then buying a 7D may be cheaper overall due to the extra costs. The 7D is an older camera though, how does it compare to the D7000?

With Nikon lenses my ideal collection would include a a fast wide angle, fast all round lens, a sharp long lens and maybe a dedicated macro lens in there somewhere.

For the walk around lens I've been erring towards the Nikon 17-55 f/2.8. I know the Canon one is highly regarded, is it the same for the Nikon one? Do they come up reasonably often second hand or are they like gold dust? The weather sealing is a definite plus on the lens as well, although I do wonder if I would miss my prime, but then the 35 f/1.8 is pretty cheap so...

The longer lens is the big question. On the Canon system it would almost certainly be the 70-200 f/4 IS with 1.4TC but on the Nikon system it is a bit more complex (due to their lack of a good f/4 lens). I'm starting to think that the size and cost of the 70-200 f/2.8 VR is just too much to bear at the moment (leaving it in a bag in a tent/hut...?!) so maybe I should go for the 70-300 instead. The Canon version is ok, how about the Nikon version? Alternatively how about heading for the Sigma 100-300 if I can find one, the big issue with that is no image stabilisation.

Could anyone recommend me a Macro lens to go with the 17-55 and 70-(2/3)00?. The Nikon 85 f/3.5 has VR but a relatively small aperture...?

I'm still rather undecided what to go for at the moment as there does seem to be a big difference in lens availability on both systems, significantly more than anticipated.
Click to expand...

Care for a third option?

K-5 which is better built and better weather sealed than the D7k but at the exact same place when it comes to high ISO performance. Some say better IQ overall by a tiny margin too but I have not seen this.

Another advantage of the K-5 is that it is even cheaper than the D7k and you also get in body stabilisation.

If you need weather sealed lenses you are well covered there too, 12-24 F4 Pentax, for your wide angles, and either the FANTASTIC 50-135 2.8 or the equally impressive 200mm 2.8 or if you want something along the lines of an F4 70-200 you can get a 60-250 F4 which is weather sealed and a great lens.

For macro the 100mm WR is also a great deal.

Unfortunately lens prices have jumped a bit for Pentax recently but if you look around you will definitely find some well priced ones.

The AF system is not as sophisticated though and the lens motors are not very fast. But if you can leave with that don't overlook it as a system.
 
7D is larger than the D7000. In the hand both feel solid, the 7D very much so with a grip fitted.... I haven't handled a D7000 with a grip so can't comment.

There are plenty of very, very good lenses from Nikon; 17-55mm is the best mid-range (crop sensor) zoom on the market, the 35mm f/1.8 is excellent, as are the 50mm and 85mm f/1.8 versions. 12-24mm f/4 is brilliant.... there are pros and cons with every lens range, it just happens to be that Canon produces some f/4 zooms that are more affordable.

Look at used lenses is my advice.

Personally, if you like your current Canon body I'd spend the money on the glass you want and think about body upgrades as-and-when the technology is too hard to resist....
 
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vrapan said:
Care for a third option?

K-5 which is better built and better weather sealed than the D7k but at the exact same place when it comes to high ISO performance. Some say better IQ overall by a tiny margin too but I have not seen this.

Another advantage of the K-5 is that it is even cheaper than the D7k and you also get in body stabilisation.

If you need weather sealed lenses you are well covered there too, 12-24 F4 Pentax, for your wide angles, and either the FANTASTIC 50-135 2.8 or the equally impressive 200mm 2.8 or if you want something along the lines of an F4 70-200 you can get a 60-250 F4 which is weather sealed and a great lens.

For macro the 100mm WR is also a great deal.

Unfortunately lens prices have jumped a bit for Pentax recently but if you look around you will definitely find some well priced ones.

The AF system is not as sophisticated though and the lens motors are not very fast. But if you can leave with that don't overlook it as a system.
Click to expand...

I have been looking at K5 reviews recently and most seem very good & customer reviews on Amazon are exccellent. Have read about the focus system not being as good as Nikon/Canon though, new model out later this month K30 which is supposed to have a better focus system, would guess the K5 would be replaced sooner rather than later if the K30 has superior focus.
 
Model wise the 650D is the direct comparison, but spec wise with the weather sealing you need to jump to the 7D to get it.
This is something that canon could do with rectifying.

I guess it will come down to how important the weather sealing issue is to you.

Pentax have always been brilliant with weather sealing on their range of DSLR's
 
Actually, although I've never owned a Canon, I've shot a few frames with my friends 7D, and it's worlds apart from the D7000 (which I have) in feel, mass, build etc, it's a real semi pro model. TBH, currently Nikon has a gaping hole in their "DX" (aka Cropped sensor) line up. As it stands, the D7000 is the top of the line consumer model line-up, but missing some features from the pro series, where as the Nikon D300 is the real 7D equalivlent (from a spec and build point of view). That's not to say the D7000 is a bad camera (far from it in fact), but it's just targeted at a different buyer.

Now whilst the D300 is a fine camera (I had one for 4 years), it's getting a bit long in the tooth now. It's "only" a 12mp camera (if MP really matter to you), whereas the D7000 and 7D are 16 and 18mp respectively. Also, high ISO noise is a generation behind the D7000. So bascially we have a semi pro D300 model with the rich feature set you would expect from such a model, but with an old sensor, and a consumer model which is missing some of the more pro features (build, burst rate, buffer AF etc), but with a cracking DX sensor.

IMO, Nikon really need to fill this gap by retiring the D300(s) and launching a D400 with a D7000 style sensor (which if you believe the rumors, may happen later this year). Or, just buy a D800 and get 3 top cameras in one :lol:
 
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specialman said:
7D is larger than the D7000. In the hand both feel solid, the 7D very much so with a grip fitted.... I haven't handled a D7000 with a grip so can't comment.

There are plenty of very, very good lenses from Nikon; 17-55mm is the best mid-range (crop sensor) zoom on the market, the 35mm f/1.8 is excellent, as are the 50mm and 85mm f/1.8 versions. 12-24mm f/4 is brilliant.... there are pros and cons with every lens range, it just happens to be that Canon produces some f/4 zooms that are more affordable.

Look at used lenses is my advice.

Personally, if you like your current Canon body I'd spend the money on the glass you want and think about body upgrades as-and-when the technology is too hard to resist....
Click to expand...

That reminds me now of one of the other reasons I never really considered the 7D before, it's too big! I use my camera mostly for landscapes, nature and wildlife and regularly take it walking/skiing/gnarly travelling so want something small (but still a full sized DSLR). The xxxD range is the perfect size for that, however doesn't have weather sealing. One of the reasons I'm wanting to move from my 400D is the ISO performance and the D7000 seems to have all the right things going for it. MP don't really matter to me, the 10MP on the 400D has done me fine so as long as it's that or more I don't care (in fact I'd be more annoyed about there being "too many" at the expense of noise/DR).

I don't think there will be a "perfect" camera for me anyway, basically I'd want the 7D in a xxxD size with the sensor of the D7000. The closest I've got so far is the D7000.

vrapan thanks for the suggestion but I don't think the range and second hand market (both buying and selling) is quiet what I'm looking for (like to sell/buy depending on what I'm doing).

I still haven't actually got my hands on cameras or lenses yet, stupid shops and their 5:30 closing times, but I'm hoping to have a good play this weekend with both the cameras and some lenses to see what they are like. I'm definitely strongly considering the 17-55 if I can get it second hand, maybe adding the 35 f/1.8 to that as it's nice and cheap, although I would prefer a Macro lens in there somewhere as well.
 
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