Why did you choose that make ?

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Just sat here pondering life and wondering (I’m a Nikon person) and looking at a other makes/models etc.

Then in dawned on me.

I know plenty swap between makes depending on circumstances but on the other hand, I feel people are quite brand committed or maybe loyal is a better word, just chatting to Some i meet, most have never tried another manufacturer than the one they have.

I realised I’ve never even held a canon or much else really, now I’m very new to this compared to most, only had 3/4 bodies and only started 7/8 years ago (properly maybe a year ago)

You also see it in a lot of posts “I’m a Nikon shooter, never used one but I imagine canon would have similar” type of thing.

Just wondering What/why you chose the brand/make you own ??
 
for me it was down to the shop having the best deal on a Nikon D3100, when I went looking
 
My present choice of Olympus is via a heart attack limiting my weight limits ,but it’s been a good move .. over the years with digital I have owned and or/ used most models and lenses from canon and Nikon ,which ever in fact gave me a advantage for my type of photography ( mainly wildlife) .. but go further back into the film era the list is even longer , Chinon ,Konica, mamiya ,Rollei,canon ,Nikon etc and the extreme early days of digital pre the 10mp barrier saw lots of differing brands probably a new camera every few months in those days I needed a 1cm close focus ability to take pics of coins and artefacts .. it’s a long and expensive road we walk
 
I am not brand committed through loyalty though I have used the same SLR/DSLR brand for decades. When I bought my first new SLR, I chose Canon because at that time it was fairly high-end amateur but much less expensive than the professional Nikon which I could not afford then. I then bought various lenses and upgraded the cameras few times as well as lenses. Had someone been willing to replace all my kit with the Nikon equivalent, I would have been happy, but it is difficult to start afresh with such a large existing investment. However, I am certain I will want to buy a lighter system in the next year or two and will certainly look at the market (probably Sony or Fuji would be front runners right now).

Dave
 
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I had Nikon film cameras back in the 1980's-90's. But, when I wanted to get a DSLR, I looked hard at Canon. The probem was that the entry level Canon was too small for my hands while the Nikon had a better form factor and felt comfortable. Since both lines can produce very good images, I opted for the one that felt best (a Nikon D90). Now, I've got lenses and find Nikon very good. So, no incentive to change brands.
 
Features. More explicitly, features that I want. And then convenience.

I am a large format film photographer, and large format lenses, assuming that the image circle is big enough, will fit any large format camera. There are no problems with proprietory lens mounts and couplings. Hence, adding other cameras doesn't mean buying new lenses. What does matter is bellows length, as if you want to focus down to 1:1 you need a bellows length of twice the focal length. So, on 5x4 with a standard 150mm lens, 300mm bellows will get you down to lifesize. However, if that's the total length, once you swap to a 300mm lens, you can focus no closer than infinity.

Hence, for some purposes, longer bellows are a good feature. Some LF cameras are easier to set up than others, and weights (for carrying) vary a lot. My lightest 5x4 weighs 1kg, and the heaviest 2.9 kilos.

So my preferred 5x4 camera is a Walker Titan SF, 430mm bellows and 2.9 kilos. To save weight, but at the cost of being slightly less convenient to set up, is the Canham DLC with the same bellows length. 300mm bellows come with lighter cameras.

So I can chop and change camera maker between Canham, Chroma, Intrepid, Tachihara, Walker and Wista on a day to day basis and still use the same lenses. Flexible!
 
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I've owned and/or used all the well known makes with the exception of Alpa and Petri. That's what more than 50 years of chopping and changing will do for you! This is the film outfit I used a few years ago...

Cameras.jpg
 
Whatever suits me at the time, don't care about labels. I shoot Fuji right now, but could shoot Yi tomorrow if they had what I was after.

Been through Fuji, Sony, Nikon, Canon, Panasonic, Olympus, Kodak, Agfa .... name on the box means nothing, like others say it's the features.
 
Well I changed from Canon to Nikon earlier this year. I have always had Canons, from original rebel when it first came out through to the 80D but I felt something was not right with my images from the Canon, so i decided a change was in hand. OK so i went from crop to FX but, WOW the difference in image quality is like chalk and cheese and there is no noise at all compared to the 80D images. Maybe the 5D might have gave me better results than the 80D but after a lot of research it was the fact that Nikons sensors were better in low light and their noise levels were better than Canons, so that is why I took the plunge.
 
I used to have canon, Nikon and Fuji at the same time so I picked 3 makes I guess lol.

But Nikon was the best until I bought a used TC on here and it broke my d800 instantly.

Now I don't like Nikon or the seller lol.
 
When I wanted a dslr some 10 years ago I looked at Olympus canon and Nikon. My choice was canon as it felt right and I liked the menu system. It pays to go and try them out
 
I started with a Zenit E SLR, and then got bought a Nikon EM and FE, but I wasn't getting any better because of the cost of the film/processing, so jacked it in. :(

I wasn't into the early digital cameras until I saw the Fuji S602Z Pro, which for some reason seemed to get my attention for cameras again. It was quite advanced for the time, dual card slots (SM and CF), 1/10,000th sec (not used much, but for a Bridge camera in 2003, Wow!), but the main thing was the large range of apertures available compared to a lot of cameras of the time. Great camera, wish I still had it.

Fast forward to a temp Xmas job in the Electronic Dept at John Lewis, and the chance to 'play' with their DSLR's of the time, the Canon 300D and the Nikon D70. And then the 350D was announced. So that clinched it, Canon, before I got to 'play' with the cameras (300D and D70). The 300D was too small, and my knuckles rubbed against the lens, so the 350D would be the same. :( :rolleyes: By contrast the D70 fitted my hand almost perfectly. :oops: :$ :love: So that lead to the D200, which also felt good, then the D300, which felt the best, until it was stolen at the same time as the Fuji S602Z Pro, and all my camera gear. :oops: :$ :( :mad: The replacement, the D300S felt as good as the D300 as it was virtually the same body. :)

After many years of great service, I was just about to move to the Canon 7DII, because it improved a lot of the spec of the D300S adter so many years and no D400, and then Nikon announced the D500 just in time, for me. The D500 doesn't feel as good in the hand as the D300/D300S, but it improves on those cameras in every way, and by quite a bit. :) The D500 does everything I want/need, so I may always be a Nikon 'shooter'.

Although saying that I have a Canon compact (retired) and a Sony compact, so not solely Nikon. ;)
 
Back when in went digital in 2002, I just chose the one that looked nicest. That happened to be Nikon. I’ve used them ever since. I also have a Fuji with a couple of lenses for when I want something lighter and a Panasonic compact. I just choose the camera that is most appropriate for what I’m doing, I try not to overthink things when it comes to cameras.
 
I used Nikon in my film days and still give the cameras an airing now and again. My DSLR is Canon, because I got a sweetheart deal on it. Photographic equipment was/is very expensive in South Africa, and Nikon particularly so.
 
I was late into digital. Looking fo my first digital camera in 2014 staying with Nikon would have been the reasonable thing to since I have some AFD lenses I use with my F100 and f90X though the cost of a D600 or D7200 + a wide put me of. I ended up getting an A6000 and three lenses i used a few years before I found Sony to be abandoning APSC for to long and moved along to Fuji. I chose Fuji over Sony FF due to the overall lower cost, lens lineup and UI with the analog dials and buttons that works just like my old FE2 and FM cameras. I have no reason to change systems now, I feel the X-T's deliver all I need and now Im heavily invested in Fuji lenses.
 
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I was always a Pentax man as a film shooter, with the exception of a Bronica for mf (couldn't afford a Pentax 645/6x6). Dropped out of the hobby for a number of years and when I decided to get a DSLR, the best deal and best feel in hand was a Nikon D300, which I still have and is still in apple pie order.. Having bought a couple of lenses for it, and liking it, when I decided to upgrade, I had a play in a shop with a D500, a 5Div and a Pentax K1ii. I still fancy the Pentax, but I wanted the D500 for its fast AF, so I stayed Nikon.
No-one has mentioned money - it costs a lot to switch brands, in terms of loss on a sale/trade-in and cost on replacement (unless you are lucky and you buy 2nd hand). I would buy a Pentax K1ii with lenses for landscape if I could, but I'm happy with my Nikon kit and it's easier to add lenses to than the Pentax, whereas I can fill my Pentax sentimental attachment with my collection of film slr's
 
I feel as thou I need a back story behind the first choice of a manufacturer now ;)

i was sat thinking while i posted this "why" what made me choose Nikon over the rest.

as much as id like to have a great back story or market deep analysis, i actually think I just prefered the name "Nikon"

i suppose i was lucky 7/8 years ago, most, if not all were much of a muchness, no real stand out, but as another said, my D5100 started to give me issues with AF etc and then i started looking, but luckily/unlikely (depending on viewpoint) the D500 had been released and it seemed to tick every box i wanted, so it made my life easy.

The only thing no one told me is that going to a "pro" ish type body really shows the limitations of cheap glass.
 
My choice of a Nikon FM in 1987 was inspired by an article on what gear the Nat Geo guys were using at the time, stuck with Nikon ever since.

GC
 
I started in digital on a Nikon D5300. I changed to a Fujifilm XT2 because I prefer a more tactile experience and I love the button and dials on the outside, also it is a much smaller and lighter kit for carrying around. Also for me the vast majority of shots I use the jpegs with the film simulations are good enough for me. I only mess with the raws if I am printing the picture.
 
Early days I had Zenith & Asahi Pentax but after a gap of many years and returning to photography Nikon was a ‘name’ I recognised so went with it, simple as that. Since then I’ve stuck with Nikon as it’s what I know. I have looked at different makers, Canon & Sony, but can’t be bothered to change everything now
 
When I wanted to get back into photography after a 20 year gap, I made a list of features I needed (and a few I wanted!) then researched the options (within my budget) available. A visit to a local retailer who stocked them all let me handle the 4 options and I left the shop with a Nikon F65. A few years later, I was considering jumping ship to another brand since their D60 was far more affordable than the D70. However, when I visited the (same) retailer to see if the D60 felt OK, I discovered that there was a VERY good offer on the D70 (which felt so much better in my hands than the D60 too!) so I bought that instead.
Jump forward a few years (and a few upgrades in the Nikon system) and a fondle of the X-Pro1, along with a good look at the results it gave sent me down the (more portable) Fuji route and the dial based (rather than menu based) controls of the X-T series is now the system I tend to grab first unless there's something the Nikons do better for the intended use.
 
I'm another one who doesn't care about makes. I just pick what I think is the best for me at the price I'm willing to pay.

Ideally I'd like to buy British if it's anywhere near competitive to keep people employed and paying tax to fund the NHS and get the bins emptied etc but as camera gear isn't made here (Cooke lenses do interest me though :D) I really can't see why I should care if I buy a Sony made in Thailand or a Nikon made in Vietnam or wherever they're made. Mrs WW is Thai so maybe I should buy kit made in Thailand but she's not a great fan of the way Japanese companies act in Thailand so I don't think she cares either.

Actually I sometimes do avoid buying some makes if they upset me because I think they've done something nasty or unethical. For example I stopped knowingly buying Gillette products after they made that awful sexist and racist best a man can be vid.
 
I started out with Canon FD as that is what dad used and that is what he bought for my brother & I to use. He then bought me a Kodak DC25 in the advent of digital which I broke as I was young and not the most responsible of individuals at that age. I went back to canon with a hand me down compact powershot A40 for a few years before buying my first DSLR (EOS 20D). It's only when I started buying a few manual lenses to adapt to the canon that I discovered Nikon through their old Ai/Ai-S lenses. I then bought a used F5 and, having grown to love having coupled metering, a D810 in 2015. I've been happily using Nikon since then. I've also run Pentax and mamiya medium format on the side for many years and recently bought a fuji X-E3 as a compact solution for light weight trips where the nikon is just too big/heavy.

I've never really found any one brand to be easier to use than another. All brands have their foibles and little quirks that you need to get used to.
 
My digital set-up is Canon and that is down to my local Curry's have a very good deal on the last few EOS 350D cameras they had left after the EOS 400D came out. Having bought a few EF fit lenses, it makes sense to stick with Canon.

I also have a Panasonic MFT camera plus lenses - it is the mount rather than make as the Panasonic is a replacement for an Olympus.

Film-wise, I have all sorts all of which are a delight to use.
 
I ended up with with Canon due to a huge sale sign in the Photo Optix store. EOS1000 plus a cheap Sigma zoom. I didn’t know much about cameras except I wanted an SLR from childhood. From then on it was Canon, however now I am actually considering buying a mirrorless but Canon no longer interests me. It’s either Fuji, M4/3 or Sony apsc just to have a smaller kit and a quieter shutter.
 
Ideally I'd like to buy British if it's anywhere near competitive to keep people employed and paying tax to fund the NHS and get the bins emptied etc but as camera gear isn't made here

Perhaps not cameras that would interest you, but my Walker Titan SF is made in Britain, and bought new. Mike Walker still makes cameras... Come to that, what is probably the largest maker of large format cameras in the world makes them in Brighton.
 
As a teen I lusted after the then sexy Nikons, yet strangely didn't like the look of the contemporary Canons

When I finally made the jump to a 'proper' camera I was in a shop and held the then Nikons and Canons, Nikon left good, Canon didn't

And that's why I've been with Nikons ever since

Dave
 
Never having had a DSLR I tried a mates Nikon D70, walked into the shop to buy one and walked out with a Canon :)
I discussed what I wanted to do with it with the chap in the shop, he let me try a few and I much preferred the feel of the Canon, and the navigation of the menus so bought one of them. Once I started improving the lenses it effectively tied me in to the brand unless I wanted to start again. Mrs Moggy later got a canon so she could share my lenses.
 
My first camera was a Canon 400D, I went with Canon purely because everyone I knew at the time who was also into photography used Canon, so it was a no brainier in terms of being able to try/borrow/trade lenses.

I never felt the urge to swap to another brand, too much hassle involved and I have never gotten to the point where I had reached the limit of what could be achieved with a Canon camera.

I did recently sell up and move to Fuji, back to being just a hobbyist the Canon gear barely getting used due to the size and weight.
 
I didnt choose. My wife bought me Nikon for Christmas and ive had Nikon ever since. If it was down to me in the beginning, I probably would have gone Nikon as my dad always had Nikon SLR's when I was in my childhood.
 
I started with Nikon (D40), just because it felt better in my hands, than Canon. Long fingers I guess, but everythinf felt "right". Since have now moved on to Fuji (XT2), and that`s the same.
 
Perhaps not cameras that would interest you, but my Walker Titan SF is made in Britain, and bought new. Mike Walker still makes cameras... Come to that, what is probably the largest maker of large format cameras in the world makes them in Brighton.

Great stuff but that's not my market but if I was interested in something like that I need look no further than this very forum :D

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/chroma-lasercut-acrylic-4x5-field-camera.636352/
 
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I started with a Fujifilm bridge in about 2006. After that broke I bought a Canon 450D after trying a friends in 2009. That was upgraded to a 5D2 in 2010 and around 2014/15 I bought the Sony A7. I did venture into a Fuji XE2 a couple of years ago but that didn't last long.

Of course that's digital. I started more seriously with a Yashica FX3 Super 2000 in the early 1990's - I still have that and actually put a new roll of film in it last weekend!
 
I used Nikon (F2 and FM) in my film days, but cameras - and particularly Nikon - have always been far more expensive in South Africa and I simply couldn't afford a DSLR when they came along. A dealer got a final shipment of five Canon 30Ds a few years later, and offered them for a very good price. I bought one and it's been fine, but I've no intention of upgrading or replacing it.
 
In the last 63 - yes 63 years I've had a wide range of makes and none have been perfect.

By the late 90's I was firmly canon but switched to Nikon because of the waiting list for the digital Canon that I wanted, and I'm perfectly happy with my choice, and of course am locked in to their lens system. I see no reason to change and none to "upgrade" from my D700 & D3 - both are far more capable than me!

For large format, it's Sinar P2. It makes little difference because there are no bad cameras today but there used to be some terrible ones.
 
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So despite your earlier post, you were aware that cameras were still being made here.

:)

Well yes and there's Cooke lenses too but UK made 35mm SLR's, RF's, DSLR's, digital mirrorless cameras and lenses and compact cameras are rather harder to find. I stayed with film for a while when everyone else was going digital but now I can't see myself ever going back to film so sadly have next to no chance of buying a UK made camera or lens in the foreseeable future as any new manufacturer would need mega bucks and even then would be mad to enter the market.

I do have a couple of Billingham bags though :D and I still have my first camera, a Made In England Kodak Instamatic.

PS.
I think Sony used to make some high end video kit in the UK, I have no idea if they still do though and I expect not.
 
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I just happened to buy a Canon DSLR as my first body, then bought the glass for it. It wasn't a concious decision or related to any brand preference. I'm now heavily invested in Canon glass so I buy Canon bodies when I feel the need to, I'm on my 4th one now. I have no preference or brand loyality, it could as easily have been Nikon or something else.

I do have a Fuji X-T10, I bought it a few years ago new with a few lenses as I was struggling with my Canon 7D and I almost did jump brands then but due to the glass I had, I ended up staying with Canon. I still have the Fuji though, I just can't part with it.
 
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