Nikon or Canon ?

[Calmpics]

Hi, I own the Nikon D3100 and have great fun with it taking photos of my local football team. It has the Tamron kit lens 70-300. I would like to step up a level (later this year) to a camera with a higher frame rate a built in motor and a lens maybe 70-200 f2.8.....I have had my eye on the Nikon D7000 but as a newbie to the photography scene I'm intrigued as to the high number of sports photographers that use Canon....What am I missing ?

P.S. This is my first post here and I think Talk/Photography is an amazing place for a novice like me to learn.

 

[Rowee]

I would be fairly confident to say that a lot of it will be down to personal preference. My personal preference headed me towards Canon, but I don't think anyone can say either is significantly 'better' than the other.
Might be worth going and having a proper look at the Nikon D7000 and its Canon rivals, and see what you think.

 

[Dr_O]

Hi, I own the Nikon D3100 and have great fun with it taking photos of my local football team. It has the Tamron kit lens 70-300. I would like to step up a level (later this year) to a camera with a faster frame rate and built in motor and a lens maybe 70-200 f2.8.....I have had my eye on the Nikon D7000 but as a newbie to the photography scene I'm intrigued as to the high number of sports photographers that use Canon....What am I missing ?

P.S. This is my first post here and I think Talk/Photograhy is an amazing place for a novice like me to learn.

Welcome to the forum

Quick answer is Canon redesigned their lens mount meaning older lenses couldn't be used but in doing so advanced the AF of lenses crucial for sports. Upset a lot of existing customers but the move gave them a monopoly on sports shooting.
By the time Nikon got their act together they were never catching up.

Nothing in it today but Canon's dominance is self perpetuating to an extent which is why there are always more white lenses.

Both manufacturers make mistakes- Canon often release Cameras which haven't been tested properly or have faults which they are slow to address and Nikon continually make poor strategic decisions.

You wont go wrong with either- both have excellent 400 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 lenses ideal for football etc. Buy whatever feels best.

 

[JohnN]

If you ever plan on going deep into macro the Canon MPE-65 cannon be beaten, otherwise nothing much in it I'm afraid

 

[Calmpics]

Thank's Dr O, youve definitely satisfied my curiosity. My thoughts were if I were to stay with Nikon and the D7000 body I would still have use for my Tamron 300 lens. Would love a 300 f2.8 but sadly theyre just too expensive. The D7000 + sigma 200 F2.8 would be costing around £2000 and then I would still have my Tamron 300 lens. Am I going the right way here or could £2000 be spent on other better options ? decisions, decisions. Thank's Mark and Thank's John for your replies.

 

[Les McLean]

I think Dr O's remarks hit the nail on the head , 10 years ago or even 5 it was a no brainier , Canon every time, since then Nikon have caught up and in some areas flown past canon, for example in clean-high ISO shooting.
The high numbers of big white lens at sports events is drastically reducing as Nikon successfully eats into this area.

I'd stick with Nikon.

 

[evan47]

the d7000 is a wise choice. i have one and a d90, wouldnt part with either!

 

[Calmpics]

Thank's Les & Evan , Have ordered my D7000....need a decent sports lens now....any suggestions ? Some pics from Saturday with the Tamron 70-300 http://flic.kr/s/aHsjz2824S Iwould like shaper images, do you think the 70-200 f2.8 would give me that ?

 

[squishy]

Saturday with the Tamron 70-300 http://flic.kr/s/aHsjz2824S Iwould like shaper images, do you think the 70-200 f2.8 would give me that ?

With good technique it definitely should, as well as faster AF, much better low light performance with the wider aperture.

It'll be a fair bit larger and heavier though, so a support like a monopod would be ideal as it gives support but still plenty of flexibility for fast movement/re-positioning.

 

[Calmpics]

Adam, f2.8 it is then.....back to bean's n toast :bonk:

 

[evan47]

i havent tried this one myself, looks great though. should work well with the 1.4 teleconverter too. shame there is no vr though.