Is Nikon the greatest?

[Erik Lund]

Leica M has terrible High ISO performance, just so you know,,, I love my Leica M9 and yes with a properly adjusted rangefinder you can shoot away - but hitting say 50mm f/1.4 or 70mm f/2 at night,,, not so easy,,, you need to stop down and/or tripod then it will work,,,
A good DSLR and a Leica M is a great combination.

[pluton]

Those video cameras have focus system designed for focus tracking, and they use electronic viewfinders/screens that may offer focus peaking, unlike a DSLR.

People still shoot with AF?  Ha Ha.

And I had forgotten that most auto focus lenses sabotage the ability to focus by hand.  I even own one of those:  the Nikkor AF-S 300/4.

[Frank Fremerey]

For me Nikon is the Greatest fror two reasons:

1) I got a lot of Nikon stuff

2) 30 minutes away I got people who can mend my gear and do mend my gear very fast very reliable and for a reasonable price

This might also be the Case with Canon, I know some people who shoot German Football and they are very happy with Canon service.

I hear Sony people have to wait up to six weeks to get their expensive gear mended.

Sorry, Sony. No deal for me.

Yesterday I threw all my gear at NPS, now, 24 hours later I got a serious repair plus a complete check & clean, Done. Redy to collect. That is convincing.

[Frank Fremerey]

What did Ansel Adams say about the 12 inches behind the camera?  It is totally amazing what you can do with the same old gear and a lot of photographer improvement.

photographer improvement is the main feature of exactly no camera.

[Peter Connan]

Welcome Sir.

Sorry if this sounds less than friendly, but this is not my intention.
The attached photo is of a radio-controlled model powered by a turbine (jet) engine. It has a wing-span of around 1.2m and was approaching me at around 300-350km/h.

My D750 and 500mm f4 were more than capable of keeping up AF-wise. So was the D7000 before it.

Once again I apologise, but if your D4 cannot keep up with a little hairy dog in the garden, the fault is probably not with the D4.

As to whether Nikon is the best, my take is, if they aren't then nobody is. No camera manufacturer is clearly better at everything than any other.
In fact I suspect that no brand is better than any other at any one performance parameter than any other for a continuous period of 5 years.

[bjornthun]

Welcome Sir.

Sorry if this sounds less than friendly, but this is not my intention.
The attached photo is of a radio-controlled model powered by a turbine (jet) engine. It has a wing-span of around 1.2m and was approaching me at around 300-350km/h.

My D750 and 500mm f4 were more than capable of keeping up AF-wise. So was the D7000 before it.

Once again I apologise, but if your D4 cannot keep up with a little hairy dog in the garden, the fault is probably not with the D4.

As to whether Nikon is the best, my take is, if they aren't then nobody is. No camera manufacturer is clearly better at everything than any other.
In fact I suspect that no brand is better than any other at any one performance parameter than any other for a continuous period of 5 years.

A dog may move more erratically then a model airplane, so it will be more difficult to track. Also your model airplane creates a good contrast to the blue sky with its' orange wings.

[Ilkka Nissilä]

Also depth of field in a close up of a dog can only be a couple of cm so it is much more demanding to keep the closest eye in focus while approaching than a model aircraft fully in the depth of field. Complex background can create confounding factors as well.

[PedroS]

Again, go to the small trick explain by me some post before.
Also put AF tracking in slow setting against a busy background.

[dibyendumajumdar]

Hi All

I no longer have the D4 (as it is in a shop for commission sale) - but assuming I get the D5 soon I will redo the tests and this time post evidence good or bad and hopefully you all can tell me where I am going wrong. My guess though is that Jan is right that the greyness of the dog's coat and the background grass is in the same range and therefore the camera doesn't have enough contrast to work with. At least that seems like a plausible explanation.

It is interesting that no one here seriously thinks that Nikon is the greatest brand today. Yet in the 70s and 80s perhaps you would have had less hesitation to claiming that Nikon is the greatest ... I wonder. I have been deeply interested in Nikon's evolution and watched it since the mid 80s when I first started using a Nikon camera, through the various ups and downs. I do feel that Nikon appears to have lost the plot a bit. Here are my reasons:

1. After introducing the N1 series no indication of bringing the off sensor phase detection to the DSLR range ... in the meantime Canon and Sony started later but are making steady progress in bringing this technology to larger format sensors.

2. Confused approach with N1 series cameras.

3. Confused approach in the DX series - replacement of D300 delayed by years.

4. No serious competitor to Canon's 5D after D700 - the D800 series is high resolution so not really in the same bracket. This is puzzling as 5D is Canon's one of the most successful product lines.

5. Poor support of D series models - what I mean by this is that an 's' model is introduced rather than attempting to improve the existing model through firmware upgrades. Almost planned obsolescence - the very thing the Nikon F series wasn't.

6. Maybe when  it comes to lenses Nikon's lens range is great and shows some creativity. The 58mm and 35mm f1.4 lenses could be termed 'Designer' lenses - it is great to see the courage required to launch such products. But the fact that after years of claiming that the ED glass was better than fluorite now suddenly Fluorite is the in thing. I guess weight reduction is the primary reason but still it is an about turn.

7. Confused approach in the compact camera segment - for a while the high end compact was neglected, then we had Coolpix A, and now the DL series.

I feel that Canon's approach seems more systematic, steady and shows more persistence. Sony is extremely fast moving but I don't think they really have got the hang of what makes a great camera.

Anyway these are just my thoughts.

Regards
Dibyendu

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Comparing brands by declaring one is "the greatest" is to be polite, not a very productive way of thinking. What is your agenda by posting this? Throwing out assumptions as were they facts, then starting to argue against these is a classic way of destroying any meaningful discourse.

We don't invite to flame wars. Period. As stated elsewhere, if the camera delivers, it is good enough, no matter what brand it belongs to. If the camera does not deliver, chances are high that the photographer is to blame not the gear.

I think all viewpoints have been extremely well covered in the thread so far. That is a good stage at which to stop.

[Erik Lund]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

I agree on the Nikon 1 range, it's super strange for me they chose that tiny sensor.

The rest I can't relate to at all, sorry

I use a variety of Nikon cameras as well as other brands and have done so since the 80's mainly Nikon and Pentax 6x7 I admit,,,

Your reference to ED and the 58 and 35mm is funny, I had the same thought when they came out, I even stated it on the old site, but as soon as I started shooting with them I didn't bother with what they put into the glass melting pot - They just work! For the intended type of photography.

I continue to find that you focus way too much on numbers and too little on the photographs.

It's OK to like other brands here but no need to bash Nikon on and on,,, doesn't really serve a greater purpose IMHO

Thanks

Edit to add: It seems I cross posted with Bjørn here, and I see he has the same opinion as me

[Andrea B.]

It is interesting that no one here seriously thinks that Nikon is the greatest brand today.

You are soooooo missing the point. Most of us here do not even think there is such a thing as a "Greatest Brand". For cameras. For automobiles. For household appliances. For anything. 'Greatest Brand' is just a silly concept. Besides which, professionals do not sit around attempting to figure out stuff like 'Greatest Brand'. They are just a bit too busy to take that bait. Really.Silly.Bait.

YOU have to find the camera body and camera system that works for YOU.
Rent a Canon, a Sony, a Fuji, a Nikon, an Olympus.
Try them out on your various kinds of photographic subjects and see what works best for YOU.

Personally I can't see how any of the current camera system manufacturers have 'lost their way'. All the current brands are GOOD!!! EXCELLENT!!! I could shoot with any of them. And actually have tried out most of them. The features and quality we have access to these days simply boggle the mind. Want EVF? You can get it. Want focus peaking? You can get it. Want portability? You can get it. Want very high ISO capability? You can get it. Want low noise? You can get it. Want an extensive lens sytem? You can get it.

It has long been known that sticking with one system and learning it inside-and-out is the best way to achieve quality results.

I think you are thinking too much about manufacturers instead of about photography.
Just go shoot whatever it is you have and learn it and enjoy it.

There are days where I want to dance around like a nutcase and holler at people:  Gear is irrelevant to photography.

[dibyendumajumdar]

Hi All,

I am sorry if I appeared to be bashing Nikon. I guess I am just suffering from buyer's anxiety as it gets time to get the D5 .... but agree better to stop.
I maintain a small site on camera gear (http://www.cameragossip.com/) - hopefully that proves I am not anti Nikon.

Regards

[Andrea B.]

Don't buy it. Rent it and see if it works for you. It might. It might not.

[Frank Fremerey]

Andrea. Gear might be overrated if you think photography.
Yet I see that a lot of camera owners like car owners or HiFi equipment owners use the gear to represent.
I think for representation purposes the followin rules apply:

It is important that it is expensive
It is important that it is rare
It is important that it is the latest and greatest

I would recommend to the thread opener to check out tge H5D with some super exotic APO lens.
The D5 is only the AUDI in the Photo World.
I you want the Ferrari or Rolls Royce think Bigger.

Think Acra Swiss and Rodenstock and Dalsa Digibacks from Phase One....