Camera Brands
Photographythe gear

Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Olympus, Leica, Panasonic, Lumix, Samsung,etc. Which Brands are You Using?

Which Brands are You?

Camera Brands

I would love to hear from all of our loyal readers.  Tell us which brand of digital camera you decided to purchase whether a compact or DSLR and which model.  Tell us what was the reason for your purchase and your impressions.
You can comment directly on this blog post or send your answers to: info@benjaminkanarekblog.com
The person with the best answers (in our opinion) will be posted on Benjamin Kanarek Blog.  The winners will also have an opportunity to choose up to 5 of their favorite images that they captured featured on BK Blog as well.
Can’t wait to hear from you all…
E-Mail Responses & Comments Below:

Marcie Cobbaert, Wrote:
Hi Ben,
I purchased a Canon 5D Mark II for several reasons.  It was an upgrade from the Rebel XSi, my start up camera.  The 5D Mark II gave me the  ability to shoot in lower light.  I wanted a full frame camera and one that I could use with my existing lens.  With the HD video capability and a market that is showing demand for video, this camera was the natural step up.  Canon has always given me rich colors.  I know where the buttons are and more importantly, if a brand has been reliable why switch to another brand, customer loyalty I suppose.
I’ve never felt the need to debate Nikon versus Canon. Simply put, I’ve never shot with a Nikon and lets face it, photography is expensive investment and a full time struggle. Many of us have sacrificed a great deal to pursue this passion full time & don’t have the luxury of switching gear just to see if it’s better.  I’ve never been one to occupy my time talking about gear, great images come from a good eye, good style and an active imagination more than the gear itself.  My lens are more important to me than the actual camera body.  I’ve noticed that the majority of people that spend their time talking about gear, (I refer to them as ‘gear sluts’), don’t typically take good images.  There is nothing more humorous than seeing someone write pages of technical advice only to visit their online portfolio and see mountains of cheesy bad images.
Be Well,
Marcie Cobbaert
Photographer
http://www.marciecobbaert.com

Lai Gen from Brazil wrote:
I’m from Brazil and I’m using a SAMSUNG ST5500 with Dnla, Wi-fi and Bluetooth to send it to e-mails and facebook.

Benjamin Kanarek
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10 Comments

  1. Nikon. Far easy to use than Canon. I need no retire the nikon from my face to change the esential of the configuration. I have configurated a frontal button to make the light measurements in spot mode while I use the matrix mode so I have two in one. It let me to know where the whites and the blacks are, without retire the camera from my face. This kind of things I miss in canon.
    For work needs I have purchased recently a canon 5DMkII (21 megapixels, tilt and shift 24mm) but, as soon as nikon presente the substitute of the D700 I will return to nikon (And let the canon only for architectural and urban landscapes).

    Reply

  2. Long or short answer?..LOL! Short answer is when I decided to get a DSLR I did a ton of research between a Rebel and a D80. Ultimately it came down to the Nikon feeling better in my hand. Since then I have upped the ante to a D700 and I love it! I shoot a lot of dance in a dark theater and the D700 does a wonderful job of it. I had kinda planned to get a full frame tho, since all the glass I was buying was full format to make that part less painful.
    The long story starts with a Coolpix and a school play. Was 3 rows back from the boy and I zoomed and shot. Was so disappointed that zooming still got me the whole group. I did a little research and found that optical zoom was what I needed, so I got a Canon S3IS. Beautiful images!..but then I started reading about just what you could do with a RAW file. Then comes the D80 and about a year of getting a good technique to shoot in low light with a camera that doesn’t shoot the best at a high ISO. Then comes the D700-until I find out about something else I just can’t live without!

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  3. started with Pentax K10, moved to K20 and now K7. Though I once fell into the “gear myth”, went crazy and got a 1DSmk2 and a used phaseone, nowadays I still use K7 more. I think it all comes down which system suits my needs the most and also which camera I fell most comfortable handling. After all, it’s just a “raw” file that we need, and to be honest, I love playing with photoshop, not that I need to “save” the photos, I just LOVE it, in which case camera system don’t matter at all…

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  4. I’ve been a steady user of Nikon and Pentax equipment but it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t use another brand if I needed it. For the most part most cameras do the same things in studio. Out door the Pentax Glass really shines. Nikon is great for Event work though Lately Pentax can keep right up with it too.

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  5. My first DSLR was a Canon EOS 30D and…well, it is so far also my only DSLR.
    I bought it right after it was introduced back in spring 2006, mostly based on the glowing reviews that EOS 20D received and my own initial impressions in camera stores. I was considering the Nikon D50, EOS 350D and Pentax D*ist at the time, and the build quality, the size of the camera as well as the huge amount of lenses and accessories won me over in the end.
    I’ve been fighting the urge to upgrade countless times and every time I tend to think that the improvement I see (for my use) is too small to warrant the expense. I know that the improved resolution of a 7D will allow me to make bigger enlargements but considering that to date I’ve done exactly one 40×50 cm enlargement (and that turned out nice), I can’t really see the use in 18 MP – and given the large RAW files I will probably have to upgrade my computer and increase storage as well, so it’s not just the camera expense that concerns me.
    I can relate to Marcie’s response concerning investing in glass rather than camera bodies – as long as I can get clean, noise free images at ISO 400 with my current camera (using Aperture 3 as my RAW-converter – it was like having a camera upgrade when I started using that), the purchase of high quality L-series glass will improve the technical quality of my images more than a new camera body.
    That being said, I’m pretty sure that there is a Canon 7D (a drop-in replacement for my 30D) or a Canon 5D MKII (will require additional glass) somewhere down the road for me, although I’ve considered switching to Pentax – I really like that image stabilization is built-in and I have been impressed by the rich “film-like” colors I’ve seen a friend get from a Pentax K10. However, as long as Pentax insists on making tethered shooting impossible on K5 it is a no-go for me.

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  6. I currently use a pair of Nikon D3 cameras. When making the switch to digital, I stayed with Nikon because I was so heavily invested in glass. Now I have so much gear that I am considering adding a sherpa to the list of employees.
    The D3 offers the ability to use outrageous ISO settings and super fast frames per second which allows us to offer more services to our clients. We can now cover everything from commercial work through sports with the D3.

    Reply

  7. I dove into serious photography just over a year ago. After having wanted a ‘real’ camera for some time and considering a compact of some kind, I was gifted an old Lumix super-zoom. The glass built into the camera was really great, however the dated camera and the pain of using the control scheme opened my eyes to the possibilities that could be afforded by a true DSLR.
    Not long after learning the basics of photography with the Lumix bridge camera, I embarked on a comparative shopping odyssey of epic proportions, trying to discern the best value proposition in the DSLR market. I committed myself to finding a working kit under $400, and at the very end of 2008 I strolled out of the store having chosen a very-well-used Pentax k10d and a 100mm macro lens, with extra money in my pocket.
    Whilst there are certainly drawbacks to being in a smaller system, I have been time and time again gratified with the choice to go Pentax. The camera bodies are very robust and on the whole posess the best ergonomics of any DSLR. Although on the surface Pentax bodies seem to be priced on par with their competitors in terms of headline specs, features like weather sealing, in-body shake-reduction, and well-thought interface design, as well as a plethora of features and specs usually reserved by other manufacturers only for their ‘pro’ cameras, put Pentax in the lead when thinking of ‘bang for the buck.’ The best way to sum it up would be to say that any particular pentax may be sold as an enthusiast camera, but it is designed and built like a pro camera.
    This would all be for nought if the images were less than perfect, but luckily with a RAW workflow even the cheapest Pentax can give you results that you will be proud to say you’ve shot.
    The lenses are also compact and of very high quality both in terms of optics and build, and the long legacy of nearly legendary Pentax glass means that you should always be able to find excellent optics to put between you and your scene for very reasonable prices. For example, just yesterday I purchased a 50mm F1.2 in flawless condition for about $300 dollars, and even on my old and abused k10 it benefits from shake reduction! I’ve had other great deals on excellent used lenses, and those that I have bought new, like my limited primes, are just as impressive. When it comes to glass you will find evangelists for each brand, but in the case of Pentax their reputation for excellent optics is mostly deserved, even to this day. The only gripe a Pentax shooter will have regarding optics is that they are not well served above 300mm, however options exist from other manufacturers in the PK mount.
    So now it’s been more than a year and my cup runneth over. I’ve finally lost count of all the lenses I’ve scrounged from bargain bins, almost every one of which has turned out to be a quality optic. The camera has never missed a beat, and from day one has given me images which I’ll cherish and show forever.
    Most importantly, choosing Pentax as my brand has allowed the camera to get out of the way of my shooting, and grow as a photographer limited not by the gear but by my skill and my eye, even on my extremely limited budget. Although I do bemoan that Pentax refuses to produce a 35mm full-frame digital SLR, should I ever enter that budget space they provide a 40 megapixel medium-format camera for only a little more than a Canon 1ds or Nikon d3, and their APS-C cameras only get better and better. I’m a happy pentaxian for sure!

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  8. I am currently using a Canon 7D. My first DSLR was a Canon Rebel Xsi. I chose Canon over Nikon for the better/cheaper selection of lenses and because I already knew some photographers who used Canon. Other manufacturers really were not an option for me, as it would be too hard to get rental gear and hot-shoe flashes or triggers.
    When it came to upgrading, as I had already collected a handful of lenses, the choice to stay with Canon was obvious. I chose the 7D over the 5D mkII because of the lower price, better focusing system, 60p video mode and because I do not believe I absolutely have to have a full frame camera. So far it worked very well for me and I enjoy the low light capabilities, higher resolution and experimenting with video.

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  9. In the first place, the question was “Canon or Nikon?”. After so much investigating, I’ve come up with a K10D 😀
    What made me pay attention to Pentax was the fact that nowadays it isn’t as popular as Canon, Nikon or Sony. And just beacuse it’s less well-known it doesn’t necessarily mean it was a second choice. Besides, I’m not one to agree so easily to what the crowd says. I’d rather to things my way and eventually take my toll for that.
    I’ve also found that their cameras were a bit cheaper than those of other brands, though they had similar specs. Or even more: stabilized sensor, weather sealing on lower price range. Given this, it just looked like a question of good sense to me.
    Now that I occasionally work as a portrait photographer, I have a K20D and all the bits (if you can say that tamron 17-50, 50 1.4, 3 flashes and 50-135 are) and I’m even more happy with my gear.

    Reply

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