Peace, Brother.

[Richard_]

http://rgibbens.smugmug.com/photos/594917697_iXBnd-XL.jpg

[Richard_]

My only experience is with my Canon DSLR and I'm curious about the other big name in photography - Nikon.

My buddy Stuntman Jeff has a Nikon D300. He loaned it to me so I could see what life is like on the other side.

I shot the above picture tonight using his D300 with a Nikkor 35-70mm F/3.3-4.5 lens.

Here's some of the other shots I got with it.

Doug Moreland makes chainsaw art in Manchaca, TX.
http://rgibbens.smugmug.com/photos/594919161_P8Hqh-L.jpg

Hey, Cowboy
http://rgibbens.smugmug.com/photos/594916894_JGazx-L.jpg

Church steeple at night
http://rgibbens.smugmug.com/photos/594922470_2UWhi-L.jpg

Tuffy got a sugar glider today.
http://rgibbens.smugmug.com/photos/594914448_TJZ3z-L.jpg

Hamming it up for the camera.
http://rgibbens.smugmug.com/photos/594908346_2mjEk-L.jpg

I've got to say, it's a sweet camera.

[dixonduke]

My buddy Stuntman Jeff has a Nikon D300. He loaned it to me so I could see what life is like on the other side.

Nice Captures Richard.

2 Questions:

1. The same Doug Moreland that is also an entertainer / singer?
2. What did you like better/worse of the Nikon when compared to the Canon?

[Richard_]

Duke,

I don't know if this Doug is the same as that Doug. Art Doug has a house in Manchaca right next to Hwy 1626 and has some of his art on display in his yard. That's pretty much all I know about him.

I don't know the Nikon well enough to give a detailed comparison to my Canon. I'm much more familiar with the Canon so it's a lot easier for me to use.

The main difference I noted between my XSi and the D300 is that the Nikon seems designed for serious amateurs / professionals, while my XSi seems to be designed for new DSLR users or beginners. For example, the Nikon doesn't have any modes such as portrait, night scene, landscape, sports, etc. like my Canon does. The Nikon offers P, A, S, or M modes only.

Further, the Nikon allows you to choose the highest and lowest ISO that will be used in the ISO Auto setting. On my Canon it chooses the highest and lowest ISO it will use with the ISO Auto setting. If I want to use an ISO setting outside that range then I have to manually set it. I like the Nikon way more.

Also, the Nikon allows me to set the lowest shutter speed it will use in the Program mode (i.e. tell the camera I don't want to go below 1/8 of a sec, for example). No such option is available on my Canon. Again, I like having the option vs not having it.

The Nikon is larger, heavier, and has a more comfortable grip. It feels quite substantial in my hand.

Image quality (for my skill set) seems to be very similar for both units. Not surprising since they both use the APS-C size sensor. I think it would take moving up to a full size sensor to see a truly significant difference in image quality.

[Richard_]

One more, shot this evening.

Mr. Frog and his lilly pad
http://rgibbens.smugmug.com/photos/595835358_mHT8R-L.jpg