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Who makes better SLR Digital Cameras? Nikon or Canon?

I am shopping for one as a gift for my wife, the budget is $600 and I really like the Nikon D40 but would like some feedback as to whether the Canon Rebel is a better camera?

Public Comments

1. In my personal experiences and opinion, Nikon.
2. who makes the best and the worst so they do ,and that's not all some are worse than that so there you are isn't it
3. They both make excellent cameras.Ask yourself this.--- " Does my wife take the time to read and learn about electonic items, " or does she prefer a "point and shoot". with simple "easy" to use functions. Do you want her to "enjoy" and use the camera, or " store it till it grows cobwebs cause she can't figure out all those " thingies". Now you can be a great husband, or an "idiot" == you decide.
4. I own a Canon, and though it's a good camera...I wish I would have gotten another Nikon (used to own one.) Check out the features very carefully...I think a lot of it is personal preference. The actual camera functions are going to be good in both, as they are decent brands. I would first check reviews online and find out the pet peeves of the camera of those who own one, and then go to the store and check things out for yourself. That way you have an idea of what to look for that could potentially bother you. If you are spending that much on a camera, you probably want it to be near to perfect!
5. I never had problems with a Canon.
6. Get the Nikon D40. I've read different reviews about it and so far all are good. I've also done research on the Canon Rebel and not all are good. Go to Dave's picks website to better understand the 2 cameras.
7. They are both good cameras. I use Cannon and have used Nikon. If you have used Nikon stay with Nikon it will likely feel more intuitive because you know where the controls are. You know the balance and feel of the cameras manufactures try to keep the feel consistent model to model.
8. Both cameras have their own faults and their own strenghts. The Canon Rebel, as you stated, is around 6 years old. In the Canon line it was the Canon Rebel, Rebel XT, and Rebel XTi. Also, these are digital, not like the film Canon Rebel K2/T2. Like I said, both Nikon and Canon are both excellent brand, as are the others. Which brand is better is something someone says who wants to start a brand war, one of which has been going non stop for around 20 years. Let me assume you are going to buy either the Nikon D40 and the Digital Rebel XT or XTi. The Nikon D40 is strong, sturdy, solid, has a great LCD, and great image quality. However, to drive down prices, Nikon took out the motor, making it unable to autofocus with older, non AF-S lenses. This means a massive selection of lenses are taken away from your disposal. The two AF-S lenses that are cheap and available are the 18-55mm and the 55-200/VR. Both lenses are desinged for people looking for a cheap lens to fill their void. The other AF-S lenses are many times more expensive, designed for professionals, and could easily rip off the lens mount on the tiny camera. The Canon Digital Rebel XT/XTi take very good images. Mostly in part because of its CMOS sensor. But, that's all about I have to say for it. True story, I was going to buy my first DSLR. My choices were either the Nikon D50 or D40, or the Canon Digital Rebel XT or XTi. I was leaning for the Canon since I had a Canon film camera. I picked up the DR XT and was stunned at how awful it felt. I really thought it was a toy at first. The layout sucked as well. I then felt the DR XTi. It was a bit better, but still felt cheaply designed. Then, I picked up a Nikon D50. The difference was amazing! It was sturdy, strong, and well built. I then picked up the D40. It was a bit small, smaller than I would like, but it still felt good and strong. That day, I left with a Nikon D50. My other concerns with Canon is that the lens selection is great, but most of these lenses are cheaply made. That is not true for the L series, and some of the cheaper lenses, but for the most part, they are not the best optically. So, if you do go with Canon, look to spend another $500 on a decent lens. The kit lens that comes with them is junk. One more thing about their lenses. The 50mm 1.8, the lens that every photographer should have, is no where near the quality of Nikon, or the Pentax's version. This is a shame, since the 50mm 1.8 is a cheap, great lens; well, for Nikon. This is why the Nikon version is $130, while the Canon is around $70. If you go with Nikon, and plan to get into photography, I would suggest skip the D40, and buy a used D70s, D50, or D100. All three are great cameras, and will AF with all Nikon lenses, and work properly with those made since the 1970s. Canon cannot claim this, since they switched from the FD mount back in the 1990s. With either of these three cameras, you get great quality, and a massive selction of lenses. With any of these three cameras, you'll virtually have no problems. Well, that's about it. I suggest Nikon=quality, lenses, build, and much more. Hope this helped.
9. Check most tennis matches, golf tournaments, soccer game, the sports reporters mostly used Canon. Does that tell you something. The Rebel is a better camera than the D40. However, the D40 is still a very good camera, with a good price. The D40X will give you more pixels.
10. There's been some good points made. They are both good and have their own strengths. That budget is somewhat limiting. I suggest checking the reviews on the site I linked to. In that price range you may want to look into the Pentax K100 also.
11. This question has been asked and answered in Yahoo 418 times (last count) so your best (and fastest) bet is to do a search.