Which is better DSLR camera between Canon and Nikon? I’m planning to buy one that can take professional photos and high quality video. Video quality that can make documentaries or air on TV. Budget around 100k. Someone advice.
Word of advice. Look for a professional company doing documentaries for TV. Request for an internship even if it’s unpaid. Use that 100k to support yourself if it’s unpaid. Work closely with an experienced person learn from him because the quality of a video or photo is based on a number of things like lighting, camera, lense.
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I believe you have the skills as suggested by @cortedivoire . But you can still learn as you get used to your equipment. If you will be doing video, i recommend canon as opposed to Nikon. Find one that can record in 4K quality. You will need to invest in lenses as you progress. Think also about lighting and sound equipment if you want to venture into professional production.
If you are new to photography, it may be worthwhile to spend some time learning it, either with a professional photographer, as has been suggested above, or by yourself, even using YouTube videos. Whilst the camera may influence to some extend, the quality of the images depends a lot on other things(composition, lenses, lighting etc). One can take great photos with a point-and-shoot, as with a professional camera.
The benefit of hanging out with a photographer is that as you get exposed, you’ll get to know the lenses you’ll need depending on the type of photography you’ll be doing. The kit lens that a camera comes with is hardly ever enough and sometimes quite basic.
Having done some amateur photography a bit, i would venture that the lens is more important than the camera body.
Having said that, i think the photography world is split between the Nikon and Canon. When i bought my camera body(Nikon D5300, entry level), i remember being disappointed by the quality of pics i took initially, considering the amount i spent. I learnt that the camera is merely a tool, and as you take more and more and lots of pictures, you get better at it.
Thank you.
I do it as a hobby, mainly bird and wildlife photography. I also do a bit of landscape and nighttime photography, when i happen to travel. The needs for each are a little different. The lens for wildlife and bird photography is different say for landscape photography, or say portraits.
I learnt a lot from YouTube, there are lots of nice channels there. It may be helpful to look through them before you buy your gear. For my needs, i bought a second hand zoom lens on EBay and it works just great. So don’t be afraid to buy second-hand gear, especially lenses, tripods, some are still pretty good.
As you gain experience, you’ll need a good backpack for them too! I got that from EBay too.
As for the quality of the pictures, I believe that the more i take pictures, i think the better they get. With time i have got the courage to take part in a couple of competitions, none of which i won anything, but it builds you up!
Wacha nikupeleke shule.
nikon is good for still photos but its poor for videos because of poor tracking technology and poor autofocus. in videos, you need the camera to track objects such as faces and autofocus on a shifting object. It is also not good in video color. nikon excels in photos. Canon is excellent for video and you wont catch a video guru with a nikon. this is because canon has excellent tracking technology and will continuously autofocus on a shifting object + it has good video color. Not that nikon doesnt have autofocus, but will often shift and search around trying to find the object, making video full of shifting blurs. canon has less of that nonsense. panasonic has good cameras too but you will have to search a lot in kenya and you will have limited choice and expensive too.
The other thing is that you shouldnt buy old tech cameras even if they sound expensive. expensive technology of 2013 can be found in an average camera of 2017 or 2018. if the camera model was first manufactured 2016 and earlier just leave it.
You also need to consider battery life depending on what you want to do with the camera. some very small cameras have very small batteries. if the camera is for professional photos you must have a optical viewfinder. there are mirror less cameras but they are only good for video. optical pentaprism viewfinder is better than optical pentamirror because it is clearer, brighter and less lossy. if you have to record things far away you have to get an additional longer zoom(longer focal length) lens system because cameras for interchangeable lens are sold with a short zoom kit lens. if you are really on budget and you need something below 40k you will go with nikon with a fixed lens because canon doesnt have cheap new tech camera. lenses are very important in cameras and you have to buy a camera that can take many types of lenses if you are serious. lenses with autofocus are a must. For videos also consider a screen with variable angles and able to face the front so you can see yourself when filming yourself or taking selfie if you will operate without a cameraman. For video you also need a touchscreen and dual pixel autofocus.
If you have to do video alongside photos i will suggest Canon 800D. canon 80D is also good but more expensive. price for 800D downtown (read luthuli) is 60-70k with kit lens and uptown is 70k upwards. do not lie to yourself that something like a 4000D is better than a 800D or 200D because the number is bigger. it doesnt work that way. you have to research individual cameras. 200D is very portable if it matters to you but has the inferior pentamirror and less autofous points for still photos. viewfinder tech doesnt afftect photo quality though. 800D is bulky but has more autofocus points which helps in fast still photo shooting like shooting sports. to give you a clearer picture, you want to catch a clear still pic of a header in football you need a fast autofocus.
Good 4k cameras are expensive and just forget it if you dont have the money because cheap 4k cameras are useless. You also need to think about where you want to use the 4k video. if its for TV broadcast there isnt a broadcaster that can even do full HD in kenya. if its the internet its not yet fast enough for 4k and most devices dont have that playback capability and will reduce the video to their native resolution. if its for playback from a machine same story. for example, how many laptops have 4k? just a few macs and dells going for 400k+. even most macbooks have less than FHD and the pros have a QHD resolution, the UHD ones are super expensive and its for gaming and professional graphics work not for video. devices have 4k screen but a good number dont have the GPU to give a true smooth sharp 4k playback.
for slow motion, the camera will have to be very expensive and be able to do 600fps 1080p and above. otherwise forget it. 60fps 1080p is enough for normal stuff.
find a good tripod at nikon shop kimathi at 10k-20k depending on the one you choose. video light 5k to 80k depending on what you want. for still photo get a flash. cheap video light stand for 2-5k if light doesnt come with one. an extra battery if you will operate long hours away from power source.
nikon d5600 50k-60k. additional longer zoom lens for 15-25k. heavier budget d7500 for 120k+ and an extra lens. smaller budget just get a fixed lens nikon for 30k-40k and you wont need extra lens because they come writh crazy optical zooms like x45 or x50.
Consider Sony Alpha cameras. They were extensively used in filming the BBC Planet Earth 2 documentary. Being a leading manufacturer of camera sensors maybe gives them some edge and they compete directly with Canon and Nikon. Excellent cameras but at a great cost.
This is a real gem of information. I very much appreciate your comprehensive and useful insight. You are my hero for now for taking your time to share your knowledge on matters photography.