Hannah S. Chacko

Show me your colours

2012-06-15T23:45:00.000+01:00

Cross-posted from my main blog

So as promised, here is my comparison of images between the two cameras. It is a follow-up from my previous post. I only have a couple of images to compare, but it was enough for me.

All these images were taken using the auto mode and auto focus on the camera and none of them are edited save to add the copyright stamp and resize to 600 pixels wide.

So my first image is a beautiful lily flower. It has the most stunning orange colour to it. Here are the two photos I took of it. One is the Canon and the other the Nikon (if that weren't obvious enough).

Nikon

Canon

Nikon D3100; 55mm; 1/20; f/8; ISO-400

Canon EOS 1100D; 55mm; 1/20; f/8; ISO-400

As you can see, the Canon seems far brighter and when compared to the original flower, has retained the colour better. Judging from how the leaves have come out on the Nikon, I would say it was rendering the green too much. Also, the Canon image seems a little sharper, though both images were focussed on the centre of the photo.

On an interesting note, both cameras used the same settings in auto mode in order to take the images. I wasn't expecting that, but it is a nice touch.

Nikon

Canon

Close up on the centre of the flower

The same close up on the Canon image

These two photos are the same zoom in on each photo to look at the centre of the flower. From this I believe the autofocus on the Nikon has failed it somewhat, as the blur is more apparent, while on the Canon this is sharp. Other than that, there seems to be no reduction in colour quality from green to orange on either image.

Nikon

Canon

Nikon D3100; 55mm; 1/20; f/5.6; ISO-400

Canon EOS 1100D; 55mm; 1/20; f/5.6; ISO-400

Once again, the camera settled for the same settings - weird... Once again, the colour depth in the Canon shot is far better than that in the Nikon photo. The true colour is particularly obvious on the sofa just in the background. The Canon photo is closer in colour than the Nikon.

Both photos are in good focus, though this time.

So - my final judgement is the Canon - unless there is some setting I needed to adjust on the Nikon to lessen the amount of green in the images. This slight imbalance is the problem in the colour rendering.

S Club 7 - Show Me Your Colours

Just to please me, make it easy

2012-06-14T17:06:00.001+01:00

Cross-posted from my main blog

So I am going to do something different over this post, and the next few. I've been loaned a Nikon D3100 and so am gonna take some time to review and compare it with my Canon EOS 1100D. All images in this post are unedited save for resizing to 600x400 pixels (to save on size). They are all shot as RAW+JPEG (fine) - the highest quality possible - and the JPEGs are the files shown here.

So for starters, I played with both Nikon and Canon cameras back when I was choosing the DSLR for me. I have no bias toward either manufacturer, but found the Canon a lot easier to use. Subtle positioning make the greatest effect for the user and depending on your hands and what they are used to will determine which you will find easier.

Both cameras are entry-level DSLRs and both are similarly priced (between the £350 and £400 mark). The body weight are roughly the same when compared, though the Nikon kit lens is slightly heavier than the Canon. I have yet to determine the difference in quality between the two lenses. The Canon is stated as 12.2 megapixels while the Nikon is 14.2.

I have had my Canon for some time now and am very used to the features. I was really intrigued when given the opportunity to try the equivalent Nikon for 2 weeks. The box I was given is rather large and long, though everything was very closely packaged inside. One thing I found interesting were the ferrite cores provided. I do all my image transfer directly off the SD card, so I can't see myself needing them. However, it was nice to have them.

Something else I liked the sound of was the eyepiece cap - brilliant for bulb photography - though a real pain to implement as I later discovered.

So - once I had it out of the box, I had a look at the body and the kit lens. For both cameras, this lens was an 18-55mm zoom lens. The Canon kit lens has a 58mm filter thread and the minimum focussing distance is 0.25m. The Nikon kit lens has a 52mm filter thread and the minimum focussing distance is 0.29m. The 4cm difference isn't a lot, but it is nice to be close in for some photography. Both have maximum aperture of 3.5-5.6.

The bodies look pretty similar, though the Nikon has more buttons on the top than the Canon, while the Canon has more on the back.

Nikon

Canon

The Nikon body - very cluttered on the top with many of the controls positioned here

The Canon body - shutter release is more angled and it doesn't feel cluttered

The back of the Nikon - menu options are to the left with navigation on the right

The back of the Canon - all the menu options are easily accessible with my thumb

The lenses also look very similar and both have rotating front elements for focussing. However, they turn the opposite way to each other. The Canon rotates anticlockwise (when from the back - as though shooting) to increase the focal length from 18mm to 55mm. The Nikon is clockwise. This took me a little while to get used to.

Nikon

Canon

The kit lens for the Nikon D3100 - when looking at the numbers it runs 55 to 18

The kit lens for the Canon EOS 1100D - when looking at the numbers it runs 18 to 55

This difference is also in place when attaching the lens to the body. If you have the front of the camera towards you, you turn the Canon lens clockwise to connect it and you turn the Nikon anticlockwise. Clockwise makes more sense to me as it's the direction you tighten screws (righty-tighty, lefty-loosey).

So now, with both lenses in place, I noticed something else I didn't quite like on the Nikon. On the Canon, the lens sits very close to the body and looks "attached". The Nikon didn't look like it was on properly to me and took a few minutes and attempts for me to realise it was, in fact, attached. See for yourselves:

Nikon

Canon

The lens join here is large and gave me doubts about the lens being attached properly

The lens join here on the Canon is much more discreet and makes the lens look more secure

So aesthetically, I prefer the Canon, but hey, that's just my opinion. Opinion varies from person to person. However, for me, there was a level of functionality in the Canon that was made more awkward on the Nikon. When I take a photo, the position of my hand on the lens has my index finger right over the autofocus option on the Canon lens, allowing to enable and disable it with ease. On the Nikon, this switch is under the bottom section of that finger, making it more difficult to toggle. Though I did notice the Vibration Reduction on the Nikon lens that was not on the Canon (known as Image Stabilising on the Canon). I have never needed it on the 1100D, and so, I am going to turn the VR off on the Nikon for picture comparison - all photos from this point forward have VR turned off for fairness.

The position of the buttons on the Canon is also better for my hands. The angle at which the shutter release sits is far more comfortable and having the command dial just behind it allows me to easily adjust the shutter speed and aperture without moving the camera from my eye. My thumb can easily access all the buttons on the camera back. The AV button nearest the viewfinder allows me to adjust the aperture rather than the shutter speed, and I can see all those settings with the exposure meter through the viewfinder. With the Nikon, the information is again easily visible in the viewfinder, but harder to adjust. The dial is on the back of the body, but high up, and so when using it, I feel like I'm not holding the camera properly, and my thumb knuckle rubs against my other eye. This is more than a little uncomfortable. The aperture toggle is on the top near the shutter release, so toggling is again straightforward.

For all other controls, the Nikon seems to be encouraging me to move the camera to use them. The flash release is on the left and isn't quite in the right place for my left hand to easily press, whereas the Canon's flash release is right behind the command dial.

I do like the shooting option switch on the Nikon. Next to the selection dial is a slider for single, continuous, timer and "quiet" release. The Canon has those options, but within a menu - and the quiet mode is a bit of a buried option on the Canon.

The positioning of all the other buttons on the Canon are great - my right thumb is always in the right position to use any button on the camera without adjusting my grip. On the Nikon, I have to adjust my hold on the camera in order to select the menu, playback, focus points etc. Also, I find the arrows on the Nikon are difficult to use; the Canon has them as separate buttons to ensure the right one is pressed, while I found at first I was going left instead of up at times within the Nikon menu.

I had one more little gripe with the Nikon. I never use the feature, normally, but there have been a few exceptions. On the Canon, I love how in live view, the image exposure adjust and is consistently accurate. This allows me to see the final picture based on shutter speed and aperture without relying on the exposure meter. On the Nikon, however, the image does not adjust accordingly, and so I have to rely on the small bar. This is especially frustrating when the exposure reading might not be accurate - like shooting against the light.

One thing I have noticed while taking these photos is that the Nikon is much quieter than the Canon both in focussing and the shutter release. I'm not sure which I prefer as of yet and will probably discuss this more in the next post. The quieter aspect of the Nikon would be nice for wildlife photography, though I do like the more robust sound of the Canon. The focussing when taking my wildlife shots isn't a problem as I prefer to manually focus my camera at any rate.

And so this ends part one of the comparison. The next post will be looking at picture quality and how well the cameras meet my needs. The link will appear soon.

Steps - Make it Easy On Me

White Beauty

2012-02-06T23:47:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 300mm [Macro]; 1/160; f/8; ISO-400

Purple Beauty

2012-02-06T23:40:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 300mm [Macro]; 1/160; f/8; ISO-400

Purple

2012-02-06T23:36:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 190mm; 1/160; f/5; ISO-400

Pink Beauty

2012-02-06T23:31:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 300mm [Macro]; 1/160; f/8; ISO-400

Flowers

2012-02-06T23:24:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 190mm; 1/160; f/5; ISO-400

Red Twigs

2012-02-05T23:59:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 70mm; 1/60; f/8; ISO-400

Emerging

2012-02-05T23:58:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 300mm; 1/80; f/6.3; ISO-400

I love the way the plants seem to emerge from the snow as though breaking through a barrier

Drip Drop

2012-02-05T23:55:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 300mm [Macro]; 1/80; f/6.3; ISO-400; CPL

Student Living

2012-02-05T23:29:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 70mm; 1/100; f/11; ISO-400; CPL

Ice

2012-02-05T23:28:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 300mm [Macro]; 1/60; f/5.6; ISO-400; cropped

Icy Leaves

2012-02-05T23:26:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 300mm [Macro]; 1/60; f/5.6; ISO-400; cropped

Seagulls 3

2012-02-05T23:25:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 300mm; 1/500; f/5.6; ISO-400; cropped

Seagulls 2

2012-02-05T23:23:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 300mm; 1/500; f/5.6; ISO-400; cropped

Seagulls 1

2012-02-05T23:21:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 300mm; 1/320; f/5.6; ISO-400; cropped

Cracks in the Ice

2012-02-05T23:19:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 70mm; 1/800; f/4.5; ISO-400

Ice Cold

2012-02-03T23:13:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 300mm; 1/2; f/5.6; ISO-400

Tree on Fire

2012-02-03T23:11:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 70mm; 1/8; f/5; ISO-400

City View

2012-02-03T23:09:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 70mm; 1/3; f/22; ISO-400

Do I See Purple?

2012-02-03T23:07:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 70mm; 1/50; f/11; ISO-400; CPL

Red Sky

2012-02-03T23:04:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 55mm; 1/30; f/7.1; ISO-100; cropped

Red Sky at Night

2012-02-03T23:03:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 55mm; 1/30; f/7.1; ISO-100

Cathedral

2012-02-03T23:02:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 25mm; 1/30; f/7.1; ISO-100

Cathedral Sunset

2012-02-03T22:58:00.000Z

Canon EOS 1100D; 18mm; 1/30; f/11; ISO-100