Going crazy, need help. Nikon D5200 vs Canon t4i/t5i

[paul15]

Ok basically I have been doing research on these cameras for a little over a week now and just cannot for the life of me make up my mind. I'm kinda leaning towards the Nikon and my wife is leaning towards the Canon.

Reasons I like the Nikon:
-Better low light pictures.
-Better video
-Better built-in flash
-Better pictures (if you upgrade to the 35mm f1.8)
-39 Focus points
-Color enhancement feature (more my wife than myself)
-For $60 you can have a live feed with your iphone

Reasons I like the Canon:
-User Friendly
-Better Interface
-Better Pictures right out of the box
-Touchscreen (again not me the wife but it is cool)
-Great Colors in daylight
-Awesome Customer Service
-Better Ergonomics***
-Fast Live Feed

Reasons I Don't like Nikon:
-Poor Customer Service
-Non Touchscreen (wife)
-More complex (you really got to mess with it to achieve stellar pics)
-You have to buy a lens because the kit lens sucks
-Not as ergonomic
-Slow live feed

Reasons I don't like Canon:
-Worse video. #1 concern with this one (how much worse im not sure)
-9 focus points
-Built-in flash overexposes
-Not as cheap to sync to iphone
-Concerned once the Nikon has the 35mm f1.8 lens that this one couldn't compete.

I'm so torn. Apart of me wants to have the user friendly/ great customer service Canon offers and the other part of me just wants the best camera for pictures and video I can get. If I could be assured that the Canon could produce equal pictures and videos I would prob jump on it but it seems to me like it can't...

Total newbie here so I'm asking for your all's advice without you all being biased towards the brand itself. I just want the low down on which one is better for video and pictures. And I am willing to buy extra lenses.

The reason I am moving into the DSLR world is because I am about to have a baby and want to capture every moment I can.

Also I am pretty set on Canon or Nikon. My budget is about $1000 after taxes at the moment but I will have more money to invest in extra later.

Thanks for any advice.

[SIMON40]

In my humble opinion, I don't think there's much in them in any regard- with any differences in a given aspect negligible...and arguably not a game changer.

Both the Canon and Nikon have adequate,good and excellent lenses available- with comparable quality across the range (eg- Nikon's 35 f/1.8 v Canon's 35mm f/2)
More AF points is arguably better- but are more crammed into a similar area any better...?
I'd suggest handling the two camera's in question and see what feels right to you/your wife...
If there's a specific feature that one has (and the other doesn't...) and you really need that feature- than I guess that's the game over...
As for video use- I still think DSLR's take too much work to get the best out of them (which is potentially very good...) and if you want your video's instantly( assuming you want that quick,candid baby stuff...) with little user input- I'd rather use a decent bridge camera...!
The Canon will take ALL EF/EF-S lenses... whereas the Nikon will need AF-S lenses (inbuilt lens motor), which does reduce the lens compatibility to a degree....

If I was in your shoes, I might be tempted to be looking into a D7000- especially as the introduction of the D7100 has brought in some bargain prices for the said Nikon... though much of this would be on a "stills" basis...

[VTphotog]

Why do you think you need to move to a DSLR? I infer from your post that you have a digital camera. Other than baby pictures, what are you going to want to do with the DSLR? There is a bit of learning curve with any of them, and you will need to spend some time sorting it out if you want to get the best pictures of your newborn.
Frankly, I think you (and your child) might be better served by either keeping your current camera, or investing in a $300 point and shoot, and putting the remainder into the baby's college fund.

brian

[TCav]

They are both fine cameras.

When it comes down to a choice between to bodies that are so evenly matched, I like to find out which manufacturer has lenses that are better suited and/or less expensive for the purposes the person intends.

What do you want to use them for? What kinds of photos do you want to take?

[JohnG]

A few things to consider about your impending purchase:

1. Neither camera/system has a distinct edge
2. Do NOT expect a DSLR to be a magic point-and-shoot. It won't be. If you expect to use "scene" or "auto" modes and get perfect photos out of camera, you expect too much.
3. Unless you are a savant, you need to learn to post-process images to get the most out of them. If you don't want to learn post-processing, you're wasting money buying a DSLR
4. Without a doubt, the single best thing you can buy after camera/kit lens is an external flash. Built-in flash should be emergency use only. They all stink. You want photos of your new baby and you will want to take them when you don't have a window of sunlight or when you want multiple people in focus. An external, bounceable flash is, IMO, the single best purchase for family photography - especially with babies.
5. Third purchase is a fast prime. You mention a rather good, but pricey option. You may want to consider a less expensive 50mm 1.8 option. Especially with a baby, you'll appreciate the longer focal length.
6. Now, you and your wife need to consider the inconvenience factor involved. I've shot DSLR for the last 9 years or so (since Canon 300d). They are inconvenient beasts. In my advice above you have camera, kit lens, second lens and external flash to lug around. When you're carrying a diaper bag, stroller, and a bunch of other stuff for the baby this is yet one more thing to tote around. This is probably the biggest reason why so many DSLRs turn into expensive paperweights. People get sick of toting them around. Especially given points 2 & 3 above. There is no doubt the sophisticated focusing and high ISO performance of DSLRs make them wonderful - as does the ability to do shallow-DOF indoor photography. But, all of that is useless if you don't have the gear with you.
7. Finally - video from DSLRs is still in it's infancy. Focus still stinks for Canon/Nikon - expect a few more generations before it's as easy to use as digicams.

[tacticdesigns]

Whatever you end up choosing . . . don't look back too much . . . you can take great pictures with Nikon or Canon . . . doesn't really matter which way you go . . .

Going dSLR, although it isn't a magic solution to getting great pictures automatically, as pointed out above . . . the dSLR does give you the advantages of a bigger sensor (so better low-light as you pointed out), less shutter lag, and the ability to swap in the brighter lenses (such as the Nikon 35mm f1.8 that you pointed out, which I do have and love it.) . . . Pretty good reasons to get a dSLR IMHO . . .

I read what you were saying about Canon being easier . . . IMHO . . . the trick with complexity with the camera (ie. friendlyness) is that once you learn ISO vs Aperture vs shutter speed (the exposure triangle) and how each affects the picture . . . then all the mystery disappears and then you can use any camera. Doesn't matter if its Nikon or Canon or Pentax for that matter. Its just how quick can you change these settings based on what you want to achieve. I find the differences between the cameras are much less when I'm concentrating on those three things . . .

A couple more things that I haven't seen mentioned yet is . . . go ask any of your friends that have Nikon or Canon and ask them why they prefer that brand. And then . . . also . . . go to the store and test out the camera hands-on if you haven't already done so. One might operate exactly how you want it to work . . .

Take care & Happy Shooting!

[alice-sood]

If you are confused between the Nikon D5200 & Canon t4i/t5i camera models then I would suggest you to buy Nikon D5200 as it has better video quality which you are looking for. The technicalities of both the devices is almost similar but I would suggest you to invest on that model which completely satisfies your expectations for the features. Although the Nikon D7100 is the most interesting camera but quite expensive cost around $1500, so you can decide on buying the latest technology or the less expensive camera.