Nikon vs Canon

As the saying goes; "A picture is worth a thousand words." The other saying is "a craftsman is only as good as his tools." In the world of professional photography the main argument for higher quality is between Nikon and Canon, but which one is actually better? The most important things when taking professional grade pictures are: lens quality, compatibility of lenses for quick lens change to get different ranges of shots, and the quality of the focus for clear photos even when your subject is moving around a lot.

Nikon, as well as making cameras, also makes professional grade lenses for laboratory microscopes. This should be a good indicator that their lenses are top notch. However, Canon also makes giant lenses for HDTV and for movie cameras so their lenses must be pretty good too, right? I think that makes this round a draw.

Nikon makes their camera bodies and lenses all compatible with each other if their manufacturing dates are within a time span of practically 2 decades meaning that you can take a camera body from the late 90s and fit a brand new lens that you just bought onto it. Canon, however, changed the way they built their camera bodies once they introduced the auto focus system so any lens or body built for a manual focus will not be compatible with a lens or body built with an auto focus design. This round goes to Nikon. Score is now 1-0.

In the newer models of each brand of camera their auto focus features have their advantages and disadvantages. Canon has a newer auto focus system that uses 19 focusing points and they are all "cross type" sensors which allow for quick and accurate focusing in both still images and in videos. Nikon has a 51 point system but only 15 of them are "cross type." Looks like Canon wins this round, current score is 1-1.

In professional photography there are two things that are needed to create a great picture; creative vision and skill, and a good camera. On the subject of which is better I think Ken Rockwell said it best: "Anyone who tries to tell you one or the other is garbage isn't paying attention... Nikon and Canon compete so heavily against each other that if one really were better or worse they would have gone out of business long ago." Both camera brands have excellent products but when it comes down to it, like most technologies used today, its pretty much all based on personal preferences.

Links:
http://www.digitalcameraworld.com/2013/07/05/canon-eos-70d-vs-nikon-d7100-15-things-you-really-need-to-know/

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/nikon-vs-canon.htm