Stereotypes associated to brands

James3shin

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Can anyone provide me with some general stereotypes about camera brands. For example Nike soccer cleats are usually meant for narrow feet while Adidas is for wider feet. Do camera brands have any generalizations? Are Canon cameras faster focusing but poor image quality, while Nikon has better image quality but slower? I need some where to start looking and don't even know what I'm looking for other then general knowledge. /frustration for the moment.
 

ElFenix

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canon has been more leica leaning in design and philosophy and nikon has been more contax like in design and philosophy.
 

996GT2

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The following are of course not necessarily true, but these are just some general stereotypes that I've gathered:

Nikon stereotypes: better controls, worse image quality and color rendition than Canon, particularly at low ISO

Canon stereotypes: crappy controls, better image quality, cheaper build quality, faster focusing lenses (a stereotype dating to the pre AF-S era when many sports photographers switched to Canon)

Leica: good image quality if you know how to use them, built like tanks, lacking in features. Leica's P&Ses are just Panasonics; that is to say, way overpriced pieces of S*** at their price range

Panasonic: good feature set, way too much noise reduction applied

Those are just some I can think of off the top of my head...
 

Flipped Gazelle

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Originally posted by: James3shin
Can anyone provide me with some general stereotypes about camera brands. For example Nike soccer cleats are usually meant for narrow feet while Adidas is for wider feet. Do camera brands have any generalizations? Are Canon cameras faster focusing but poor image quality, while Nikon has better image quality but slower? I need some where to start looking and don't even know what I'm looking for other then general knowledge. /frustration for the moment.

Stereotypes can often lead to poor decisions - it's an attempted shortcut to the truth, and no substitute for research.

What kind of camera are you looking for - P&S, superzoom or DSLR?

Stereotype: the Canon Powershot "A" series are the best P&S for learning photography. Good quality, full complement of manual controls, etc.

Fact: the latest Powershot "A" series do not have a full set of manual controls. AFAIK, these are the 1st Powershot "A" series cameras to do this. They are using smaller sensors now, too, so IMO image quality is no better than the competition.

As 996GT2 pointed out, Panasonic P&S has long been criticized for too much noise reduction, which leads to loss of detail. Now recent models have really dialed back on the NR.
 

ElFenix

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Originally posted by: Flipped Gazelle
Fact: the latest Powershot "A" series do not have a full set of manual controls. AFAIK, these are the 1st Powershot "A" series cameras to do this. They are using smaller sensors now, too, so IMO image quality is no better than the competition.

canon really dropped the ball with the A2000 in comparison to the A650. i wonder if it was to protect the G10 at all?

most of the A series cameras have used the smaller 1/2.7" - 1/2.3" sensors
 

Flipped Gazelle

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Originally posted by: ElFenix
canon really dropped the ball with the A2000 in comparison to the A650. i wonder if it was to protect the G10 at all?

That's a very good point. I bet you're right. Disappointing move by Canon, though.

Originally posted by: ElFenix
most of the A series cameras have used the smaller 1/2.7" - 1/2.3" sensors

I believe all of the A6xx series used the 1/1.8" sensor, and the A95 did, as well. Maybe some others, I don't know.