Canon EOS Rebel Vs. the Nikon D5000

I went out one day looking for a new camera. I have spent a long time using SLR (single lens Reflex) cameras. I have wanted to change to digital, but have not made the leap, mostly because I have not been impressed with the smaller digital cameras that resemble the current point and shoot cameras that we are all familiar with using. What is nice about the point and shoot cameras has been that you get a nice photograph without all the hassles of a big SLR. No worrying about f-stops, and other settings that one has on the bigger cameras; one just points, pushes the button and takes the film to get developed. For this article, I am putting both one-time use cameras and regular point and shoot 35mm film cameras into the same bucket. Most people that want more control in their photography experience usually go out and buy the SLR. Mostly for the ability to use different lenses and filters and to have more control.

So back to my dilemma; I have been using digital point and shoot style cameras and have just not been happy with the process. It has not been so much giving up control of the particulars of the shot--focus, f-stop, speed, etc., for example-- I can live with all of that and more. I think the biggest drawback has been the refresh rate. I am used to shooting a camera that in 1/125^th of a second it is all over with: picture taken, and ready for the next one. This has not been the case with the point and shoot digital cameras. First, I find that they take longer to take the picture, and then they take longer to be ready for the next picture. Yes, I have tried everything, well almost. The only thing that I had not tried was creating my own battery pack that would use car batteries to recharge the unit all the while being hooked up to direct AC power from a local outlet to ensure that the car batteries remained 100% charged at all time. Therefore, my desire to invest a large sum of money into a digital SLR has been on the bottom of my list as I have not wanted to be disappointed in the outcome.

After having a large number of conversations with friends, passersby, and well, let us be frank, anyone who would allow me to ask them questions about their cameras, I learned that the new digital SLR cameras would most likely not disappoint me from lack of speed or features. This brings me to today and my quest to finally make a purchase of a digital SLR unit. In looking at the options, I have narrowed my search down to two different units the Canon EOS Rebel and the Nikon D5000. Both are from very well known and reputable companies that have been manufacturing good camera equipment for years. I have test driven both models a few times, however, now I need to explorer the specifications and bring all the options together.

The Canon Rebel boasts 15.5 million pixels while the Nikon D5000 sports 12.3 million pixels. This translates into actual image size. The Canon Rebel's large / fine picture setting saves a 5mb photo file with 4752 x 3168 pixel resolution. The Nikon D5000 saves at a 4288 x 2848 resolution rate and a file size just under 5mb. The Rebel boasts a small photo as .9mb file with 2352 x 1568 pixel resolution while the D5000 offers 2144 x 1424 pixel resolution with about a 1mb file. Both will produce a great photo that can be printed in standard formats, however the Canon Rebel offers just a little more if you want to enlarge the photo.

Both the Rebel and the D5000 cameras offer the same quality options of RAW / RAW + JPEG or JPEG, they both also use SD / SDHC image storage cards, and they both have seven levels of brightness for the LCD display monitor.

The D5000 does allow for faster continuous shutter speed as it averages 4 frames per second compared to the Rebel at 3.4 frames per sec. I found that the D5000 has an ISO ratting of 200 to 3200 while the Canon Rebel starts at ISO 100 and continues through to 3200. One advantage that the D5000 has over the Canon Rebel is that it offers Advance Scene Modes to help in your photos. In this case, you set the scene type that you are photographing and then the electronics of the camera helps to adjust for that type of scene whether it is portraits shots or sporting events. Both cameras offer movie modes with the Canon Rebel offering slightly higher resolution and more fps (frames per second). I found that the D5000 will produce a 5min video clip while the Canon Rebel goes by size with an average video clip lasting up to 12 in.

For battery life, the D5000 beat out the Canon Rebel by about 10 photos. The D5000 was able to produce 510 shots, while the Rebel managed 500. Both units are similar in size; D5000 is 5.0 inches wide, 4.1 inches high and 3.1 inches deep. The Canon Rebel grips in at 5.1 inches wide, 3.8 inches high and 2.4 inches deep. I found that the thinner depth of the Canon fit better in my hand allowing me to feel that I had adequate control over the camera with different lens attached. I was also impressed that the Canon rebel was a little lighter it being 16.9 oz compared to the Nikon D5000 weighing in at 19.8 oz.

One feature that the Nikon D5000 had that the Canon did not was that the rear LCD screen can swivel away from the camera, I can see where this might be handy at time, but I would worry more about this being a potential item to break. It is true that the LCD does not swivel on the Canon, but the resolution is better and I found it clearer when viewing the photos that I just took. If the criteria for which camera to purchase was bound to how easy it was to find information via the manufacture web site, then I would have to choose the Nikon D5000, as it took fewer clicks to get to the information compared to the Canon web site. I found that the speed in which the cameras took photos and the refresh rate (readiness of the camera to take another picture) was great. I definitely liked the speed offered by both cameras when it came to this refresh rate. Even though the D5000 can produce more frames per second, it seemed to me that the Canon responded better.

Canon's Web Site: http://www.usa.canon.com
Nikon's Web Site: http://www.nikon.com