Nikon vs. Canon

[ssra30]

Like everybody else said, you can't really go wrong with either.
Traditionally for u/w photography, Nikon used to dominate the market but Canon is catching up. For dSLR, as many manufacturers are supporting the 20D as D70 nowaday (not the case with the original Canon Rebel or 350D).
When I went dSLR, I chose Nikon mainly because of available lenses to use for UW. For land use, I believe Canon still has a slight edge especially for telephoto stuffs but I am not 100% certain.
Up until a year or so ago, Canon cropped sensor really had a major disadvantage with wide angle lenses but Canon, Sigma and Tokina pretty much solved that problem. However, Canon shooter with cropped sensor still does not have anything to match Nikon 10.5mm lens yet. Macro end is similar except that Nikon has the 70-180mm which Canon lacks. It is a huge lens and people either like it or hate it so it may or may not matter for you.
Body wise, 20D may have a slight edge over D70 but not big enough to convince most Nikon shooter to switch over. D2X is holding its own against 1Ds Mk2 very well except at high ISO value (not a big deal for me).
Canon 5D is interesting but it may make some people a bit worry about Canon's commitment to cropped sensor especially for people who have invested in the lenses.
Nikon seems to be very committed to their DX line of lens.
If you are starting from scratch, don't just look at the camera, look at what lenses would you like to use for topside/UW, housing availability for that body etc and see what fit your criteria/usage/budget the best.

 

[gstroupe]

Thank you all for the posts. I think the best thing for me to do is get back to the camera store and get a better feel for how I like each model and get a better grasp of the lenses offered. I appreciate the help.

 

[mjh]

There is a thread on this somewhere but the lenses most end up with are something like: 60mm, 105mm for Macro; 12-24m, 17-35mm for wide angle. (these are Nikon lenses)

 

[ssra30]

I think for Nikon, 60mm, 105mm, 12-24mm are probably the 3 most common lenses. I am not a big fan of 18-70mm for uw use. 17-35mm was very popular for film SLR but is not quite wide enough for cropped sensor and that's where the 12-24mm comes in. 10.5mm is gaining in popularity as well and is less fussy with domeport/diopter combination unlike the 12-24mm. 70-180mm and sigma 150mm and sigma 15mm fisheye has its followers as well.
I am not very familiar with Canon line but as far as I know, Canon 50mm is not all that great, but the newer 60mm and Sigma 60mm, Canon 100mm are used a lot.Canon also recently released 11-22mm and Sigma 10-22mm, Tokina/Sigma 12-24mm are also some of the alternatives for wide angle lenses but I am not sure which lenses are supported by which housing manufacturers. The 17-40mm is very popular with full framed camera and 1.3 cropped sensor model but not really wide enough for the 1.6x cropped sensor.

 

[clive francis]

I think for Nikon, 60mm, 105mm, 12-24mm are probably the 3 most common lenses. I am not a big fan of 18-70mm for uw use. 17-35mm was very popular for film SLR but is not quite wide enough for cropped sensor and that's where the 12-24mm comes in. 10.5mm is gaining in popularity as well and is less fussy with domeport/diopter combination unlike the 12-24mm. 70-180mm and sigma 150mm and sigma 15mm fisheye has its followers as well.
I am not very familiar with Canon line but as far as I know, Canon 50mm is not all that great, but the newer 60mm and Sigma 60mm, Canon 100mm are used a lot.Canon also recently released 11-22mm and Sigma 10-22mm, Tokina/Sigma 12-24mm are also some of the alternatives for wide angle lenses but I am not sure which lenses are supported by which housing manufacturers. The 17-40mm is very popular with full framed camera and 1.3 cropped sensor model but not really wide enough for the 1.6x cropped sensor.

are you sure about the sigma 10-22mm, i think canon do this lens?

i have a sigma and it is 10-20mm, this lens is getting great reviews on dpreview and it is quickly getting favoured over the 12-24.

i have the nikon 105mm and it produces some good shots.

 

[ssra30]

opps, sorry, got the number wrong, canon 10-22mm, sigma 10-20mm. Any idea if any housing manufacturere actually support the sigma yet? ie port combination and zoom gear?

 

[clive francis]

opps, sorry, got the number wrong, canon 10-22mm, sigma 10-20mm. Any idea if any housing manufacturere actually support the sigma yet? ie port combination and zoom gear?

i have spoken to IKE and it works in their 8" dome, its on the web site so it is supported.

i havent used it underwater yet, but on land i have had some great shots with it.

great for landscapes and city shots.

 

[ssra30]

I definitely would like to hear how it performs underwater. It focuses a bit closer than Nikkor 12-24mm and Ike claimed that diopter is not needed which is good. Nikkor 12-24mm is a bit of a pain as you really need a big dome, at least 8 inches and even with big domes, some may still require diopter, depending on the available extension rings of each manufacturer and it is definitely a lens that does not mix well with diopter in my experience. Hopefully the Sigma will fare better. Luckily with Subal Dome, no diopter is required but lately I really start to use 10.5mm more and more for underwater and keep the 12-24mm for topside.