Why I Shoot with a Nikon

For those who don’t know, I primarily shoot with a Nikon D850. I primarily shoot with this camera because it is the only one I own. I guess you could suggest my cell phone also functions as a camera, however, I do not use it as such. It is a phone that allows me to make, what I like to call, phone calls. Recent developments actually allow you to use said phone to send something called a text message. It’s like an email but worse, since people mistake it as a primary means of communication. I’m off track.

If you were curious about why specifically I use a DSLR camera as opposed to mirrorless or film or cell phone, I did an extensive review on that decision in my other post. You can see the link above.

Nikon is my favorite photography equipment brand. It is the only brand I have purchased so far, and the only one I intend on purchasing for the foreseeable future. It does exactly what I would expect, and I genuinely have no complaints. I mean, they could offer their cameras and lenses for free, that would be nice. Until that day comes, I guess I do have one minor and unreasonable complaint. 

I guess the best way for me to answer the question of why I shoot Nikon can be summed up in the answers to two different questions:

What originally drew me to choose Nikon?

What has kept me choosing Nikon since then?

The beginning.

I was purchasing a DSLR for someone else as a gift. That's right, this whole story begins with me not being the photographer. I was a researcher exploring the vast landscapes of camera equipment and manufacturers. My findings quickly concluded that there were two major players to look into: Nikon and Canon.

I knew very little about Nikon. To me, it was an arbitrary Japanese camera manufacturer that rivals Canon but wasn’t as good. And all I knew about Canon was that the larger lenses you see on the sidelines at football games were all white. White lenses on black camera bodies? That seemed odd to me, but all the professionals use them. There must be a good reason. Well, you may wonder why the color of the lens stood out to me. Follow my logic.

Why Nikon?

You see, after extensive research I found that Nikon and Canon are basically parallel in their advancements in technology, camera offerings, lens selection, pricing, availability, all the important stuff from a usability perspective. There was nothing to push me to one side or the other. I needed a reason as the options were getting overwhelming. It didn’t matter to me how arbitrary the straw was that tipped the scales, I just needed it to exist. That reason was the white lens versus the black lens. 

I prefer all my equipment to match. None of the Canon camera bodies were white, they were all black. So why offer a lens, especially your larger and more impressive lenses, in a different color? Someone inside Canon made that decision and it cost them my business. As I sit here defacing the company branding decisions, I’m sure they are drying their tears with their million dollar bills. 

Having been sufficiently pushed into the Nikon fan club, my search began for the camera I needed. My intent was to find a smaller, more compact DSLR that had an average megapixel count, crop sensor, faster shutter speed, and decent ISO range. Frankly, I found exactly what I was looking for in the Nikon D5200. It did exactly what I thought it needed to do … and all the lenses were black. Did I mention I like my equipment to match?

A local store had the camera in stock and for the right price, the Nikon D5200 was officially mine. Except I wasn't keeping it.

I’ll save you all the gory details, but in a strange series of events the camera was exclusively used by me. Maybe it wasn’t the greatest gift after all. It was hard for me to spend that much money on something only to see it sit in its original box. I desired that it be used. Cameras need to breathe and feel the ocean air on their viewfinder. Discovering that I would likely be the only person to release this camera from its prison, I began watching endless YouTube videos on how to operate such a device. This led to my current love for photography.

I still needed a camera. Officially, that camera wasn't mine. I had outgrown someone else's crop sensor DSLR and again began to research a camera for myself.

Why stay with Nikon?

All the Nikon lenses are black. Short and sweet.

While this statement is true, it was not the thought process in its entirety. No, the actual reason is far more superficial and lame. You see, I had spent the last couple years learning and using exclusively a Nikon camera. The user interface was known, it was comfortable, it made sense. The grip, the buttons, the screen, the menu, the smell, the taste, all of it was understood. And I had no complaints. I liked “not” my Nikon camera. 

It all became glaringly obvious one day at a friend's house. They had recently received a new camera and wanted to show it off to me. They knew me to be an emerging photographer and thought it would be cool if I could show them a thing or two about using a DSLR. Fun fact, their camera was a Canon. Alternative fun fact, I've never shot with a Canon. They handed it to me, and I sat there staring at this hunk of metal and plastic as if it was alien technology. I pressed a button hoping for more settings and oops, up popped the flash. It was as if the flash popping up flicked out the window all the trust and respect they had for me as a subject matter expert. The camera was relinquished from my grasp, and I never touched a Canon again.

I was no help.

Call me lazy, but I needed to stay with an interface I knew. Photography for me wasn’t about learning how to use different cameras, exploring new technology or trying different methods of shooting. It was more about the art of creating. It was about capturing candid and raw moments in still form. It was about being able to relive the natural beauty of a scene. Canon’s user interface was a roadblock.

For the record, I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with Canon. They are a great camera manufacturer. Just, in my humble opinion, Nikon eviscerates Canon. Fortunately, this was right around the time that the Nikon D850 came out. After two years of justifying a purchase of that size, I bought it with zero regrets. 

I love Nikon and I don’t see that changing for two very stupid reasons. I like all my equipment to match and I’m too lazy to learn a new user interface.

You're welcome.