Pls help! Nikon D5100 or Canon 600D as a Christmas gift for my hubby. Specific needs.


LadyInPink

New Member
Dec 11, 2011
11
0
0
Seletar Hill
:angel:

Hi all, I know you get this a million times but I really do want to get the right gift for my hubby. I know squat all about cameras and neither does he; he has however, indicated an interest to pick up photography so he could do justice to the gorgeous dishes he whips up. 2 main purposes are as below

1: taking photographs of children and generally capturinng family moments
2: Most importantly, for food photography. He is an awesome "chef" and seeing him take beady looking pictures of his wonderful dishes on his iphone bugs me as the pictures do not do his creations any justice at all.

In that regard, may I ask which could potentially be a more suitable camera? The Nikon D5100 or Cannon 600D?

Any advice is greatly greatly appreciated! Btw, this is meant as a surprise gift so I can't quite get him to handle the cameras.

Merry Christmas in advance to all :)
:heart:
 

Either one is good enough to start off with...have not tried canon 600d but I have seen the pics from nikon d5100, which IMHO pretty impressive. Hope it helps and merry Xmas.
 

TS, get him a Nikon D7000 or a Canon 7D. He will thank you for it.
 

I'd suggest $$$ or a voucher if you can.
Maybe he already has something in mind.
Buy him a D5100 and he may have only wanted a cheaper D3100 or a more expensive D700.
 

Bring your husband to the shop and try the camera. Ergonomics is everything, if the camera doesn't fit his hands, having the best functions will still equate to naught.
 

I had the same dilemma a week ago. The Canon is better for video recording and the Nikon is better for image quality from what I've read. Went the Nikon route and haven't looked back.
 

Since he has indicated an interest into photography, it might be possible he has also taken interest/done research on some models he is particularly interested in.

Might be a better idea to let him decide what he wants after trying out/viewing the models, since dslr are pretty much user-specific.
 

LadyInPink said:
:angel:



1: taking photographs of children and generally capturinng family moments
2: Most importantly, for food photography. He is an awesome "chef" and seeing him take beady looking pictures of his wonderful dishes on his iphone bugs me as the pictures do not do his creations any justice at all.

In that regard, may I ask which could potentially be a more suitable camera? The Nikon D5100 or Cannon 600D?

:heart:

Both are equally capable cameras. For the intended purpose, none has an upper hand. I do recall that the canon is lighter, but not enough to make a difference is use. The supplied kit lens will work well.

Go with the price.

My daughter uses an outdoor waterproof point n shoot. Works well and you're not restrained due to condition of food on hands. You just wash it.

The risk in buying him a camera is that he might take it up as a hobby and you lose your great food. ;-)
 

Frankly... TS... have you consider other options, like other brands and other format?

What you have stated could be accomplished by other brands too, which may be quite a bit lower in cost and had just as good an image quality.

Example would be Pentax, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic.
 

i Still feel that a trip down to any camera store would be best. the battle between nikon and canon is forever raging. besides, as you said he might have a better model in mind!

using 600D, the swivel screen helps a little in taking family time stuff.
 

LadyInPink said:
:angel:

Hi all, I know you get this a million times but I really do want to get the right gift for my hubby. I know squat all about cameras and neither does he; he has however, indicated an interest to pick up photography so he could do justice to the gorgeous dishes he whips up. 2 main purposes are as below

1: taking photographs of children and generally capturinng family moments
2: Most importantly, for food photography. He is an awesome "chef" and seeing him take beady looking pictures of his wonderful dishes on his iphone bugs me as the pictures do not do his creations any justice at all.

In that regard, may I ask which could potentially be a more suitable camera? The Nikon D5100 or Cannon 600D?

Any advice is greatly greatly appreciated! Btw, this is meant as a surprise gift so I can't quite get him to handle the cameras.

Merry Christmas in advance to all :)
:heart:

TS. You are the best person to find the best answer. Go shopping with him, walk through the electronic section particularly the dslr section. Start a conversation with him on it. You might say you are interested but probe deep into what he wants.... Then you can surprise him on Christmas eve...
 

600D with 18-135mm kit is a good pairing for beginners. Image quality, size, build and focal length are pretty good.
600D requires lesser post-processing time than D5100 from my experience.
 

Awesome! Thanks so much for the advice. Was at Suntec today and almost went into the Gain City saleto buy a Nikon D5100 since they had deals for both camera ... both at SGD1199 with similar freebies but Nikon has an extra $50 shopping voucher. LOLs. Decided that I should research a bit more hence I didn't in the end.

Definitely a DSLR rather than a point and shoot. Reason being he wants to take pictures where you can have a sharp object amidst a blurry background ... don't know what you call that. Think he mentioned it might be something to do with apertures and whatever thingmajig. :bigeyes:

Other brands ... briefly considered a Sony Nex 5 some time ago when it was first launched - great reviews plus very portable. At that price though I rather get a DSLR; I do believe that he will enjoy using one.

if he wants a semi pro one he jolly well go buy it himself.

Thanks folks. I've got the answer to my query now i.e. there is really little distinctive differences between both, at least to newbies like us. In that case I shall go with Nikon because erm ... Nikon sounds like a more serious brand. :bsmilie:

teehee
 

yah, shopping vouchers makes sense but but ... not very romantic :)
And if I bring him anywhere close to a camera shop he will catch on right away. cannot cannot!

on that note, and I digress completely, if you have a special someone and he/she celebrates Christmas, do prepare a nice little surprise gift. Gifts don't have to be expensive. And most people appreciate surprises!
 

Last edited:
600D with 18-135mm kit is a good pairing for beginners. Image quality, size, build and focal length are pretty good.
600D requires lesser post-processing time than D5100 from my experience.

I've seen newbie photographer with really nice shots with the 600D and the 18-135mm, may be she is talented (my sis in law).

She went against my advise for a Nikon.

So the moral of the story is that great photos rely a lot on the photographer, whether newbie or not.
 

A bit slow but I get it now. Since they seem really similar, at least to newbies like me, and since there is a high chance that I would be using the camera too, I shall go check out both cameras and select base on how I feel about them. Voila!

Thanks!
 

I had the same dilemma a week ago. The Canon is better for video recording and the Nikon is better for image quality from what I've read. Went the Nikon route and haven't looked back.

you're sure about the video recording portion? better in video recording in reference to only Nikon or every brand out there? don't make sweeping statements before you've done your research
 

how about asking his best buddy to check him out about getting a dslr? maybe he doesn't like the idea of having one, and perhaps he thinks his iphones shots are great ? in fact some point and shoots can take good food photography too. just a thought i have reading this thread.