KanjiGirl

Canon 500D and Nikon D5000

// November 9th, 2009 // Photography

One of the simplest joys I have is photography. Whether it’s capturing the stillness of a landscape, the intricacies of a historical relic, or the lively activities of a busy street, taking photos is one of the things I love to do the most. While you don’t need a really good (and expensive) camera to start taking pictures, it’s nice to have at least a basic DSLR if you’re ready to take photography a bit more seriously.

The top two DSLR makers are of course, Nikon and Canon. I regard both with equal respect since they both have been in the business longer than I’ve been on earth (meaning: they both have been making cameras long enough to know what they’re doing). If you’re looking to buy your first DSLR but want to take a step above the lowest entry level models, the Nikon D5000 and Canon 500D are both great options to consider:

	Canon EOS 500D/Rebel T1i	Nikon D5000
Sensor	15.1 Megapixels	12.3 Megapixels
	22.3 x 14.9mm CMOS	23.6 x 15.8 mm DX CMOS
Dust Reduction	Filter vibration at power-on	Airflow control system
	Anti-static coating	Image sensor cleaning
	Software-based dust-removal	Software-based dust-removal
RAW	Yes	Yes
Movie	HD (16:9) 1920 x 1080p 20fps, 1280 x 720p 30fps	1280 x 712 24fps, 640 x 424 24fps, 320 x 216 24fps
	SD (4:3) 640 x 480 30 fps
Movie Duration	Maximum 29m 59sec or 4GB (which ever comes first)	Maximum 5 min (1280 x 720), other resolutions 20 minutes
Movie Format	QuickTime MOV	AVI (Motion JPEG)
Sensitivity	Auto (100 – 1600)	ISO 200 to 3200
	ISO 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800	Can also be set to ISO 100 and 6400 equivalent
Shutter Speed	30 – 1/4000	30 – 1/4000
Continuous Shot	3.4 fps	4 fps
Memory	SD/SDHC	SD/SDHC
Focus	9 focus points	11 focus points
Tilt and Swivel LCD Monitor	No	Yes
	3.0″ TFT LCD monitor	2.7″ TFT LCD monitor
	100% frame coverage	100% frame coverage
	920,000 pixels	230,000 pixels

Spec-wise, both cameras are pretty much equal. They’re equally priced too at around P40000 for the body and an 18mm-50mm kit lens. It all boils down to your personal preference. You’ll have to visit a store and try holding both to see which one feels better on your hands. One thing’s for sure though, you can’t go wrong with either of these cameras.