Just a Canon Girl in a Nikon World

Bailey Edrington
Apr 16, 2017
3 min read

This week confirmed the one singular idea that shaped my camera-buying/photography experience. After much research and observation, I realized there was only one question I had to answer before I swiped my debit card at the Best Buy counter: will I be a Canon person or will I a Nikon person? Because one simply cannot be both.

In the week leading up to my PR Publications video editing assignment, I (for some naïve reason) imagined videoing the interview on my sweet, precious and ever-reliable Canon T2i. To my slight dismay, my partner and I were handed a very complex Nikon that was, quite frankly, way out of my slightly outdated and simplistic Canon pay-grade.

My romance with the Canon brand began with my first DSLR camera in April of 2012. I was a wee baby freshman in high school, and I was still very much wet-behind-the-ears in my photography knowledge when I booked my first photography gig -- a sweet sixteen birthday party.

It took place in a barn, so I had some great pictures of the decor and birthday girl, but once the guests arrived, I encountered a slight, unforeseen issue: loss of daylight. I hadn't exactly mastered low-lighting photography yet, but I made do with the flash once the sun went down entirely. $20 and one (mostly) happy customer later, I paved the way for my very own small business: Serendipity Portraits.

(Please don't judge the name...I was a freshman...in high school.)

It goes without saying that my photography skills have changed as the years have gone, but one thing has not wavered since day one: I love my Canon. The interface is easy to understand, the photography gurus in my life also used Canons, and my T2i was the perfect (and I mean perfect) beginner camera.

The Nikon cameras in Gaylord are very nice, I have to give them that. I'm sure they're akin to the Canon Mark series, which I have dabbled in but haven't entirely mastered. My dad has a Canon 70D, and while I do enjoy the enjoy the sweet sound of a heavy shutter clicking away, I always retreat to ol' faithful, my little T2i.

At this point, I think my camera falls somewhere between "first love" and "first car" territory. I'm sure as heck not marrying my first love (that ship has sailed) but when I trade in my first car, tears will most definitely be shed.

Working with a Nikon this week was a challenge, oddly enough. I felt a little out of my depths, especially with the external microphone. More than that, working the lens and getting it to focus proved to be the biggest challenge.

Honestly, I'm not 100 percent sure our interviews are in focus. We zoomed in and focused on each other's faces like we were instructed, but when we zoomed out, the lens seemed to have lost focus a bit. Then again, I haven't uploaded the footage into the editing software yet, so maybe time will tell.

All in all, it was interesting to actually get my hands on a Nikon and compare user-friendliness. Nikon had several more buttons, the lens focusing was odd to say the least, and I have never in my life had to format an SD card before. However, I am happy to say I tried and learned!

Secretly, this whole experience strengthened my allegiance to Canon. It honestly proved I will forever be a Canon person, but that may just be my love for ol' faithful T2i talking.