Canon EOS 200d vs Nikon d5600

nolia

Basically I am a baby to this game, still crawling . I was on safari in Vic Falls, Zimbabwe and a guy took few pics of hippos & elephants from a distance and was well impressed with the pictures. I want to do this as an enthusiast so not going to spend over £600. I have narrowed down to the 2 cameras and which one would be good bang for a buck/pound? They all have the bells and whistles. I am a beginner so these seem to be good entry level. If there is other cameras you think would be ideal for a beginner, please feel free to inform

When I start walking then perhaps would go for bigger kit

rancidpunk

On paper the Nikon comes out ahead, in reality there's likely very little difference in the images they produce. That said, the better battery and increased focus points of the Nikon would clearly put it ahead for me if choosing between them.
Your best bet is to try and get hold of both of them and see which you prefer, comfort, ease of use, menu etc.

nolia

Thank you for your response, will look for a shop that will have both on display. I am planning to go to Vietnam in November so plenty of time to do research.

rancidpunk

Remember that the lens is even more important than the camera body. The kit lens, or lenses, will serve you well whilst learning, but you will want better quality down the line.

nolia

That’s a good point, I am sure I read somewhere that Canon has more lenses.....I guess its more homework for me to delve in deeper

snerkler

OK so Canon vs Nikon is an endless debate without an answer. By far the most important thing is how the camera feels to you, some prefer the layout of Canon some Nikon. Choose which you prefer.

If you genuinely have no preference then the decision gets harder. For a price point Nikon are making better bodies on paper, better dynamic range, better noise handling etc. As for lens selection I don't know exactly who has the most lenses but both have more than enough lenses for anyone. If I was to have a guess I would say that Nikon have more lenses as you can use legacy lenses (old lenses), Canon changed their mount in the 80's and so you can't use lenses before this time without adapters. I'm sure I read somewhere that Nikon have slightly more current lenses too. But as I said, if you can't find the lens you're after with either system there's something wrong

As for other camera bodies I would personally rather have a used D7100 over the D5600. Whilst you lose the flip out screen, touch screen and GPS what you do gain is a better autofocus system, not just in terms of number of points but also performance, a much better viewfinder (bigger and brighter), weather sealing, dual card slots ( I personally always like to have a backup in case of card failure), slightly faster frame rate (6fps vs 5fps and whilst this doesn't sound a lot there's a surprising difference), and the shutter goes to 1/8000 which can come into play if you start to use fast prime lenses outdoors. Excellent condition used D7100's can be had for around £450, the same price as used D5600's.

The trouble then is getting lenses as well within budget. By your first post I'm going to assume that you like wildlife and therefore want a telephoto lens, but for everyday shooting and landscapes you'll want a short zoom. If you go for the 18-55mm VR and the older 55-200mm you should be able to get these within budget. I'll not get into why just now, but on a crop body (which bother the D5600 and D7100 are) 55-200mm will give you the effective reach of 82.5-300mm. That's OK to start, but if you do get into wildlife 300mm isn't that long.

Other systems to consider are the Sony A6xxx series and Olympus OMD series. Both of these are mirrorless systems, but at your budget won't have weather sealing. Great systems though.

nolia

Wow, thank you and very informative. I wasn't sure what type of lenses you would use for game/wildlife, thank you for the insight. I am assuming telephoto lenses will be expensive. I guess will just sacrifice the money and buy something I will less likely rtn to base/shop. Will pop into my camera shop today and see what options available

rancidpunk

You can get a decent 70-300 mm for a little over £200. On a crop body this will serve you fairly well for wildlife. Stepping up the price to around £5-700 (depending on new, second hand or grey import) brings you into the 100-400 and 150-600 of Sigma and Tamron. These give you brilliant reach for wildlife, especially birds.

snerkler

There are no right or wrong lenses for any type of photography tbh it depends how and what you are shooting. However, with wildlife it's rare that you can get close and hence why most wildlife photographers will use a telephoto lens. There are of course times when you want to get the surrounding area with the animal relatively small in the frame, in which case you may choose to use a different lens. My most used lens for wildlife is my 150-600mm.
This was my point though, the OP has a budget of £600, say £450 for a used body this only leaves £150 and they'll no doubt be wanting two lenses to start with

rancidpunk

Indeed, expectations need to either be tempered, or budget increased. They've got until November, so time to add another wildlife specific lens to their kit.
Let's face it, none of us have ever stuck to our original budget!