Canon Menu System to Nikon Menu System

[AussieBrent]

Hi Guys,

I'm sure if this is the best spot for this but I started my photographic journey with a Canon 550d which I just recently sold as I wanted to get into full frame gear as the Canon 6d I felt was outdated I opted for the Nikon d750 after looking at the reviews and getting it new for just over $1600 I couldn't pass up this opportunity.

One thing I am wondering is if there is much difference between the menu systems between Canon and Nikon and if the Nikon menu system will be easy to learn and transition over to, as I have never shot Nikon before I imagine there will be a learning process.

Looking forward to getting a bit more active and serious about photography now with the full frame gear and strive to capture images like this one day - http://www.rossharvey.com/street/nikon-d750-street-photography-review

Anyway if anyone has any advice about this or made the switch from a Canon to Nikon I would love to know your experiences about learning a new menu system and if you found it easy to learn.

Cheers

[ricktas]

The Canon menu system, last time I looked at one, is a top down menu, everything is just in one big list. Nikon have 'folders' for their menu. With System settings folder (camera settings), Image settings folder (choose RAW/JPG ), etc

Basically all the same info is in there, you just have to get used to a hierarchy menu of folders, rather than one single long list of options.

Nikon also put a lot into buttons that (from memory) Canon don't. Things like ISO are accessed via a button and dial on the camera body, rather than needing to use the menu and a dial to change the ISO.

Some may correct me here, as it has been a while since I had a canon in my hands.

[Kym]

The only decent system is :plogo: ... not that I'm biased ... but is really elegant in its layout.
Logical, simple and easy.
http://www.ricoh-imaging.co.jp/english/support/download_manual.html

[ricktas]

...Logical, simple and easy.


Are you describing the Pentax menu or Pentax users? :lol:

[Kym]

Are you describing the Pentax menu or Pentax users? :lol:

The system... users are erudite, articulate, cultured, talented, and generally awesome.

[Mary Anne]

Rick Yes it seems it is a long time since you have looked at a Canon Menu :D

[AussieBrent]

I noticed watching youtube videos the amount of buttons the Nikon has on the back which got me a little over whelmed thinking this is going to take me a long time to learn hehe

[Mary Anne]

Keep at it you will get there.. I should imagine Nikon have a PDF 500 plus page Instruction Manual on line somewhere and you can take it at your own pace.

[ameerat42]

I noticed watching youtube videos the amount of buttons the Nikon has on the back which got me a little over whelmed thinking this is going to take me a long time to learn hehe

Too much You-Choob! - And once it was >just< too much Choob!

[ricktas]

:tog:
I noticed watching youtube videos the amount of buttons the Nikon has on the back which got me a little over whelmed thinking this is going to take me a long time to learn hehe

No different to buying a new car, or a new DVD player, or TV...hehe

[Kym]

I noticed watching youtube videos the amount of buttons the Nikon has on the back which got me a little over whelmed thinking this is going to take me a long time to learn hehe

Buttons mean more you can do without using the menu system.
This is generally a big plus

[Cage]

Once you have done your basic shooting set-up in the Menu you will find that most of the time you will only use about 1/2 of the buttons.

[EmzDad]

Keep at it you will get there.. I should imagine Nikon have a PDF 500 plus page Instruction Manual on line somewhere and you can take it at your own pace.

Yes that is correct, if you have a android, apple format device you can download there app... I am too new to post links yet I believe, but there app is awesome. I purchased a D5500 a few days ago and found a link in the owners manual that linked to a more explained manual of all the features... If admin allow I can post the link.

Thanks
Shane

[Mary Anne]

Oh Yes there is a App for everything these days.

[I @ M]

Canon users say the Nikon menu set up is hard to follow.
Nikon users say the Canon menu set up makes no sense.

Having spent a fair bit of time with the Nikon system it is sort of second nature to me now for the limited times that I need to access the menu banks.
Once the menus are set to your preferred defaults most actions that you need to perform are done with buttons or dials and easily accessed and remembered. That is more true of the Dx and Dxxx series bodies ( with the exception of the 600 610 and 750 which lack a few buttons of the past and present other Dxxx bodies) and less so for the lower end bodies.

Having said that, in the course of helping a few photographers with their cameras and settings on Canon bodies I found the menu system fairly logical and straightforward to get around and I wouldn't go near to saying it is better / worse or harder / easier than the Nikon system.

Just different and something new to be learned is the transition from one system to another.

[ameerat42]

To me it all depends what's on the menu:nod:

Sorry! Not a restaurant forum? :o

[geoffsta]

Buttons mean more you can do without using the menu system.
This is generally a big plus

Once use to all the buttons, you make adjustments to everything without taking your eye from the viewfinder. Love dem buttons :lol:

[J.davis]

D750 setup XLS, that IO found helpful

http://www.dojoklo.com/Full_Stop/forms/Nikon_D750_Setup_Guide.htm

[Tannin]

Having spent a fair bit of time with the Canon system it is sort of second nature to me now for the limited times that I need to access the menu banks.
Once the menus are set to your preferred defaults most actions that you need to perform are done with buttons or dials and easily accessed and remembered. That is more true of the better bodies than the cheap ones.

Having said that, in the course of helping a few photographers with their cameras and settings on Nikon bodies I found the menu system fairly logical and straightforward to get around and I wouldn't go near to saying it is better / worse or harder / easier than the Canon system.

^ Excuse my misquote, but I think you get my point. I haven't played much with the latest Nikons but I can't remember ever getting too confused by one, despite having had Canons for the last 10+ years.

Rick, the Canon 20D (2005ish) has a one-great-long-list menu. The 40D (2006 or 2007), like all later models, had multiple pages and tabs. Very simple to navigate.

In the end, I don't reckon the menu structures are all that different - or all that important either. Almost every camera you'll ever own (of any brand) will have one or two design features that drive you nuts! (This is a universal rule, I suspect. It doesn't just apply to cameras, it is true of cars, refrigerators, telephones, husbands, pets ... everything!) For me, it is Canon's stone-age reversal of the top and back dials for manual shooting. Nearly everybody uses AV, right? Practically no-one (outside certain specialist fields such as aircraft photography) uses TV. So you spend your life adjusting aperture via the main (top) dial, and (indirectly) adjusting shutter speed via ISO or +- EC on the back dial. ....... Until you switch to manual exposure. Now you have to remember that stupid Canon puts the dials backwards. Aperture is now on the back dial, shutter speed on the main dial where you usually have aperture. Stupid!

Ahhh ... but there is a custom function to reverse the dials, yes? Too right there is. It's on every half-decent Canon camera. Trouble is, it doesn't swap the dials over so that the right dial has the right function. No, it makes them work in reverse so that dialing in more of something gives you less! So now you not only have the dials in the wrong place, they also operate backwards! Perhaps this "feature" was designed for left-handed people photographing the back of their own heads in a hall of mirrors.

Sigh. There is an answer though. This is why I said "almost" every camera. The Canon pro models have another custom function - not found in the cheap and semi-pro ones - which sets the dials the way they should always be in the first place. Perfection! Sadly, they are around six or seven grand a pop. Manual exposure shooting is a joy on my 1D IV, just as it was on the 1D III .... and that only makes me hate the 5D II and the 7D more!

I bet you two things:

(a) Modern Nikon cameras don't have this particular stupidity to drive you spare.
(b) Modern Nikon cameras have some other damn stupidity which will drive you spare.

The moral of the story is don't divorce your wife (camera) because she has one infuriating habit. Your new wife (camera) will have some other infuriating habit. Just sigh, count to five, and get used to it.

(Or, of course, marry a 1D IV.)

[ricktas]

Rick, the Canon 20D (2005ish) has a one-great-long-list menu. The 40D (2006 or 2007), like all later models, had multiple pages and tabs. Very simple to navigate.

(Or, of course, marry a 1D IV.)

Thanks Tony.. it has been a while since I played with a Canon, as you have proven.

Marry a 1D IV... here was me thinking it was marry an ID10T :D

[jim]

I bet you two things:

(a) Modern Nikon (http://www.nikon.com.au/en_AU) cameras don't have this particular stupidity to drive you spare.
(b) Modern Nikon (http://www.nikon.com.au/en_AU) cameras have some other damn stupidity which will drive you spare.

The Nikon equivalent might be Menu Banks. Well implemented in cheaper cameras, not so useful in the higher-end ones.

[Dug]

Don't know my Nikons, but when it comes to confusing menus Sony gets the most mentions rather than Nikon I have found.

I'm a fan of setting up a custom menu on the Canon for the things you are likely to need to go looking for occasionally, like mirror lockup, sensor access, file format, grid display etc.
Spend some time initially setting that up on the Nikon for those more common menu items that don't have a button.

Replicate any custom button setup you might use on the Canon and C1, C2 etc equivalent on the shoot dial, then after that the need to go hunting for things should be minimal.

[AussieBrent]

Thanks for the responses guy they have been interesting and helpful hehe I especially like D750 setup XLS that will come in handy.

Yes Sony menus is terrible I had the a6000 as well for a little while which I found the menu just didn't do it for me lol