How much is that camera in the window?

Nikon D600

I've been taking a break from writing through the month of September, an extended vacation to make up for all the posting I was doing while on the Big Road Trip the first two weeks in September. I even stopped thinking about camera gear (or as much as someone like me can ever stop thinking about it), trying to get some time between the events of Photokina and now to build up a bit of perspective. There's nothing worse for me than to be hit with exciting equipment introduction (as, for example, the Olympus OM-D E-M5 earlier this year), to get me all excited and in the process making a fool out of myself by professing how, right then and there, I'm going to get a copy of my very own.

So I gave it all a rest and just let it percolate in the back of my mind.

Today, as I was working through my infinite to-do list, I began to put together a series of price lists of basic camera gear, consisting of a body and one lens from Olympus (what I had before it was stolen), Nikon, and Canon. For me that one lens is a "normal" lens, either prime or zoom. A prime lens is usually one where the focal length equals the sensor diagonal (22mm for 4:3rds, 43mm for 35mm film). A "normal" zoom is one that zooms around the prime normal's focal length, such as 14-42mm for 4:3rds or 24-85mm for 35mm film/sensor. I usually opt for the zoom solution as it covers the prime focal lengths I'm interested in and usually work with: 24mm, 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm. The tables that follow are the simple short lists of the three camera systems.

E-5, body only

$1,699.00

Zuiko 12-60mm f/2.8-4 zoom

$999.00

Total

$2,698.00

D600, body only

$2,100.00

Nikkor 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR AF-S zoom

$599.00

Total

$2,699.00 ($2,596.95 introductory price)

6D, body only

$2,100.00

EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM

$999.00

Total

$3,099.00 ($2,899 introductory price)

All prices are from Amazon.

I'm well aware of the optical quality of the Zuiko 12-60mm. I owned it for 3 1/2 years before it was stolen. It is indeed a superb zoom lens and one primary reason I kept my 4:3rds system for so long. The other two reasons were the Zuiko 50-200mm zoom and Zuiko 50mm macro. With the E-3 and two zooms gone I'm no longer "bound" as it were to Olympus, 4:3rds or µ4:3rds.

What's interesting is the pricing. Nikon is currently the low-cost leader in this simple comparison, especially if you consider the introductory pricing. The Canon system is a good $300 higher (or more if not at the introductory price). I'm sure somebody will comment that the Canon zoom is superior to the new Nikkor, but don't bother. I don't care all that much, and I have a feeling that unless the Nikkor is grossly inferior I won't be able to tell the difference between any of the three unless I pixel peep, and that's not why I take photographs.

What I'm after now is a move away from the smaller sensors back to 35mm photography. I want to be able to use a focal length of say, 50mm, and know that it really is 50mm, not 75mm equivalent on APS-C or 100mm equivalent on 4:3ds. And I want to go back to using primes, specifically Zeiss primes. I can buy the same Zeiss primes for either mount (and for Sony too, for that matter), but in the end I feel the Nikon body is the better deal. I'm willing to wait for a decent 6D review or two before I finally pull the trigger, but unless there's something hugely better with the Canon I'm not aware of, it looks like I'm headed back to Nikon.