The old master talks about Nikon Sharp, Canon Flex, and Pentax oil. Which one do you prefer for portrait photography?

I don’t think I can reach the level of an old mage, but I still have a lot of insights into portrait photography.

Nikon’s sharpness, Canon’s softness, and Pentax’s oiliness have become a style of the camera brand itself. Of course, everyone has their own preferences for radish and green vegetables. Especially between Nikon and Canon, there has always been a debate over which brand of camera is more suitable for portrait photography.

The SLR I use now is Canon, but the earliest masterpieces I saw with SLR were shot by Nikon. At that time, a college classmate bought a Nikon SLR. I don’t remember the specific model. The first thing I felt about the portrait photos I took was how they could be so clear. It was so clear that no hair could be seen after zooming in. At that time, everyone was still joking that no matter how beautiful a person is, flaws can still appear in photos.

In fact, SLRs were still considered emerging digital products at that time. People’s pursuit of them was mainly high pixels, so Nikon’s sharpness was a plus for itself.

However, when I bought a SLR, because it was a second-hand SLR that my colleagues had discarded and the price was very good, I had no choice but to use the Canon 60D and began to appreciate Canon's soft interpretation of portraits. In fact, Canon's marketing and promotion are also dominated by portraits, and the style of the film is more suitable for the tone of studio portraits, making it easier to win the audience's welcome. The feeling of Nikon portrait films is closer to realism.

As for Pentax's oil, my understanding is a color interpretation, just like I like Fuji's colors. The "greasy" feeling of Pentax films should be said to be a kind of taste and texture. This kind of texture is generally not liked by girls who like Japanese, forest, and light styles, and it probably belongs to a niche taste. I think when Pentax shoots Tibetan portraits, the feeling of the film should be more in line with the taste, kindness and vicissitudes of life.

So, which brand of SLR camera you prefer for portraits depends on the photographer’s own preferred style for portraits. If your style is changeable, innovative and experimental, you might as well try SLRs from various brands.

Please clarify the allusion before asking the editor. It seems really embarrassing to make up an inexplicable sentence...

The correct legend is: "Canon Mei, Nikon Sharp, Pantax "Intoxicating."

Among them, "Pentex" is the transliteration of Pentax, and it is also the name of "Pentax" by the older generation of photographers.

This allusion originates from the film era and summarizes the characteristics of lenses from Canon, Nikon and Pentax.

Times have changed, and today Pentax is half dead, with a market share of less than 2%, and a large number of lenses are manufactured by Tamron. It's useless to use this outdated "joke" to put money on pentax's face.

Some people even boast that "Olympus" is the "Leica of the East". What a ghost believer...

The old mage is old after all, and he has a little bit of the spirit of the film era. Old eyesight.

It is undeniable that there are certain subtle differences between lenses of the same level but different brands. Different lens materials and coating processes will determine the difference in color.

Old-fashioned optical design theory, lenses with high contrast. The details must be poor (for example, old Nikon lenses tend to have high contrast), and the lenses with low contrast must have excellent details (for example, Canon FD lenses tend to have high details); the design of the lens is to strike a balance between contrast and details.

However, after entering the 1990s, the application of simulation design in optical design has become very popular. Therefore, lens convergence is a general trend in this world. Including the coatings that we often say have a decisive impact on color, they are all simulated in advance in the design software. You can get whatever coating you want. Including temperature changes and spectral range, these can all be simulated. The lens has not yet been made. In addition to knowing the imaging performance of the lens, the software can even help you calculate the approximate weight and even cost analysis of the lens in the future.

Now, Canon and Pentax do not necessarily lack the high contrast of Nikon, and Nikon does not necessarily lack the details of Canon.

Because the original solutions used by everyone are similar. So there are fewer and fewer things left that can determine the difference in shot description ability.

Let me tell you my own feelings. I have used Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sony cameras. In the beginning, I used a Nikon D90 in college, plus a kit lens. No matter where I went, I used the D90 to shoot.

Later, I discovered that Nikon cameras are really sharp. Later, I used 70D and 6D, and gradually fell in love with Canon's warm tones. Then this year I accidentally bought a 6D and bought a Sony A7R2. As expected, it is produced by Sony, and the photos and videos taken are actually sharper than those taken by Nikon cameras. But then I thought about shooting more portraits, and bought the 5D4, which is the dream of most photographers.

With such a camera, each brand has its own characteristics. In fact, the current photo retouching technology is so mature, and your own photo retouching ability is better, it will not affect the shooting much. The camera shooting is just to give everyone a feel before the final work comes out.

But then again, I personally still like the softness of Canon and the gorgeousness of Sony. Just all kinds of fun.

Canon is good at marketing, but it is a bit behind Nikon in terms of technology. The clarity captured by Canon is not enough, it seems to be covered with a layer of haze, so it looks soft. The resolution captured by Nikon is very high, so it looks sharp. Canon spends money on advertising and marketing, and Nikon spends money on specializing in technology.

I use all three brands, Pentax is my favorite.

I used Hasselblad and Mamiya medium format in the early days, and only started to use 135 format in the digital era. Naturally, I used Nikon at first for more than 10 years. Later, I used Canon for 7 years because I liked to produce films directly. Then I switched to Sony mirrorless camera for the sake of portability and convenient focusing...

The following is Canon

Florence, Italy

Milan, Italy

4/3 is also a good choice. Olympus is also my favorite. Em10 is always with me. Look at its direct film effect.

2019 shooting in Nha Trang, Vietnam

The only one that stays with me the most is Olympus

In 2020, I added a Sony mirrorless camera due to work needs. Sony has another style. The most outstanding thing about Sony's focusing system is that it rarely makes mistakes. Basically you can shoot with confidence.

Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge

I wish all my friends a satisfactory work

This question itself is wrong. The original words are: Nikon sharp, Canon beautiful, Pantex is intoxicating. The so-called Pantex is now Pentax. The main point is that Nikon is very sharp and has high contrast, so many people say it is suitable for landscapes; Canon is really flattering when shooting portraits, especially yellow people. As for Pentax, it is the most German among the Japanese models, especially for its green performance. When it comes to the development of current equipment, Pentax is indeed lagging behind, but it cannot deny Pentax's historical contribution and profound skills in optics. Just like Minolta, it has not even retained its brand for a long time, but it has also left behind many classics. Pentax's new 720 lenses and Star Wizard in the past two years are no worse than any Nikon and Canon lenses of the same focal length. The biggest difference between Pentax and Pentax is in focusing. The control is very good and the image quality is good. The new Star Wizard is the first star head with electric aperture. Pentax lags behind because it cannot give up on the original bayonet. It is not like Canon who dares to put it down and puts it down. It always moves forward with a heavy load. I hope Pentax can stand up and return to the front line this time!

Canon is unwilling to make progress and is preparing to change its doors

I don’t dare to be an old mage, so let me tell you from my experience! Canon is still the first choice for shooting portraits, both in picture color and image quality. Once the wedding dress is under control, it can be photographed directly. This picture was taken with 5D3 + Sigma 85 1.4