Canon T3i vs Nikon D5100

Showing 25 comments

Myy Selff

(8:24 AM, March 09, 2013)

ahahah:) I have seen pictures taken by these two cameras and believe me canon t3i is much better:)

guest

(8:26 AM, May 04, 2012)

you guys really need to fix your price of the d5100. It's always listed as $1114 or soemthing and the link sends you to this huge kit with 2 lenses, tripod, memory card etc. The d5100 body is 600, with kit lens 700.

Ltcasanova

(4:06 AM, April 15, 2012)

This year my cousin and I are taking AP studio design and I recently purchased a nikon D5100 and my cousin decided to buy the canont3i. Before buying i came across this page and saved it to my bookmark to write a review after taking advantage of my camara. Well canon offers higher megapixels however, nikon always has that sharper resolution to their image ( thats kinda the nikon signature). Lately, everytime my cousin and I take images during family parties she always asks to "send her the pictures to upload to flickr."
I also found that nikon pictures look amazing when manipulated through photoshop cs4, canon looks geat but not a sharp. (everyone looks for something different)

Now for videos, I love the fact that my nikon auto focuses. alot of people find this a tad annoying but most of the time I set up my camara in a tripod and it does an amazing job. for example, holding up a bottle and it fo uses on the lable in seconds. I tried to do the same with the canon but it blurs a bit before it focuses ( i'm meticulous i know).

Everyone is just looks for different things in a camara. Just do a lot of research before you buy your camara!

Nobody

(8:42 PM, April 08, 2012)

If you want ease over picture quality (definitely there is difference if you place them side by side), you should opt for T3i.

Nobody

(8:40 PM, April 08, 2012)

I bought the T3i and a friend of mine bought the D5100, we shot pictures during a birthday party. The pictures from D5100 were much better in low light, which they were about the same in out door shooting. The controls and menu items are easy on T3i, the D5100 menu needs some getting used to. If you want ease over quality, I would recommend D5100, having said that, the grip on T3i is much better and feels well balanced. T3i distorts the colors slightly and D5100 is close to the natural color.

Gzmanus

(8:18 PM, April 07, 2012)

I strongly agree with what Winswing said about the failure rate. I never used D5100, instead I used to have a Nikon D50 - right after one year warranty, the main circuit board was totally dead, got it repaired and used for another two years, and then the internal flash was dead and made the camera hard to use. I took less than 10,000 photos in total with my D50. Recently I bought a D90 body to replace my borken D50. used it for one and half month, the internal flash stared to not always fire under aperture priority mode when I need fill flash on the subject. Called Nikon and they said under AP mode, the internal flash should always fire and they adivce me to send it to service. I was really freaked out, and decided to return my 1.5 month old D90 to store. i am thinking about giving Canon T3i a try for fear of the possibility of getting another Nikon lemon product. Don't get me wrong, I like the picture quality of Nikon DSLR, I used my D50 to take many good photos for my kids. but their hardware stability is really a big concern to me. maybe I am not a lukcy buyer for Nikon, thinking about two defective camera from two purchases.

Manesh174

(10:49 AM, March 28, 2012)

the picture quality in nikon d5100 is far superior to canon t3i...better colour depth really outsmarts the canon and what else nikon d5100 has inbuilt HDR mode which is great..plus the effects mode in d5100 is wow, which the canon t3i lacks...if we talk about manual controls in video ..yes nikon can do that but not in real time but u have to do it in advance to shooting...plus the video has autofocus which canon lacks

Loregarcia

(10:08 PM, March 27, 2012)

This is an incomplete comparison!!. Go for t3i, better quality and colors up to 3.200 iso (99% time), better videos, better flash, better grip and buttons, dedicated iso button (d5100 not), best sharper lcd, cheaper lens, histogram (d5100 not), faster autofocus, etc., autofocus in body (d5100 not), best viewfinder, gridlines, wireless flash (d5100 not), and faster menues. The adventages of nikon is, best pictures for >3.200 iso, effects, and noise video autofocus. So if you will take night pictures d5100 otherwise t3i. Sorry my english!

Chris

(3:29 AM, March 18, 2012)

I cannot how no review mentions all the controls missing on D5100. In T2i and T3i with one click of button you can change white balance, shooting mode, etc etc.

They are all missing in D5100 - you would have to go through the menu and spend at least few seconds.

Yuvcom

(11:57 PM, March 12, 2012)

went by reviews and disappointed on the performance of D5100. As for image quality and videos, would say Canon is better.

Winswing

(4:44 AM, March 04, 2012)

I agree. I have read so many reviews and generally people think Canon has advantage in Video. What really concerns me about the Nikon D5100 or (any entry level Nikon) is its built quality. Higher failure rate is found on Nikon D5100 and I don't think it is simply because it is made in Thailand versus Canon T3i made in Japan (still). Countries don't matter these days.

Blazinace35

(5:40 AM, March 02, 2012)

After much deliberation I went with the nikon because of the image quality you get. What I think some people don't realize is that picture quality translates to video quality as well. With a sharper image and more color your video comes out looking sharper as well. As far as the "full manual control" as it relates to video, when you're setting your exposure for a video the lighting situation does not change unless you're outside, once you set your lights you set your exposure as well. As far as shutter speed being changed on the fly idk why anyone would do that in the middle of shooting a video as well. Most cases that would come from doing a different take or multiple cameras. The one advantage Canon does have is audio monitoring so I give them that but outside of that its basically a toss up between the two, but if you want the best image go with nikon.

Jerrywielo

(0:05 PM, February 20, 2012)

Numbers numbers... Here is 77 to 58 for Nikon when you go to http://www.dpreview.com/ there is 77 to 76 for Canon :| I think I'm going to wait for iPhone 5

rs21

(6:49 PM, January 30, 2012)

After going through extensive reviews on different places (dpreview, Amazon, NewEgg, BH etc...), I come below conclusion:
Nikon D5100 has slightly better ImageQuality, LoWLightPerformance, LowNoise on high ISO compared to T3i.

Canon T3i has less failure (came died) rate, Better Video Quality & better Customer support compared to D5100.

Rfgthyujhygtfr

(5:04 AM, January 30, 2012)

does t3i have the auto display sensor like the t1i and t2i where u put eye on viewfinder display auto off?

Asdfghj

(3:27 AM, January 26, 2012)

im probably gonna get the t3i i mean cmon, d5100 seems really entry level look at the menu and keys, much more basic canon, if not im probably going to get the t4i since it will come out this year before fall and might buy it for black friday.

Alex

(3:30 AM, January 12, 2012)

Nah, the D5100 video is still very nice.

Alex

(3:20 AM, January 12, 2012)

I own the T3i and the D5100. My main purpose for both is video. I agree
with those who say Canon is superior for
video. It doesn't totally blow the D5100 out of the water, but the
advantages are there. The Nikon has a little more noise with the exact
same ISO, shutter and F settings. Maybe for photos this isn't the case, I
don't know... Also, as others have mentioned, the control
on the Canon can be completely manual.

One big difference is the full
HD digital zoom. That is awesome!! And I really like the
60fps option at 720 the Canon offers. If I need to get more frames for
slow motion, this is nice. I wish it were at full HD, but at least it's
there at all!

That's my two cents. Good Luck!

whichone

(1:30 AM, January 10, 2012)

snapsort, d5100 or t3i? the d5100 video isn't that bad right?

RobBnTX

(10:58 PM, December 31, 2011)

Canon puts all their focus motors in the lens not the camera, no matter the model. Smaller is not better for most of us, and the T3i is the largest of the Rebel models. Canon markets a grip for the T3i, Nikon does not for the D5100. The T3i features a built-in pop-up master flash to control wireless flash. Image wise, comparisons I have seen I would give the nod to the Canon.

Now having said all that, I covet higher end Nikon models so I am thinking of getting a refurbished or used D90 just to get my foot in the Nikon door, but would probably be happy with a D5100.

AQuick

(3:35 PM, December 30, 2011)

Also one more thing I forgot to mention. If you are a first time DSLR Owner and are beginning in the DSLR Camera field the Canon T3i has a Full Auto Shooting Mode and also a Guide to help explain what each function does,... Like- ISO,Aperture, Shutter Speed,...ect. It will walk you through a quick explanation so you better understand what each feature does on the camera. I don't think the Nikon D5100 does. It may have a Auto Mode but I don't think it helps explain on camera what each function does. Correct me if im wrong though. So very helpful for a Beginner starting out with a DSLR Camera.

AQuick

(2:11 PM, December 30, 2011)

I Recently purchased the Canon EOS T3i over the Nikon D5100. I did ALOT of research before doing so. And every forum I went to and every you tube video review I watched said that image quality between the two is near identical yes the D5100 has a slight advantage in image quality but the Canon is just as comparable. Now in Video is were the Canon really outshines the D5100. The Canon has FULL Manuel Control in video mode were as the Nikon does not. And any Videotographer would know you want FULL manual control. The Nikon has auto focus in video but that not always good because (1) its slow and constantly changing focus looking for a focal point. And (2) Its Loud and you will hear it in your video. All the reviews I researched specified those problems with the nikons movie capability and that was the turn off for me. I would much rather have a camera that would take quality pictures in comparison to Nikon But able to take much better high def videos since I will be owning this camera for a long period of time and don't plan on upgrading any time soon the Canon EOS T3i was the wise choose for me.

Steve

(7:34 AM, December 30, 2011)

Doesn't limit you because Nikon re-leased all the popular lenses with AF-S.

Suretybrad

(6:27 AM, December 29, 2011)

Smaller s NOT better. Edge to Canon.

Snapsort

(4:06 PM, December 27, 2011)

Hey Drew
Snapsort strives to be non biased, the D5100 is your best bet if you are looking for better image quality, you can see how well it ranks on our score page. Hope that helps.

“This combination of Renaissance Faire and photo stats sets our nerdy hearts aflutter. Now, have at you, Sir Nikon!” - Photojojo	“Absolutely love this site for camera comparison, makes well known consumer rating sites look rudimentary” - @chris2pherlynn
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Nikon D5100

vs

Canon Rebel T3i

Reasons to buy the Nikon D5100

Reasons to buy the Canon Rebel T3i

recommendations

Relative to the best recent entry-level DSLRs, and ignoring price

differences

Advantages of the Canon T3i

Advantages of the Nikon D5100

recommendations

Relative to the best recent entry-level DSLRs, and ignoring price

similarities

Compared to recent entry-level DSLRs

dxomark

competitors

Shared Competitors

Advantages

Disadvantages

Nikon D3200

Canon Rebel T4i

Nikon D5200

Canon EOS 60D

Nikon D3100

Canon Rebel T3

Canon Rebel T2i

Canon Rebel T3i Competitors

Advantages

Disadvantages

Nikon D5100 Competitors

Advantages

Disadvantages

appearance

discussion

Showing 25 comments