I am looking at a DSLR Camera

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by Tazziedevil

I'm a Canon guy as well, and the 40d is one of the best cropped sensor dSLR's out there. Canon's lenses are far superior to Nikon's...especially in the pro level (which you may never need- but notice next time you watch a pro sports event- 95% of all the photogs have big, giant white Canon L lenses on a monopod. That's not a coincidence.

By the way, megapixels are no longer an issue, unless you are a professional commercial or fashion photographer. You can make poster size prints from an 8mp camera that look great. Lots of megapixels just mean less space on your memory cards and unwieldy file sizes if you do any post-processing.

It's already been said, but you're better off buying an older body and investing in good lenses. Bodies go obsolete every 3 years or so, but good lenses can be used forever if you take care of them.

As a professional photographer in my past life (although at that time, medium format was the choice as digital did not exist), I agree with Canon being far superior and the one of choice for professionals.
HOWEVER, that is on the very expensive and professional level.

On "hobby" level, they are all quite comparable and a matter of personal preference for look, feel, and features. I happened to like the features of the D80 for the money at the time as compared to the next level up on Canon. For the stuff I do now, would never need anything other than my 28-105 mm from Nikon, which is a very nice lens and higher quality than the other common ones that come with the camera.

Totally agree on the overhype of MP. I have done tests taking an 8x10 and then taking a quarter of that 8x10 and making a new 8x10 out of that. Did it with 3.2 MP and did it with 5. It was only in that manner I could detect any type of minimal difference. If comparing a 3 MP to an 5 MP to a 10 MP 8x10, with nothing other than these 50 yr old eyes, heck if I can notice what I would call considerable difference for the average buff in spite of having spent years seeing photos and negatives. No need for 10 MP other than to take up space or blow up it up to the size of your bedroom wall.