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I would agree on a typical practicality issue.It depends what type of control you want over your photos. I just got my first DSLR after owning a compact for 4 years, and in the first week took arguably my 3 best photos ever due to the increased amount of control (mainly, manual focus and the such). I feel like I can capture it exactly how I want to, not how the camera decides it.

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All I mean is it took nikon this long to bring out a real 5D competitor. Of course D3 sensor is better, 5D is what, 2.5 - 3yrs old?

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This is a story of how one loyal Canon supporter of 5+ years (myself) walked into a store to buy a Canon and walked out holding a Nikon.I've recently switched to Nikon from Canon after being a loyal supporter for over 5 years. This year when I went to purchase a new camera I was really shocked at some of the poor design choices Canon had made. Also that they had joined into the "more megapixels is good" hype. However Canon was and is and always will be the best cameras... right?I initially decided on a Canon Powershot S5 IS for $400, without reading any reviews. It was Canon, it was $400, it had to be as good or better than my G2 that cost the same 5 years ago, right? Long story short after reading both professional reviews and user reviews, I almost vomited. Horrible noise even in moderate light, focusing issues, and what seems like a small thing on the surface, a lens cap that won't stay on.I started to wonder what was up with Canon. I became critical and found little detail after detail wrong. Things like only 200 shots per charge, poor pre-1990s USB support, their continuing claim of time lapse (that only needs a dedicated laptop to function), memory cards stored with the batteries (now this with poor USB is unacceptable). More plastic, less metal. My G2 was half metal and that was 5 years ago.Five years ago there were four ranges of Canons. Point and Shoot, Prosumer (G-line), Entry level professional, and Dedicated professional. Regardless of your budget you could find something of quality in any of those four ranges. I picked a prosumer G2 5 years ago, it cost $400.Since then it seems Canon has pushed their prosumer cameras into the point and shoot, more features but poor options and design. They have replaced their prosumer range with hyped up point and shoots, with huge megapixels and zooms without increasing the quality, image, or performance. They also appear to be cutting corners with their entry level professional line making them what prosumer used to be. Their professional cameras have remained professional.What does this mean? There is a huge gap in quality and price between their "prosumer" S5 IS and their entry-level professional cameras (EOS 400D) that did not exist in the past. It also means there is little difference between their $200 and their $500 point and shoot cameras. The quality of their higher end point and shoot cameras has not kept up with the years. The digital photographer then has a choice of going point and shoot and getting noisy over-megapixelated results, or jumping the gap into SLR.This is good for forcing people to try more professional solutions like DSLR and it is true the costs of DSLRs have dropped a great deal, however there is still a 2x price difference between the best prosumer Canon and the worst entry-level professional which still lacks in body and software design.I believe Canon has gotten to the point all companies do and see their customers as ignorant consuming sheep, and not valued customers. They have become lax in their brand-name. I think falling into the more megapixel hype is a horrible thing because there really is no way to justify it. I'm not saying other companies don't do the same, but wasn't Canon supposed to be Above the Rest?All that said, I was still going to get an EOS 400D, it would be $1000 for body and lens, more than 2x what I intended to spend initially, which I wasn't forgetting.I started looking up lenses, I wanted if possible 1 decent lens to get started with. It should be as flexible as possible. Looking around at reviews I came across a 18-200mm lens, good wide-angle, good zoom. Kinda the S5 zoom, with "prosumer" 400D quality. I had decided I liked this lens, it was the top of the reviews. They reviewed three brands, Sigma, Tamron, and something called Nikkor. I had no idea who or what a Nikkor was lol, however it blew away the Sigma and Tamron in the review. Ok great, I will get a Nikkor 18-200mm lens for my Canon EOS 400D.It was then I found out Nikkor is Nikon. I felt really stupid, but also disappointed since I wanted that lens. Canon had some nice lenses too but nothing as versatile as this one. Wait, why is a review saying good things about Nikon anyway, Nikon's suck. Canon forever! Stupid half-ass worthless reviews trying to steal my Canon thunder.It was after a review on dpreview for the Canon EOS 400D (Digital Rebel XTi) "with the commercial success of the 350D in their minds Canon clearly didn't want to take any risks with the 'winning formula'. This, however, is perhaps the EOS 400D's achilles heel; that it was so predictable. So predictable in fact that Nikon clearly saw it coming and went one better with the D80; they also managed to close the image quality gap to a degree where the differences are as good as irrelevant."Old my a god, Nikon is on the playing field? I was honestly in shock and disbelief. I started looking into Nikon DSLRs now, some of them seemed pretty ok for the price. Decent reviews, not Canon level but still, wow. I was not expecting that. So I opened up to a whole new world and became aware of what Nikon supporters were saying, which models were hot or not.I was looking now into the same D80 from Nikon that the review said had snuck up on Canon in the night. It was old though, so I kept looking and reading. I kept hearing people comment about how great the new D300 was and that it blew everything else out of the water. I took one look at the price, pissed myself, and promptly closed the page. I was becoming burnt out, I felt everyone was trying to trick me at this point. Canon first, now Nikon users.I looked into DPChallenge.com, a photo contest site I used to be a member on. They have a hardware section to see results from various cameras and lenses. I looked into if photographers using Nikon's were winning blue ribbons consistently, they were. This didn't mean Nikon meant winner, it meant winners chose Nikon. Which said a lot to me, Winners also picked Canon, bah! At least I knew at least some good photographers liked Nikon over Canon.It was while looking for the best deal on my new 18-200mm lens that I came across a company, Sonic Cameras. GREAT prices, OMG half off all Nikon bodies!???! How, why? Scam? Stolen? Gray market, broken? All reasonable thoughts, so the unreasonable thought wins. OMG new model coming out and the are obviously clearing old inventory! WOOHOO, I win! I could afford a D300! Ooooh!So I went and looked into the D300 for the first time, the reviews, the features, the quality. I instantly fell so far in love that I knew there would be no saving me. I didn't care if that company stole them or if they even worked, I was lost in a sea of bliss. It was an insanely expensive camera, even with the discount $1000 for the body, $500 for the lens. Remember my budget was $400-500. I didn't care, I would get a second job, I would steal, I would cheat, if I had kids they would not be going to college. This is what a digital camera was supposed to be.Long story short, IT WAS A f**kING SCAM and I had to cancel my debit card number. However the real damage was done, I wanted no other camera, if someone offered me a brand new Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III I would piss on their foot and kick them in the nuts. I knew the D3 was coming also, and would be better, maybe if someone offered that for free I would consider it, but any other had to be the D300.It was when my brother visited me that he noticed this glazed look in my eyes and that I seemed like a junky needing a fix. He asked if I was alright, I swear it is the first time he had ever asked me that. I told him what had happened, and he offered to let me use his credit card, he had enough on it to cover the camera. So I got my D300 thanks to him, I will be making payments for the next half year and am terrified of breaking it before then, but I have it, it is mine, and no one will never take it from me.As for Canon vs Nikon. I don't know who will win. It is obvious Nikon has finally woken up to the market and is willing to crack some heads in getting new and better designs out. It is also obvious that Canon is becoming lazy and if they don't wake up someone is going to notice the crap they are starting to market as pro. Maybe Canon will win, maybe Nikon, maybe Kodak lol. In any case, I hope whoever wins, wins because of quality not brand-name.

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People get all bent out of shape by the Nikon Canon thing. If you've bought into the system and have lenses then you are pretty much stuck. Especially if you've really invested some expensive glass. Besides the one one top will probably soon be on bottom. The camera - in my mind rarely has much to do with it. I saw some pictures recently from a pro photographer using a D20 - old camera. But he has some AWESOME lenses. Pictures had awesome tone and were tack sharp. Find a decent Canon or Nikon and then invest in good glass.

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Canon EOS 1Ds MkIII SpecificationResolution: 21.1MpResolution: 5616x3744Sensor type: CMOSFocus points: 19 cross type plus 26 assistCrop factor: 1.0xLens mount: Canon EFMetering system: 63-zone TTLFrames per second: 5 maxISO min: 100ISO max: 1600Screen size: 3inBattery model: LP-E4Weight: 1210gSize: 156x159x80mmAspect ratio: 3:2Sensor size: 36x24mmAutofocus system: TTLExposure modes: PSAMScreen resolution: 230,000 dots (76,000 pixels)Card format: Compactflash, Secure digital, SDHCFile formats: RAW, sRAW, JPGConnectivity: USB 2.0Flash type: HotshoeFlash metering: E-TTL IIFlash sync speed: 1/250Image stabilisation: NoIntegrated cleaning: YesLive view: YesBuffer depth: 12 (RAW) Nikon D3 SpecificationResolution: 12.1Sensor type: CMOSAutofocus points: 51Crop factor: 1.0xLens mount: Nikon FMetering system: 3D Matrix IIFrames per second: 9ISO min: 200 (ISO100 equivalent)ISO max: 6400 ( ISO25,600 equivalent)Screen size: 3in TFT LCDCard format: Dual Compact FlashBattery model: EN-EL4aWeight: 1240gSize: 159.5x157x87.5mmResolution: 4256x2832Aspect ratio: 3:2Sensor size: 36x23.9mmAutofocus system: Multi-CAM 3500 FXExposure modes: P, S, A, MScreen resolution: 920,000 dots (307,000 pixels)File formats: RAW, JPG, TIFFFlash type: HotshoeFlash metering: i-TTLFlash sync speed: 1/250Image stabilisation: NoIntegrated cleaning:YesLive view: YesBuffer depth (RAW): 17 imagesBuffer depth (JPEG): 64 imagesShutter speed max: 1/8000th secondShutter speed min: 30 secondsVF coverage: 100%Vertical grip: In-built----------Nikon can talk when they make equal Canon in Resolution! BTW Professional Photographers and I mean Professionals... who get paid 15k+ per shoot only shoot Canon and Medium Format Cameras. Period! If you want to talk Pro Sport Photographers go look at the sidelines at all the white lens with red ring at the end of the lens... guess what they are shooting with a canon camera. Also: The Technical Image Press Association = The Technical Joke Press Association

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