Better SLRs: Canon OR Nikon??????

[beginner12]

Why do some people choose to stick with the Canon or Nikon? Which one is better and what makes them better?

I am on a budget of about $800 for a body and lens and or accessories, etc.
I like to shoot people, things in macro, scenery. I also shoot fast action often. I want to choose a brand/camera that I can grow in to. I am fairly new to SLRs... but borrow/rent equipment so have some familiarity with SLRs. I know there is no a perfect camera, but I would like some testimony, they are very helpful.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of choosing the canon brand or nikon brand?
What are each manufacturers strong, weak features? What features does one line carry that is particularly useful. What is annoying about canon or nikon? How are their lenses and accessories. Cost? What makes you stay with that brand? Reliability?

PLEASE PUT IN YOUR 2 CENTS ABOUT CANON OR NIKON AND YOUR PROS AND CONS. THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! THANKS!!!!

[Michael Fanelli]

Why do some people choose to stick with the Canon or Nikon? Which one is better and what makes them better?

Hate to break this to you, but neither is better. Both brands are more than capable of keeping up with you and do much more than you can actually use. This is also true for Pentax and Minolta.

IMHO, start thinking about what you need regardless of brands and skip the "this is better than that" stuff.

[Lionheart]

This is how wars get started. IMHO-the best camera is the one you use all the time. Go out and play with these in the store, find the one with the features you want, and feels right in your hands, then buy some decent glass for your new camera. You need to honestly ask yourself what your needs are in terms of actual equipment then see if you can stay within your budget. Half the fun in photography is shopping hands on for your equipment. What you do with your gear is more important to the end result than the gear itself. In the end, no one cares if you took the photo with Canon, Nikon or a pinhole camera. All the viewer will really appreciate is the photo itself. I'm an equipment junkie, so I speak from experience. I've got the latest greatest doublebopwhopperhummingthingymajigger and most of my pics are just so-so throw it in the trash variety photos. Once in a while I get inspired by guys like Hodgy, and then I find myself producing some decent photos. It's not about gear, it's about vision, your gear just helps you translate that to an image. Just my two coppers.

[92135011]

careful plunging too deep into macro stuff
You will probably get bored of that stuff as I did real fast
Macro stuff, in general, do not move or variate too much (flowers, bugs, etc). Start with a decent zoom 28/80 or something with decent speed (3.5-4.5 or something) and see where you stand. Then go on to fixed focus lenses, which are generally faster and have better optical quality since its optimized for 1 focal length rather than a range of focal lengths.

[Clemmie]

I'm in agreement with Michael on this one. That whole Canon-Nikon thing, is like the old Ford-Chevy debate on Pickup Trucks. In both cases, it boils down to one thing: Advertising Dollars - spent by market leaders to maintain their lead. That doesn't always equate to a better product - and you do pay for those ads.

Examine the whole market, on a features-for-dollar basis, and there's a good chance you'll land somewhere else. In my case, I'm an ex-Canon guy, who landed at Minolta after 25 years. (I also drive a Dodge pickup, after being a Chevy man, if that tells you anything.)

And I'll second 9213's caution about the Macro plunge, too. That's one area where you can blow a lot of cash, fast, without much to show for it.

A lot of fairly ordinary (and fair priced) zoom lenses come with a Macro setting now. Typically it will be at the long end of the zoom range, combined with the minimum focusing distance. Like with a Minolta 75-300 zoom that I have - Macro is at 300mm and 5 feet, which will full-frame an area roughly 4x6 inches. Would you rather shoot Bees on a Flower, for example, from the safe distance of 5 feet away? Or would you rather get exactly the same view with a close macro lens costing three times as much, from 9 inches away, with Bees crawling in your hair? It didn't take me long to decide that one!