Canon or Nikon -Who has the better selection of lens for dSLR - Quality-sizes-price points and repair service. Looking at D30 or D200 leaning D200. Thanks for your help.

I think if you are just going by the lenses, you could go either way. Both Canon and Nikon make nice lenses and are very equal to each other. There are also 3rd party lenses that you could use also (Tamron and Sigma) which are very good as well.

I have a Canon 5D and when I was in the process of buying I was looking at the 30D and the D200. We finally decided to go with the 5D because we have prior Canon cameras along with lenses and flash.

If I was starting out and had to decide between the 30D and the D200, it would be the D200 hands down. I really like the features of the D200 and after reading reviews, a lot of people like the D200 also.

If you haven't already, read Steves review of both cameras. (The 30D was just posted).

In addition, here is a review by Popular Photography on the D200.

http://www.popphoto.com/article.asp?...rticle_id=1844

Either way, I think you will be happy with the 30D or the D200.

Dave

i know it's not the answer you want, but it always comes down to the same question
"what are you going to be doing with it"

I chose Canon for better low light sensitivity on the cameras, and because i really like Canon optics/lenses.

If you think about it, you are really buying into a lense system. Over time, you'll change the body, but keep the glass.

i can only stress, take your time, ask around.

Thanks for your help

hack, I will shoot birds, small animals etc. ( distance shots )-sports live shots (auto and soccer) etc. landscape - close ups (flowers, plants etc. ) indoor and outdoors and of course family pics. Thanks for your help.

With that info, now we can say something meaningful to you.

Both Canon and Nikon make great macro lenses, but Nikon's are better (From what I've been told.) From personally experience, I've used the Canon 180mm macro and its an amazing lens.

For flash work (indoor & family pics) I generally hear that nikon's flash system is better. I've had good luck since E-TTL2 has come out on Canon cameras. I know somoene who switchd from a Nikon film camera to a Canon 20D. He says the flash is much worse on the 20D (the 20D has E-TTL2.) I've had good luck with my 20D and 1D MkII N and flash photos.

For wildlife Canon wins quite easily at that level. Better/lower noise can allow for high ISO. Canon's 100-400 is a better lens than nikon 80-400. Optically a bit better, but much, much better AF speed - and that is required for wildlife. And the longer lenses, like th 400 f2.8, 500 f4 & 600f4 are much cheaper with Canon. Optically they are all amazing (Nikon & Canon.)

But you should not ignore going and trying the camera out in a store. Test its feel. How the button layout works for you. Does it fit your hand size? Is it too heavy? All that matters and you won't find that in a review.

Eric

Thanks Eric S that's the kind of info I am looking for. Before I spend a few thousand dollars I want to be able to ask the right questions and make a smart investment.