D90 or D60 would be my choice in the bottom end NM. Whilst I am a die hard Nikon owner, unlike Toyota I can see some good points with Canon, I just hate their controls and feel.
The present stock of Canon DSLR's though is definitely playing second fiddle to Nikon at present. Their EOS 50D succeeds the 30D & 40D which compared to the Nikon D200 but now the 50D is compare to the lesser D90. The Nikon D300 presently has no equivalent in the Canon range. Although in reality the D90, D300, D700, EOS50D and EOS5DMkII are all relatively unique at present.
One thing to consider for learning the camera you eventually buy is to get one of the Thom Hogan or Peter Inova eBooks on how to use it.
MY15 Discovery 4 SE SDV6
Past: 97 D1 Tdi, 03 D2a Td5, 08 Kimberley Kamper, 08 Defender 110 TDCi, 99 Defender 110 300Tdi[/SIZE]
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