[font color=\'#000000\']Hi there,
> 1. canon and nikon make EQUALLY good lenses. (comparison, if necessary, must be done lens by lens. canon doesn't have an equivalent of NIKKOR AF28/1.4D for example.)
I am 100% in agreement with you.
> 2. canon owns a few core patents in lens making such as USM, IS, therefore equally good SWM, VR Nikkors can't sell at equal prices.
Actually, the VR patent is owned by Nikon (they released a VR compact camera years ago already).
Regarding USM vs AF-S, I believe that the ability of the Nikon system to allow manual override in Continuous focus mode is a definite plus. But the systems are otherwise roughly equivalent and Canon does offer more lenses equiped with the high end USM (the low end one that does not offer manual override being in no way superior to the Nikon body driven gear system but for the noise).
Interestingly, the Canon lenses are all more expensive that their Nikon equivalent in Japan:
14 mm: Nikon 168.000 Yen against Canon 230.000 Yen,
17(16)-35: Nikon 162.000 Yen against Canon 174.000 Yen
28(24)-70: Nikon 165.000 Yen against Canon 177.000 Yen,
70-200VR(Is): Nikon 204.000 against Canon 213.000 Yen
300 f2.8 (IS): Nikon 430.000 Yen against Canon 530.000 Yen (the new Nikon 300 f2.8 VR being annouced 50.000 more expensive than the current non VR lens).
All these prices being actual street prices all discounts included.
> 3. i believe canon is still leading in terms of lens design & making tech. so: slightly better lenses (overall), slightly lower prices. why not.
That could be the case overall, but 2 famous and important exceptions would appear to be the 17-35 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 for instance.
> 4. D70 is better than 300D, out of question. but i'd rather regard it as a marketing strategy than technology difference. i'm pretty sure that the moment canon released 300D, nikon couldn't make any sensible counterpart. and that's why i kept asking in this forum that if canon is gotta release a 300D MKII to counteract nikon's D70.
You are obviously right, Canon is of course able to come up with a body equivalent to the D70 from a technical standpoint, and they will be in the coming months. On the other hand, think about all the amazing pics that your talent would allow you to take in the mean time... :-)
> 5. Nikon is catching up, though canon is still leading. that's what i believe we all are glad to see. competition! i am and will be using canon for the next few years to come (if you couldn't change my mind ) simply because it makes most sense of my $$$, not because i have any affinity to the embossed logo.
Which I can definitely understand and respect. My point never was to say that Nikon was necessarily the better option for you, but only that it was also an option perhaps worth considering.
Exchanging posts with you, I clearly realized that your decisions are rational but there are unfortunately many people roaming these forums who seem to value the defense of a brand more than their own objective interest... which I completely fail to understand.
Overall, the combination of the strong marketing of Canon and presence of many such people introduce a clear bias in favour of Canon that does, IMHO, not reflect the actual value of the 2 systems.
Best regards,
Bernard[/font]