I don't want to start up a Canon vs. Nikon debate - let me say that upfront
Long story short, I inherited a bunch of camera gear from my grandfather, including a D2X and a couple of lenses (the 70-200/2.8 VR zoom, and a wide angle zoom - not certain of the model). I'll have the camera in my hands late this next week. I'm intending to evaluate it against my Canon rig, make a choice between the two, and then I'll be sending the other rig to my dad, who's been wanting a digital SLR for some time now.
To the point - any suggestions for evaluating, and any shortcomings of the Nikon system that I should explore so that I understand them personally?? I'm pretty familiar w/ my Canon rig.
I've been digging a bunch online to try to uncover things I need to look at. My current plans basically revolve around shooting some shots to get familiar w/ the Nikon system and interface, and then doing a shootout between the two and examining resulting shots on screen and in print. I intend to evaluate the noise differences between the two, as high ISO makes up at least part of the work I've done in the past, overall image quality, and how the images hold together in processing, what I can get out of them, etc. I plan on shooting JPEGs and RAW, and comparing both in ACR.
I'm currently shooting a Canon 30D w/ L-series lenses - so obviously, it won't be an apples to apples comparison, in terms of absolute resolution. I'm aware of that If I stay Canon, a higher resolution body is in my future, as well (and possibly a 1DMkIIn). If I keep the Nikon, a D200 is probably in my future, as well as appropriate lenses. I've owned Canon pro series film gear in the past, so I'm familiar with the auto-focus system and other features on those cameras. I believe I can weight my examination appropriately keeping those differences in mind.
The real question I have is - am I overlooking something obvious (or maybe not so obvious) that I should take a look at while I'm doing the eval? I'm open to whatever - just want to make sure I get the "full experience" out of it... I know it will boil down to what works for me, and what produces the results I need, and I'm going to do the work to get that data. I'm hoping to draw on the vast amount of knowledge in this forum to help guide me in the right direction???
Thanks for any thoughts!
Dave