At the risk of opening up a firestorm of controversy, let me start by saying what maters most is you and your vision, not the gear. Second, if it is a question of a better camera body or better lenses, I'm a fan of buying better glass first. If you've got good lenses, you can always upgrade your body later. Get at least one fixed focal length lens into your kit. Personally, I use Canon gear because I started down that road long ago and decided to stick with it. My first love was the T-90, a legendary camera body that I lucked into. Every camera since has been with the hope of rekindling that flame. I think the 5D Mark II has accomplished most of that. Bottom line, use whatever you can and have fun!

Oh, for fair, balanced and way more than you ever wanted to know about each camera on your mind, check out www.dpreview.com. Excellent, exhaustive reviews.

1Ds III, 5D II, 7D, Sigma 8, EF 15, 16-35 II, 24-70, 70-200 f 2.8 IS, 580 EX II x 2, 24L II, 35L, 50L, 85 L II, 200 f 2.0, 1.4 EX II. (Canon have AF Super Large Aperture Prime which Nikon does not have!) Panasonic GF1 + 8 + 14 (to be released 2010), 20 1.7, 45 Macro 2.8, 7-14 f4, 14-45, 14-140. THIS IS A LITTLE BEAUTY WITH AF AND NO EXPENSIVE M9 (if I got money - this is it)! Better than EP-1 (it's too girly for me) IMHO. Micro Four Third is the strongest interchangeable small format (not forgetting all the other lenses from Canon EF & FD, Leica M & R, Nikon, Olympus OM, Contax C/Y and many more available in manual focus with adaptor rings)! My perfect COMBO - Canon EOS, Panasonic GF1, Leica M9 Systems and PhaseOne 65+ 60MP.

If you think Nikon is strong in lenses, check out the Canon PRIMEs. TAKE A CLOSER LOOK. Canon has real nice new products such as EOS 5D II, 7D (Yes, Canon did decide to follow and incorporated some of Nikon's tech like in camera flash commander, digital spirit level and zone AF), 100mm Macro 2.8 with HYBRID IS (World FIrst) and 17mm TS-E (World First and Nikon hasn't got anything similar). Canon will be updating most of the lenses so quick with their new coating and HYBRID IS Nikon will be hard to match in that department.