Characteristics of different camera brands

[JamesMason]

It's a well-known fact that owning a Nikon will improve your sex life.

Not just sex life, nikon adds +1 to all atributes

 

[loopy]

I've always been a Pentax user myself. They may be one of the underdogs but do have quality products. My main reason for staying with Pentax for my digital SLR, is the compatibility with old lenses. (Chart here: The Pentax Camera Lens Compatibility Chart)

 

[Plato]

It's a well-known fact that owning a Nikon will improve your sex life.

Not just sex life, nikon adds +1 to all atributes

Yes. Ever since getting a Nikon, I've been able to trash all those email ads!

 

[Plato]

I've always been a Pentax user myself. They may be one of the underdogs but do have quality products. My main reason for staying with Pentax for my digital SLR, is the compatibility with old lenses. (Chart here: The Pentax Camera Lens Compatibility Chart)

I started out with Pentax. I dropped them when they changed the mount (Nikon has had the same mount since 1959). For whatever it's worth, however, my 45-year old "Honeywell Pentax" Spotmatic still works! $400, including 50mm f/1.4 lens!

 

[zland]

I suggest you really get specific about what you plan to be taking pictures of. The fact is it is lens that will cost the most & hold their value the best assuming you buy good ones. Because of that, select the lens that meet your needs & then the body to match it. Camera body's get updated every year thus it is your lens that you keep for the long term.

 

[shortpballer]

Being a canon owner, I will try not to be one-sided. But someone I have shot alongside at a wedding with shoots both nikon and canon. He says that Nikon has much better zooms, and canon has phenomenal primes... So I would say make your decision upon that, do you think you are going to be buying primes or zooms? And also nikon lenses are much more expensive than canon lenses.

 

[bp4life71]

I found the opposite to be true Shortballer. I shoot canon, and I routinely find Nikon lenses much cheaper than Canons.

 

[jnm]

people often say that olympus tends to yield more color saturation and vibrance from the in-camera jpeg processing than nikon and canon.

 

[Joves]

It's a well-known fact that owning a Nikon will improve your sex life.

Not just sex life, nikon adds +1 to all atributes

I think it is more the size of the glass that counts.

people often say that olympus tends to yield more color saturation and vibrance from the in-camera jpeg processing than nikon and canon.

They might have them Preset higher but, with all cameras you can adjust the saturation and, alot more in the menus.
For the OP what you want to see is what features the cameras offer in their menus, this will give you the maximum versatitlity. And you have to compare them at each level, depending on what level camera you want. Entry level is limited, mid range offers more, Prosumer offers even more and, then the Pro level is the absolute best.