Alistair,
I have been a Canon shooter for >30 years. I didn\'t have any issues with my film Canon gear and more recently, nor with my DSLR gear. However, I bought a D700, my very first Nikon camera, last year mainly because I enjoyed the Nikkor 14-24mm lens for landscape. I also received a 200mm VR as a partial trade for my 1Ds MarkII. So, I started using Nikon with the two lenses and they didn\'t disappoint. I have been on both camps since. I started buying more and more Nikkor lenses and now, I am at a point of no return. I have three zoom lenses, 14-24, 24-70 and 70-300VR that perform splendidly. However, Nikkor prime lenses (105 f/2, 135 f/2, 300mm f/4, among others) do not turn me on. The lack of fast Nikkor prime lenses in the wide angle range leaves something to be desired as well. At this point, Canon clearly has the upper hand in that arena. Plus, I still enjoy my Canon long white teles. Since I never used long Nikkor lenses, I cannot say which one would be better in terms of IQ but for sure, Canon is better, pricewise that is.
In summary, if you like zoom lenses, Nikkor 14-24 and 24-70 are excellent. Canon doesn\'t have a 200-400 f/4 but Nikon doesn\'t offer a great and lightweight, 24-105 f/4IS and 70-200 f/4 IS; Nikkor\'s f/2.8VR in that zoom range... oh, well. If you like fast prime lenses from wide angle to mid-tele, Canon\'s offering is definitely better. Both Canon and Nikon 200mm f/2 are equally outstanding, BTW. On the long end, they seem to be a wash but you have to fork out more dough for the Nikkors.
Cameras come and go but lenses stay longer.... Whatever you decide to do, good luck!
Joshua
Feb 22, 2009 at 12:45 PM
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