Mister Mike
Forum Enthusiast
The new "top 3", Canon XTi, Nikon D80, and Sony A100, are all tremendous value for your money, great picture cameras. You will be happy with any one as picture quality is fantastic. You should select features/characteristics that mean the most to you. My comparison: Canon offers most value for the dollar, least expensive, great options, features and support. Sony is almost as inexpensive as Canon and adds in a better quality feel and Image Stabilization, but there are not as many lenses/stuff as the Canon. Nikon is probably the best of the three in terms of solid build -near pro quality, but is the most expensive just for the body and adding in image stabilized lenses can really pump up the price. If I had the bucks, I'd go Nikon. For my setup it would cost about $1800 for the D80 rig without image stabilization. About $1150 for the Canon and $1200 for the Sony with body based stabilization. This may be a tough choice but its a great choice to have. You can't screw it up! I picked Sony because I shake and have a pretty low success rate at 1/60th or slower. Image stabilization was my reason, but you need to decide whats your priorities and needs. All 3 are fantastic cameras.