Stupid question; Nikon???

ok before i ask this question i have to make a few things clear lol:
1. I am not betraying canon
2. I am simply curious
OK well it seems to me that every photography magazine that i get (Practical Photography, Digital Camera and even iCreate; a magazine on apple mac designing and stuff....) is full to the brim with adverts for Nikon, most of all the new D200... now my question is:
are canon just not advertising as much or do a lot of people generally prefer Nikon.
i know canon advertises in national geographic....
this all stems from a convo with my dad last night... he asked why i didn't buy a Nikon, as he used to have Nikon film SLRs... i was slightly stumped as canon is all I've ever know really... i bought myself some time buy just saying that canon are best for what i do... lol he chuckled and walked off....
now i suppose asking this on a CANON digital photography forum is a bit mad, but i hoped im not stepping on some toes here and most people here are willing to admit flaws in canon and possible pros in Nikon? if is there are any lol
so... i guess the canon equivalent of the Nikon D200 (going on price) is the Canon 20D?? that is a random guess... lol
it's just the adverts for the Nikon D200 look sooo cool!!!
...i hoped i don't get booted off for this 'blasphemy' ... lol

----edit--- if this is in the wrong forum please forgive and feel free to move it.... thanks again

looking at nikons current line-up i think canon has a lot of catching up to do... but they know they have us by the balls because we've made the investment and dont want to switch i see a lot of people using nikon now... maybe not pro's, but lots of amateurs seem to be favouring them. if i was buying a system now i would choose nikon, the 400d still doesnt have spot metering, and i cant imagine the build quality being anything to write home about either.

There's loads of Canon/Nikon discussion in the Canon EOS digital cameras forum.

For example:

• newbie question: especially those who switch from nikon to canon
  
• Hmmmm, ....Nikon or Canon?
  
• How does our Canon DSLR compare with Nikon D200
  
• New Nikon - what will Canon do?

More advertising generally means a less popular product, not more. It is aimed at converting people.
Market share don't lie. In this sector Canon still outsell Nikon by 2 or 3 to 1. Nikon are certainly closing the gap. But they had to, or go the way of Minolta.

lol given the fact that i havn't heard of Minolta proves your point even more!! lol, thanks for the help, i will now check out those links, cheers stewartR, so you reckon perhaps an amateur, like myself lol, could possibly benefit more from a Nikon?

As someone who used to own Nikon I can tell you that their products are every bit as good as Canon's. They have a couple of big lenses that Canon still has no answer for in the 200 F2 and the 200-400 F4.

All of that being said the only thing that either comapany has released in the last few year that even remotely appeals to me is the new D2xs from Nikon but its not enough to make me switch back (unless my gear gets stolen again). The 1DMkIIN was nothing more than an upgrade to my MkII, most of which could have been done with firmware. The 5D had no appeal to me because I am just not that excited about "full frame". Lenses? Nothing from either company. The 70-200 F4 IS is nice but with a MSRP approaching $1300.00 you can buy a 2.8 non-IS. Canon and Nikon both are doing exactly what big companies do. Targeting the market where the money is: high end consumer products, although Nikon seems to be a bit more likely to release faster glass at the moment. Canon frustrates me by producing slow glass and then "making up for it" by throwing IS on it and charging too much money. As someone who shoots lots of indoor sports in horrible lighting conditions they certainly haven't released anything that I can't live without or even make me take a second look.

Sorry for the long post.
Michael

Minolta 'invented' the first practical autofocus SLR, and were the biggest player throughout the second half of the '80s. They were just swallowed by Sony. Same thing is happening with Pentax/Samsung, and (probably) Olympus/Panasonic.

Look closely at the lenses and flashguns available for each brand. Remember you're buying into a system; your first camera body will be up on e-Bay years before you outgrow the lenses you're buying for it now.
The entry level Canon and Nikon DSLR models don't have a lot to separate them. See how each feels in your hands. To many (including me) the Canon is just too small to be comfortable.

stupot wrote:
looking at nikons current line-up i think canon has a lot of catching up to do... but they know they have us by the balls because we've made the investment and dont want to switch i see a lot of people using nikon now... maybe not pro's, but lots of amateurs seem to be favouring them. if i was buying a system now i would choose nikon, the 400d still doesnt have spot metering, and i cant imagine the build quality being anything to write home about either.

A lot of catch up? I really disagree.
Nikon has: 12MP, 10MP, and a bunch of 6MP and a 4MP - all small noisey sensors.

Canon has: 17MP, 13MP, 3 - 8 MP (2 different size sensors and target buyer).

Where is the catch up? Both Canon and nikon have recently announced 10MP entry levels, but I gurantee you Canon's XTi will hit the stores before nikon. nikon announces a camera and is lucky to deliver it 4 months later.

Advertising is typically done for consumer type products. The pro and semi-pro stuff isn't advertised because the person typically looking at those products doesn't believe the BS that some advertisements make. The only Canon cameras I have seen advertised as much as the Nikon stuff is the Rebel. Some advertising of the 5D was done to push full frame but not much. The semi-pro/pro user will not look to advertisements but rather to a local shop or online reviews of products and of course forums.

Tell your dad to check out the sidelines of a major sporting event and see which brand is preferred.

Use what you've got & don't sweat the small stuff? I shot with Nikons for decades. See my avatar? If it was all I had, I'd still get good shots with it.