Ok,: hands-on report.. I went to National Camera Exchange in St. Paul, MN., yesterday.. Started out by telling the guy that I was considering a new camera and I had narrowed the choices down to Nikon and Canon. I said a couple of camera gurus on this site recommended the canon 40D and the 5D, and that I also had heard about the new Nikon D300, and that they all said I should compare physically the bodies and actually do a 'hands-on' test..

He brought out all three and went over the features/benefits of all. I held all three. Of them, the D300 felt more comfy and closely resembled the feel of my Minolta A-1. I now (thanks to all who educated me) know that I would only fully appreciate the full-frame body IF I was going to be making very large prints/posters etc., but if the max size was going to be 8X10, a crop sensor wasn't going to hinder the image vs. a full-frame..

Quite frankly, the vast majority of prints I use will be 4X6 or 5X7, tops..

I got to try them all out in-store.. Spent the better part of two hours fooling around with them all. Sorry, Canon, but the D300 wins out... This body should last me the rest of my camera-shooting lifetime and the appropriate lens will do whatever I need and more.. For now, I'll invest in the 17X55 F2.8 ED from Nikon and obtain the 70X200 F2.8 VR at a later date..

I know the 40D is cheaper, but budget's not the main concern.

BTW, the 5D in that store was $2,459.00.. The D300 was $1699 on sale this weekend.. But I'm still going to buy from Doug at Cameraland...

Ex- USN (SS) '66-'69
Pro-Constitution.
LET'S GO BRANDON!!!