After much thought and investigation I finally made the decision to go with the Canon 50D as my introduction into the world of DSLR photography.

It was a a toss up between the Canon 50D and the Nikon D90, but at the end of the day the 50D was going to be a better overall fit. 

Why the 50D?

There were many reasons why the Canon 50D got the winning vote over the Nikon D90, and here are a few reasons why.

15.1 megapixels over 12.3

 It's not too much of a difference, but when it comes down to it nearly 3 megapixels is still nearly 3 megapixels.

Continuous shooting 6.4 frames per second against 4 frames per second

A good portion of the photo's that I'm going to be taking will be portrait and landscape scenary, however there will still be an element of sports photography as well.

With most important sports events occurring in under half a second, I'm much more likely to capture the right moment with 3 shots rather then 2.

SPL Water Housings also don't ready make any housings for the Nikon D90 because of the slow shooting speed and need for at least 6 frames per second for Surf Photography.

Here is a very quick example of a series of shots I took yesterday of a soccer incident.

Rugged Body and water resistant connections

 The Canon 50D offers a better built body.  While you should be extra careful with cameras at this price range, the truth of the matter is that after a while you begin to become a little less careful with the camera and it will suffer a bump or two.  It's much better to have a camera that will sustain these small knocks rather then wind up in the repair shop after the first mishap.

I also intend, after the next money bonus, to get a water housing for the camera.  While the water housings are great, there will still be a lot of impact while in the water and the better made camera will always outlast the poorer competition.

Canon Interchangeable Lenses

This was probably the clincher..... apart from every person apart from Rich telling me to go for the Canon.

Having an all Canon product line allows me the opportunity to buy a single lens with multiple uses.  The Canon 50D came with either the 18-200mm or the 17-85 kit lens.

I opted to go with the cheaper 17-85mm kit lens to being with, and buy additional lenses as they were needed.

The bonus for me with the Canon 50D over the Nikon D90 is that with a Canon Extender Lens 1.6x I can use any of the EOS lenses with my Canon XL1S, which means that if I do go for the 18-200mm lens it effectively becomes a 28.8-320mm lens for the Canon XL1S.

Other advantages of the Canon 50D

• Faster start up
• Better flash synchronisation
  
• No proprietary software required for raw files (nikon needs it's own software)
• Higher ISO settings
• Advanced auto focus (AF) microadjustment
• Faster shutter speed (1/8000 compared to 1/4000)

Nikon D90 advantages over the Canon 50D

The Nikon had a couple of things going for it too, but these weren't enough to sway the decision

• Cheaper (a few hundred dollars)
• Has HD Video (I've already got a Canon HV20 and Canon XL1s
• More points of focus (11 for the Nikon with only 7 for the Canon)

Overall what IS the best camera

It doesn't matter which camera you decide to go for, you will be VERY happy with your purchase.

Both the Canon 50D and the Nikon D90 have there goods and bads, it just depends on exactly what you're looking for and your own personal preference.