Canon vs Nikon – which camera brand captures your heart?

Ok heres my take, line up ten images then get someone (anyone) to tell you what camera took what image they wont be able to.
So then its down to personal user preference I Use Nikon,(my current camera is the D7000), but in the past have had Canon,Mamiya,Olympus,Contax,Leica,Rollie ect,ect (even an old Thorton Picard plate camera)
I chose Nikon as I like the build quality top end ther is not much to pick between them but IMO in the non proffessional market (up to £2000) Nikon have the edge over Canon I am not saying the Canons are duffers they make super cameras but for me things like menu selection,user setting memories, mirror bounce damping and general robustness of build is the Nikons biggest plus point for me over Canon.
Having said that all this is rather a mute subject if you already own Canon,Nikon or whatever kit. Because very few users swap makes, as replacing all that very pricey glass you have already bought makes the body cost seem like peanuts

Not so much a comment on the main topic, though my vote goes to Canon, but a follow up on various comments on software.
I borrowed a Nikon Coolscan V, a very expensive film scanner. They aren’t available new but bring around £1000 second hand on eBay. I was worried about finding drivers after reading various forums but they all seemed related to 64bit Windows7. However I downloaded the Vista drivers which work with no trouble with my 32bit Windows 7. I find it amazing that Nikon don’t continue support for such an expensive piece of equipment and don’t even mention the use of Vista drivers for W7 on their website.
Incidentally the scanner is marvellous for scanning slides because of a remarkable bit of software for cleaning up slide scans. It is otherwise unremarkable, being painfully slow. Anyone know of software I could use for cleaning up slides with my Epson V300 scanner which is faster and of equally high resolution but whose clean-up program is relatively poor as is Photoshop Elements 6.
The previous posts concerning Photoshop Elements are interesting. I had Elements 4 which din’t work when I changed to W7. A disappointing Adobe failure to provide patches for later operating systems. I replaced it with E5 which works fine on W7 but is significantly slower. I now also have E6 which I rarely use as it is even slower. Adobe keep bringing out versions of Elements which add little to the functionality, I started with E1 and have used E2, E3, E4, E5 and E6 all with small additional features but increasingly resource hungry. I have no use for the cataloguing functions of Elements which I find intrusive. If I was starting from scratch I’m sure they would be fine but I developed my own system for my large collection long ago.

My Canon 550D is superb except for a serious fault. The camera is used on a microscope with a Zeiss “Biotar” and suitable adaptor in order to get the image coming from the microscope eyepiece, on the sensor to the correct size. ALSO I use the camera on a copying stand held vertically.
Using the excellent 18 to 135 mm lens, on a nice warm day, the zoom ring tends to turn, under the weight of the front elements which descend downwards. A rubber band arrangement prevents this.
But why, oh why, can’t the lensmakers simply include some sort of a brake, either optional using a
screw mechanism or a braking action via a crinkle-washer acting against the upper or lower edge
of the zoom ring. I have contacted Jessops from whom the camera was purchased and they were pleasant and sympathetic. ‘Phoning Canon they were also sympathetic and this fault was being investigated. A friend who has a Nicon has also reported this problem.

Well – I have a Nikon D7000 and it is great – so far it has been easy to operate and results first class – to be honest I doubt if I’d change to a Canon. The cost of lenses and camera is too great an investment. Really first class for portraits of greyhounds.

I used to use Minolta SLR kit with a full range of lenses from 1000mm to a fisheye. I simply updated the body (always had a pair) – The quality of results were extraordinarily good and I sold many photos and had a number of commissions (specialist area medical photography) .I loved the quick change bayonet fitting lens. If a Minolta DSLR had been available to use the excellent bayonet lens I’d had bought that instead of the Nikon

But I do have an excellent Canon IXUS for recreational photography the results of which please the viewers – but it is cruder and I often wish it had more manual control.and sensitivity.