hi there i dont know if this is going to be of any help to you, but i have had 3 CANON EOS SLRs which i got on really well with...when i went over to digital i went into my local camera shop and asked to look at the CANON EOS 350D and the NIKON D70s, because those were a bit more in my price range, did not like the NIKON and the 350 was TINY!!!!!! so much so it did not feel like i was holding a proper SLR (bizzare). Quite upset that i did not like either of the cameras that i had gone out especially to look at i started looking at others. I tried the NIKON D50, that was a no, then i played with the EOS 20D.....***oh my god!!!!*** i fell in love, it just felt so right for me, i had to have it!!!!, it took about 6 months for me to save up for it but i have not looked back since buyig it. I  bought the kit with the 18-55 lens which is not that great a lens, but it is ok as a backup. I use my sigma 28-135 most of the time which i already had, i have had this camera about 11 months now and i **adore it..** but at the end of the day it is all about ergonomics, my partner has always been a NIKON man and he finds the buttons on a NIKON are better placed for his fingures than the EOS. but he does pick mine up and take a few shots now and then, so it cant be too bad...