nikon all the way baby. you can pick up an as new D200 body here for under $1000 bucks since the D300 came out. unless you're sports shooting, it goes a long way towards being all you'll ever need. plus nikon lenses are widley renowned as being the bomb.

having said that, there are some problems with using a wide angle lense with the D200, as the sensor cuts off the outsite edges of the frame, thereby reducing the overall effectiveness of the wide angle..

photographers, please feel free to eat my comments alive.