Here is a very complete and comprehensive article on: How To Buy A Digital Camera - Mahalo.com

I recently bought a brand new Canon 400D Digital Rebel XTi and did my own extensive homework reading many reviews and asking all my friends who own Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras.  Everything I considered when buying this new camera is covered in this article at Mahalo.

I was going to write a small article on this very topic, but found this article this morning thanks to a post by Jason Calcanis on December 18, 2007.

Nice. I think I'm going to get a D80.

Thats awesome, then we'll be really able to evaluate both cameras! 

I basically narrowed down my selection to the the D80 and the Canon XTi.  Being a Canon lover (Canon PowerShot SD300), I obviously was heavily biased yet I still managed to seperate my emotional stronghold in order to give the Nikon D80 a fair trial. (Took me 3 days of research, and 3 visits to 3 different camera stores before I made my decision)

Upon first inspection, the most noticeable difference between these 2 cameras are their size, weight (with batteries) and price. The Canon XTi prevails in these 3.

Why I selected the Canon 400D Digital Rebel XTi

The Canon XTi is really compact and is 4 oz lighter (1/4 lb) with batteries. Holding it felt more natural than the monstrous D80.

The XTi uses the same DIGIC II image processor found on the Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II - ($7000)

The Canon XTi uses a CMOS sensor vs D80's oldschool CCD sensor.  The main difference between CCD and CMOS is that CCD sensors consume upto 100x more power.

Best bang for your buck:  The Canon XTi is about $250-$300 cheaper than the Nikon D80.

A great side by side comparison: Canon Digital Rebel XTi vs Nikon D80

Another side by side comparison: Canon Digital Rebel XTi compared to the Nikon D80

What's the learning curve like for someone new to owning a DSLR?

So far its been very straightforward reading the manual and playing around.  I am also lucky to have some friends who were able to better explain some of the new photography terminology which is always helpful!

Here is a great article I recommend you check out: Beginner's Guide to Photography for Geeks Who Want to be Digital Artists

 (This article was submitted to Digg by Kevin Rose himself)

I recently bought a canon 50mm f/1.8 lens and am extremely happy with it!  Now I am looking into a better lens to replace my current 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens because it is not cutting it at indoor car shows.  I have explored the options of getting a tripod to hold the camera steady, but from my research with Jason Thorgalsen (like you don't know this young rockstar) and Cory Klinkenberg (Official photographer of Calabogie Motorsports) both of whom indicated that carrying a tripod around is a pain in the ass.  They both have suggested getting a better lens in the $600-700 range.  So now I must go do more research on lenses.