So, since I got off work a little early on Friday, I decided to make my way down to the Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto since I remember seeing a photography store in there close to the subway station entrance and I wanted to get a hands-on impression of the Nikon D50 (camera) I’ve been thinking about purchasing for the past little while.

Now, in case you’re wondering about why I’ve been thinking about that particular model of camera, wonder no more. The reason is that it was on sale at BestBuy last week and is probably the cheapest digital single-lens-reflex (SLR) based camera Nikon offers. We have a Nikon film camera and its still cared-for by my parents. It’s pretty solid and has gained quite some respect in my family (as far as respect for cameras go). Besides, it’s not just my family, photography professionals love Nikon because due to its professional-level camera lenses.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve given two other camera companies a chance. They are Sony and Canon.

Canon’s Digital Rebel XT camera is probably one of the most popular digital SLRs in the world and its one that I’ve usually kept an eye on in the weekly Future Shop flyers that we get around here. I tried out Canon Digital Rebel XT and the latest Canon Digital Rebel XTi at the Future Shop close to where I work a few weeks ago. To me, they felt uncomfortable. The grip didn’t fit my hand well and I walked away disappointed.

Today, I went into the Sony Store at the Eaton Centre and tried out Sony’s digital SLR offering. I know, it’s in a completely different price range but hey, I wanted to try out a few cameras to get a feel for how different they can get. Two configurations were on display, one being the body sans lens, the other with a gigantic lens. Both felt very heavy so that was the end of that.

Next up was the Nikon D50. It was by far the best camera I’ve sampled, both in terms of grip and overall feel. The body was solid, the controls were easily reachable and the weight was defintely less than the Sony’s offering. In other words, I’m pretty settled on Nikon.

I hear Nikon is set to release a new, smaller digital SLR dubbed the D40. I wonder if that means price drops for the D50!