Both good cameras. Go to a shop and play with them and see which one seems more 'right' in your hands. Look at the new Nikon D80 as well if you can find one in stock. When covering your proposed subjects you will need wide angle and telephoto. Don't forget the crop factor of 1.6 for Canon and 1.5 for Nikon so 18mm becomes 28 on Canon and 27 on Nikon and 200mm becomes 320 and 300. An 18-200 zoom from Tamron or Sigma will cover 28-320 on the Canon and would be very convenient but both are slow lenses at the long end (f6.3) and with such a wide zoom range something has to give and the quality won't be quite as good as two separate lenses covering the same focal lengths. Still be good enough for modest enlargements. I would rather pay more for a good lens now and then wait a while and save for a good second lens covering the other focal lengths later. Bodies may come and go over the years but sound investment in the best optics you can afford now will do more to determine quality of results and save money in the long run as you won't have to change them in the future. Also don't rush to get everything at once, there will be a lot to learn going from a compact to an SLR to get the best results out of it. Get to grips with the effects of altering shutter speeds, apertures, focal length, and all the other things full control can give you. Learn to make the camera and the lens you buy for it really 'sing' by mastering it before rushing off into more lenses too early. Oops, I am going on a bit.
