hmmm...
very opinionated photography is, im a canon man myself.
L Lens = The Dogs
Karl Zeiss = Bit mainstream, eg... used in Nokia Phones. YUK!
Canon = The BEST!
f**king LOL!!!
karl zeiss are hardly mainstream they are THE BEST lens producers in the world... so good they produce lenses for most of the biggest telescopes and satalites in the world nasa use them... just like nasa have signed a contract to use nikon and not canon lol....
nikon are simpler to use, they are built better (basic canons are made of plastic) nikons use magnesium bodies on the basic cameras, i use cameras every day for my work, i have used everything from 35mm film slr's to large format cameras, i have used digital 35mm slr's, digital medium formats etc, my favorite cameras to use are mamiya film medium formats, with film or a digital back, hassleblad digi medium formats are stunning and great to use but are very very difficult to use also...
if we are talking 35mm dslr's nikon is what i will pick up and use every single time... simply because they are easy to use and i know they are strong and reliable, canons have caused me nothing but hassle cos its all back to front and named stupid things like tv for shutter priority or whatever it is, where as nikon is just S...
also having to sod around changing the shutter and aperture on the canons well cheaper ones anyway, nikon has a wheel dedicated to shutter and one dedicated for aperture no matter what model, canon on the cheaper ones you have 1 wheel and have to press a button and then use the wheel to change the aperture... which means more time and taking the camera away from your face to find the stupid button, nikons you can do it all on the fly
my personal 35mm dslr is a nikon d2x which is the pro model, i have given it to people who just know how to use a basic camera and they can still shoot with it, and it will produce good images out the box... its a pro model that even people who dont know how to use a camera can use...
plus its strong as hell lol, and doesnt feel like fisherprice made it unlike most of canons range
and no i wasnt aiming my post at you dave it was just others saying canon make the best lenses lol... its down to preference however the whole photographic community say karl zeiss is the best lens manufacturer lol and they piss on canon lol