I wandered around a few camera shops yesterday and played with both the 400D and the D80. This resulted in me coming down on the Nikon side of things. It just feels better in my hand. Everything fits naturally under one finger or another, and it gives the impression of being rather more solidly build.

If I was going to put one in a model aircraft I'd go for the Canon, because it's both lighter and cheaper, but for handheld use the Nikon is the winner. Accordingly I have ordered one, which hopefully may get here tomorrow.

Oddly enough, the cheapest place I could find it was Dixons, which for UK people would come as a surprise. They're not normally noted for their competitive pricing structure With an online discount code that gave £20 off, plus the current Nikon cashback rebate of £50, the camera with an 18-135mm lens came to £588. Not too bad, all things considered.

Thanks to all for the advice.

pca