You will never be able to afford the D3x, huh?

Gee too bad. Actually the D3x is rarely used by professionals unless they do a lot of studio work and then the camera pays for itself in a very short time

THE Nikon to own if you are a working pro in the fields of sports, news and other places where high quality images are needed under less than excellent lighting is the D3 or new D3s.

You are thinking of "cutting your losses" and moving to Canon when many of the Canon users are moving to Nikon for the D3 and D3s advantages.

And yes, you seem to be comparing apples and oranges here. The direct competition the Canon 5D, Mark II is to the Nikon D700, NOT the D3x

See how they all compare

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/Image-Quality-Database/Compare-cameras/(appareil1)/341%7C0/(appareil2)/305%7C0/(appareil3)/296%7C0/(onglet)/0/(brand)/Nikon/(brand2)/Canon/(brand3)/Nikon

As you can see, the Nikon D700 out performs the more expensive Canon 5D, Mark II in the areas where it counts.

If you were to look further, you would also see that if you had some Canon EF-S lenses, you could not even use them on a Canon 5D at all. At least with the Nikkor lenses you can use them in the cropped mode on the D3 (I do this from time to time myself ... the images are still professional quality and can be published in newspapers, magazines and posted on websites.

What exactly are you expecting from a digital camera? It may be that NO camera will meet your expectations.

You are far too new to photography to know what you need. Learn how to be a photographer over the next few years and then revisit your question. By then you will have matured enough as a photographer to really know what your needs are (vs. wants) and you will be able to make a good logical business decision on which camera system best suites your level of photography and the clients you are serving.

And for one last comparison, the high end Canon 1Ds, Mark III and new Canon 1D, Mark IV (not a full frame sensor) compared to the Nikon Dx

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/Image-Quality-Database/Compare-cameras/(appareil1)/342%7C0/(appareil2)/287%7C0/(appareil3)/291%7C0/(onglet)/0/(brand)/Canon/(brand2)/Nikon/(brand3)/Canon

As you can see, you are in the right camera system if you ultimately want the best of the best, but as a beginner, how would you know? If is clear that you have not been talking to pros who use their cameras daily to make a living.

When sitting on the hardwood floors at NBA games, for the most part, the Canon users have their cameras supplied by their employers. Those who own their equipment have Nikon systems ... or wish they did when they are back in the media room chatting with Nikon users.

Take a look at the performance of the Nikon D3s and newest Canon 1D, Mark IV under low light conditions.

My guess is you have not dug this deep yet.

http://www.photographybay.com/2010/02/04/canon-1d-mark-iv-vs-nikon-d3s-iso-comparison/