[inkista]

Originally Posted by CourtJester

...(though I'm having trouble locating side by side RAW comparisons).

Here ya go:
Nikon D5000 Review: 29. Compared to (RAW): Digital Photography Review

Also, be aware of what resolution means in 100% crop comparisons.

Also, looking through Flickr shots using each camera, I like what people have done with the Nikon more as well. Canon & Nikon. Of course, BETTER photographers could be taking the Nikon shots as opposed to the Canon but who knows.

Better people, different lenses. You may want to look on pbasecom/cameras and pixel-peeper.com as well as Flickr, to make sure hardware's equalized. But honestly, I'm guessing better photographers for your personal tastes. Doesn't mean buying a Nikon instantly makes you a better photographer.

If it helps at all, the main thing I like to shoot is landscapes, macro, & want to delve into the world of HDR. Excuse this extremely long post but I just want to lay it all out here for people who know what they are doing! Thanks in advance!

Nikon might be the better choice for you, but not necessarily at the D5000 level. The D300s has exposure bracketing to die for when it comes to HDR. On the Canon side to get more than three-frame AEB, you have to go up to the 1 series . Also, Nikon has more wide-angle lens options; landscape photography more typically uses wide angle lenses.

However, on the macro side, Canon has some considerably less expensive choices, lens-wise, and is perfectly capable of doing landscapes as well. And if you're shooting HDR with a tripod, being in Manual and bracketing manually isn't that much harder.

I think you may be in the "How does it feel in your hands?" stage. Play with them in a store and see which one you like then. Reading reviews online only gets you so far.

Secondly, learn about and price out some lenses. The camera body is only half of the system. The lenses are the other half, and are likely to last you a heck of a lot longer and be worth more in five years' time than your camera body will. This is where getting a dSLR seriously parts ways with P&S "upgrading". You're not just buying a camera, but a camera system.