[TurboFan]

As long as you are sticking to Canon or Nikon, whatever body you get is fine. The lens is then far more important then everything except your skill.

"It's a little bit the fiddle, much more who holds the bow."

The extra $50 would be money well spent in my book, but you need a tripod with either lens.

As far as Canon over Nikon, or Nikon over Canon, I've seen and heard it all. If one was really better than the other, wouldn't one be out of business?

You see Canon most noticeably because of those stupid white lenses. They stand out. That said, Canon did focus on a lighter, faster focusing tele for a while, and had a better / cheaper offering for a while with the light super-tele market. Nikon stuck to their roots of making the best lens no matter what, which means it will be HEAVY!!! Not good for sports, where you need to be able to move around. It also didn't focus as fast. Also not good for sports. That was more than a few years ago. The gap has been narrowed with the AF-s lenses from Nikon, and now I see a pretty even mix of both brands.

If you go on a nature shoot, look to see what most pros use - Nikon. What else do you see quite a bit of? Canon. They're both good. It comes down to what matters more than anything......

....how the camera fits you. You need to be comfortable with it. If anyone starts telling you that one is better for you than another, without meeting you, or being with you while you handle a camera, I would immediately disregard anything they have to say. It's obviously misinformed and biased to one product or another.

If you've done your research and you are happy with the D40x, go for it, and start taking pictures. Personally I'd spend the extra $50 for the VR lens, that 55-200VR is supposed to be a good lens.