The announcements of the Nikon D300 and D3 cameras are good news… for Nikon and Canon photographers.

Until recently, Canon arguably had the DSLR market pretty much locked down. When other manufacturers were selling 6 MP crop sensor bodies, Canon’s bodies used 8 MP sensors. While other manufacturer’s high speed pro bodies used 1.6x crop sensors, Canon’s used a 1.3x sensor. While other manufacturer’s only offered cropped sensors, Canon produced two full frame models.

This week’s announcements may indicate how things will shift in the future. Canon announced the long-expected 1DsMKIII, a 21 MP full frame flagship camera that competes with MF film bodies. At the same time Canon announced the also-expected 40D, a crop sensor 10MP camera with improved features (dust reduction, faster burst rate, etc.) compared to the older 30D.

Meanwhile, Nikon announced the D300, a crop sensor 12+ MP body with state of the art features including a 9 fps burst rate, improved AF system, improved body sealing… and a price that is competitive with the 30D. While Canon users are not likely to sell their cameras and switch to Nikon, first time DSLR buyers and those without large investments in lenses will find that the Nikon camera to surpasses the equivalent Canon on a number of counts.

Nikon also announced the D3, a 12+ MP full frame body. This is a very interesting camera in many ways. It provides the first non-Canon full frame body, finally introducing some competition to the Canon full frame cameras. It offers fast burst rates of 9 (or, with limits, 11) fps in a full frame body, providing serious competition for the Canon 1DMKIII’s 10 fps with a 1.3x crop body.

Additional rumors and announcements indicate that Sony may offer a full frame DSLR before long and that Nikon won’t be the only manufacturer of 12+ MP crop sensor bodies.

I use a Canon 5D and Canon lenses. You might think that I’d be a bit upset to see my company losing its clear lead. On the contrary, I’ve felt for some time that effective competition would be a good thing for Canon photographers and for the camera marketplace in general. With at least three manufacturers now able to compete fairly effectively (and others like Pentax and Olympus offering interesting and novel alternatives) I’m hopeful that we’ll see more attention to careful design and that we’ll see greater price competition in the pro and semi-pro DSLR market.

(Right after posting this message I saw Michael Reichmann’s post on more or less the same subject.)