For years, Kodak has released a slower, higher resolution "60" camera and a faster, lower resolution "20" camera. Nikon launched the D1X and the D1H to compete with the respective Kodak models. Less than a year ago, Canon came to us and said we no longer had to choose, the top-of-the-line Canon EOS-1D was all you would need whether you were shooting in the studio or in the savanna. The EOS-1D always felt more at home traveling than it did in the studio, where it trailed both the Kodak DCS 760 and Nikon D1X in resolution. To say that the Canon EOS-1Ds overcomes this difference would be selling it short. The EOS-1Ds has an amazing full-frame 11MP CMOS sensor. It feels and functions much the same as the EOS-1D besides having no crop-factor over 35mm film and only shooting 3 fps, the same as Nikon's D1X. Like the EOS-1D, it offers 100% coverage in the viewfinder and it provides 1/250s flash sync.
It is interesting looking at how Canon and Nikon have approached their entry into the digital SLR market. Nikon started by attacking Kodak at the top, introducing models quickly which competed with Kodak's current models while Canon started by creating an entry-level SLR which either filled a new niche or competed with Fujifilm's smaller SLRs. This year, Nikon released the excellent D100 to compete with Canon at the entry-level while Canon's released the EOS-1D and EOS-1Ds to compete at the top (and at $8,000, the 1Ds matches the price of Kodak's latest offerings). What we've seen out of all this is that all three companies are playing leap-frog, with the advantage going to the most recently released product. Kodak's options are still the most fully-featured, and may be your only option if you need to file your photo from the field through your cellular phone; but they lack the feel and portability of their competitors. Canon has been investing resources in CMOS imaging sensors in-house, which appears to have payed-off big; but their cameras are spartan when it comes to technological extras, without even the ability to record exposure locations via GPS receivers.