I got Canon gear because my friend I’m sharing gear with uses Canon. That, and all the pro photogs I see at sporting events are using Canon too so I figured I couldn’t go wrong. =D
I got a Minolta SLR in the late seventies. It died in the 90’s. Went to digital in the late 90’s with a Kodak DC200. It was called a megapixel because it is slightly over 1 Meg (and it cost $400). I got my Canon a little over 2 years ago.