About a year ago when I was looking for a DSLR camera, there were 2 sensor sizes available in the market. There is the small sized format sensor DX or 4/3 standards (similar to the APS film equivalent), where the captured images has a crop effect of 1.5 to 2.0 times using any of the standard 35mm lenses. The other sensor size has the same size and dimension as a 35mm film. The key reason I went with the Nikon D70, which has the APS size format, because of the price. Most of the APS sensor size DSLR on the market are within the 1,000 to 2,000 price range, but the 35mm full frame (few in models) DSLR cost 10,000 or more - one being Canon's EOS-1Ds Mark II. The problem of using any APS sized sensor DSLR with 35mm lenses is that it cuts out 1/3 of the images because of the crop factor, so you're not using the entire glass to frame you picture, which is a shame for any group or wide-angle shots.
Canon has recently announced a new camera (available late in the Fall this year) called EOS 5D that has a 35mm full frame sensor; it created a big commotion in the pro-consumer community because of its price and size. The suggested retail price is around 3,200 USD (about 5,000 CDN), though it is not cheap, it's more affordable than Canon's professional Mark II. It has the size and weight similar to the 350D as well, which is light enough to bring on a trip. So, this beg the question that 35mm sensor DSLR is becoming more affordable in the future with Canon setting the bar on EOS 5D's price, size and weight. In time, it may reach the same price range as the current APS sensor DSLR, but having to stay with Nikon because of the lenses that I invested, I wish Nikon will invest the time and money to produce a full frame sensor someday. Hopefully soon, before Canon has the 35mm full-frame sensor market all to itself with the EOS 5D.
