OK... I'll bite.
I've used Nikons for many years, and write for Pop Photo now, and do quite a bit of writing on small point and shoot cameras. There is a similar mentality in these because manufacturer's tend to want to cram as many pixels into the sensor as they can. More Megapixels means higher quality, right? The other trick they do, and this is more in-line with the noise complaint, is amp up the signal so that the chip becomes more "sensitive" and you can shoot at "higher" ISO settings. The end result here is more noise in the finished image.
Nikon or Canon... I don't really think it matters nearly as much as an informed consumer, pro or otherwise.
Cordially,
Mark Lent
