Are certain dslr cameras better at photographing different things?

I had a nikon d40 and my ex roommate ended up stealing it and selling it! Anyway… A friend of mines father did a lot of wedding photography and told me nikons on bad for photographing people… Is this true? Are certain cameras better at some things than others? I'm looking into gdetting another camera and I'm trying to figure out what brnd I want to get. I mostly do nature stuff and then portraits for people when they ask.

The D40 is an excellent camera for shooing just about anything. Your friends dad is incorrect. It that were so, Nikon would have gone out of business years ago.

As a professional photographer I can't be expected to have Canon cameras for shooting portraits and Nikon's for shooting NBA games. That is really silly if you think about it.

Here are a couple of shots from a Nikon dSLR

As you can see, it is all about lighting and custom white balance NOT the camera

There are some things that would lead a person to buy a certain brand and model camera

If I were shooting astrophotography, the Canon 60Da camera is designed just for that.
If I were shooting under low light (basketball, football, baseball) I would be using a Nikon D3s
If I were shooting IR assignments, I would have converted one of my dSLR's to an IR only camera

However in general, if you use the correct white balance when shooting your subjects, you can produce excellent photos with ANY dSLR.

I have a Nikon DSLR and had a Cannon 35mm SLR cameras and I really can't tell the difference well other than the obvious one is film and the other digital. I use my Nikon D50 for taking pictures at equestrian events, family events and holidays and it does fine. BUT I only use only Nikor lenses which I think makes a difference. I guess it really boils down to brand preference we got the D50 because it fit my partners hands better when she picked it up.

I can say that all DSLR bodies are almost the same, what differs is their focusing engine, burst speed blablabla. Lens choice is much more important. Usage of the correct lenses for the different purposes it meant to do will produce excellent results. Say a 85mm f1.8 will produce beautiful portraits, a 200mm f2.8 is lovely for sports, 60mm f2.8 macro is used for macro, 11-16mm for wide landscapes and so much more.camera brands never affect a photographer's results, it is his skill in using them.

All dSLR's are basically the same no matter what brand or model whether it's a crop sensor, full frame or medium format. What you can do with one, you can do with another. You just have to know what to do with the camera. That's all that matters.

It's actually more about using the right lens and when it comes to lenses, it's all about focal length. Here's a guide that may help you see what you need.

http://keerok-photography.blogspot.com/2011/05/lenses-so-many-of-them-there-is-no-best.html

It's absolute rubbish. Any DSLR camera, whatever the brand, and in the right hands can be used to take excellent pictures of any subject. Photographs aren't made by cameras - they are made by photographers.

The brand of camera doesn't matter, what matters is you learn how to use it. What's more lenses are more important in DSLR photography than the camera.