You said it will be 2 people and some gear...do you anticipate dealing with anything in terms of whitewater beyond some riffles?
I own a 1942 canvas Old Town Canoe, a 16' Nova Craft Moisie, and a 17' Wenonah Rendezvous. The Old Town is best for looking at, the Moise has high rocker and is meant for moderate whitewater tripping, and the Rendezvous is meant for taking an absolute beating and carrying massive amounts of gear.
Moisie - high rocker (good for turning on a dime in swift rocker, and dealing with larger waves....but terrible if it is lightly loaded and there is strong wind), patented "Tuff Stuff" composite material that can take a beating, but it can scratch badly if you anticipate doing fall/winter low water trips in rocky areas, fairly light (58 lbs if I remember correctly)
Rendezvous - low rocker (basically moderately functional on lakes and moving water, but not great at either), Royalex (very durable but heavy (68 lbs or so), HUGE carrying capacity (a couple years ago my dad and I paddled the Hayes River from Lake Winnipeg to Hudson Bay in 25 days....that's a shitload of gear and abuse....and it handled it admirably)
It comes down to a venn diagram between 1) what type of water (rapids, low water, swift water, lakes, etc) you anticipate using it on, 2) what kind of abuse you are going to put it through (pack rafts are wonderful....but they cannot deal with being dragged through low water rapids/portages...in the same vein, kevlar canoes are unbelievably light and fast, but they are not as durable as TuffStuff or Royalex, which are far heavier), 3) cost/availability in your area, and 4) weight capacity
Last thought...aluminum is loud as shit, and I hate it. That's a personal preference, and I know it is cheap, as I used to have a 16' Grumman aluminum canoe that I got for $100...but it would NOT have been the best choice for sneaky low water hunting trips.
