A well adjusted cantilever will stop you as well as the same well adjusted V brake... but for most a cantilever is harder to set up and for some is like magic while setting up a V brake is rather simple and I have a tutorial I use in classes that turns what seems like a hard job into one that is ridiculously easy.

Getting a high quality cantilever will cost more than a lesser V brake that will stop you just as well so in many cases, price comes into play and if you are running wider fenders you may find that the standard V brake interferes and that a model designed to work with wider fenders (they have more arched arms) will be needed.