Huntress says:

I've had a crappy little camera for about 6 yrs now (I think). I call it my piece of shit. Lovingly. It's an Olympus C-5000 5megapixel (piece of shit).   So for Christmas I want to buy myself a new camera. I want something that doesn't cost a small fortune. I don't need a big professional one with ultra zoom lens, but I don't like the little tiny ones. I've heard the Canons are pretty good... suggestions???

AKSuperDually says:

I think that for the money/quality...the cannon digital rebel is your best/cheapest camera in the digital slr market. I have a rebel xt, and plan to upgrade within the next year or two. Digital photography is addictive.

Crip says:

I can't get into digital, too costly for the SLRs and I like the 35mm photo's, color quality is far superior. Thanks to digital, you can get a 35mm SLR for the right money, I love my Minolta, I want a 300mm or 400mm lens next, never can have enough. I'd go with the Sony myself if I did go digital, they bought out the Minolta stuff after the company went under.

AKSuperDually says:

I wouldn't say that 35mm color quality is superior to digital....most quality dslr's are way better quality photos than 35mm. But...they are expensive. I don't think you can get into the quality range for less than $500 for a DSLR body. Lenses are more. I'm not a sony fan...they aren't really considered in the same market as cannon when it comes to DSLR's. I suppose their purchase of minolta is an effort to fix that.

devnull says:

Canon is the predominant company in DSLR's.

I've been happy with the many Canon DSLR's I've owned. Canon also makes some very nice hybrid-ish cameras that are like the DSLR layout, without the interchangeable lenses and such.

Huntress says:

My bro has a digital Canon, not an SLR, but an older model he has been very pleased with. That's why I've been leaning toward the Canons, and I've read a few good reviews on them. How much on avg does a DSLR run?

devnull says:

You'll end up spending about $800 minimum to get started with a decent kit (camera, lens, memory cards, etc).

You can often find some excellent deals on craigslist.org, and since the listings are local, you can check out the camera to make sure it works before you buy it.

Huntress says:

Thanks devnull, I was expecting to spend about that much. Hopefully I can get a house under contract soon

SuperCrutyPS says:

We went with a Olympus digital camera. It does okay for us. (See my pics in the "OUTDOOR" forum) It isn't SLR and I don't see it available anymore where we bought it.

SLRs are coming down in price, but devnull hit it on price.

So...you have a couple choices:
A) Set a budget of what you're going to spend - buy to that $$.
B) Keep your POS camera for now, save up for better - Then buy what you want.

Keep in mind, whatever you buy will probably be obsolete about the time you get it. (See my opening statement)

Good luck in your search - That's half the fun!!!