I went for the D40 and got the 18-200 Nikkor lens. I'm happy. But I do miss having a more compact camera at times. I'll probably buy another point and shoot to fit in my pocket.

Here's some good reading material http://www.kenrockwell.com/index.htm

Depens on what you want to do and whether you like to carry a camera regularly.

The DSLRs tka great pictures but who wants to lug one around, + lens

I like a pocket camera and used a Sony DSCT1 for awhile, some pics were great other not so much. The Sony crapped out a year after I dropped it 20ft, oops. Bought a Canon SD790 which I'm pretty happy w/.

Believe it or not my old 2 mp Nikon 950 that i bought a decade ago still takes pics as good as the latest and greatest. It's just a tad bulky and hard to use in sunlight

I love my DSLR, and the best feature for me is the fact that when you press the button it takes the picture. Simple as that. You don't have to try and guess what's going to happen and how long it's going to take for the camera to actually take the picture.

Having said that, the waterproof Olympus is on my short list to get next. My biggest concern is the thing that I love about the DSLR. The dreaded digital camera lag time.

I bought the Panasonic DMC-LX3 recently. It was on sale for $399 and MS Live gave 15% cash back through the retailer, JR.com, so delivered price was $339. I figured I could resell it if I really was not impressed.

So far, it's been really great. I specifically wanted a camera with wider lens (24mm here) and better low light performance. Even with this upgrade (from Canon SD200), I still cannot get perfect indoor shots without a tripod. A tripod produces great pics. The colors are accurate to reality. Excellent detail.

I was prepared to grab a D40 Nikon, but now I'm glad I listened to my instincts (get a smaller camera that will actually be carried regularly). jurgen

Canon A650 IS!

It uses 4 AA batteries, which has been a lifesaver in certain times. Cheap SD cards (4GB=$17). It has a 6X Zoom, plenty. Large 2.5 inch flip out rotate-able LCD screen. Face detection technology. 12.1 Megapixels. Image Stabilization. All the great manual controls you have on an SLR, but it is not as big and clunky as an SLR--I carry it around in my pants pocket. Takes incredibly good pictures.

It's basically a slightly smaller Canon G9, with almost all the same features and much less cost. Canon is the current leader in optics IMO and I can't say enough about this camera--it's fantastic. Carried it all around Asia and found it far more versatile than any SLR and quite powerful. Great value.

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