[K.B.]

Big Ed
If you want to stick with Minolta, the 7D DSLR is a great work of art. It has all the knobs and buttons on the camera like a 35mmSLR does, less of those silly menu choices burried several layers down. Konica Minolta just sold out to Sony however, and its anybodies guess as to what is going to happen. If you have a lot of expensive lenses for Minolta already then it is worth it to stick with Minolta. If your most expensive lense is $200 then I'd switch to Cannon or Nikon. Nikon comes up with better flesh tones if you are going for studio work. Cannon has faster lenses if you are into sports and fast action.

If you just want a small easy to take along camera, check some of the low price Kodak models. They refocus quickly and are pretty bomb proof. You can also get a cheap printer for $130 bucks to print 4x6 prints quickly.

Cameras have become a lot like computers, whatever you get it will be somewhat obsolete in 3 or 4 years anyway -