[RWebb]

good args. for putting I in the lens, not the body...

where are you going to go with this in 5-10-20 years?

with Nikon or Canon or other DSLR's you are buying into a System.

Get a small $250-$300 digital cam w/ a zoom otherwise...
- decide what you do NOT like about that and then move "up" to address those issues.

or get a D40 and do the same with that body

there is nothing out there like the D40 right now for the price -- but you can bet that Canon is readying a strike force to defeat the hated Nikon enemy...

I say this as a guy with 2 Nikon DLSR bodies; 3-4 film bodies left, and about $10,000 in Nikon glass accumulated over the years...