If you don't want a DSLR, but want a good camera, buy the Canon S(2,3,5) IS. It's the best camera inbetween shitty point and shoot and SLR. You get a compact size, but 12x optical zoom and a quality sensor. It's the point and shoot I want to buy (and I learned photography on DSLRs).
S3 IS is $300 on Amazon, S5 IS just came out, so it's $500. They really are spectacular cameras, though, even the older S2 IS is worth a few hundred.
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