narrowing my search down and wanted to ask you experts for some help. First my price range. Since this is my first crack at a SLR camera, I'd like to keep the budget relatively low until I get a good grasp of what i'm doing. This is probably one of the many cases where the better gizmo isn't the problem, but rather the user's skills. So I want to go with a basic lens that will give me decent flexibility in terms of what I can shoot, while allowing me to learn the camera.

Sooo, with that in mind, I'd like to keep the price at about $1600 - lower would be better. What say you all to these options:

1. 20D - Body only. Assuming street price of about $1349.00 (using the latest ritz camera ad), what lenses could i purchase that would level out the total price to $1600 or less?

2. 20D - w/Canon 18-55 Zoom. Ritz and several other places are selling this package for $1449.00. Is this a good starter package? Will this at least be equal to my Panasonic FZ20?

3. 20D - w/Quantaray 55-200mm F/4-5.6 DC AF Lens. Ritz has this package for $1619.95. Don't know anything about lenses, so anyone familiar with this particular product?

4. 20D - w/Canon 17-85mm ISUSM Lens. A bit out of my price range at $2k - but wondering if the presumably better lens is worth the initial outlay over the other options.

5. Totally different - Ritz has the Nikon D70 body only for $749.00 and then basically tack on any number of lenses that would come in at under the $1600 limit?

What will i be taking photos of? I'd like to get into nature photography, to include flowers (macros) and animals, large and small. Cars of course, sporting events (soccer, football, baseball) as well as random stuff (weapons, abstract stuff). People too, particularly on some of my more expensive vacation travels where i want the memories to come out pretty good on paper.

Finally, what king of bags/compact flash cards are you guys using? I've got a separate budget for gear - $200 on cards (probably go with 2 1gb cards) and another $100 for a good bag. Thanks for your help gang!!

I would pick up the D70 or Canon Rebel XT (body alone can be had for $6XX now) and two very good lenses, one for wide and one for telephoto. The lenses will last for nearly ever, but digital camera technology changes constantly and cameras are always just verging on being out of date.

For cards, Newegg has the Kingston 2GB card for $120ish shipped. With the 2gb you won't have to swap cards and it's a true flash-memory card, not a microdrive, so it will consume less power and be more durable.

Gotta love solid state memory.

As to whether it will produce pictures as vibrant and sharp as your Panasonic FZ20, I really don't know as I haven't used the FZ20. One things for sure though, the sharpness and colour saturation, even when shooting in JPG and having the camera to do the sharpening and colour adjustments for you, might not be up to your expections perhaps. IMO, one could probably shoot most of the pictures with JPG, but you can get better results by shooting in RAW format and doing your own sharpening and adjustments.

Option 4 would be great, but I see you want to save money. In my opinion, the best bang fo the buck starter lens for Canon is the 28-135 IS for about $400. It is one of the highest rated non-L zoom lenses in the Canon lineup, and covers a very usable zoom range. From there you can start saving up money for L lenses. The 18-55 is a decent throw in, but I think I would find it too short a lot of the time, or not wide enough with the 0.6 crop factor.

If you really need to stay within your budget, swap the Rebel in for the 20D in option 4. If you're new to photography, it'll take you a few years to outgrow the functions of the Rebel anyway.

I'd honestly start with just the Rebel XT and the kit lens. The kit lens only adds another $70 or so, and even when you buy other lenses, it'll still be useful as a macro lens. Use that kit lens to determine whether the 18-28mm focal length is important to you. If it is not, the 28-135IS is a great suggestion. If it is, I'm afraid the next suggestion is going to get expensive. The good news is you saved a bit of money going with the XT, so you now have the budget to get 2-3 lenses you want/need. And that's the entire point behind going to an SLR. Different lenses for different purposes.

As far as what you want to take pictures of...the ideal set of lenses to meet those needs could cost you thousands. Bite off small chunks at a time. Use the kit lens, see where it's limitations are (for you), and choose the next lens accordingly. You may value a wide angle lens as your next choice, or you may value a telephoto for sports shooting, or something in between.

Something to keep in mind...the 70-200L f4 will probably fall on your radar screen at some point. While it's somewhat large and conspicuous (white), it's one of Canon's cheapest L zooms at $600, and it's quite sharp and colorful. It's not the perfect solution, but it will work for well lit sporting events where you are reasonably close to the action, portraits, some macro stuff, animals large and small, etc.

You have to shop around for deals. I got mine at Samy's slightly used. Also Dell had them brand new for $490 a few weeks back. Your right, I bought lenses covering all focal lengths and am upgrading the ones I use the most. Most likely going to get a 17-40L next or Tamron 28-75. Just keep shooting, that's my motto.

And that Dell deal...I tried to point that out to a friend. By the time he got to it, it was dead, and he was SOL. Since that deal...the 70-200 f4 has been conspicuously unavailable at Dell's website. I've tried repeated to put it in my cart during the other sales they have had, and no dice. It might be xmas before Dell has any of them in stock at this rate.

L lenses are strong like bull, and this one was from a reputable camera shop that checked it before shipping. Although third party stuff like Tamron and Sigma I would buy new unless I knew the person just because of the QC issues with those lenses.

As for mine...I think mine had a few "cleaning marks" on the glass, but otherwise pretty good. The hood mount (plastic) had some wear on it and the hood has seen better days, but my copy is sharp as a tack, so I can't complain.

looks like the 20D is out of my league for my desired price range. will study the XT a little closer and keep the D70 on my radar.

You can get better prices on the 20d at <a href="http://www.onecall.com" target="_blank">OneCall.com</a> or <a href="http://www.newegg.com" target="_blank">NewEgg.com</a>

Get at least a 2GB card.