Welcome to the Forum, F&J. I've enjoyed your work in the Gallery. Michelle has given some good advice. The web site dpreview.com can fill in many of the technical details. Much depends on what you want to do with your work; both the artistic direction, and you plans for the final product. There are very different decisions for a nature photographer vs glamour, and for web posting vs 16X20 prints. One thing to consider is if you already have an investment in lenses for a particular system. In the long run, the cost in lenses will override most everything else. My personal slant right now is to not think of digital cameras as a replacement for film, but rather as something that can be used as another tool in the toolbox. The small size, extreme zooms, and instant results allow doing things in a different, more spontaineous way. For myself, there are some great deals on eBay now for professional grade film equipment at a fraction of the cost of when it was new, or of the current high end digitals. [They are there, BTW, because many pros (particularly wedding photographers?) are now going digital.] One of the mid-tier pocket digitals would be very convenient at times I don't want to carry the big hardware... In any case, budget enough for a copy of Photoshop.