This may sound a little odd, but don't immediately discount paying for a good SLR style digital such as a D100. Here's my logic. Over the last 10+ years, I've probably bought 8 digital cameras. I bought my first before they came with onboard flash, so we're talking early digital. In that 10 years, I've probably spent $8,000 on all those cameras and attachments and accessories. In the end, what I really find myself using is my D100 (I actually gave away one of my coolpix cameras). The thing is, if you find you want to get more serious about traditional photography, all you need to do is get a standard Nikon film back and can keep using all of your lenses and other goodies that (trust me) you will end up buying. I've got a drive big enough on the camera to hold 300+ 2ftx3ft photos in the highest quality (which means I can do a lot of recropping and other postwork without losing quality in the print). And, as memory gets cheaper and larger, I'll probably upgrade that drive. If you think you will have any interest in photography, I urge you to get the best and most flexible camera you can afford. As you have already learned, there is nothing more frustrating to want to take a particular shot only to realize that your equipment will not do it, and that there is no lens or other add on that you can purchase that will make it work. Add to that, the possiblity that, if you have friends who are into photography or join a camera club, you may be able to borrow special lenses in order to try out special shots without, or before, buying the additional equipment. OK ... off my soapbox now.

Could be worse, could be raining.