Well, I spent about $1600 US on my coolpix (I think it was a 995 ... not certain) by the time I also got all the additional lens adapters and such. My D100 with a basic lens and an additional flash was about the same. The thing is, unless something really odd happens, I will probably never have to buy another digital camera, or, if I do (because there is some huge change in the technology), I should only need to buy another back, and not new lenses. Also, and I could be wrong on this, but I think the resale will be better for the lenses (if I ever decide to drop the hobby) than for any one style of digital camera. I think my Kodak DC290 cost me about $900 to $1000 when I got it .... you can get them on ebay for about $300 now. Now, if someone cannot afford to go that route, I fully understand. It's just that if you are going to blow $1000 on something (and probably another $600 getting goodies for it), my personal opinion is that you are better off paying the $1600 on the basis for a good semi-professional kit.

Could be worse, could be raining.