Kevin: My suggestion for budding photographer is this: First, pick a time when you have a couple of uninterrupted hours. Second, find a good camera shop in your town/ city, or whatever. Now by a good camera shop I mean that you should walk in and tell the salesclerk that you're interested in a new camera but you don't know much about them. If the clerk takes one off the shelf and says, 'This is the one for you!'... leave. Say thanks, have a nice day or whatever, but leave. If the clerk doesn't know his or her products, leave. A clerk at a good camera shop will be willing to spend an hour, two hours, whatever, with you, explaining the features of the different cameras they offer that are within your price range. Pick it up. Hold it in your hands. Look through the viewfinder. Play with the menus. Try a different camera. Only through this process can you find a camera system that will work for you. After you've experienced 'using' one or more different cameras and you're getting to the stage where you're on information overload, take the clerk's card and go home. Mull it over. You'll find that questions come to you that you didn't think about while you were in the store. You'll find yourself going back to one or maybe two different models, maybe of different brands. When you're ready, go back to the camera store.
The bottom line is that Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Leica, Olympus, Hasselblad, Mamiya, etc. etc. etc. all make high quality cameras but only you can decide what feels good to you, what works for you, what features you feel you need... and a good camera clerk will be able to answer your questions, will not try to 'sell' you on anything, and will encourage an open discussion about what you need. Sure, they'll appreciate it if you buy from them, but that's good business.
Mike.
