DSL or??

[jimmy]

I'm, confused: I have been using a canon sd 500 for about a year, love it, but it's time to learn real photo fun. I have read and read, down to 2, Minolta 5d, or Sony Ri, I know they are not the same type, but both have things I want., for the same price I can get the 5d with 2 lenes and all the things to go with the camera, i.e. flash, card 1g, filters, and such, the Sony for the same money is just camera 1g card ,bag and a few small things. I take a lot of indoor "people" beach and sun {i live in Mexico] and I do not know much about camera controls, to me the bottom line is the Sony "glass" or the Minolta's "IS" and flexibility. please help me, thanks in advance Boy I'm a dummy, I ment too write SLR

[coldrain]

The Sony R1 is an all in one with one big plus over entry DSLR's: you can use the LCD for framing photos, you can judge light and white balance before the photo is taken. You can make shots impossible with a DSLR (frog view, around the corner, arm lenght self portraits, over crowds heads photos...)

But it has its down sides too, while its lens is not bad, it has its limitations (like severe falloff to the corners), and a limitted range. Also at higher ISO it gets a bit more noisy, espcially in shadows.

The KM 5D will give the freedom to put lenses on by choice, you can do anything with the camera in that sense. Do bare in mind that a Canon EOS 350D/XT or Nikon D50 will give you quite a lot more lens options, you are buying into a lens system when you buy a DSLR... lenses do not fast age like digital cameras tend to do, they are more an investment into a future system (and the DSLR body will be replaced by something new).