Wow its so funny to read this post...sounds like what I just went through the past months since I had my Canon G6 for 2 years and decided to upgrade to a Dslr. Looked hard at the new Canon Xti, but decided to drop a lil more cash on the Nikon D80 for some better features and over quality I feel. And the lens is the reason I went with Nikon and not Canon.

I got the D80 for $929 and then went with the AMAZING 18-200mm Nikkor lens ($899 alone for the lens too, ouch!) I know the price is high, but I did this instead of buying 2 or 3 different pieces of glass which would add up to the same price I feel. Best thing is (since my hands shake a lot) it has VR - i.e. "Vibration Reduction" and really helps when Im shooting without a tripod (which is often).

Only had it two weeks now, but messing around with it...just shot this pic below yesterday of my antenna topper with the new D80.

Happy Holidays!


P.S. - I bought my old G6 and my new D80 through: www.buydig.com

It shipped super fast and they have pretty decent prices (I dont get anything for promoting them, trust me...but I just know they are top notch the 2 times I ordered from them). Ritz camera etc will charge more if you just want the warm and fuzzy feeling of knowing you can take it right back to the brick and mortar store, but I wanted to save some $$ since the damn lens cost as much as the camera!

I know there are a lot of Canon fans here, but two great write-ups of the D80 and the 18-200mm VR lens are here:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80.htm

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200.htm

All my daily pics below for 2006 (in my sig website below) were with my Canon G6...that camera isn't small either, but it does rock!

Sorry for the longer post, Im just happy not to the the only photo geek that drives an Xterra haha