I've sent some images to Chuck, but there are probably a few more things worth saying publicly for folks considering the transition. I don't offer this as any sort of expert, but as someone whose experience is still fresh. An important thing to keep in mind is that you're not through spending money after buying the camera. Image-processing software will quickly become desirable. All of the DSLRs I'm aware of will offer you the choice of shooting in JPEGs or RAW (the Canons let you shoot both formats simultaneously). When you shoot JPEGs, the camera's own image processor will choose how to process the image. This includes white balance, sharpening, saturation, contrast, etc. This is very helpful for snapshots, instant viewing and all that. The Canon's processor is very good. My wife has a point-and-shoot Nikon with an excellent processor (although the skies lean a little too far into cyan). But there's always a lot more that's been captured by the camera that you'll eventually want to get out. That's where the image processing software comes in. There are several choices, but the gold standard is probably Photoshop. I've been working with the full version of Photoshop for about a year and have barely scratched the surface. My daughter uses it for her professional work in web design and uses completely different parts of it. It's a huge program and it costs around $400-$500. There's an entry-level version called "Elements" which usually gets thrown in when you buy a scanner or a camera. The good news is that it's a very good program in its own right AND its files are compatible with full Photoshop. I happily used Elements for a couple of years before I graduated. You also have to face the fact that Photoshop is a resource hog. If you've got a $450 Dell Dinkbox laptop, don't even bother. You'll need fast processor(s), lots of memory, lots of disk space. A good color-calibrated monitor is also important. But my oh my, can you pull some beautiful things our of those shots. Michael