Camera Advice?

[rbottner]

I have been wanting to get into photography for a long time. I really enjoy taking pictures and when I have the opportunity to borrow a friends camera, I take some great pictures - some have even been published or used in small publications.

I have about $1,000 to spend right now on a camera setup but I am new to this so I am not sure what I need. I would like to be able to take all sorts of pictures, ranging from outdoor nature pictures on a sunny day to pictures of friends in a darker room at a restaurant.

It seems that there are TONS of options and I have asked my friends who are into photography and all have them have different answers for what I should do. And it's for me hard to decipher the difference between all of the features that the various cameras have to offer.

Keep in mind that this $1,000 is for EVERYTHING... the camera, a case, memory card(s), battery(ies), tripod, etc. etc. I have heard Nikkon is a great product, and have used a Nikkon 5700 and liked it. But then I looked at the Nikkon 8800 (in my price range with all of the accessores) and I don't understand what the features are of it.

Basically, I am not nearly advanced enough to buy an SLR. So I need a Point and Shoot camera that can take great pictures that I could do alot with, ranging from trying to sell them as stock footage to taking pictures for people at private parties and posting them on a website.

Any information or suggestions that you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[rbottner]

How is this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=7505840309