The new Canon EOS Rebel XSi when it is available would be an excellent choice, and still leave a bit in your budget for an extra lens or two.

Thanks, I'll definitely look into that! Do you know when it's going to be available?

The Canon news release at http://www.usa.canon.com/templatedata/pressrelease/20080123_xsi.html says it will be shipping in April.

I just read the article... it sounds exactly like what I'm looking for! Hopefully I won't get impatient before I can actually buy it.
I work for a newspaper and one of our photographers has a Canon, and I'm constantly lightening the photos in Photoshop

The problem of digital files appearing darker than desired may be due to post-exposure camera processing or to a tendency to under-expose; or it could be at the computer receiving end. To obtain a viable correction first you need to establish if in fact the camera is underexposing by examining the histogram of a number of different files; or whether the output file simply has the midpoint gray set to the low side. If the camera is consistently underexposing the camera setting can be adjusted to compensate, and likewise if the image file midpoint is just set too dark, then also the menu options on the camera may provide an adjustment to output.

That sounds confusing to me now, but I'll try to figure out how to check those things. It's good to know it's not something really wrong with the camera though... I've heard a lot of good things about Canon and always wanted one. Is that your favorite brand, or do you have any other recommendations?

well seeing that you are willing to spend that much money on a camera. i can reccommend the one that i use, i use the Olympus E-500...but i would also reccommend any of the other E series from Olympus. they are not overly expensive and comparible to some of the other cameras in the price range you are looking at. i find that it all really depends on the photographer.

AJ

Thanks! Is that a professional camera? I've heard that amateurs should buy less expensive cameras made for less experienced photographers... is this true? I'd rather pay the price for a professional camera now (even though I don't have much experience) instead of buying one for $500 now and then paying another $2000 for a "professional" camera later. What's the difference between the two?