Keep it on a reasonable budget...don't send me a 1,500 dollar camera. Somewhat compact. Easy buttons and controls. Here's a good place to research...
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great site... nice comparisions I'll only spend half that much for you. Get a Nikon D50. There is no delay between pictures at all and no delay between the time you press the button and the camera takes the picture. It has a few "consumer friendly" automatic modes that make it very easy to use, but still offers total photographic control when you are ready to take charge. The "kit" lens is a decent lens optically, but you might want to upgrade to the Nikkor AF-S 18-70 f/3.5-4.5G ED DX lens for a bit more range and a lot more durability. When you are ready to add lenses, the sky is the limit with Nikon.
Get a 1 GB memory card, such as the Sandisk "Ultra" for decent write speed.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d50.htm
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Ni...
Circuit City has it for $700, with the lens.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Nikon-D50...
Walmart has it for $660.
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.d...
The memory card will cost $50-60 or so, depending on sales or rebates. | 