Camera Quest

As usual I can never lay dormant for too long.
I always have t o have something going on.
So of course a new item has piqued my interest. 
The DSLR camera.

For the past year or so I have been noticing people's pictures and how amazing they look.  I compare it to the pictures taken from my point and shoot and they pale in comparison.  Especially action shots which are usually spontaneous.  I definitely need something better.  That and I believe my point and shoot is lost forever in my house or in some thief's grubby hands.

I went into this thinking I could just ask what camera owners of DSLRs would recommend and choose from there.  Wrong.  I soon learned that there is so much more than just looking at how pretty a camera looks and how many meg pixels it has.  Much much more. 

To help me out I ventured over to this site:
http://www.digital-slr-guide.com/ 

That site took me through the steps on choosing a camera based on what I want out of one and what I plan to take pictures of.  It breaks down the terminology as well.  After that step it was on to lens types.  I learned so much and realized that it's not all about the camera but about the person behind the camera as well.

My next step was on to the store to choose the camera based on the 3 I had in mind:

Canon EOS Rebel XS - $499
Nikon D3000 - $499
Nikon D5000 - $699

It was a toss up between the Rebel and the D3000 at first then Andrew jumped in with the D5000 which I had considered but wasn't sure I wanted to spend that much being a beginner.  The main features that Andrew and myself liked on the D5000 that the other two don't have are the Live View (same as on a point and shoot), the tilt screen, and video mode.  There were other features but those three were the most enticing.

I left the store too overwhelmed by the prices, all the features, and the cameras themselves. 
I left with no camera in hand. 

When I got home I did a little more research and found that I may need to change my mind about lenses as well.  I was planning on getting a package with a 55-200mm lens as well as the 18-55mm that the cameras I was looking at comes with but read that the kit lenses aren't great so it's better to save the money and buy later.

So frustrating altogether.  I thought I had it all down and was ready to jump onto the DSLR bandwagon but now I am hesitant. 

Yes, I will still get one but I have to figure out what's best for us and this is where I am running into issues.