BCampbell said:
You could buy a 6MP point-n-shoot and it may give better results than a bottom-line SLR... and it may even give better results than an 8MP SLR.
This is EXTREMELY unlikely... The digital sensor in a digital SLR is physically larger than that found in almost all compact cameras, irrespective of the final "megapixel" resolution of the saved picture file. What this translates to is increased sharpness and reduced artifacting (noise) in the final image, because bottom line, the larger the size of the sensor, the more light is gathered and the better the final result. You'll really see the largest jumps when you shoot in low light- digital SLRs, even when shooting at a high ISO rating (say, 1600) have a lot less "grain" than the same speed of push-developed film would show .
Another benefit of a SLR (single-lens reflex camera, for those asking- think a "tradional camera with interchangable lenses) is the LENSES- if you have existing lenses for, say, Nikon, then those lenses will work with your digital body (with some exceptions). Usually, the quality of the glass in even an entry-level SLR lens is far superior to the comparitively teensy lenses in compact cameras. There are some exceptions to this rule (the Zeiss lenses in a Leica spring immediately to mind... but those cameras go for several THOUSAND dollars), but in general you'll do better with an SLR. Just remember that unless you get a $3000 body, almost all digital SLRs do NOT shoot a full-frame 35mm image- they effectively "crop" about 30% of the edges of an image, which will mean that your spiffy 25mm ultra-wide-angle landscape lens is really a 38mm not-so-wide angle portrait lens when mounted on a digital SLR body. The good news is that your 200mm will function like a 300mm ultra-zoom, however. ANd hey, no film to worry about and you can preview your shots to make sure you got what you wanted (didigal SLRa almost always even allow you to view an image's histogram even)... That alone is worth a HUGE ammount of lens headaches IMHO.
Of course, cameras are just tools... Real photographers have a variety of cameras, both SLR and compact, and use whatever will ge tthe job done. I've often heard it said that "the best camera for the job is the one you have in your hand when the perfect moment arrives", so don't get too bent out of shape about HAVING to have a SLR. While I love mine, I've taken images with my 6megapixel Olymous compact camera that made stunning 11x14s, after a bit of digital clean up and enhancement in Paint Shop Pro... SLRs are great but they're expensive and massive.... compacts are, well, COMPACT and are easy to tote around all day, but most are limited in what they can do with white balance changes and are limited to their zoom range. It's all a trade-off...