Thanks for the advice on the camera...

[Buckeye_Sean]

Went ahead and pulled the trigger on the Canon S5 IS. Amazon has it this morning for $279.99 + 9.95 shipping through PC Universe. (I think there were still a few left in stock at that price.) Also ordered an 8GB class 6 SDHC card through Supermediastore for $32 shipped with free SDHC card reader. For $320-ish I feel I got a good deal on a great camera and plenty of memory to boot. (For comparison Sears had it on sale for $319.99 + tax for just the camera.)

Wanted to say thanks for all those who offered up their help and suggestions. In the end I just couldn't justify the expense of the Rebel Xti for what I do. I also decided the S5 was a little better camera than the SX100 per build quality and had a few more features I liked.

Thanks guys!

[jdc]

isnt that camera due for replacement very soon?

[Kraniac]

All of them are due for replacement soon.

[Buckeye_Sean]

Could be JDC - though it seems more and more most consumer mid-grade cameras aren't improving much with the camera itself, only adding megapixels.

Besides, I need a camera now. ;-)

[vision63]

It's been out for about a year (available for less). I don't think it'll be replaced til maybe February (could be August). With the Olympics coming up though, who knows what they'll do.

[btfc]

"the S5 was a little better camera than the SX100 per build quality"

Absolutely. Good choice!

[jdc]

yeah, i was thinking that one year in camera years was like "already dead"

[Racer X]

[quote Buckeye_Sean]Could be JDC - though it seems more and more most consumer mid-grade cameras aren't improving much with the camera itself, only adding megapixels.

Besides, I need a camera now. ;-)
and adding pixels isn't actually doing a whole lot of good, unless they increase the size of the sensor, and improve on the quality of the optics.

That is why a 12 MP pro D-SLR with a full size sensor takes higher quality images than a 10+ MP P/S camera.