Serious Photography Camera?
okay, so i'm into photography and i want a really nice camera that can do everything, like taking pictures of night scenery with no flash, that kinda stuff. serious photography. i'd be willing to spend from $200-$600, if that can get me anything worth buying. like the ones that have detachable lenses 
thanks. best suggestion 10 points 
Comments
"like the ones that have detachable lenses" do you mean SLR (single lens reflex)?
A serious camera for "serious photography" may mean different things to different persons. To me the phrase means
1) being able to separately or together, control the factors that affect photo exposure (apperature, shutter, iso, flash fill)
2) review depth of field
3) a sensor of adequate size and pixel count to make enlargements to 16 x 22.
4) lens quality that permits such enlargements without causing aberrations.
And I personnaly feel that an adjustable LCD back is a must. This was introduced in the early digital cameras but for reasons unclear to me abandoned until this year.
I suspect the prism will be abandoned from high quality cameras in the next 1-2 years as the quality of small view finder LCD's has increased and I've read that those small LCD's have been ordered in large amount by certain camera manufacturers. It's about time, since the prism adds a lot of weight and bulk to the cameras, not to mention the cost since it requires a mirror to flip up. So, I'm waiting to buy my SLR (correction, TTL since it won't be called SLR anymore) till then. In the mean time, I bought the G11 Canon, to satisfy my other requirements, to a degree.
Below is a link for a forum to review the cameras you might be interested in.
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1...
Well, if you really want to get into photography, and take it more seriously and so forth, but you are a beginner and don't have much money, I would suggest you buy a bottom of the line DSLR, so I would go with someone like a Canon Rebel XTI or a Nikon D80 or something like that. They cost like $500, but they come with a start lens kit, and then once you become more experienced in photography over time, and you want to add wide-angle lenses and zoom-lenses to your arsenal, you can buy those separately. The pictures you take with a DSLR, even a bottom of the line cheapo $500 one will be MUCH much better than a photograph taken by a point-and-shoot camera. This is because it has a much larger sensor. They also have fairly beginner-friendly auto-modes for these cameras, so you will be taking nice pictures right out of the box, but if you read the user manual, and look up some good beginners guides to digital photography on the internet, you will be able to take some really breathtaking shots probably. I would also suggest you invest in a tripod, because this will allow you to do a lot more, since camera-shake will be completely taken out of the equation, allowing you to run much slower shutter-speeds and so forth, which will allow you to get much more beautiful and crips photos than if you had to run a high shutter speed to neutralize the shaking of your hands when you take photos. Good luck, and have fun!
I have a canon rebel XS, and I love it.
But, the body and a standard lens ended up being around $600-700. Also, if you aren't educated in using SLR's I wouldn't get one yet. I highly suggest that you get a nice point and shoot camera instead of an SLR (the ones with the detachable lenses). After you have that for a couple of years then you can decide if you want to put all of the money into an SLR. Because an SLR you'll also need to buy other lenses, because that's how you zoom in using an SLR. Lenses can cost between $300-or even up to $1500! So that's definitely an investment in money.
I HIGHLY suggest you purchase something like this:
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=M...
OR
http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=M...
I had the PowerShot SX1 IS before my canon rebel XS and I LOVED it.
Hopefully this helped!
Good luck!
Canon Rebel XS
Nikon D-60 + one extra lens(70-300mm nikkor G lens, it's the cheapest) + tripod + remote and you are on.
i would use anything on the Canon Rebel line. they have served me well over the years.
The Nikon D40 might be good for you: http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Di...
And if your willing to spend a few extra $'s, The Nikon D60 is GREAT!: http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Di...