I had a 35mm Minolta SLR, and 2 nice lenses I bought while on board a destroyer in San Diego, travelling the world. I wouldn't say I'm a good photographer, but I do enjoy being able to do more than your average point & shoot, though I'm not fluent in the ways of aparature, shutter speed, etc... So when it came time to upgrade, I got the Minolta Maxxum 7D with a new lens, and it fits my old lenses just fine. Then the new lens broke. Sony bought Minolta, so I sent the lens to Sony. They said they couldn't fix it, and my options were to send back the camera and get $1076 back (Refund minus the months used out of a 7 year warranty, which came to like 7 months of use), take back the broken lens, or get a new Sony A100.
Ok, thats the story. So I have about $1100 coming back to me for a new camera, but I'm a bit torn. The Nikon D80 and Canon Rebel XTi are getting supurb reviews, and are currently the best choice for my price point... The Sony A100 got good reviews for Sony's first DSLR (which fits all minolta lenses), but I don't know if I want to spend 900-1100 on a 'good' camera. I want a great camera, and I liked the 7D.
I don't know if I can wait for the 2nd gen Sony to come out... So should I just get the new A100, or go with Nikon/Canon instead? I may just buy a fancy-pants point & shoot until the 2nd gen Sony comes out, but I'd welcome any opinions from the camera enthusiasts lurking about.
