Well, if you go with the Sony and decide later you want to switch to Nikon or Canon, you're not going to be out a huge amount of money, as long as you haven't bought a bunch of additional Sony lenses/flashes/etcetera. Basically, you'll lose the $530, minus whatever you can sell the Sony stuff for. If you do decide to get into photography more seriously, you'll easily spend more than that on your first "nice" lens, so that will be the time to decide if you really want to stick with Sony.

 

Tilt LCD screen with live view may be handy when you're in the dirt taking flower photos or grunt-grunt, stuffing the camera in the engine bay for a performance upgrade detail shot. Other than that, I hate using the LCD display on my P&S camera because I'm so used to the oh-so-much-superior viewfinder on a SLR. I think you'll find it less useful than you think. YMMV.

+1 to everything ScottRiqui has said better than I could.

 

hmmm really I never would have guessed anybody wouldn't like the lcd screen. I could see getting used to the viewfinder and in alot of situations you can probably get a better shot using the viewfinder. I think I'm gonna go with the Sony and the two lenses only because I don't see myself diving very very deep into photography because my job takes up so much of my time I hardly ever have time to myself to make a real serious hobby out of photography. I do however love going in this forum and checking out the amazing photographs you pro guys take with all the different types of lenses that are available. WOW there are really some amazing pictures on here! I just want to thank all of you who have helped me out with this decision. I can think of at least a dozen more questions I could ask you guys but would probably get annoying after a while. HEHE Hopefully I'll get some pictures on here soon of my first attempts at DSLR'ing.

Thanks again!
Steve

 

Just another thing to consider when using a dSLR-
The live view feature is nice for people who are familiar with normal point and shoots, but SLRs, you'll want to use the viewfinder simply because it's easier to manipulate the zoom and focus because it's braced up against your face.
And since it's braced with your head, it's less likely to shake around than if it were hand held.

 

Well I regret to inform you that I held off on the DSLR for another year or two because I got a really great deal on the Canon SX10IS at Best Buy and I dont think I'm at the point in my life where I will really be able to USE a slr to all of its goodness and potential. Hopefully in another year or two my salary should increase quite significantly and the money for a Nikon D40 and a nice lens or two should not really be an issue...plus I'll have this nice handy super zoom point and shoot to go along with my collection.

Thanks,
Steve

 

No regrets, you've bought a nice camera. Enjoy it & post some pictures for us.

 

Thanks for the kind words You and Scott and a few others have been oh so very helpful in my research and I really have learned alot about SLR's and what to look for when in the market.....so thank you. I'm looking forward to taking some nice winter shots here as its been getting progressively colder here in NY.

Thanks,
Steve