Digital camera experts i need help & advice. I have had about 2 digital cameras in my lifetime?...

...i'm not complaining about them, but they've just been normal, ya know?
average. under $250 cameras.
and i am really interested in photography and i want like really high quality photos and a camera with tons of extra features.
I had a canon powershot and a kodak.
i want something a little above that, more impressive.
but let's not get too crazy. preferable nothing over $400.
any suggestions?
people i'm looking for something wonderful! not just an average $149 camera. i've already done better than that.
(question posted on 2006-09-25 16:00:56)

"I recently wanted to upgrade too, and decided on the ultra-zoom class of camera. These have powerful zooms (usually 12x) and image stabilization. They also have full or partial manual controls if you are ready to leave Automatic mode behind. Some good choices ($300 to $400) are:

Sony H1 or H2
Canon S2 IS
Panasonic FZ7

I got the Sony H1 and my daughter has the Canon S2. We are very happy with both of them. I liked the Sony better because of the bigger 2.5 in. LCD.

Others at $400 to $500 are:

Sony H5
Canon S3 IS
Panasonic FZ30

I almost bought the Panasonic FZ30 because it has zoom and focus rings on the lens barrel like the d-SLR's. But it is bigger and heavier than the others. (Of course, that makes it more impressive looking!!)

You can also buy add-on convertor lenses to increase the telephoto, wide-angle or closeup performance of these cameras.

If you are interested, take a look at the following web page. It is a paper written by a pro photographer about how to use this type of camera, and all the things you can do with it. it was written about the Sony H1, but the ideas apply to all of these cameras.

http://www.aakatz.com/h1whitepaper/homepage.htm

Good Luck"
(chosen answer)