Looking into buying a camera, need some help fast.
 

Ok, so I'm going to my brothers wedding on memorial day and I'm looking into getting an SLR. I have a Fuji Finepix F20. Im a beginning photographer and REALLY want to get more into this, I ride around alot on my motorcycle and see stuff that I wanna take pictures of, but my F20 just won't power up fast enough for me to really use it enough.

I was looking into the Nikon D40 and D40x atm, as I can get them for a pretty good price at my work right now and I've heard REALLY good things about them. But again, I'm new to the game so if anyone has some feedback, suggestions etc, I would LOVE to hear it.

Just remember that the D40 and D40X have no focus motor on the body, so you have to buy lenses with a built in focus motor, or be good at manual focusing. I'd be more inclined to say find a D50, then you can use screw driven motors, which are slightly cheaper.

Well I told my GF today about me looking for a camera and we got into a big fight, dunno what to do, kinda frustrated right now. We actually got into an argument about it, which caused an even bigger argument (unrelated to the original issue) ugh... (I love TFP cause I can vent and talk about my original subject at the same time).

seeing as how I hijacked my own thread.... back on topic. I can get a D40 for like 599 (dunno what my discount would be on it); but the d40 is actually .3mp lower than my F20, but with alot more options and control.... just cant decide. -discuss- :D

Don't look at the mp's(they mattered way back when the first digitals, all pointnshoots, came out. not any more, unless you're planning on printing murals)...look for overall quality, what you'd need or desire in functions. Read reviews for what you're interested in. Also check prices of any lenses you might want.
When buying online, make sure the warranty is US-many cameras sold very cheaply via sites like Ebay are made for the European market and if repairs are ever needed under warranty, you'd be SOL getting one.
I'd also suggest seeing if lenses fit more than one model as a factor in getting any particular model. Should you ever decide to get a second, it makes sense to have lenses that are interchangeable, not have to start from scratch, ie; lenses that fit the Sony A100 also fit the Minolta Maxxums, 7D and 5D.

Good to think about. Thanks ng. I really hadn't of thought about the interchangable lens'.