Hello Carole, The clerk is correct in the sense that equipment alone does not make a good photographer . To paraphrase an old joke, the most important part of a camera is the nut behind the viewfinder. What better equipment does do is to allow a knowledgeable photographer to get a much wider range of pictures. A P&S camera only allows focus down to a few feet, so that leaves out flower close-ups; it lacks a telephoto lens, so that leaves out wildlife and sports photography; it has only a small built-in flash, so that leaves out natural-looking portraits; it has a lens of small maximum apeture, so it prevents the use of slow, fine-grained films except in bright sunlight. The list could go on and on, but what's probably most important for a serious photographer is that a P&S camera does not let the photographer control many of the critical elements of the picture such as exposure and depth of field. I have two questions for you. First, are there pictures that you want to take that your P&S is just not capable of taking? Second, do you have enough of an interest in photography to learn the technical ins and outs necessary to take advantage of a camera system? If the answer to both is "yes", it's time for an SLR for you. BTW, many photographers on this list and elsewhere are generous with advice on equipment selection. My advice is to try to evaluate everyone's suggestions in terms of teh pictures that YOU want to take. Good luck Dennis
