Firstly, I know there are a couple of threads out there already about DSLRs, but they're all a couple of years old and the camera world moves pretty quickly... So I've just got back from a 2-week cruise to NZ, lots of perfect opportunities for great scenery shots etc (the weather was especially kind for Milford Sound), and I'm going through my photos now and I must say I'm a little disappointed with how a lot of them have turned out. I've been using a 4-year old Panasonic FZ28 bridge/superzoom, and whilst it is a pretty good camera I've never really been able to get photos just the say I like them - part of that I'm sure is down to laziness in not learning how to use manual PASM settings and so on, but I'm thinking now that it might be time to get a bit more serious, especially since I'm wanting to start getting some better photos of the cars as well as scenery, plus dabble in HDR/effects/creative shots. The problem is that this leaves me smack bang in the middle of a very contested group of cameras. Do I stick with a bridge/superzoom and save a bit of coin or make the jump to a mirrorless ILC or full-on DSLR, which may well save me money in the future? Go for brand-new entry level or get a second-hand mid-level for the same price? I've listed below what I would want in a camera, as well as a couple of different models that I have come across. Panasonic fan-boy (but Panasonic don't make full-on DSLRs anymore) but willing to try new brands, obviously don't have any lenses so not really tied to a particular brand if I go to MILC or DSLR, but I would want good prices and availability on lenses. Prefer SD memory cards rather than CF (as I've got ~20gig of SD cards running around already) Decent HD video with AF and zoom-whilst-recording Image stabilisation and good performance at high zooms Viewfinder (either EVF or pentamirror/prism) Built-in flash Nice vibrant colours and contrast off-the-gun without the need for post-processing Live preview, big LCD screen Onboard HDR Good night-shots for car photo-shoots and scenery etc New cameras that have caught my eye/hip-pocket: Bridge/superzoom: Panasonic DMC-FZ200 MILC: Panasonic G5 DSLR: Canon EOS 6xxD Nikon D3xxx/D5xxx Thoughts? Am willing to look back a model series or two if a good cheap used one comes up, but at the same time I do like to have latest/greatest for a price-point...